Rick Steves Paris 2019

by Rick Steves, Steve Smith, Gene Openshaw

Explore every centimeter of Paris, from the top of the Eiffel Tower to the ancient catacombs below the with Rick Steves on your side, Paris can be yours! Inside Rick Steves Paris 2019 you'll Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves Paris 2019 .
Spending just a few days in the city? Try Rick Steves Pocket Paris .

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

713 pages, Paperback

Published October 23, 2018

About the author

Rick Steves is an American travel writer, television personality, and activist known for encouraging meaningful travel that emphasizes cultural immersion and thoughtful global citizenship. Born in California and raised in Edmonds, Washington, he began traveling in his teens, inspired by a family trip to Europe. After graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in European history and business, Steves started teaching travel classes, which led to his first guidebook, Europe Through the Back Door, self-published in 1980.
Steves built his Edmonds-based travel company on the idea that travelers should explore less-touristy areas and engage with local cultures. He gained national prominence as host and producer of Rick Steves' Europe, which has aired on public television since 2000. He also hosts a weekly public radio show, Travel with Rick Steves, and has authored dozens of popular guidebooks, including bestselling titles on Italy and Europe at large.
Beyond travel, Steves is an outspoken advocate for drug policy reform, environmental sustainability, and social justice. He supports marijuana legalization and chairs the board of NORML. He has funded housing for homeless families and donates to anti-hunger and arts organizations. In 2019, he pledged $1 million annually to offset the carbon emissions of his tour groups.
Steves is a practicing Lutheran with Norwegian ancestry and continues to live in Edmonds. He has two adult children and is in a relationship with Reverend Shelley Bryan Wee. Despite health challenges, including a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2024, Steves remains committed to his mission of helping Americans travel with greater purpose, empathy, and understanding of the world. His work reflects a belief that travel, done right, can be both transformative and a force for peace.

Reviews

[Martin Heesacker]

A well-written and well-researched guide. Just a lovely book.

[Hannah Goebel]

Put enough time into this one it deserves to be one of my read books this year

[Clare]

I mean, this is Rick Steves, so it's going to be a solid book. I like reading his guides, not so much to plan out my trip hour-by-hour, but to get a broad overview of the area so I have better context to make decisons. In the digital age, with TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Google, it's not as useful to have specific recommendations (like individual restaurants or hotels), particularly since those change more often than main attractions, so I just skip those sections. Instead, I focus on the maps, the descriptions of well-known destinations (like the Louvre), and the background information on the city's history and culture. I also like the tips about logistics; even in the digital age, you never know what you don't know until someone with more experience tells you what to expect.

For Paris specifically, I came away with a couple good recommendations, although I think some of my own trip will end up being a little more off the beaten path. (I'm planning to go to the Curie Museum, which is not mentioned in this guide.) If you're expecting to be told about "real" Paris or find the places that other tourists miss... by definition, you shouldn't look for that information in a best-selling travel guide. Instead, I recommend using this guide as a jumping off point. If you have more specific interests (like in my case, the history of women in science), you'll need to do additional research using more tailored resources.

[Maresa Taylor]

I don’t think I read this cover to cover, but I’m pretty sure I read and reread enough pages that I’m calling it the equivalent of the entire book. We took a last minute trip to Paris and I was completely unprepared for the transportation, tourist sites, and language. I barely had time to Amazon Prime this to myself, but paired with the podcasts tours, this was everything we could have possibly researched for weeks or months ahead of time. Also, the hard copy maps (especially the train map) were invaluable to us—especially as we were trying to conserve phone batteries and limit international data!

[Chris Nolan]

As usual, this Rick Steves title gives good info on neighborhoods, restaurants, attractions, and so on. This title was written by another writer, and it isn't an improvement over Steves. The descriptions of the major museums and historical sites are both superficial in details and mediocre attempts at humor (e.g., his recommendation for the Louvre tells how to find the five or six "celebrity" artworks, then makes cutesy, uninformed comments about the significance of the pieces). The book came in handy during my trip, but it wouldn't be my recommendation to others as a place to start.

[Deanna]

Love the little details needed!!!

[Kristen]

Chock full of all sorts of great information. Love Rick, and excited for Paris!

[Alissa]

Probably all the information I'll need for my trip!

[Joseph]

I didn’t read this cover-to-cover, but what I did read provided all sorts of useful information.

[Allison]

Perhaps I will re-rate this book after my trip ~ seems to have a lot of great info

[Lani]

Extremely helpful for planning recent trip to Paris.

[Glorimar]

This was a very helpful guide in planning my first trip to Paris. Will definitely be referencing this guide again in the future.

[Darla]

As usual, Rick has tons of tips for making the most of your trip to Paris. Highly recommend!

[Gary R.]

Always great, succinct and clear information from Rick Steves.

[Frances Douglass]

This was incredibly useful on our brief trip to Paris. We’ll keep it in hopes of a return.

[Paul Bennett]

Indispensable.

[Sara barnes]

Rick Steves slays the easy to read, good knowledge and quiet finds game. Thanks king