Which Paris guide book should you pack for your trip to France? There are so many Paris travel guides on the shelves that it’s hard to narrow it down to just one (or two!). When I was planning for my own recent trip to Paris, I read twenty-five Paris guide books before I found the one I wanted to carry with me on my trip. Here are the ten best Paris guidebooks that I read, and the ones that I ended up purchasing for my guide book collection.
Lonely Planet Paris – The Overall Best Paris Guide Book
At press time, the most current edition of the Lonely Planet Paris guidebook was released in 2022 (order on Amazon here). This edition still uses the traditional Lonely Planet format (the good one) and is worth buying before the brand switches to their extremely unpopular new format. In fact, if you plan to travel to Paris in 2024 or even 2025, buy this book now.
This edition (with the gold cover, shown above) is great because every single entry in the guidebook was checked to make sure it’s still operating, and the information about opening hours and prices is accurate. A lot changed in Paris in 2020 and 2021, so it’s good to know that the businesses mentioned survived that two-year downturn in tourism.
I was relying on the older edition (published in 2018) when I was selecting a Paris guidebook. Still, it was my favorite Paris guidebook, and the one I’d recommend for anyone traveling to Paris. The Lonely Planet Paris clocks in at 416 pages, and includes absolutely everything you could possibly want: recommended day-by-day itineraries, guides to each arondissement (including attractions, restaurants, shopping and nightlife) and all the most popular day trips from Paris. It has colorful photos, easy-to-read maps and, in the new edition, a detachable card with all the information you need to get from the airport to your hotel.
Rick Steves Paris – The Best Paris Travel Guide for First-Time Travelers
I have such a soft spot for Rick Steves guidebooks, and his 2023 Rick Steves Paris guide book is no exception. This is a huge book, with 720 pages, but because they use tissue-weight paper it’s hardly any thicker than the Lonely Planet.
Rick Steves’ books are written for novice and first-time travelers, who want a balance of authentic local experiences and can’t-miss attractions during their Europe trip. This book includes itineraries for up to seven days, with neighbhorhood guides, transportation connections and bistro stops along the way. A highlight of any Rick Steves book is the self-guided walking tours; the Rick Steves Paris guide book contains eighteen different routes in Paris, complete with detailed maps and information about the sights you’ll see en route. If I were buying my parents a guidebook for their trip to Paris, this would definitely be my top choice.
Looking for more Europe travel tips?
Follow Fearless Female Travels on Facebook for actually-useful tips on traveling in Europe, affordable travel advice, solo female travel inspiration, and more!
Lonely Planet France – The Best Paris Guidebook for Travelers Going Beyond Paris Too
Released in late 2021, the Lonely Planet France guidebook is the best Paris guide book for anyone whose trip includes Paris and other destinations in France. Like the LP Paris guidebook, this book is still in the brand’s original format and is worth buying now before it gets updated.
Like their city-specific guide book, this edition of the Lonely Planet France (shown above) has been thoroughly reviewed to ensure that information is up-to-date and accurate, and reflects any changes over the past two years.
This is a big book, with more than one thousand pages, so it’s not the best choice for people who are packing light. But for someone like me, with a suitcase and an itinerary that crosses the country from north to south and from east to west, this is the best balance of information about Paris and information about the rest of France. The section on Paris is about 120 pages long, with full-color maps, illustrations and photos. There’s a further twenty pages about day trips around Paris, including Versailles and Giverny.
National Geographic Traveler Paris – The Best Neighborhood-by-Neighborhood Paris Travel Guide
First, I have to say that this book just feels nice in your hands. I like the cover design, I like the paper, and the whole thing just feels good. The National Geographic Traveler Paris guidebook would be ideal for gift-giving, if someone if your life is planning a trip to Paris.
This book has about 250 pages, including a brief introduction that leads into eleven neighborhoods guides (starting with the islands in the River Seine, ending with the “peripherique“, or the less-visited districts outside the city centre). Each section contains the top attractions, recommend restaurants and other useful tips, like walking routes and local history. On the inside back cover there’s a handy map of the Paris metro, and tucked inside the back cover there is a full-sized pull-out map of Paris to help you get your bearings. The only warning that I have with this book is that the font is tiny, so I don’t recommend it for anyone who has vision difficulties.
Moon Paris Walks – The Best Paris Guide Book for Travelers Who Love to Walk
I like Moon Guides because they don’t try to be everything to everyone. Instead, they focus on one thing and do it really well. Here, in the Moon Paris Walks guide book, they highlight the very best of Paris through a collection of six self-guided walking tours.
The routes covered include Montmartre, the area around The Louvre, Le Marais, The Latin Quarter, the Eiffel Tower and Canal St. Martin (plus some of the adjacent districts). The routes are illustrated on easy-to-read maps and described using turn-by-turn language like “Go back, and facing the direction you came from, take Rue Lepic, which veers to the right.” It doesn’t get much easier to follow than that! There are about 120 pages of walking routes, plus another 30 pages of general information about the city. This book doesn’t have great information about hotels, transportation or day trips, but it’s ideal for active travelers.
National Geographic Walking Guide: Paris – The (Other!) Best Paris Travel Guide for Travelers Who Love to Walk
It was totally a tie between the Moon Guides and this Paris travel guide. This is a series that I love- in fact, I kept the Berlin edition from this series in my purse on my most recent trip to Germany. Because it’s designed to be used while you’re out walking, The National Geographic Walking Guide: Paris really does fit comfortably into your bag so you can carry it around Paris every day.
Updated in 2020, this guidebook consists of fourteen different walking routes around Paris. There are “whirlwind” tours showcasing the highlights of the city in just one or two days, or there are more leisurely routes through distinctive neighborhoods and around famous attractions. Throughout the book there are colorful photos, illustrations and maps. If there’s a downside to this book it’s that there is minimal information about accommodation and dining, but if you’ve already booked your hotel and enjoy finding restaurants en route, this is a great Paris guide book.
Fun fact: There’s a French term for someone who spends their days sauntering around town without a specific purpose. Flâneur is the masculine form, while flâneuse is the feminine.
Lonely Planet Discover Paris – The Best Basic Travel Guide Book to Buy Second-Hand
About half the length of the original Lonely Planet Paris guide book, the brand’s Discover Paris guide book focuses on the most essential experiences in the city. This series used to be updated quite regularly (there are editions from 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 available on Amazon) but it no longer appears to be focus for the brand. So, the most recent edition I could find is the one shown above, which came out in fall 2018 (yes, I know it says 2019 on the cover, but trust me!).
Honestly, I don’t really recommend this Paris travel guide book, since it’s already four years old. It would be easy to accidentally purchase this, thinking it was the Lonely Planet’s main guidebook for Paris, but you’d be paying almost the same price for half the information that they include in their regular Paris guidebook (scroll up to see that one!). What you can expect from this book is a two-page spread for each of the city’s twenty or so top attractions, followed by short sections about dining, shopping, nightlife and entertainment. It’s not really organized geographically, and there’s a lot of stuff that’s not included. That being said, if you can buy a used copy for a good price it might be a nice addition to your Paris trip planning bookshelf.
Eyewitness Top 10 Paris – The Best Paris Guidebook for Visual Travelers
This is one of the few Paris guidebooks to get a fresh update for 2024! If you’re not much of a reader but love to look at pretty pictures, the Eyewitness Top 10 Paris guidebook is perfect. Short on text but dense with full-color photos and illustrations, this is a feast for the eyes. It’s also another purse-sized Paris guide book (it’s actually smaller than my wallet!) so it would be perfect for carrying around during a day of sightseeing.
Like all Eyewitness books, the Eyewitness Top 10 Paris puts as much emphasis on images as it does on text. The book starts with a quick introduction (including suggested itineraries for two or four days) and then jumps into its distinctive collection of Top 10 lists: Top 10 Museums, Top 10 Historical Buildings, Top 10 Parks and Gardens, etc. The lists are followed by about 100 pages of neighborhood guides and general travel information. This would be an easy book to read on the plane to France, and as one of the more affordable Paris guide books on the list it’s also good for travelers on a budget.
Michelin Green Guide Paris – The Best European-Style Paris Travel Guidebook
Michelin guides are not common in North America, so many travelers coming from the USA and Canada are surprised to learn that oui, it’s the same company making the tires, awarding stars to restaurants and publishing guidebooks, including The Michelin Green Guide Paris.
As with the Lonely Planet Discover Paris, the first thing you need to know is that this book was last updated in 2018, so some of the information may be outdated. Still, it’s interesting to see how the book reflects the tastes of European travelers, who tend to purchase this series most often. This one opens with about 40 pages of trip planning advice, then spends another 40 pages talking about the history, arts and culture of Paris, and finally it gets into the Paris-specific travel information, including neighborhoods guides, hotel and restaurant recommendations, and tips for partaking in les sports during your trip.
Frommer’s EasyGuide to Paris – The Best Paris Guide Book for Luxury Travel
I have always disliked Frommers guide books, and the Frommers EasyGuide to Paris isn’t an improvement over their other titles. Plus, with this publication now being two years old, it may not be the best source of up-to-date information on traveling in Paris. To get it out of the way, I don’t recommend you buy this book, but I’m including it on the list since Frommer’s such a well-known name.
The book opens with fifteen pages of color photos of Paris, and after that it’s mostly just a wall of text. It covers the same attractions as any other guidebook, but with a more upscale perspective. For example, in the “inexpensive” hotel listings they recommend a hotel where double rooms are €300 per night. The restaurant recommendations are equally pricey, with a recommended lunch spot costing €90! The expensive recommendations aren’t balanced out with more affordable options, so this is really only a useful Paris guide book for travelers who don’t look at the price tags. (If that’s you, please marry and/or adopt me!)
Planning your own trip to Paris? I’ve got a guide to the best areas to stay in Paris, whether you’re backpacking on a budget or indulging in a luxury trip to France, as well as a guide to the best FIFTY things to see in Paris. Yes, fifty!
You might also like my post about how to find delicious, healthy French food while you’re there!
Of course, I also recommend learning some French for travel before you depart!
Planning a trip to Paris? Pin this post to your trip planning board!
 |
 |