France is Europe's most diverse, tasty, and, in many ways, exciting country to explore. It's a multifaceted cultural fondue. France is nearly as big as Texas, with 61 million people and more than 400 different cheeses. Diversité is a French forte.

This country features three distinct mountain ranges (the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Central), the different-as-night-and-day Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, cosmopolitan cities (such as Paris, Lyon, and Nice—all featured in this book), and sleepy villages. From its Swiss-like Alps to its molto Italian Riviera, and from the Spanish Pyrenees to das German Alsace, you can stay in France, feel like you've sampled much of Europe, and never be more than a short stroll from a good vin rouge.

In Rick Steves' France, you'll find in-depth Rick-tested information on trip planning, hotels, restaurants, tourist offices, transportation, telephones, festivals and holidays, mail and e-mail, weather, survival phrases and easy-to-follow maps. It covers all the best sights (but does not include the illustrated city walks and museum tours found in Rick's Paris guidebook).

• Paris and Surroundings: Versailles, Chartres, Giverny and Disneyland Paris
• Normandy: Rouen, Honfleur, Bayeux, D-Day Beaches and Mont St. Michel
• Brittany: Dinan, St. Malo
• The Loire: Amboise, Chenonceaux, Blois, Chambord, Cheverny, Chaumont, Chinon, Azay-le-Rideau, Langeais, Villandry, and more
• Dordogne: Sarlat, Dordogne River Valley, Cro-Magnon Caves, Oradour-sur-Glane, St. Emilion, Rocamadour, Lot River Valley
• Languedoc: Albi, Carcassonne, Collioure
• Basque Country: St. Jean-de-Luz, Bayonne, Biarritz, French Basque villages plus nearby Spanish towns of San Sebastián, Hondarribia, Guernica and Bilbao
• Provence and the French Riviera: Arles, Avignon, Pont du Gard, Les Baux, Orange, Vaison-la-Romaine, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Roussillon, Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Three Corniches, Monaco, Antibes, Vence
• Eastern France: Lyon, Beaune, Colmar, Route du Vin, Strasbourg, Reims, Verdun, Chamonix and nearby French Alps villages, and Annecy
• Full-color fold-out Planning Map: This handy 141⁄2”x191⁄2” map includes all of France plus regional close-ups of D-Day Beaches, Loire Valley, Dordogne, Provence and Riviera on the front; Paris (with major sights) and Paris Metro/RER map on the back.

Published: November 2012

Will you be driving in France? Carry with you the Michelin Motoring Atlas. It is spiral-bound so it lies flat, is packed with maps including a lot of city maps, and is up-to-date. With Michelin you'll never get lost!