We just had a thread I had to remove where no poster was at fault in any way but varying views of a certain tour company were extreme.

I think that the recommendation of guides and tour companies is a wonderful aspect of this board and I am all for sharing of this information.

Remember that we can all have very different experiences with guides and tour companies. A negative review can really damage a persons business and yet that poster wants to be sure no one else has the bad experience they had.

Be aware when you hire a tour guide a recommendation on this board does NOT mean all will go well. I have had so many emails from people who have had "no shows" and problems from private guides they book in advance that I seldom do this personally now.

A touchy and difficult area for this board to tred. Both the negative reviewer and the positive reviewer feel very strongly about their experiences.

I think that my basic rule for this board has to be in play here. Most positive comments get no reaction but negative comments can cause a huge reaction.

"I want this board to be a "happy" place. As such I have decided to have one rule. Any post that contains any negative comment towards another poster, person or group of people will be removed"

So I removed the entire thread, no negative comments and no positive comments. I think that this is the best way to handle a situation like this as I do not want a discussion of a tour company to turn into a thread that changes this from a "happy" place to a place of dissent.

In fact if a guide is recommended and then someone has a negative experience probably best to just remove that guide from the posts.

Unfortunate. Was looking forward to scanning these reviews. Oh well...

Does anyone have a tour guide for Paris to recommend? Thanks..

Mary Elaine,

Carol and I used the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide for Paris about 10 years ago. I think it is a very good one. I would loan you ours but it is very dated, 10 years old, I would go to a book store and take a look at the current one.

Carol and I also used the Frommer guide but it is dated 2000 also.

I would think you could do Paris without a guide just a book or two.

Thanks...I bought the Eyewitness guide and several others.....I ordered a book on Petra...will share it with you when we are traveling...very excited...thanks so much..