Guidebooks might be in order; Fodor's anyone?

Rick Steves London and Paris guidebooks have a couple of pages in the front that go over "what do do if you only have one day in Paris/London.". Then there is "what to add if you have one/two more day(s)". That will give you a great starting point.

You could get Top 10 Paris and London by DK Eyewitness Guides, pocket size publications so very easy to read and follow.

Have a look at the websites of London Walks and Paris Walks, which are a good way of getting some on-the-ground guided experiences of both cities, the guides are usually good, and provide lots of history & atmosphere, very cost-effective too. You can then add on to your itinerary the specific landmarks you want to visit yourselves in each place.

Fun ideas, visit the Catacombs( google for info on those) and consider if budget will allow a bike tour ( or if able to splurge a bit, then segways) .. Fat Tire Bike Tours,, google. The Night bike tour of Paris includes a Seine Cruise, so its a good deal. No need to prebook or pay so you can play it by ear re the weather. Google for their website.

Also to enter the Louvre without a huge line, do not use the Pyramide entrance,, its often quite blocked up .. enter from the shopping mall ( its underground) off the Rue Du Rivoli.. Carosuel Mall, or from the metro stop entrance, or Porte de Lions.

tnx a lot guys.. will look it up.. so excited!

There is a lot to do in London that is free--many museums are (British Library and British Museum,National Gallery, Tate Modern,Victoria and Albert, Imperial War Museum, more) In your probably-really-2.5 days, you could confine yourself to only free stuff plus walk around parks and iconic things like the outside of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square plus a park or two plus a Southbank stroll and have to much to get to! You'd see tons, have plenty of photo ops, and only pay for some transport.

But my favorite thing in London is the Tower of London so I'd urge you to spring for that cost.

Get a map and remember that London is HUGE and transport takes time, so don't try to cram too many things into one day. Guide books' lists of "here's what to do in 1 or in 2 days in London" are notoriously unrealistic. If you plan 2-3 main big things each of your full days and group them by neighborhood, you will be fine. I have only heard good things about London Walks, but you don't have to pay for a guide to enjoy lots.

You might do a bit of reading/planning and on a different thread post your tentative itinerary and get some feedback. You didn't say much about what appeals to you guys, so it's hard to give suggestions--you will only barely barely get a hint of a taste of all that London has, but it will be a great time! But giving us a little more idea of what you're interested in may help with the help here.

There are literally thousands of threads here on Fodors about visiting Paris and London. Read them. Your time is terribly short in each city, so peruse all the threads, get yourself maps of the two cities so you can group sites to visit together, get to know the transportation systems around each city ahead of time, and plan, plan, plan - but also be sure to budget time for a sit-down and people-watch in each place.

A boattrip on both the Themes and the Seine. Gives the touristlegs a nice pause and you see so much of the cities in that way

I would recommend writing down your top two or three "must-see-before-I-die" spots in each city. Plan on seeing them and everything else is extra!

will do, guys.. tnx

also, i was interested in going to a few attractions, such as the london eye, do u think its best to buy it from the internet, or i might find better deals there?? any suggestions on sites ?

I suspect that the price for the London Eye is fixed.

Have never done the Eye but have heard suggestion to wait to see what weather is like and buy the morning you want to go--not sure how that all works, but I don't think you need to buy stuff ahead of time.

You may want to look into the 2for1 travel voucher thing from DaysOut (tied to getting PAPER ONE DAY TRAVEL CARDS to be used on the Tube but purchased at a RAIL station)--would want to print out vouchers at home ahead of time. But don't need to purchase anything.

I'd caution you again, as I said above, to not plan too many things in London each day. 2-3 top things with 2-3 other if-we-have-time things. Group by area. Use maps to help do this.

If you have an Apple device, Fodor's Travel Apps for both London and Paris are currently free and work offline. I posted this information on another thread and Fodor's mobile manager added this link:

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=ctQAtwDHy58&subid=&offerid=146261.1&type=10&tmpid=3909&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fax.search.itunes.apple.com%2FWebObjects%2FMZSearch.woa%2Fwa%2Fsearch%3Fentity%3Dsoftware%2526media%3Dall%2526restrict%3Dtrue%2526submit%3DseeAllLockups%2526term%3Dfodors%2520random%2520house

yeah.. went to barnes and noble today and picked up the top 25 travel guides that fodor have for those 2 cities.. it already helped a lot.. will follow through on what u said, texas.. tnx, moolyn

I didn't know about the iPhone apps, @moolyn. Thanks!

i liked that 2 for 1 deal that days out had... really interesting... so, when i take the tube from the airport to queensway, which is where my hotel is, i just have to keep the card and show them at the entrance of the attractions?? or i have to buy in advance the tickets?

No, you can't buy the paper travel card needed for the 2for1 deals from LHR (I assume you are arriving at Heathrow). You will buy Oyster Card (plastic thing that "holds" credit for future travel.) You can "load" one-day-travel card amounts on this plastic Oyster card, but this won't be what you need for using the vouchers which require a paper travel card purchased from a RAIL station. (look at map--there are many stations all over London--look at markings--some have the Underground symbol, some a rail symbol, some both)

You will need to go to a station (I think Paddington will be closest to you) that is a RAIL station as well as a Tube station. Go to a manned booth in the RAIL portion of the station and buy a one-day-paper Travel Card.

The bother of having to go to such a station is one reason you may not find it worth the hassle. Depends on how much you are saving.

However, here's one idea, assuming you were going to ride the Tube from LHR to Bayswater--ride the Picadilly Line to Picadilly Circus; switch to Bakerloo line to Paddington; exit at Paddington into the Station and purchase onedaytravelcards for the next day; get back on the Tube and take the Circle or District line to Bayswater. Walk to hotel; the next day you already have your travel cards to use for the 2for1 deals. (This I guess would charge an extra ride on your already purchased travel card/Oyster, but at least it would be done.)

There may be some problem with above scenario so I won't guarantee its efficacy and invite comment for Aj.

(If you don't bother with getting the paper travel cards on your way to hotel, then you are going to ride Picadilly LIne and change at South Kensington for Circle or District line to Bayswater.)

It's actually easier than it sounds.

Also, we stayed a few hundred yards from this hotel in a B&B on Tenniel Close, and we used Bayswater Tube Station almost exclusively; the one time we used Queensway it was horribly crowded and the lift was broken and we had to walk up hundreds (?) of stairs, spiralling up in a hoard. I could be wrong, but Bayswater looks as close if not closer than Queensway from your hotel. Exit Bayswater Station, turn LEFT onto Queensway Street, (going north) to Porchester Gardens, turn right (west) and go to second road to left, Queensborough Terrace, turn right (south) and find hotel.

very helpful, tnx a lot, texasbookworm

OH duh I am so often directionally challenged--let me amend the above

Exit Bayswater Station, turn left...to Porchester Gardens, turn right (EAST!!!), and go to second....

Do let us know how it all works out.

this app helped me greatly in Europe... well.. two actually:

Metro: navigate the subways by entering points of interest or station names. FREE and works offline

CityMaps2Go: offline maps that show your exact location, attractions, and chosen points of interest without using any cellular data. $1.99

they will save you time

so, im gonna stay there for 4 days, do u think i should get the oyster card to travel around the city and then back to the airport?? and then try to get the travel paper card just for the 2for1 deals?? how much is the fare usually from the airport?