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I'd agree with Ollie - definitely the Green Michelin Guides, for places to see in France,(choose the one for the area you want to visit) and Le Guide Offiiel for campsites in those areas! 

But do read as much as you can about the areas you want to visit - check out your library, or post extra questions on here!

I quite like the Dorling Kindersley or DK Eyewitness series, see here Whilst informative the Michelin Green Guides are a little old fashioned in comparison but it will depend of what style of book you are looking for. If you just want information go for the Michelin but if you want a visual walk through consider the DK range.

David

A comprehensive book on France would be a huge tome - so get any old thing out of the library, chose which region(s) you want to vsit/stay in then buy a good book for the region. We use Rough Guides which give lots of info that's not in the more conventional guides; I think they're now available on-line so are kept up-to-date quite well ... Rough Guides, as the name implies, tend to concentrate on cheap eating and accomodation, public transport and walking. When we last used a Michelin Guide it did seem to concentrate on restaurants and hotels; and drives rather than walks!

We have quite a stock of rough guides bought from charity shops: quite a good way of getting a variety of views; however, we have learned from experience not to rely on them for up-to-date information - always check out htels and isolated restaurants by phone! In these times no book is reliable (and some web-sites are also dodgy). 

Quote: Originally posted by nichel on 28/12/2011

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Can anyone recommend the best guide to France, I've been looking at books on Amazon but have only managed to confuse myself.

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Depends what you want from a guide. But in addition to all the Michelin type guides, our "bible" for 30 yrs has been :-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0855335939/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Not only does it give you an insight into the wine regions in depth, and the local producers, but also restaurants, places of interest, and a mass of local information. Not what everyone wants, but it has introduced us to any number of producers/degustations, and if you have it with you, it is the key which opens many doors, cos the authors are well respected in the territory.

Best investment we ever made for holidaying.

FM

Quote: Originally posted by savanne1 on 29/12/2011

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I reckon the info on this forum takes some beating, I've learnt so much and often write down the names of places etc recommended on here.

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I think the problem with travel guide books is sometimes the people who write them!  They sometimes have a fixed interest - so if someone who loves old churches is writing the book then it becomes mostly a catalogue of all the old churches in an area.  Similarly, if someone is sporty then you'll find all the possible sporty opportunities........ and so on!  Such guides tend to mention other areas of interest only very briefly.

I say this partly because at St Pons this year we met and chatted to someone who edited travel books for a living - and she was just editing a new edition about the Languedoc.  She said the 'manuscript' as it stood was very one-dimensional, and she was trying to get more of a feel for the place, by staying there and seeing and doing lots of things.  I have a feeling that some of our 'over-more-than-one-bottle-du-vin' discussions late into the evenings, of all the fantastic opportunities the less well known parts of the Languedoc offers, may now have found their way into the latest version of the guide she was editing!

We found a whole new perspective to Aigues Mortes, for instance, when walking the walls with our friend who is a history teacher, and who brought the place to life for us with his knowledge of all the wars which had led to the place being built, occupied and falling into disuse.  Similarly, walking around La Couvertoirade with a craftsman mason made us more interested in all the old stonework, doorways, and passages!

I think this is why forums such as this are so good - we all have different interests, and so everyone can add their own specialness to the answers to questions.  So we get a wide range of interests, and a much broader view of what is offered in an area.