Rick's books Do I need the Provence when I have France 2012?

If you are spending just a few days in Provence, you can probably get by with just the France book. If, however, you are planning on spending quite a bit of time in the are, the Provence book definitely has more detail, including entire villages that are not included in the other book. My advice would be to flip through the Provence book in the bookstore, and decide for yourself if you need that level of detail. We are also planning a month in France next fall, and I've found the Provence book very helpful.

Trips are expensive, and guidebooks are cheap. I'd rather buy one and find I didn't need it than not buy one that would have been useful. Which does not answer your question, but if you are in doubt, buy it.

I agree with Adam, buying the actual book and bringing it is best. An alternative, which I have often done, is go to the library and copy all the pages of the sites and towns you will visit. As we go along on our trip, I keep throwing out the pages we don't need anymore. The negative of copying, is that there have been times when we went somewhere I didn't know we were going to go to and I had no info for it. That's why having the whole book is best imo.

I was in Provence last September for the first time. I only had 3 nights there, but the Provence book was invaluable. I am now re-reading it in preparation for a future trip. How long will you be there? If only a couple of days you can get by with your France book. Otherwise, go for the much more detailed Provence book. Bon Voyage

Definitely buy a regional guidebook that includes Provence. When I went to Nice and the Luberon area of Provence in 2005, I found both the Rick Steves Provence & the French Riviera guidebook and the Lonely Planet Provence & the Cote d'Azur guidebook to be extremely valuable. Since you already have the Rick Steves France guidebook, if you only want to buy one additional guidebook, make it the Lonely Planet book. It will give you a different perspective and it's much more detailed than the Rick Steves book.

"Provence Byways", Guidebook to the Luberon Region of Provence, by Bob and Sue Winn, is an excellent personal look at the Luberon. They lived in the region for several years before returning to the US. Let me know if you want it and can't find it-we loved its day trips listed.

Thanks for the good information. I already started reading the Provence book and can see the incredible detail which is what I need as I am still trying to figure out which small village to base in, Louramin, Seguret, St. Remy, and many others. I have a lot to figure out from what must see sights are in and near Arles and Avignon, Orange, Nimes and how much time to slow down in the Luberon area before heading to the coast. We are loosely following RS whirlwhind three week through France, adding another week and going from Paris - Normandy -Loire-Dordogne- Carcassone- Provence- Eze - Annecy and somehow back to Paris. We are a family of 5 who are happy driving on the road and do well with this kind of traveling. Even with all the RS books, its a big undertaking and I appreciate the help and will look for the book that was mentioned last. Have a great summer night and sure wish I was in London watching the Opening ceremonies!!!!!!!