Hi!<BR><BR>I was wondering, with all the many books out there on what to do in Paris, which one do you think is good for a young couple, and that might include great 'off the beaten path' things to do. Thank you!

I love the Eyewitness Guide to Paris. Or maybe it's called the DK Guide to Paris.

There is a gentleman that runs a web site called "anamericaninparis.com". Try the seach engine google if this isn't exact. he gave wonderful advice to my wife and I. I work in Radio and am quite off the beaten path. At least my friends say I am, hahaha.

I second jw's oppinion about the DK Eyewitness guides. Great stuff.

Eyewitness is better illustrated, but the TimeOut Guide is more up to date. If I could only take one guidebook to Paris along, it would be TimeOut.

If you have any interest in visiting some of the more famous cemetaries or the Catacombs, there is a book called "Permanent Parisians." It gives walking tours and descriptions of some of the more famous gravesights.<BR><BR>FYI, for food, the Paris Zagat's guide is by far the most accurate. 90%+ of the respondants are locals

A couple additional thoughts. Eyewitness is attractive, has photos and drawings, and has great maps (the ones in the back). Access Paris has no photographs but gives a lot of good info and helps identify worthwhile restaurants, stores, attractions, and hotels in any particular area. Many of the other travel guides, such as Fodors, Frommers, and Rick Steves are competent and useful, perhaps covering more info with less detail?? I find these latter guides easier to use to plan my overall trip and to book a hotel, but after I know some details about my trip I like to look through Eyewitness and Access. Access covers the well known and the more mundane, so it includes nuggets of info that could be considered off the beaten path.

I think Timeout for what you want, or else Cadogan. If you want off the beaten path non-entertainment things, Michelin Green Guides are pretty thorough.

I like the |Lonely planet and time out guides. Also if you keep an eye out you can get hold of Time out's listings guide (in english) in some bars.<BR><BR>One place I am certain you can get it is in the Frog and Rosbif in Rue St Denis (an english pub). Its free. The guide not the pub.

DK/Eyewitness and Michelin Green Guide

I agree with www.anamericaninparis.com which we used exclusively for our trip (first time) to Paris. I can't think of anything it didn't cover that we had to know or wanted to know.

I find the Eyewitness guides high on pictures and low on solid info. Plus they are usually a couple years old, so prices and times aren't usually the same. I recommend Frommer's, Fodor's but especially Cadogan if you want some good facts and history and some not so common guide info.

I don't know if it's the only book you should have, but I find The Unofficial Guide to Paris loaded with lots of solid practical and helpful information about Paris.

We're a young couple and always buy TimeOut Guides. Chock full of info, lots of good pictures. Eyewitness is too heavy on pictures and light on info for us.