Top 10 Paris (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)

Review by Tyeve for Top 10 Paris (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)
Rating:
Any “best of” list is bound to raise the hackles of fans and experts. The Doris Kindersley “Top 10″ series books are no exception. I love books about France, especially about Paris and Provence. I’ve visited the two areas frequently over the last few years, so I feel a bit qualified to comment on the “Top 10 Paris” and “Top 10 Provence”. Of the two the former is the more useful book.First the similarities: fun to read, nice price point, nice photos, fits well in the hand.If you’re an infrequent visitor to Paris, the Top 10 book is helpful. The city maps and metro map are handy and useful. (Although I strongly recommend you also get the Michelin Paris Plan #14.) It’s useful in recommending museums, parks, arrondisement highlights, etc. However, don’t use this book for hotels or restaurants. Its weakness in hotels is excusable. How can one possibly pick Top 10 hotels in Paris, or in any part of Paris? Its failing in picking Top 10 restaurants is less excusable, and the reason I dropped the book down from 4 stars to 3. I go to Paris to eat. I have some credibility in this area (eating, if not reviews restaurants) and I found their choices disturbing and puzzling. The Top 10 restaurant list would be laughable, were it not so sad and infuriating. Even so, I`d recommend the book. It’s fun, you’ll find it helpful.I don’t recommend “Top 10 Provence”. It seems to be a collection of clichés gathered from other guide books. I wonder if the authors have any real experience in Provence. Almost all of the recommendations are predictable – and boring. I found little that matched my experience in Provence (except for the inclusion of Vaison-la-Romaine).The restaurant recommendations for every place I was familiar with were bad to horrible. The lists of places to visit were equally puzzling. Promise me one thing: if you do buy this book, immediately go to the wine section, rip out the pages, and burn them without reading them. I give this one star for photos and price point.

Review by Paul Weiss for Top 10 Paris (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides)
Rating:
I’m not a seasoned or jaded traveler … yet! Neophyte European travellers will find that experience and time are the limiting resources when it comes to pre-planning a first trip to a destination as large and complex as the City of Lights. The Eyewitness Travel Top 10 format provides more than enough details to allow for an informed choice between competing destinations but unlike many of the competing alternative guides, it makes no attempt to be encyclopedic drowning an unsuspecting reader in so much knowledge that choices become next to impossible.

Eyewitness Travel Guides seem to have the market beat by a long margin! That’s not to say that Lonely Planet, Frommer, Michelin or the Blue and Green Guides miss the mark entirely but the Eyewitness series, in general, seems to be more informative. The photographs and illustrations instill a higher degree of keen anticipation and provide a better means of choosing in advance between a world of competing destinations and alternative tourist attractions. And I can’t say enough about the Top 10 format … dozens of lists – events, restaurants, hotels, museums, walks, churches, bars, great spots for children, insider tips and so much more. Whether your taste in vacations runs to exploring the hot night life spots or scoping out the most exciting history that museums and art galleries have to offer, Top 10 Paris will make your trip easier to plan and more enjoyable in the doing.

Portability, durability, sensible layout and organization not to mention the included maps of the city and the metro system make Top 10 Paris the correct choice to tote along with you while you’re actually out and about in Paris as well.

Finally, Top 10 Paris is a great way of post-filling information and details into some of the holes or places that you might miss or have to rush through when you’re actually on the trip. Along with photographs and trip journals, it’s also a wonderful way to resurrect detailed memories of a trip long after you’ve returned home.

Paul Weiss