The Maps Of Paris & The Paris Guide Books We Like The Most

Ready to savor the city? Here we'll guide you to one guide we consider as well as a couple of lightweight, easy-to-carry maps. Let's start with this advice — a Paris tourist map or guide book is the right choice when you just want to see the sights and enjoy your time in Paris, but don't need to drill down to specific street numbers. If that's you, read on to learn about our favorite pocket guides.

Frommer's Paris Day by Day

23 Smart Ways to See the City

• Maps scale varies
• 184 pages
• Good Metro map
• Includes fold-out map
• 8.6 ounces

We're not big fans of mainstream guide books, but this pocket guide by Frommer impressed us. It has good sections with useful suggestions on walks, the Paris gardens, full day tour ideas, and so on. The Paris tourist maps that accompany each of the suggested itineraries are surprisingly good.

The front covers unfolds into a good Metro map, with a tourist map of Paris on the other side. The book also includes a small (that is, easy to handle) folded paper map as well.

Streetwise Paris Map

Laminated City Center Map

• 1/14,000
• 2-sided accordion fold
• Good Metro map
• Weighs nothing!

Streetwise Paris is different from most folded maps. It has an accordion fold, making it easy to use on the street or Metro. It's laminated, making it waterproof and tear-proof, a real benefit. And, there's a very good Metro map in the classic style.

The Streetwise map covers the areas of Paris where most of the tourist action is. Streetwise is highly recommended by travelers, who consider it the ultimate tourist map of Paris. While we like it, our eyes tell us that the scale is a bit small for easy reading.

Artwise Paris

Laminated Museum Map

• 1/14,000
• 2-sided accordion fold
• Good Metro map
• Weighs nothing!

Based on the Streetwise map, Artwise Paris concentrates on things cultural like museums and art galleries, covering the city from Boulevard de Port Royal in the south to Boulevard Haussmann in the north.

The map index provide details on hours of operation, admission costs, addresses and phone numbers.

We like that the Metro stops are clearly indicated, and it also has a nice, separate Metro map.