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The Eyewitness Travel Guide helps you to get the most out of your trip with minimum difficulties. The opening section Introducing Paris locates the city geographically, sets modern Parisian its historical context and explains how Parisian life changes through the years. Paris At a Glance is an overview of the city's specialties. The main sightseeing section of the book is Paris Area by Area. It describes all the main sights with maps, photographs and detailed illustrations. Get to know Paris with The Eyewitness Travel Guide.
448 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
January 7, 2019
A fabulous complement to TOP 10 PARIS!
Great organization, eye-catching photography, well written narrative and superb cartography! DK Eyewitness Travel guides have got it all but, for me, it's the photography that really separates them from the competition. And PARIS covers it all - restaurants, music, beer bars, walks, art galleries, museums, spas, architecture, palaces, hotels, cafés, theatres and churches. And all of the information is organized by neighbourhood in the city so I can make the most effective use of my time once I'm in a certain area.
Here's my "best practices" strategy. Read TOP 10 PARIS first. Make some basic choices, get your mind wrapped around Paris geography and begin to localize your choices to certain areas. Fine tune your choice and plan your attack day by day by reading PARIS. Familiarize yourself with some of the local customs by reading the basic country information in the back of the larger PARIS guide - currency, communications, etiquette, food, beer and wine, local transportation and specialized hints like local tipping practices.
Why not five stars? Frankly, with the internet now providing so much current information, I can't see the value in attempting to include lengthy (and probably outdated) lists of hotels and restaurants in densely packed small print index lists at the back of a book like this.
As a pre-planner, PARIS proved itself to be invaluable. My limited time was well spent and I felt comfortable filling my day with a thoroughly enjoyable selection of attractions that were well matched to my personal tastes and those of my traveling companion. There was not even a single instance where we felt we were misled by the guide into choosing an event, a food, a pub, a hotel, a church, an attraction, a park or a café that was not to our liking. And it was the ideal size to be easily carried around during our travels to keep handy as a pocket reference. High praise, indeed.
Even with the help of such an invaluable, compact and realistic guide, Paris is simply too big, too diverse and too fascinating to tour in a single week. That said (and well you might ask), my personal Top 10 in Paris from the perspective of a first time visitor were as follows:
Panthéon
Musée d'Orsay
Notre-Dame
Arc de Triomphe
Musée Carnavalet
Chateau Versailles
Parc Monceau
The Left Bank
Opéra National de Paris Garnier
Au Trappiste (an outrageously expensive beer bar)
Jardin du Luxembourg
(So sue me ... I can't count and I couldn't hold back choosing one extra favourite destination). The point REALLY is, I had most of these picked out before I ever got to Paris and the descriptions were SO good that my advance choices proved to be quite correct during the reality of the city visit. I don't think I could give higher praise to a tour book than that. Highly recommended for all travelers, real world and armchair alike.
Paul Weiss
Great organization, eye-catching photography, well written narrative and superb cartography! DK Eyewitness Travel guides have got it all but, for me, it's the photography that really separates them from the competition. And PARIS covers it all - restaurants, music, beer bars, walks, art galleries, museums, spas, architecture, palaces, hotels, cafés, theatres and churches. And all of the information is organized by neighbourhood in the city so I can make the most effective use of my time once I'm in a certain area.
Here's my "best practices" strategy. Read TOP 10 PARIS first. Make some basic choices, get your mind wrapped around Paris geography and begin to localize your choices to certain areas. Fine tune your choice and plan your attack day by day by reading PARIS. Familiarize yourself with some of the local customs by reading the basic country information in the back of the larger PARIS guide - currency, communications, etiquette, food, beer and wine, local transportation and specialized hints like local tipping practices.
Why not five stars? Frankly, with the internet now providing so much current information, I can't see the value in attempting to include lengthy (and probably outdated) lists of hotels and restaurants in densely packed small print index lists at the back of a book like this.
As a pre-planner, PARIS proved itself to be invaluable. My limited time was well spent and I felt comfortable filling my day with a thoroughly enjoyable selection of attractions that were well matched to my personal tastes and those of my traveling companion. There was not even a single instance where we felt we were misled by the guide into choosing an event, a food, a pub, a hotel, a church, an attraction, a park or a café that was not to our liking. And it was the ideal size to be easily carried around during our travels to keep handy as a pocket reference. High praise, indeed.
Even with the help of such an invaluable, compact and realistic guide, Paris is simply too big, too diverse and too fascinating to tour in a single week. That said (and well you might ask), my personal Top 10 in Paris from the perspective of a first time visitor were as follows:
Panthéon
Musée d'Orsay
Notre-Dame
Arc de Triomphe
Musée Carnavalet
Chateau Versailles
Parc Monceau
The Left Bank
Opéra National de Paris Garnier
Au Trappiste (an outrageously expensive beer bar)
Jardin du Luxembourg
(So sue me ... I can't count and I couldn't hold back choosing one extra favourite destination). The point REALLY is, I had most of these picked out before I ever got to Paris and the descriptions were SO good that my advance choices proved to be quite correct during the reality of the city visit. I don't think I could give higher praise to a tour book than that. Highly recommended for all travelers, real world and armchair alike.
Paul Weiss
April 25, 2023
Perfektně zpracováno, úžasné obrázky, náměty. Doporučuji!
May 28, 2017
Love the Eyewitness travel guides. Detailed and concise, excellent graphics and maps, and well thought out suggested walks and sights that will get you into the heart of a place and learn something as well. My only issue is that the book itself is heavy to carry around all day. The maps are great, very handy. Will use this for future trips.
October 4, 2009
I just love these Eyewitness guides, they are so colourful and vibrant. I bought this prior to my latest trip to Paris and found it so much better and more useful that other giudes I have used in the past. There is so much history and detail in it that I found places that I didn't know about despite several previous visits.
The book is split into really easy to follow sections - basically the diffrerent quarters (i.e. The Latin Quarter, Le Marais, Monmartre, The Opera Quarter etc). At the beginning of each section there is a small map of Paris at the bottom of the page highlighting where it is in relation to the other areas and then over the page a more detailed map of the sites in that area with snippets of info. The following pages go into more detail about various sites, buildings etc. It's choc full of so many things I wanted to cram into my weekend but alas some will have to be saved for another trip (any excuse!).
There is also loads of info on the best places to eat (again by area, and also price), different types of shops, markets etc as well as all the practical info about getting around and underground and overground maps. I read the whole things from start to finish before I left for Paris becuase I found it so interesting as a book as well as just a city guide.
I highly recommend this book - perfect for planning and drooling over.
The book is split into really easy to follow sections - basically the diffrerent quarters (i.e. The Latin Quarter, Le Marais, Monmartre, The Opera Quarter etc). At the beginning of each section there is a small map of Paris at the bottom of the page highlighting where it is in relation to the other areas and then over the page a more detailed map of the sites in that area with snippets of info. The following pages go into more detail about various sites, buildings etc. It's choc full of so many things I wanted to cram into my weekend but alas some will have to be saved for another trip (any excuse!).
There is also loads of info on the best places to eat (again by area, and also price), different types of shops, markets etc as well as all the practical info about getting around and underground and overground maps. I read the whole things from start to finish before I left for Paris becuase I found it so interesting as a book as well as just a city guide.
I highly recommend this book - perfect for planning and drooling over.
September 21, 2016
The first two-thirds of this book actually make for rather enjoyable reading. It introduces first suggestions of how to organize stays of particular days' lengths. Then is an overview of Paris and its history. Next is overviews of 14 main areas of Paris and popular sites in the Greater Paris area. These overviews go into surprising depth, which make them fun to read, even if you won't be heading to Paris any time soon. These sections show why a printed book can offer more than the internet in travel planning - the reader here can get a very good idea of where things are and what is available in each area, instead of scattershot offerings from foreign websites. The latter third of the book has more practical nuts and bolts about traveling - hotels, emergency services, cell phone use, etc, that are useful for planning a trip, but make for drier reading.
May 17, 2017
Likes: lots of pictures, both well-known and lesser known sites detailed, good visual organization, very detailed highlights of destinations, good practical information about the basics of traveling in Paris like currency, transportation, and food. DK guidebooks always provide terrific illustrated overhead maps and building layouts that really give you the feel for how the block/building/indoor areas appear.
Now the one glaring weird thing. Real-life Paris is arranged by arrondissements, or districts. There are 20 and they spiral out from the center of the city. Everyone in Paris knows this and uses the information for locating places and giving directions. (“It’s in the 11th.”) ALL other guidebooks use this system, as do maps and pocket guides.
This book does NOT use arrondissements. It’s organized by 14 sightseeing areas the publishers/writers have created themselves that do not follow arrondissements though they do overlap sometimes. In fact, the book only refers to arrondissements three times that I could find, and those only briefly. They don’t even use the word, which is bizarre. It’s as though they were trying to redo Paris. You will have to cross-reference to another map by description if you want to use the system that all Parisians and other guidebooks use.
The DK method is interesting in a way, but it stands alone. Each destination item is good in that it provides the address, phone number, website, cost, hours, Metro stop, dates open/closed.
No arrondissements. Really weird. Otherwise wonderful, but I have to give it a 3 only because of that.
Now the one glaring weird thing. Real-life Paris is arranged by arrondissements, or districts. There are 20 and they spiral out from the center of the city. Everyone in Paris knows this and uses the information for locating places and giving directions. (“It’s in the 11th.”) ALL other guidebooks use this system, as do maps and pocket guides.
This book does NOT use arrondissements. It’s organized by 14 sightseeing areas the publishers/writers have created themselves that do not follow arrondissements though they do overlap sometimes. In fact, the book only refers to arrondissements three times that I could find, and those only briefly. They don’t even use the word, which is bizarre. It’s as though they were trying to redo Paris. You will have to cross-reference to another map by description if you want to use the system that all Parisians and other guidebooks use.
The DK method is interesting in a way, but it stands alone. Each destination item is good in that it provides the address, phone number, website, cost, hours, Metro stop, dates open/closed.
No arrondissements. Really weird. Otherwise wonderful, but I have to give it a 3 only because of that.
August 30, 2021
At this point I've read several of DK's Eyewitness guides (you might say I'm somewhat of a travel guide connoisseur) and I've come to realize that I have a very difficult time connecting with the format of their guides. Although they are brief in both scope and depth, I tend to tune out when I read them and barely retain anything once I'm done (yes, I take copious notes).
Perhaps it's something to do with the content they choose to include on museums and landmarks - typically it's several lines about the history and provenance of the subject, including the name of the architect, the individual who commissioned it, and some tidbit about who lived there or why it's remarkable or otherwise known. It comes off as very dry and factual, which is at odds with the glossy, highly-visual layout of the guide. I just don't find the written content engaging.
These guides tend to focus on the highlights of a city, doing a deeper dive into famous landmarks; restaurants, hotels, and shopping destinations are a side note. If you're looking for a guide that's high-level both on the destination and the details front, the Eyewitness guides may be your jam. I've determined that I just cannot relate.
Perhaps it's something to do with the content they choose to include on museums and landmarks - typically it's several lines about the history and provenance of the subject, including the name of the architect, the individual who commissioned it, and some tidbit about who lived there or why it's remarkable or otherwise known. It comes off as very dry and factual, which is at odds with the glossy, highly-visual layout of the guide. I just don't find the written content engaging.
These guides tend to focus on the highlights of a city, doing a deeper dive into famous landmarks; restaurants, hotels, and shopping destinations are a side note. If you're looking for a guide that's high-level both on the destination and the details front, the Eyewitness guides may be your jam. I've determined that I just cannot relate.
October 29, 2018
I took the paperback version of this book to Paris in 2012. I liked the photographs and the maps which were included. It also described the major attractions by each geographic area, which was invaluable as my wife and I set out in one particular direction or another.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
September 22, 2026
I think it's a nice guideline, to learn some history, overview of the streets, building, arts and more. The book information is mostly deprecated for our time, but what's nice to discover is how much things, places, even prices changed over time.
March 13, 2018
Like the maps and how it is divided into areas. Feel like I got useful information.
October 1, 2018
A fine travel guide to the city of lights.
January 27, 2020
Very thorough. Lots of good ideas and information. I loved the organization by neighborhood and the short walking tours of each.
September 10, 2020
Paris seems nice.
Read
April 3, 2021gay
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April 24, 2022kısa cep boy gezi rehberi
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August 27, 2022Research🤞🏻
September 9, 2022
A beautiful and very detailed guide book of Paris.
September 5, 2023
İnternet araştırması ve okumaları dışında rehber de okumayı sevenler için bence oldukça iyi düzenlenmiş ve başarılı bir kitap.
October 21, 2023
Love the Eyewitness travel guides - they are the best!
October 30, 2023
Nice Paris info and guide book.
September 28, 2026
Very clear and comprehensive
July 14, 2026
WE ARE GOING TO PARIS! Super excited that I’ve booked a Girls Trip for my daughter and I to go to Paris in October! My Aunty gave us this book so we can start to plan. I am a sucker for a stained glass window so you can bet that Notre Dame, Sacré-Couer, Saint-Chappelle are all top of my list. As well as other museums, gardens and obviously the fashion destinations! Please pop your Paris recommendations in the comments! What could you go to Paris and not do?!
October 4, 2022
I love the street by street highlights and all the restaurant recommendations. It’s really helpful to get a lay of the land.
July 31, 2010
I'm a big fan of the Eyewitness Travel Guides. The format is appealing -- a lavishly illustrated introductory section expounding on the history and key features of the city followed by color-coded sections, each devoted to a different area. In this case, the introduction includes sections on "Celebrated Visitors and Residents" and "Paris' Best" pages -- guides to the best churches, parks and gardens, and museum and galleries. Just that introductory section alone makes an excellent blueprint for exploration.
The rear of the book is devoted to practicalities such as transportation, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. Since it heavily relies on pictures rather than words, it's easy to pick up a guide, thumb through it, and let a striking photo serve as inspiration for where to go or what to do. The text on even the major sights is succinct, so if it's the full monty you're after, supplement this guide with something more substantial like a Blue Guide. However, if you want to get a quick sense of what a destination has to offer, an hour or so spent with one of these guides is probably one of the most effective ways to do background research.
One quibble is that since the Eyewitness Guides are printed on nice, heavy stock, they're not that light. Perhaps in the future another format - digital? - will get around this problem.
The rear of the book is devoted to practicalities such as transportation, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. Since it heavily relies on pictures rather than words, it's easy to pick up a guide, thumb through it, and let a striking photo serve as inspiration for where to go or what to do. The text on even the major sights is succinct, so if it's the full monty you're after, supplement this guide with something more substantial like a Blue Guide. However, if you want to get a quick sense of what a destination has to offer, an hour or so spent with one of these guides is probably one of the most effective ways to do background research.
One quibble is that since the Eyewitness Guides are printed on nice, heavy stock, they're not that light. Perhaps in the future another format - digital? - will get around this problem.
July 31, 2011
I have at least a hundred books about Paris, including many travel guides. Though I tend to prefer the Cadogan series and Rough Guides, I picked up this Eyewitness Travel guide just to get some updated info and because it was on sale. I haven't been to Paris for 5 years and I just wanted to have one of those nicely illustrated guides to pique my interest (not that I really needed a nudge.) It's actually a decent general travel guide with more details than you realize at first glance. Adequate neighborhood maps, plenty of good photos and illustrations, and all the how-to/where and when info you need to function as a tourist are included. I'll definitely be taking it with me on my upcoming visit to Paris to reference as I plan my days, but I won't be taking it out with me. I prefer to make my own notes based on research I do ahead of time either via the internet or through myriad other sources. All in all, a very proper and recommended guide book to Paris.
April 13, 2013
This one was okay, much better than Napoli's, but not even close to Fodor's Rome. The book was useful in some cases, but not exclusively. It didn't provide us with anything special. Just basic general information. In my opinion, the book didn't do Paris justice. A place with such rich history deserves something better. The book would suffice if you're planning to roam places quickly. Musée du Louvre's part was just basic and didn't give anything interesting. We even had to buy guides from the museum itself.
However, the part on Disneyland was the best thing about the book. It listed all the rides and their average waiting time along with other useful info.
One of the things I really liked about this book is the timeline that starts at the beginning of the book with Paris's major historical events, until it ends at the end of the book with events from the present.
However, the part on Disneyland was the best thing about the book. It listed all the rides and their average waiting time along with other useful info.
One of the things I really liked about this book is the timeline that starts at the beginning of the book with Paris's major historical events, until it ends at the end of the book with events from the present.
July 29, 2013
Starting with an introduction that includes sample 4-day itineraries and a quick history of the city, roaming through every region of Paris, and ending with all the practical stuff like where to eat and how to get around, the DK Eyewitness Travel Paris guidebook is a complete vacation in the palm of your hand. The photographs, maps, and detailed labeled drawings of major sites, make this book a visual treat.
More on my blog Book Review: Paris (DK Eyewitness Travel)
More on my blog Book Review: Paris (DK Eyewitness Travel)
March 5, 2016
Paris is commonly known as the foremost romantic town within the world. Also known as the City of Lights Paris could be a fantasy destination for uncountable travelers annually. The city is also ideal for romantic vacations offering a wide range of affordable hotels from large luxury accommodations to more intimate designer hotels. In this book you’ll find everything you need to make the most of your trip to Paris.
April 5, 2009
I wish I could buy these DK Eyewitness books for every place I plan a trip to visit. The drawings and photos scattered throughout help me make the most of limited time. Not the series to necessarily find an off-the-beaten-track place, but a great way to weed out places or to decide how to spend the rest of the day in an area.
September 21, 2009
These Eyewitness guides are fantastic - exploded diagrams and maps, photos of landmarks, etc - but extremely heavy to carry in your suitcase. A better ratio of information to weight can be found in Rough Guides, but they have fewer pictures. I'd recommend this book for research at home before you go.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews