Lonely Planet France (Country Guide)

Description

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet France is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Grab a cafe creme at a Parisian sidewalk cafe, take in glacial panoramas above Chamonix or explore the Champagne-soaked city of Reims; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of France and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet's France Travel Guide: Full-colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, art, literature, cinema, music, architecture, politics, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine, wine Free, convenient pull-out Paris map (included in print version), plus over 130 colour maps Covers Paris, Lille, Flanders, the Somme, Normandy, Brittany, Champagne, Alsace, Lorraine, the Loire Valley, Burgundy, Lyon, the French Alps, Basque Country, the Pyrenees, Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence, Corsica and more The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet France, our most comprehensive guide to France, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled. Looking for a guide focused on Paris? Check out Lonely Planet's Paris guide for a comprehensive look at all the city has to offer; or Pocket Paris, a handy-sized guide focused on the can't-miss sights for a quick trip. About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves. The world awaits! Lonely Planet guides have won the TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice Award in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. 'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' -- Fairfax Media 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times Review: After a fantastic trip to France, Lonely Planet is my new go-to for travel guides! - My mom and I recently took a two week trip to France. While researching for our trip, my mom primarily consulted a Rick Steves France travel guide, and I downloaded the Lonely Planet France guide for my Kindle. We were both rather disappointed by the Rick Steves guide but found the Lonely Planet book very helpful! Prior to the trip, I found the guide very useful in making preliminary plans and decisions, and I liked how the guide was organized. The book's introductory material includes useful starting point information, like suggested itineraries, general information about the country, and a list of top 15 experiences. There is also a "Regions at a Glance" section. Taken together, the front end material was very helpful in narrowing down the plethora places to visit. Following the introductory material, the guide expands on each region in detail, with individual cities broken down into recommended sights, accommodations, food, activities, shopping, etc. The end of the book provides brief overviews on various topics on French history and culture, as well as basic travel tips. During our trip, my mom and I used the guide on my Kindle primarily for restaurant recommendations. The first Lonely Planet recommendation we tried was an ice cream counter in Nice called Fennocchio. The ice cream was fantastic, and there were so many intriguing flavors to try that we just had to come back for a sweet snack again the next day! After our success at Fennocchio, we tried a hole-in-the-wall sandwich counter in Arles called Fad'Ola. We enjoyed the sandwiches there so much that we delayed our departure from Arles by a few hours just so we could eat lunch there again the following day! Other fantastic restaurant recommendations from the guide included a delicious dinner at Le Gaboulet in Arles as well as dinner at Fou de Fafa in Avignon, which was our favorite meal of the trip. Besides food, we made some other great travel decisions based on information in this book. In Paris, we had a pleasant stay at the Hotel France Albion, which was recommended by the guide. The book also brought to our attention the Gorges du Verdon (the 'Grand Canyon of Europe'), and the tour we ended up booking there was one of the highlights of our trip. Since we had so much success with the Lonely Planet France guidebook, I purchased Lonely Planet Austria to plan my next trip. I hope the recommendations in that guidebook impress me just as much as my mom and I were impressed by our experiences in France! Review: Useful, Compact Guide to France - I liked the ability to check out the maps and locations away from Paris. There is a lack of compact travel guides and Lonely Planet fills that niche, as well as "top ten" things to do, sights, etc. I typically buy these from Lonely Planet. However, the Great Britain guide I purchased is huge! (But it covers Scotland, London, the off shore Islands, Wales, etc)