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Title: Rick Steves' Paris 2004 by Rick Steves, Steve Smith, Gene Openshaw ISBN: 1-56691-522-8 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: November, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.26 (47 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: He may be smart....
Comment: I got this book because I was going to be in Paris alone for 3 days. I usually use Michelin books - it is like having your own personal tour guide and local encyclopedia. However, the set-up of the Steves book was appealing for this particular trip because of time and budget restrictions and because it also had accommodation information, which the Michelin does not include in its Green Guide. The positive aspects of the book are that it is set up to help the reader prioritize for 1,2,3, and 7 day trips. Very helpful. Most of his sightseeing suggestions (particularly the Orsay) are also good. Finally, his hotel suggestions were right on.
HOWEVER, the book is littered with his own little sardonic witticisms, frequently in the place of real information. For instance, he suggests that the peasants killed Marie Antoinette because they were offended by her taste in wallpaper. This is amusing, certainly, but this sort of BS really ought not to take the place of the real, and interesting stories. Perhaps he thinks he's so funny that he's more interesting than the French Revolution? IN ADDITION, his goofy little hand-drawn maps, while they lend the book that cute coffee-shop napkin flavor, rarely resemble anything identifiable in 3D, and are extremely unhelpful when attempting to negotiate the twists and turns of the older parts of a city. Thus necessitating the purchase of a real map, which one must unfold like a large spaghetti-patterned flag of tourism ('PLEASE rob me') .
When it comes to guidebooks, I am certain that it is really a matter of different strokes for different folks. If you are interested in travelling cheap and experiencing the ultimate in cafeteria and youth hotels, Lonely Planet is great. If you are interested in the real history and culture, the Michelin Green Guide is your book. For the safest, most comfortable, least-frazzling (most expensive) travel, you go with Fodor's. If you want to have better pictures in your guidebook than you will ever take with your own camera you must have Eyewitness. And if you want a snide, sarcastic., if knowledgeable paper companion sharing its opinion with you every step of your trip, you definitely invest in Mr. Steves.
Rating: 5
Summary: Do your homework before traveling
Comment: Paris, Paris, Paris... I just came back from a wonderful (and hot) trip to Europe. My best advice? Do your homework before traveling. Buy Rick Steves' books, research in advance what you want to visit and how to get there. The first thing I did in Paris was following the Montmartre walk in this book. What a wonderful surprise!. In Paris the subway takes you everywhere. Organize your calendar by blocks (2 or 3 hours) flexible enough that you can change them around in your schedule. Group activities by geographical areas (that is how the book is organized). You will save precious time and lots of "surprises". I was tempted to give the book 4 stars because some of Steves comments are silly but I skipped them and concentrated on the great tips and well organized walks described in this book. Some of my tour friends had other travel guides and Rick Steves was the best by far. In Versailles and the Louvre I found Steves' followers, everyone agreed that this book made their travel much easier.
I recommend the specific city guide instead of the Best of Europe because the later was not detailed enough and it did not include the useful "walking tours". The only thing I did not use on this book for was the hotel recommendation (because my tour company arranged the hotels). Still, this book was worth every penny I spent on it.
Rating: 2
Summary: Not what it's cracked up to be
Comment: I expected, because of Rick Steve's reputation as a budget traveler, more tricks on good deals. I found better tips in Fodor's book of Paris. Actually, the Fodor's book was better overall in terms of descriptions, a quick historical explanation, and opinions on personal experiences.
Rick Steve's Paris book does have a few good tips, but little or nothing that I didn't get from Fodor's. The book also is contradictory to his website. In the book, it says not to bother booking a trip yourself, but to go with a travel agent (I looked into this, but the agent wanted $1000 more, and offered a lesser hotel!). On the website, it suggests looking for deals yourself online.
I found the book to be a little too self-promoting, suggesting you buy additional items of his, either more travel guides or actual tours, or travel gear. I disliked the feeling I was being pitched to.
There are, as others have noted, political references. And the museum guide, while written in language accessible even to the most novice of art-visitors, does have some strange, off-color remarks.
It's not a terrible book, but there are far better books that give more information and offer more venues for finding bargains and saving time.
The one thing I did appreciate about the book were the frank explanations of what is not worth bothering to see. There's a ton to see in Paris and you can't see it all. Many tour books list all attractions, describe them all as wonderful, and you don't know which ones are best to see.
Overall, though, the Fodor's book is far superior. I wouldn't really recommend this book for anything more than taking a peek at it while in the bookstore, or borrowing it from the library.
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Title: Rick Steves' French Phrase Book and Dictionary by Rick Steves ISBN: 1566915171 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Streetwise Paris by Michael Brown, Streetwise Maps ISBN: 0935039252 Publisher: Streetwise Maps Pub. Date: 01 March, 1993 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Rick Steves' London 2004 by Rick Steves, Gene Openshaw ISBN: 1566915309 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Rick Steves' France 2004 by Rick Steves, Steve Smith ISBN: 1566916690 Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing Pub. Date: November, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Paris (Eyewitness Travel Guides) by Alan Tillier, DK Publishing ISBN: 0789493896 Publisher: DK Publishing Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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