Access Paris

I've visited Paris many times over the past ten years and this is now the only guide book I take with me. If you plan to use the Metro as your primary mode of transportation throughout the city, then this is the best guide book I've ever found. It mixes interesting historical insights with practical and helpful information regarding hotels and restaurants in the neighborhoods surrounding the Metro stops. This is the second edition of the book that I've purchased - I wore out the first one. I highly recommend it.

I must say, I am a big fan of all the ACCESS guides, and the one on Paris was no exception. I'm always disappointed when I go somewhere and there is no ACCESS guide for that city! One of the best things about the guides, Paris included, is that it allows you to break your trip down by neighborhood. While in Paris, we spent one day (or more) in each of the neighborhoods highlighted in the color code system. We had a great time, and the ACCESS guide played a big part in it (as it did in San Francisco and Montreal!). Highly recommended!

When my friend and I went to France for the first time, we decided that our trip would consist almost totally of Paris, which has so must to see that it deserves about two weeks in itself. When the time came to start looking for guidebooks, by coincidence a letter writer in a travel magazine raved about this Access edition, so I picked it up. I wasn't disappointed.If you're only spending a few days it isn't a good choice - you'll only be dealing with must-sees like the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame anyway. It is ideal, though, if your're staying for 2 weeks or longer, sectioning off neighborhoods of the city into chunks that are tourable in a day. This is definitely a mark-up book, begging for sights you want to see, restaurants you want to eat at, and stores you want to shop in to be highlighted or circled. The color highlighting is a useful tool, the drawings are wonderful, and the entries fun and informative - a delight to read when you're actually sitting down at the destination being described. A good guidebook for the tourist making more than a token visit and who's willing to do a little work beforehand.

I have used the Access guide to Paris since 1994, when it still had the old 3D detail maps with individual buildings. The maps make it easy to find whatever it is you're looking for. The arrangement by area also makes perfect sense, and the color coding a life saver. Drawings of logos are helpful when you're looking for something. All in all, an excellent guide and recommended for anyone traveling to Paris. Also check out other Access guides since they're in the same format.

Paris Access is a must-have guide book for Paris -- a real insider's view of the city. Also fun for armchair travelers with its great graphic design, drawings, and logos. There are no photographs, that is left to your memory or imagination.