France

Great book to read before the trip. It gets your juices flowing. Will even enjoy it after the trip. Too heavy to carry along if you are doing the one bag back pack thing.

I've been a fan of DK for years. It's just now that, in searching for travel books, I found this DK Eyewitness Travel Guide series. This is a great book! All the high-quality pictures, illustrations, diagrams you expect out of DK - and the whole of France in clear, easy-to-comprehend chunks. We haven't traveled to France, but this book has definitely helped me get my thinking cap on ....

I have to confess up front. I love these books. I must have over a dozen. I really like the Paris book, and the one for Prague, and Stockholm, and South Africa, and .... You get all the detailed material similar to other great travel books plus you get great visuals. I strongly prefer the book to those available from Lonely Planet, or Frommer, or others. Michelin of course has excellent guides but the visuals are better in the DK Eyewitness Guides. On a cold day back here in the USA (or Canada) or elsewhere, have a glass of French wine and sit in a nice chair or in the garden on a warm day and read this book. For a moment you will be back in France. You are back in a small restaurant or museum. The photos and descriptions and cutaway drawings are excellent. But there is lots of detail here. The book includes the history of Paris and France and many details on the art, art galleries, parks, cutaway views of historical buildings, and many other things of interest. The history is summarized at the beginning of the book with historical time lines and cross referenced to the culture and political figures. A solid 600 page effort - lots of stuff to see and absorb. It has the other things too such as maps, accommodations, transportation, and the rest. This book is one of the best for a visitor. You will be pleasantly surprised with the depth and quality of this book and it makes a nice souvenir to refresh your memory. Buy extra maps plus this book and you will be set.

I can honestly say that no other brand of travel guide will give you the feel of a country more than DK's Eyewitness series. Eyewitness France is a beautiful book that uses excellent pictures, maps, and illustrations more than words to bring across the FEEL of France. When planning a trip to France, I would recomend this book along with the Rough Guide to France as an unbeatable duo. Whereas Rough Guide provides you with the nitty-gritty and exhaustive traveling advice, Eyewitness France will ensure that you will be anticipating your trip like none other. One caution, however--individuals planning a trip exclusively to Paris may want to obtain another guidebook dedicated more to that city, as one might find the section here a little too insubstantial to base a stay of more than a few days off of. The most aesthetically pleasing of all the French Travel Guides, Eyewitness France is a beautiful book to read, whether it's employed on the plane there or on the coffee table at home.

Organized by region, the descriptions and illustrations of the different sites very helpful for planning what to see. Overview maps of each region are provided showing the approximate locations of the sites, but to get to most of them you will need more detailed maps. Unlike the US, signs at intersections and roundabouts in France typically tell you what the next village is, not the name of the road, so it is important to have a map that shows that level of detail. Renting a car with GPS is not a bad idea either.