rick steves france tours 2023

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Rick Steves France (Travel Guide) Paperback – October 18, 2022

There is a newer edition of this item:.

• 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 cafés 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 rouge
• 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
• Print length 1208 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Rick Steves
• Publication date October 18, 2022
• Dimensions 4.6 x 2.3 x 8.05 inches
• ISBN-10 1641714611
• ISBN-13 978-1641714617
• See all details

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What sets Rick Steves apart from other travel guides?

A personal and experienced take - Rick Steves has spent over 40 years traveling Europe and he shares his favorite spots and essential travel strategies with you.

Are these books updated for current travel?

Rick and his team fan out across Europe personally checking and updating each listing in his guidebooks. These are the most accurate guides to Europe!

Why should I use a Rick Steves guidebook?

Rick will point you toward worthwhile experiences and help avoid expensive mistakes. A Rick Steves book is like having a tour guide in your pocket!

Editorial Reviews

About the author.

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, daughter Jackie, and his new grandson...baby Atlas. 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.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rick Steves; 20th edition (October 18, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 1208 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1641714611
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1641714617
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.34 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.6 x 2.3 x 8.05 inches
• #80 in Travel Dining Reference
• #165 in General France Travel Guides
• #564 in Tourist Destinations & Museums Guides

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Rick Steves Gave Me a Personal Tour of Paris — Here’s How You Can Get One, Too

This informative guided tour of Paris might just be Rick Steves Europe's best-kept secret.

Kelsey Fowler

As someone who doesn’t mind spending time alone on vacations, I find some of my favorite travel memories include walking around a city or exploring a museum on my own. On a recent trip to Paris, I wanted to experience the history and atmosphere more than the last time I had set foot in the City of Light, when I was focused on checking off the “must see” tourist attractions.

So, driven by the mindset of traversing the city more as a traveler and not a tourist this time around, I decided that, rather than hiring an expensive personal guide, or hopping along on a packed group walking tour, I would turn to one of the most trusted guides in European travel: Rick Steves . Steves is a renowned travel writer, synonymous with European travel and his philosophy of embracing local culture while abroad. The Rick Steves guidebooks are hugely popular — in fact, I picked up the pocket version of the Rick Steves Paris book specifically for this trip.

While I couldn’t book Steves to guide me personally through Paris, I did have the next-best-thing : his audio tour. As I set out to explore the Left Bank, I had the convenience — and added company — of hearing Steves directly in my ear as I started my walk. Great audio guides allow the listener to explore cities at their own pace without needing to map out an itinerary in advance. Simply download the audio tour, head to the first landmark, and hit play.

Steves spent a lot of his 2022 travels talking to himself, carefully noting updates and changes for his 60 self-guided audio tours. In April 2023, Rick Steves Europe republished updated versions of these tours , with guides in Athens, London, Salzburg, Paris, and more. The walking tours are excerpted from Rick Steves guidebooks, and the free Rick Steves Audio Europe app includes bonus features like a companion map, tips, and the full script of each tour.

I opted for the Historic Paris Walk audio tour , as it covered a lot of the neighborhood near my hotel . The tour is advertised as a three-mile journey, and Steves recommends two hours for walking, and another two hours if you choose to go inside the sights.

Zachary Scott/New York Times Magazine/Courtesy of Rick Steves' Europe

Starting out at Notre-Dame de Paris, I was instantly immersed in the story of Paris that Steves tells, building on the history of the city and religion that led to the construction of the cathedral. Even though the Gothic landmark is still undergoing repairs from the 2019 fire, I was able to listen to a good portion of the tour anyway, as Steves hits on a lot of the history and architecture on the outside.

One of the great things about the audio tour is each chapter of the narration has a separate title and picture, making it easy to navigate forward or backward in the audio to find the right location. Walking through the center of the city, I enjoyed having Steves as a companion, bringing me from spot to spot with enough insight to keep even my jet-lagged self interested. His style of narration is friendly and informative. 

The tour also includes verbalized step-by-step directions, so, if you have a good sense of direction, you can easily follow the turns and head to the next landmark or street without missing a beat. (I did have to pause once or twice to look around and make sure I was headed in the right direction.) But it’s easiest to follow the tour in the order Steves has laid out, as I completed almost a full loop around Île de la Cité, from Notre-Dame, to Pont Neuf, the Left Bank, the Latin Quarter, and Place Saint-Michel.

Of course, when I got to the famous bookstore Shakespeare and Company , I had to pause the guide to go inside. And that wasn't the only time I deviated from the tour: when I reached Sainte-Chapelle, I decided to skip that section as well. Because of Notre-Dame’s closing, this nearby church is even more popular now, and the line was too long for me to wait that day. In the updated tour found in the Rick Steves Audio Europe app, Steves does point out this is the one place to get an advance ticket for.

But as I walked through Paris, it truly felt like I had a personal guide with me. I didn’t feel like a tourist at all — I never had to pull out a map or a guidebook, and it made me appreciate walking through the city while learning its history.

The next day, I went to the Musée d’Orsay , one of Paris’s most popular museums, perhaps best-known for its extensive Impressionist collection with works by Van Gogh and Monet, among many others. Here, I pulled out my pocket-sized Rick Steves Paris guidebook (and quietly read it aloud to a friend as we walked the vibrant maze of Manets and Picassos). Steves also has an audio tour of the museum, and others, like the Louvre, if you’re more inclined to listen rather than read. 

If you — like me — are not an art student, but still want to appreciate these masterful works, Steves’s guides are helpful in pointing out which works are important to stop at, and what to look for once you’re there. I loved hearing more about the art world throughout history in Paris, and Steves is able to compare and contrast differing styles and movement, and build on that knowledge as you progress in time throughout the museum.

The Steves guides allowed me to explore landmarks and places I wouldn’t have otherwise known about, and get a great understanding of the city without any language barrier. Plus, self-guided tours offer flexibility and independence, while still offering a rewarding and informative experience. 

The Rick Steves audio guides are all completely free. Interested travelers can install the Rick Steves Audio Europe app to download the latest versions of the tours.

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3. room preferences, 4. physical demands, 5. review & pay deposit, rick steves tours: cancellation policy, cancellations and refunds.

Your tour deposit is 100% refundable for 30 days from the date it is received, unless noted otherwise. Deposits made 60–90 days before a tour departs become non-refundable on the final payment due date. If you book a tour less than 67 days before its departure date, the entire tour cost becomes non-refundable after 7 days, but may be creditable in the event of a medical or family emergency. Once your deposit refund date has passed, your deposit will not be refunded under any circumstance.

Cancellations must be in writing: sent via email to [email protected] , or mailed to the address below. Cancellations become effective on the date received by Rick Steves' Europe and are governed by the RSE Tour Conditions .

Rick Steves' Europe, Inc. 130 4th Ave N Edmonds, WA, 98020-3114

Rick Steves Tours: Cancellation Policy for 2024 Tours

Cancellations and refunds for 2024 tours.

Tour deposits are refundable up to 120 days prior to the tour's departure date. Deposits made 91–150 days before a tour departs become non-refundable after 30 days. Deposits made 68–90 days before a tour departs become non-refundable on the final payment due date. If you book a tour less than 67 days before its departure date, the entire tour cost becomes non-refundable after 7 days, but may be creditable in the case of a Creditable Event, as outlined below. Once your deposit refund date has passed, your deposit will not be refunded under any circumstance.

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France Tours

Rick Steves France tours provide the best value for your trip to Europe. Our stress-free France vacations package together small groups, great guides, central hotels, all sightseeing — and memories to last a lifetime.

Browse Rick's best France tours and vacation packages:

Best of Paris in 7 Days Tour

$2,595 to $2,895 + Air

$2,395 to $2,995 + Air

Paris & the Heart of France in 11 Days Tour

$3,795 to $3,995 + Air

$3,995 to $4,395 + Air

Loire to the South of France in 13 Days Tour

$4,295 + Air

$4,395 to $4,695 + Air

Best of Eastern France in 14 Days Tour

$4,695 + Air

$4,695 to $5,195 + Air

My Way® France in 13 Days

$3,295 + Air

$3,395 to $3,595 + Air

Best of Europe in 21 Days Tour

$6,295 + Air

$6,195 to $6,445 + Air

Best of Europe in 14 Days Tour

$4,495 + Air

$4,695 to $5,095 + Air

Family Europe: London to Florence in 13 Days Tour

$4,995 + Air

My Way® Alpine Europe in 12 Days

$3,295 to $3,495 + Air

Basque Country of Spain & France in 9 Days Tour

$2,995 + Air

$2,995 to $3,195 + Air

The Lesser-Known Signature Experience Rick Steves Recommends In Paris

Paris locals and its millions of visitors get to benefit from an expansive public transportation system. Metro lines (subways) cover the major points of interest within Paris, while trains and buses reach far and wide outside of the city. This likely eases the minds of tourists, as driving in the City of Light seems daunting. Big streets have multiple lanes, and you won't see a single stop sign in Paris either. However, there are ways to get around the city hassle-free and sightsee at the same time.

While travel guru Rick Steves uses public transportation to see all the must-see places around Europe, he had a particularly memorable experience with a taxi tour in the French capital. "In Paris — the City of Light — a $65 hour-long taxi ride at night gets me a blitz tour of the city's best views," he explained on his website . Steves usually promotes budget travel, but a Paris taxi tour is something  Steves says to splurge on for the best trip to Europe . Paris' City of Light nickname plays into his reasoning.

Driving through Paris at night is something you won't forget

At any time of day, Paris boasts postcard-worthy destinations and architecture reminiscent of a classic movie. But at night, you can truly experience why Paris is called the City of Light. "The French have raised floodlighting to an art form, and Paris makes one beautiful canvas," says Steves. Landmarks known all over the world, like l'Arc de Triomphe, Basilica du Sacré-Cœur, Les Invalides, and of course the Eiffel Tower, shine in bright golden hues at night. Add in the lovely streetlamps all over the city and you'll see why Steves loved his nighttime taxi ride through Paris.

Steves also wants travelers to get authentic experiences wherever they go. A taxi ride can offer just that. "Anything that puts me in touch with the pulse of a place finds room on my splurge list," he explains. Metros in Paris take you underground, while taxi rides keep you up among the nightlife. Sometimes taxi drivers can offer insights on Parisian life, making taxi tours the perfect combination of transportation and education. Tour companies vary, but a standout among Tripadvisor reviewers is 2CVParisTour . Not only do you get a city tour with this company, but the tour is from the comforts of an adorable vintage car.