Guidebooks on France for the independent traveller, such as Lonely Planet and Rough Guides are the first reference for tourism information. Nowadays there are so many that it is not easy to pick the best. The main factors in choosing a French travel guidebook are the balance between practical information and background and assessing what budget-range it caters for. Many major publishers have started to produce more and more regional books but the Michelin Green Guides series remains the most comprehensive guidebook for touring France.

Pocket travel guides are pocket in size and content and are ideal for short stays and weekend breaks. Titles include guidebooks for Channel hoppers, for tourists wanting to combine walking and sightseeing with great food experiences and books for city slickers wanting to enjoy the Ville Lumiére to the full in the space of a weekend.

Illustrated books for tourists, the most illustrious representatives being Insight Guides, Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Guides and Everyman Guides, distinguish themselves for the large use of colour photography and graphics.

To view the selection of Travel Guides for France available from Stanfords, click here.

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Alongside the ever-reliable Michelin Red Guide, there is a large range of French hotel and accommodation guidebooks for tourists: Karen Brown's Charming Bed&Breakfasts, the Routard/Rough Guide to French Hotels and Restaurants 2001, camping and caravanning books from Michelin and from Alan Rogers, self-catering French accommodation guidebooks. Most tourism guides to France include a list of different accommodation options but if the hotel and surroundings are of major interest and concern, it is worth looking through these titles.

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Autobiographical accounts of touring France and relevant French fiction will give real-life tourists and armchair travellers an effective insight into the atmosphere and culture of the country. Take for example Peter Mayle's trilogy on his life in Provence Encore Provence or the TimeOut Book of Paris Short Stories, a collection of stories by different authors that becomes a tribute to the many faces of the city. These books broaden your knowledge of the area you are touring, giving the kind of personal information you won't find in the usual guidebooks.

Click here to view Stanfords Travel Literature catalogue for France.

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As with the Travel Literature titles, these are books that offer a deeper understanding of the foreign country. They can be inspirational or drive you to cancel the holiday! Written by British people that have lived in the country, they focus on the peculiarities of French culture and national identity. Comprehensive French books will include information on local colour, economy, society and politics but the titles here have the kind of details about hotel accommodation, touring, walking, etc. that you want to know when travelling abroad.

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