Help Needed and Advice on Paris, London, Amsterdam.

welcome to Fodors wp6505.

A hint to help you use the forums and get more out of them. You have posted on the "Travel Tips & Trip Ideas" board which is really intended for posts/questions/discussions about general trip ideas, travel issues. It is a very slow forum compared to the others like "Europe", "United States" etc. Destination-specific threads get MUCH more comment/help if they are posted on the busier boards.

So I would recommend you re-post over on the Europe board which gets 100+ times more traffic. (Or you can e-mail katie at forums@fodors.com and ask her to move your thread)

When you do re-post, it will help to post some specific questions - because there are a LOT of us who can help you w/ all three cities but we need to know what info you need. Where to stay/budget? Restaurants? Museums/passes? transport? theatre? etc etc. Tell us what sorts of things interest you and we'll be able to help more.

Hi WP -

I recently returned from my trip to London and Paris. You're going to have a fab time! There is so much to explore in both cities that you may want to save Amsterdam for another trip. I recommend that you fly in to London, take the Eurostar train to Paris, and then fly home from Paris. (Check Orbitz.com for cheap flights.) I stayed at the Radisson Edwardian Leicester Square in London. It was a safe area that was a perfect base for sightseeing. You can walk to several of the West End theatres, Chinatown, and Covent Garden. The tube stop is very close, and an open-top bus tour leaves from just up the street. I saw Jersey Boys, Wicked, We Will Rock You, and Blood Brothers, and they were all brilliant shows! The Victoria and Albert Museum has lovely fashion and jewelery collections that are definately worth seeing. Be sure to take a ride on the London Eye. The Charles Dickens Museum is also worth a visit if you enjoy his books. Lots of fun shopping in Covent Garden and Gray's Antiques Market. The best meal that I had was at Rules, which is the oldest restaurant in London. It's on Maiden Lane in Covent Garden, and their rhubarb apple crumble is heavenly. The Beefeaters at the Tower of London are interesting to talk with, and who doesn't enjoy seeing pretty jewels? I felt very safe solo in London because the police are everywhere. Taking the train to Paris is wonderful because you get to see the English and French countryside. It only takes about 2 1/2 hours, so you'll be in Paris before you know it, and it's so much easier than flying. I stayed at Hotel Madison on Blvd. St. Germain in the 6th arrondisment. It seemed to be a pretty safe area that worked really well for sightseeing. I didn't feel as safe in Paris at night as I did in London, so please be careful and take taxis. My favorite museum was the Musee Rodin, which is in a gorgeous old hotel with a charming garden. The Musee d'Orsay is quite wonderful too. The Louvre is huge, so bring good walking shoes and eat a power breakfast before you go. I found it helpful to look at their website ahead of time to pick what I really wanted to see, because you won't be able to see everything. Riding to the top of the Eiffel Tower and taking a cruise along the Seine are very enjoyable. My favorite day was going to Monet's garden and house in Giverny and the palace at Versailles. The best meal that I had was at Le Cigale Recamier, but their are some interesting bistros on Rue Princesse. Please avoid Boullion Racine like the plague because they seat all of the English speaking tourists together on the first floor and give the locals much better service upstairs. There is a fun flea market at Porte de Vanves on Saturdays and Sundays. Half of the fun in Paris is just sitting at a cafe and watching people go by. Notre Dame is definately worth a visit, but I recommend visiting during the day because the neighborhood is a bit shaky. I was told to avoid the area around the Moulin Rouge at night because it's not very safe. Hope that helps you. Bon voyage!!

Hi WP6505,
If you travel by KLM (NWA in the States), you can book a flight USA-Amstedam-London-USA, with a stop in Amsterdam on your way back.
In Paris there´s a small, cheap, although very clean and with a great location hotel: Henry IV (25 place Dauphine | 01 Arr., Paris 75001, France. Tel: 01-43-54-44-53 ), right between Notre Dame and the Louvre. I have stayed there twice and all was great.
Another good way to travel between cities is by plane: Skyeurope.com, Ryanair.com. Here, with time, you can find really cheap flights within Europe.