France Guidebook

$29.99

France Guidebook

New

France Guidebook

$29.99

Rick's picks for sights, eating, sleeping
In-depth coverage of our favorite French destinations
Great self-guided neighborhood walks and museum tours
Includes handy full-color foldout map

In Rick Steves France you'll find in-depth Rick-tested information on:

Paris and nearby

Versailles
Chartres
Giverny

Normandy

Rouen
Honfleur
Bayeux
D-Day beaches
Mont St-Michel

Brittany

Dinan
St-Malo
Fougères

Loire

Amboise and nearby (including Chenonceau, Blois, Chambord, Cheverny, and Chaumont-sur-Loire)
Chinon and nearby (including Azay-le-Rideau, Langeais, Villandry, and Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud)

Dordogne

Sarlat-la-Canéda and the Dordogne River Valley
Cro-Magnon Caves
Oradour-sur-Glane
St-Emilion
Rocamadour
Lot River Valley

Languedoc-Roussillon

Albi
Carcassonne
Collioure

Provence

Arles
Avignon
Pont du Gard
Les Baux
St-Rémy-de-Provence
Orange
Villages of the Côtes du Rhône (including Vaison-la-Romaine)
Hill Towns of the Luberon (including Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Roussillon)

French Riviera

Nice
Villefranche-sur-Mer and the Three Corniches (including Cap Ferrat, and Eze-le-Village
Monaco
Antibes
Inland Riviera, including Vence

French Alps

Annecy
Chamonix

Burgundy and nearby

Beaune and nearby wine villages
Vineyard loops near Beaune (by car or bike)
Back-Door Burgundy (including Abbey of Fontenay)
Vézelay and Château de Guédelon
Bourges
Stops between Burgundy and Lyon (including Cluny and Taizé)

Lyon

Alsace

Colmar
Route du Vin (including Eguisheim, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr, and Bergheim)
Strasbourg

Reims and Verdun

Practicalities

Easy-to-follow maps (including color maps of France, Paris, Provence & the Riviera, and Nice)
Trip planning: When to go and pre-trip checklist
Recommended three-week itinerary and city/region-specific advice on planning your time and avoiding lines
Transportation: Trains, buses, city transit, and driving (including route tips)
French history, culture, language, and cuisine
Handy French survival phrases plus place-name pronunciation guide
Detailed advice on managing money, communicating, reserving rooms, handling emergencies, and other helpful hints

Also included: a 14½" x 19½" full-color foldout Planning Map that shows all of France plus key driving distances/times and regional close-ups of the D-Day beaches, Loire Valley, Dordogne, Provence, and the French Riviera, and, on the back, a handy close-up of Paris (with major sights), Montmartre, and Paris' Métro/RER network. (Note: This is a slightly smaller version of Rick's stand-alone France Planning Map.)

What's the difference between this France guidebook and Rick's Best of France guidebook?

Rick Steves France, the complete guide, offers more coverage of more destinations in a mostly black-and-white format.

The shorter Rick Steves Best of France guidebook focuses on France's top destinations and sights, is in full color, and is updated a little less frequently than the complete guide.

Both books are packed with hand-picked recommendations and Rick's travel advice and tips for saving time, money, and hassle.

Should I get the Paris guidebook (or Pocket guide) in addition to the France guidebook?

If you're not spending more than a few days in Paris, Rick Steves France is all you're likely to need.

If, however, you're spending four days or more in Paris, the extra information in Rick Steves Paris can be worthwhile. It offers much more in-depth sightseeing information, several additional self-guided city walks and museum/sight tours, more detail on day-trip options, and more specifics on shopping and nightlife, plus activities for kids. Other information is generally the same — the Paris chapter of Rick Steves France has nearly all the hotels, restaurants, and nitty-gritty practical advice for Paris that you'll find in the Rick Steves Paris guidebook.

It would make less sense to supplement Rick Steves France with the smaller Pocket Paris guide. While the pocket guide has one walk that's not included in the Paris chapter of Rick Steves France, it otherwise offers far more limited coverage of the city's sights, hotels, and restaurants.

Should I get the Provence and French Riviera guidebook in addition to the France guidebook?

If you're spending no more than a week in Provence and/or the Riviera, Rick Steves France is all you're likely to need. The France guidebook includes coverage of the most popular destinations in this region, and with nearly all of Rick's practical advice and hotel and restaurant listings for those cities and towns.

If you plan to spend a week or more in Provence and/or the French Riviera, Rick Steves Provence & French Riviera is worthwhile (or get Rick Steves Snapshot: Nice & the French Riviera if you're just sticking to the Riviera). Both titles really delve into the region, covering significantly more destinations there, and with more in-depth sightseeing information for Nice, as well as extra background on the region's culture and history.

Should I get the Snapshot: Basque Country guide in addition to the France guidebook?

Yes! If your trip to France includes a visit to the Basque Country, this Snapshot guide is the perfect companion to Rick Steves France, which does not cover the French (or Spanish) Basque towns covered in Snapshot: Basque Country.

Should I get the Snapshot: Nice & the French Riviera guide in addition to the France guidebook?

Probably not — Rick Steves France has nearly as much information on the Riviera as the Snapshot guide. But, as mentioned above, the Snapshot guide is worthwhile if you'd like more comprehensive coverage of the region, or any information on Menton, Cannes, or St-Tropez (none of which are included in Rick Steves France).

Latest updates: When we learn of critical changes to the information in our guidebooks on France, we post them. (Of course, it's still smart to reconfirm critical transportation and sightseeing details locally.) Armed with a Rick Steves guidebook and these late-breaking updates, you're set for a great trip!

Submit feedback: Once you've used this book in Europe, we'd love to hear your feedback — good or bad — about our advice on sights, hotels, restaurants, and travel tips. We're also interested in any tips or discoveries you made while in Europe. Your comments help us improve our guidebooks for future travelers.

Every Rick Steves travel product comes with our guarantee that it will be free from material and manufacturing defects for the life of the product. If a defect appears, we will replace the product free of charge. This guarantee does not cover damage caused by an airline or other common carrier. Nor does it cover wear and tear to components and materials which may occur over time with use of the product.

Read more about our shipping and return policies in our Merchandise FAQs

Product Details

Dimensions

8" x 4 ½" x 1 ¼"

Weight

1.40 lbs

Product Code

9781641716918

Author

Rick Steves & Steve Smith

Pages

1183

Publication Date

May 2026 (22nd edition)

Next Edition Arrives

Summer 2028

5 stars: 20 (80%)
4 stars: 4 (16%)
3 stars: 1 (4%)
2 stars: 0 (0%)
1 star: 0 (0%)

We are planning a trip to France for 2027. Your travel books are awesome and have never steared us wrong.

As with all the other RST guide books, this is a valuable tool that we use for independent travel and when taking a Rick Steves tour. Thank you for all your hard work. It has made our travel adventures seamless, memorable, and amazing! We have taken "the back door" so many times that we feel it is the only way to experience travel!

The France book is very helpful in planning my Rick Steves tour next spring. Your guidebook order information states you don't need a Paris guidebook as the France guidebook will cover that. However, the France guidebook did not include accommodations for Paris in the Luxembourg area. Since I had already stayed in the Rue Cler and Ile St Louis areas, I wanted to experience the Luxembourg area. The Paris book does cover that as well as detailed information on how to get to the Marmottan museum that the France book only minimally details. I purchased the Paris book and am so glad I did! It helps me especially as a single traveler.

EXCELLENT travel guidebook! Our international travel plans ALWAYS include the valuable information, insights, advice, and recommendations of Rick Steve's. We don't leave home without it!

Love our guidebook for France 🇫🇷
We are heading there next year on our first Rick Steves tour,, celebrating our 50th anniversary!!!
Already booked and ready to go 💙💙

Happy to have received it

A wonderful resource that I'll use over and over. Very comprehensive and interesting.

Must have guide book for traveling in France!

I’ve always loved the travel books-Italy , Portugal and now France .

Would like information on Bordeaux and the southwestern area of France.

This is a good book with excellent information on getting around France, times sites are open and what sites require reservation times. Also, there is good information on itineraries, and day trips, walking tours and what to see in museums and churches.

Very informative a good read. About halfway through right now.

Great information and thank you for sending the France Tour Book by Rick Steves! We love it!

These books are always perfect for our travel needs

So much information!! Every question I had was answered! Thank you

His guides are always the best!

The book is great, as always.

Tons of great info!

Great book, we will be using on our trip to France in September. Thanks for all the great updated information.

very helpful in getting info before trip

Thoughtful, useful information abounds

Nice handbook for my upcoming tour.

I have really enjoyed reading/learning. It is so comprehensive. Makes it a great guide book.

The map is not great, it does not have the street where our hotel is, making it difficult to see what is nearby. The transportation section makes the system seem difficult to use. The info on how to get from the airport to the hotel is a bit confusing. (Our hotel is not on the recommended list).

I'm old with old man's eyes. I feel pretty sure, Rick, that you know what I'm talking about.

I know that you've packed a whole lot of information in the book, but it's usefulness is diminished if I can't see the words. How about type that is one or two points larger?

That's my only complaint.

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