London 2005 summer trip- feeling a bit guilty about posting today
Aug 14th, 2004, 03:03 PM
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London 2005 summer trip- feeling a bit guilty about posting today
I got confirmation today from chslondon rentals about our deposit for a flat for my kids and I for next summer. In light of the devastation that people are dealing with down in Florida, I almost feel guilty in being happy and excited from this news, but I did want to send my thanks for the tips and advice. I would not have found an affordable flat for us without this board.
We have already bought our first guidebook and map! After looking at it, I am concerned about us having enough time. Do you think 7 days is enough? My 15 year old wants to try for a day trip to Paris, but I don't know if it is feasible, both for monetary reasons and time constraints. I think we will be pressed just to see London in that time frame. What are your thoughts?
I can't wait to start planning our itinerary! I am sure to be full of more questions as time passes and the trip draws near. Now it is on to finding 3 cheap plane tickets! Thanks again everyone!
We have already bought our first guidebook and map! After looking at it, I am concerned about us having enough time. Do you think 7 days is enough? My 15 year old wants to try for a day trip to Paris, but I don't know if it is feasible, both for monetary reasons and time constraints. I think we will be pressed just to see London in that time frame. What are your thoughts?
I can't wait to start planning our itinerary! I am sure to be full of more questions as time passes and the trip draws near. Now it is on to finding 3 cheap plane tickets! Thanks again everyone!
Aug 14th, 2004, 03:19 PM
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Feeling excited about your trip doesn't mean you lack compassion or that you don't feel sympathy with those enduring a tough time so don't feel guilty about feeling a little joyous about something good in your life.
There are people living and dying in awful conditions every single day, somewhere on the planet we share and if we felt we were not permitted our own happiness if another was suffering not one of us would be happy today.
Those of us fortunate enough to lead comfortable and happy lives can certainly spare a thought (and perhaps offer practical or financial support) to those in dire straits but can still appreciate and enjoy our own good fortune.
Hope your trip next year is as wonderful as it can be.
There are people living and dying in awful conditions every single day, somewhere on the planet we share and if we felt we were not permitted our own happiness if another was suffering not one of us would be happy today.
Those of us fortunate enough to lead comfortable and happy lives can certainly spare a thought (and perhaps offer practical or financial support) to those in dire straits but can still appreciate and enjoy our own good fortune.
Hope your trip next year is as wonderful as it can be.
Aug 14th, 2004, 03:21 PM
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I'd skip Paris, a day in Paris won't convey much if you've never been before. Seven days is plenty of time for London, I wouldn't try to dilute your experience.
Please ask all the posters here for any tips, eats, shops, etcetera that you'd be interested in knowing more about.
Please ask all the posters here for any tips, eats, shops, etcetera that you'd be interested in knowing more about.
Aug 14th, 2004, 03:45 PM
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We influence our children in so many ways don't we! 
Both of my kids are quickly learning to love to explore different places and reading this fodors talk forum! I guess it is better than spending time with a video game!
We decided on a flat in the Chelsea area of London. I hope it is convenient enough for us. I went to www.thetube.com's journey planner (as suggested by a fodorite) and punched in the address to see times to travel to important London sites- if it is correct, nothing is over 30 minutes, which is OK with us.
I have a couple of early ?s. We have never been on that long of flight before. It will be from DC, about 8 hours I think. I am going to try to do a late night departure- early arrival if I can. How best to handle jet lag and when does it usually affect you?
Day of arrival, next day?
Jury will be out on the Paris side trip for a while, I believe. We are not savvy international travelers by any means. One European country is great in my book!
Both of my kids are quickly learning to love to explore different places and reading this fodors talk forum! I guess it is better than spending time with a video game! We decided on a flat in the Chelsea area of London. I hope it is convenient enough for us. I went to www.thetube.com's journey planner (as suggested by a fodorite) and punched in the address to see times to travel to important London sites- if it is correct, nothing is over 30 minutes, which is OK with us.
I have a couple of early ?s. We have never been on that long of flight before. It will be from DC, about 8 hours I think. I am going to try to do a late night departure- early arrival if I can. How best to handle jet lag and when does it usually affect you?
Day of arrival, next day?
Jury will be out on the Paris side trip for a while, I believe. We are not savvy international travelers by any means. One European country is great in my book!
Aug 14th, 2004, 03:47 PM
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Kavey said it very welll. You must enjoy your good fortune when you can. *Carpe Diem*! Oh, seven days is never enough of *any*thing if you love it enough! You'll have plenty to do in London. Concentrate on that, and leave Paris for another visit.
Aug 14th, 2004, 04:39 PM
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Especially with kids, I think a quick trip from London to Paris and back only makes sense if you at least stay overnight so you can have parts of two days in Paris. See if your public library has a copy of the 7th edition (published in 2003) of _Daytrips London_ by Earl Steinbicher. My slightly older edition lists 55 daytrips and is full of good ideas. The standard jet lag tips include going to bed early the night before you leave and getting up early, avoiding alcohol and caffeine on the plane, drinking plenty of water, skipping the movie and sleeping as much as possible, staying active during the day after you arrive (no naps), and going to bed fairly early in the evening (local time). You should feel pretty good after your first full night of sleep in a real bed.
Aug 14th, 2004, 05:46 PM
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Enjoy your planning and do not feel guilty about pleasure - everyone should enjoy life as much as possible when they can.
We've been to London dozens of times and I think a day trip to Paris would be too time consuming for a 7 day trip. If you feel you really must do it be sure to keep checking Eurostar for the earliest possible time you can get the cheapest one day ticket. It is a long day, you need to start very early and get back very late. There is a one hour time diff between London & Paris.
There are a zillion things to do in London. We were there again this spring and got talking with a mother/teenage son from Ohio - they had 5 pages of things they wanted to do in 7 days. We admired their ambition but expected they would be lucky to do all the things listed on one page I often wonder how they made out.
As for day trips from London, in lieu of Paris, there are so many choices. Windsor, Hampton Court, Warwick Castle, Cambridge, Canterbury, Greenwich, Bath .. the list goes on and on. One of my personal favorites is a place I rarely see mentioned here, Arundel Castle. Nice little town and great castle and not overrun with tourists (altho we have never been there in the summer). It's about 90 min. from London and a wonderful day out in the country along the River Arun.
As for jet lag -- east coast folks do not have the problem we do on the west coast, 11 hr flights are hard !! Just plan on being outdoors alot the first day and do not plan anything heavy duty, you will never remember it anyway! I might also suggest that one of your nites in London you get tickets for The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. Very impressive and educational and well worth the time. You can do a search on Fodor's for the Ceremony,it gets mentioned alot.
A place your 15 yr old might enjoy is Camden Market -- it is loaded with teenagers and lots of flea market bargains and always very crowded.
We've been to London dozens of times and I think a day trip to Paris would be too time consuming for a 7 day trip. If you feel you really must do it be sure to keep checking Eurostar for the earliest possible time you can get the cheapest one day ticket. It is a long day, you need to start very early and get back very late. There is a one hour time diff between London & Paris.
There are a zillion things to do in London. We were there again this spring and got talking with a mother/teenage son from Ohio - they had 5 pages of things they wanted to do in 7 days. We admired their ambition but expected they would be lucky to do all the things listed on one page
I often wonder how they made out.As for day trips from London, in lieu of Paris, there are so many choices. Windsor, Hampton Court, Warwick Castle, Cambridge, Canterbury, Greenwich, Bath .. the list goes on and on. One of my personal favorites is a place I rarely see mentioned here, Arundel Castle. Nice little town and great castle and not overrun with tourists (altho we have never been there in the summer). It's about 90 min. from London and a wonderful day out in the country along the River Arun.
As for jet lag -- east coast folks do not have the problem we do on the west coast, 11 hr flights are hard !! Just plan on being outdoors alot the first day and do not plan anything heavy duty, you will never remember it anyway! I might also suggest that one of your nites in London you get tickets for The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. Very impressive and educational and well worth the time. You can do a search on Fodor's for the Ceremony,it gets mentioned alot.
A place your 15 yr old might enjoy is Camden Market -- it is loaded with teenagers and lots of flea market bargains and always very crowded.
Aug 15th, 2004, 08:59 AM
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there is one problem I have noted with traveling-arrival day with my children.
AS one usually gets in a few hours before the hotel room or flat is accessible, the kids can get very tired. Most of the time it has not been a problem .
But, on our last trip we had to wait over 4 hours for our rooms to be available.! and while they did alright for awhile, with some sightseeing. We stopped for food and drink and they all ended up asleep on the table at a coffee shop
Since you are renting a flat, see if there is flexiblity in arrival time.
as far as jet lag? we have always flown on evening flights with arrivals around 6am-8am europe time.
My children only dose on the plane these days, but they are not young anymore-teenagers- so they do not fall asleep early.
if you have young children , they might get some sleep.
Each time, day of arrival, I make sure that we first spend a couple hours wandering around and then getting a meal into us.
I let them "rest" in the afternoon, (they usually fall asleep) for no more than 2-3 hrs.
Then it is up and out again, more walking wandering, earlier dinner than usual, then off to bed around 9-10.
Don't expect much in the way of excitement from your kids the first day, but after a good nights sleep , they will be "all better "
Kavey is right, in that being excited about your trip means you are lacking in compassion for others.
Life goes on!
as far as Paris, I think there will be enough to do in London.
My children definitely felt our 4 days was not enough and are trying to get me to include London (again) in our next trip.
I think for you taking a train somewhere outside of London for the day would work .
But, I bet you will find enough to keep you busy in that great city .
HAVE fUN!! and I hope this is the first of many trips you will take with your children.
AS one usually gets in a few hours before the hotel room or flat is accessible, the kids can get very tired. Most of the time it has not been a problem .
But, on our last trip we had to wait over 4 hours for our rooms to be available.! and while they did alright for awhile, with some sightseeing. We stopped for food and drink and they all ended up asleep on the table at a coffee shop
Since you are renting a flat, see if there is flexiblity in arrival time.
as far as jet lag? we have always flown on evening flights with arrivals around 6am-8am europe time.
My children only dose on the plane these days, but they are not young anymore-teenagers- so they do not fall asleep early.
if you have young children , they might get some sleep.
Each time, day of arrival, I make sure that we first spend a couple hours wandering around and then getting a meal into us.
I let them "rest" in the afternoon, (they usually fall asleep) for no more than 2-3 hrs.
Then it is up and out again, more walking wandering, earlier dinner than usual, then off to bed around 9-10.
Don't expect much in the way of excitement from your kids the first day, but after a good nights sleep , they will be "all better "
Kavey is right, in that being excited about your trip means you are lacking in compassion for others.
Life goes on!
as far as Paris, I think there will be enough to do in London.
My children definitely felt our 4 days was not enough and are trying to get me to include London (again) in our next trip.
I think for you taking a train somewhere outside of London for the day would work .
But, I bet you will find enough to keep you busy in that great city .
HAVE fUN!! and I hope this is the first of many trips you will take with your children.
Aug 15th, 2004, 09:13 AM
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We've been traveling to London at least once a year since 1998 and still haven't seen all we want to see. You'll be able to see a lot in 7 days, but you won't be able to see everything.
After you look through the guidebooks and do some surfing on the web (every tourist site in London has a website with more current info, prices, directions, etc. than the guidebooks), make a list of the things you want to see the most and plan an itinerary around that. Make sure you plan your days to you're not spending too much time traveling from one side of London to the other.
Having never taken a daytrip to Paris, I can't say whether it's worth it or not - depends how badly you want to take a quick look at Paris. I would, however, recommend taking one day and getting out of London. The UK, outside of London, it a totally different place. Even if you just take the train to Windsor or Hampton Court Palace (very easy daytrips from London) it will give you a small taste of the countryside. We like to plan a daytrip around the middle of the trip - makes a nice break from pounding the pavement in London.
You'll be able to see a lot in 7 days, but you won't be able to see everything.After you look through the guidebooks and do some surfing on the web (every tourist site in London has a website with more current info, prices, directions, etc. than the guidebooks), make a list of the things you want to see the most and plan an itinerary around that. Make sure you plan your days to you're not spending too much time traveling from one side of London to the other.
Having never taken a daytrip to Paris, I can't say whether it's worth it or not - depends how badly you want to take a quick look at Paris. I would, however, recommend taking one day and getting out of London. The UK, outside of London, it a totally different place. Even if you just take the train to Windsor or Hampton Court Palace (very easy daytrips from London) it will give you a small taste of the countryside. We like to plan a daytrip around the middle of the trip - makes a nice break from pounding the pavement in London.
Aug 15th, 2004, 05:39 PM
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Save Paris for a trip of its own! There is so much in London, 7 days will simply fly by. You and the kids will love it. A day trip to Windsor or Hampton Court would be much better than a long, one day trip to Paris. Your son can have Paris to look forward to!
