Rick Steves France (Twentieth Edition)

Description

Now more than ever, you can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling through France. Wander the lavender fields of Provence, climb the steps of the Eiffel Tower, and bite into a perfect croissant: Inside Rick Steves France you'll find: * Fully updated, comprehensive coverage for planning a multi-week trip to France * Rick's strategic advice on how to get the most out of your time and money, with rankings of his must-see favorites * Top sights and hidden gems, from the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles to neighborhood cafes and delicate macarons * How to connect with local culture: Stroll through open-air markets in Paris, bike through rustic villages, and taste wines in Burgundy and Bordeaux * Beat the crowds, skip the lines, and avoid tourist traps with Rick's candid, humorous insight * The best places to eat, sleep, and relax with a glass of vin roug * Self-guided walking tours of lively neighborhoods and incredible museums * Vital trip-planning tools, like how to link destinations, build your itinerary, and get from place to place * Detailed maps, including a fold-out map for exploring on the go * Over 1,000 bible-thin pages include everything worth seeing without weighing you down * Coverage of Paris, Chartres, Normandy, Mont St-Michel, Brittany, The Loire, Dordogne, Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence, The French Riviera, Nice, Monaco, The French Alps, Burgundy, Lyon, Alsace, Reims, Verdun, and much more * Covid-related travel info and resources for a smooth trip Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves France. Planning a one- to two-week trip? Check out Rick Steves Best of France.

Since 1973, Rick Steves has spent about four months a year exploring Europe. His mission: to empower Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. Rick produces a best-selling guidebook series, a public television series, and a public radio show, and organizes small-group tours that take over 30,000 travelers to Europe annually. He does all of this with the help of more than 100 well-traveled staff members at Rick Steves' Europe in Edmonds, WA (near Seattle). When not on the road, Rick is active in his church and with advocacy groups focused on economic and social justice, drug policy reform, and ending hunger. To recharge, Rick plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spends time with his son Andy and daughter Jackie. Find out more about Rick at www.ricksteves.com and on Facebook. Connect with Rick: facebook.com/RickSteves twitter: @RickSteves instagram: ricksteveseurope Steve Smith has had one foot in France and one in the United States for 55 years. He drives a Deux Chevaux car and has restored a farmhouse on the Burgundy canal where he hangs his beret in the spring and summer. Steve managed tour guides for Rick Steves' Europe for more than two decades but now spends his time researching guidebooks, teaching about France, and exploring every corner of his favorite country. When not in France, Steve loves finding dirt grown backstreets in his VW camper van.

"...he's become the unofficial guide for entire generations of North American travelers, beloved for his earnest attitude and dad jeans."--Outside Magazine "[Rick Steves'] neighborhood walks are always fun and informative. His museum guides, complete with commentary about historic sculpture and storied artworks are wonderful and add another dimension to sometimes stodgy, hard-to-comprehend museums."--NBC News "[Rick Steves] laces his guides with short and vivid histories and a scholar's appreciation for Renaissance art yet knows the best place to start an early tapas crawl in Madrid if you have kids. His clear, hand-drawn maps are Pentagon-worthy; his hints about how to go directly to the best stuff at the Uffizi, avoid the crowds at Versailles and save money everywhere are guilt-free."--TIME Magazine "Every country-specific travel guidebook from the Rick Steves publishing empire can be counted upon for clear organization, specificity and timeliness."--Society of American Travel Writers "His books offer the equivalent of a bus tour without the bus, with boiled-down itineraries and step-by-step instructions on where to go and how to get there, but adding a dash of humor and an element of choice that his travelers find empowering."--The New York Times "His guidebooks are approachable, silly, and even subtly provocative in their insistence that Americans show respect for the people and places they are visiting and not the other way around."--The New Yorker "His penchant for creating meaningful experiences for travelers to Europe is as passionate as his inclination for making ethical choices his guiding light."--Forbes "Pick the best accommodations and restaurants from Rick Steves...and a traveler searching for good values will seldom go wrong or be blindsided."--NBC News "Steves is a walking, talking European encyclopedia who yearns to inspire Americans to venture 'beyond Orlando.'"--Forbes "Steves is an absolute master at unlocking the hidden gems of the world's greatest cities, towns, and monuments."--USA Today "The country's foremost expert in European travel for Americans."--Forbes "Travel, to Steves, is not some frivolous luxury--it is an engine for improving humankind, for connecting people and removing their prejudices, for knocking distant cultures together to make unlikely sparks of joy and insight. Given that millions of people have encountered the work of Steves over the last 40 years, on TV or online or in his guidebooks, and that they have carried those lessons to untold other millions of people, it is fair to say that his life's work has had a real effect on the collective life of our planet."--The New York Times Magazine