keribear02

My husband and I are planning to go to Paris, London, and Bath later this month. We have been working with some guide books to develop an itinerary, but the books conflict and we get confused. Here is our latest, is it even do-able? Any suggestions?

Day 1: Arrive in Paris (Thursday)
9:40a Arrive, get bags, taxi to hotel
11:00a Check into Hotel
12:00p Lunch at Angelina 1st arr.
Place de la oncorde
Walk Champs-Elysees from Arc de Triomphe to Tuileries Garden
Bateux-Monche Seine Cruise 8th arr.
Tour Eiffel Tour
7:30p Dinner at Sensing 6th arr.
10p Sleep

Day 2: Friday
9a Louvre 1st arr. open till 10p on F
12:30p Taillevent 8th arr.
3:00p Rodin Museum (Monet) 7th arr. open till 4:45p
4p Napoleon's Tomb 7th arr. open till 5p
5p Museum of Jewish Art and History 3rd arr. open till 6p
Dinner Somewhere?
8-10p Louvre

Day 3: Saturday
9a Versailles
1p Lunch in Versailles at Le Potager du Roy
back to London
3:30p Centre Pompideou/Musee National d' art moderne 4th arr. Open till 6p
5:00p Notre-Dame 4th arr. Open till 6p
5:45p Sainte-Chapelle 4th arr. Open till 6p
6-7p Ile St- Louis 4th arr.
7:30p Dinner at: Closerie des Lilas 6th arr. 7-11p
10p Harry's New York Bar 18th arr.

Day 4: Sunday
8:30a Marche aux Puces St-Ouen de Clignancourt 18th 9a starts (flea market)
11a Sacre-Coeur 18th
12o Lunch: Allard 6th
1p Taxi to Paris Nord
1:30p Check in at Eurostar
2:13p leave Paris Nord
7:00 p Arrive in Bath, Great Britain

Day 5: Monday
9am Roman and Mid-evil baths
10am Bath Abby
10:30a City Walking Tour
12:30 lunch
2:00p Shop in old Bath
3:30p Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms
5:30p Dinner (for pre-theatre discount menu)
7:00p Thermae Bath Spa
Bar?

Day 6: Tuesday
8:00a Produce Market
9:30a Royal Crescent and Circus
10:30a Pump Room
Picnic Lunch
Mad Max Minibus Tour of Stonehenge and Lacock
Dinner
8pm Bizaare Bath Comedy Walk

Day 7: Wednesday
Train to London
Taxi to Bed and Breakfast: Aster House
1pm Check in
1pm Self-guided Westminster Walk (abby, churchill museum, cabinet war room, houses of parliament, big ben)
3:30p Trafalgar Square and National Gallery
5:00p National Dinning Room
5:30p Britain and London Visitor's Center near Piccadilly
Check out Leicester Square for discounted tickets
Dinner any suggestions?
7:30p Les Miserables?

Day 8: Thursday
9a Big Bus London Tour
11:30a Buckingham Palace/Changing of the Guard
1p Covent Garden for lunch, shopping
3:00p Tour British Museum
4:00p National Portrait Gallery
Dinner
Play, Concert, or walking tour

Day 9: Friday
9a Globe Theatre
10:30a Tate Modern
noon Lunch (Any suggestions?)
2pm Tower of London
3pm Kensington Palace
3:30p British Library
Dinner (Any Suggestions?)
?

Day 10: Saturday
8:30a St. Paul's Cathedral
10a Shopping (Harrods)
noon Gunner's Pub
4pm Arsenal Soccer game
?

Day 11: Sunday
Fly home

tarquin

This sounds well-researched but absolutely exhausting. I think you need to remove two items from each day's schedule.

keribear02

What do you think are things that could be skipped/taken out?

Palenque

3:00p Tour British Museum
4:00p National Portrait Gallery
Dinner
some of the planning IMO is simply impossible

2pm Tower of London
3pm Kensington Palace
3:30p British Library

It may take you an hour to get into the Tower and once inside more than an hour - sep if take Beefeater tour, etc. then to get to Kensington Palace from the Tower will take probably 30 mins

and it will take 20 mins to go between Kensington Palace and British Library - and you only allow 30 mins to both see the palace and get over to the British Library.

impossible?

janisj

OK - just a few random comments . . .

Day 2 in Paris has you dashing from the 8th to the 7th to the 3rd to the 1st. That is a lot of travel - plus I don't think you'd have time for the Rodin Museum, Napoleon's Tomb and the Museum of Jewish Art and History between 3 and 6 PM.

"<i>Day 4: Sunday
8:30a Marche aux Puces St-Ouen de Clignancourt 18th 9a starts (flea market)
11a Sacre-Coeur 18th
12o Lunch: Allard 6th
1p Taxi to Paris Nord
1:30p Check in at Eurostar
2:13p leave Paris Nord
7:00 p Arrive in Bath, Great Britain</i>

You are jumping all around Paris -- from the 18th to the 6th and back to Gare du Nord all by 1 PM. Eat lunch somewhere near Sacre Coeur - you won't have time to get to the 6th, eat and on to the station.

Paris to Bath isn't just get on a train in Paris and get off in Bath. You will arrive at St Pancras station. Then you need to take the tube or a taxi to Paddington for a train to Bath.

Some of your London days are difficult to nearly impossible. Especially days 8 and 9. And VERY especially day 9. The Tower, Tate Modern and the Globe is easily a full day's worth. Arriving at the Tower at 2 PM and then at Kens Palace at 3 PM is honestly impossible. Plan on at least 2.5 to 3 hours at the Tower alone. For a place to eat -- the Tate has a good cafe and wonderful restaurant on site.

Look at a map of the city and group things that are near each other.

"<i>5:30p Britain and London Visitor's Center near Piccadilly</i>" Any particular reason you need to go there? It is just a tourist information office.

janisj

was posting the same time as the others . . . .

Palenque

brings to mind the 'more than impossible' retort you once gave to someone - and here i agree as nearly every day has packed in way too much to even be able to do

Go back and prioritize your favorites and cut about half out of each day in Paris and London- Bath seems feasible to me

bardo1

Generally, it's OK, but don't be surprised if you don't get to everything. Before I comment, I just want to say that it IS a good framework, but you shouldn't plan on everything going exactly as planned. Go with an open mind and be flexible if things don't work exactly as you scheduled.

A lot of restaurants don't open their doors before 8pm for dinner, double check the ones you've selected.

Day 1 - looks good.

Day 2 - Get to the Louvre right when they open (and have museum pass in hand before you arrive to avoid LONG lines for tickets). Enter the Louvre through from the Palais-Royal/Musee du Louvre Metro station through the Passage Richelieu. Plan to arrive at 8:50am.

Day 3 - Again, time yourselves so your train arrives in Versailles by 8:45AM. Crowds only get worse as the day goes on and weekends are the worst. You cannot arrive at Notre Dame an 5:00p, see Notre Dame and be Sainte-Chapelle by 5:45. The lines for St. Chapelle alone can be 90 minutes. If St. Chapelle is a must for you, you may need to cut the Pompideou.

Day 4 - Skip the flea market. It's mostly junk and not worth your time. You barely have to to explore the Montmartre area andf have lunch before you check out of your hotel and arrive at the Gare du Nord station.

Day 5 and 6 look fine. You have allowed plenty of time to see Bath and it's offerings.

Day 7 - Busy but you may be OK. I assume you two have lots of energy and stamina.

Day 8 - Less than an hour in the British Museum? Otherwise, looks busy but OK. You'll need to be in "flexible mode" Day 7 and 8.

Day 9 - Same thing - be flexible. The actual Tower of London tour is longer than an hour not counting the lines and time getting from Tower to the door of Kensington Palace by 3:00. Somethings gonna give - just accept it.

Day 10 - OK.

keribear02

Ahh, yuck! I have a lot of moving and deleting to do. Anyone have a good itinerary I could look at to help?

TPAYT

WOW!!! You must drink a lot of coffee. Just my opinion,but way overload. You really won't see anything. Again just my opinion.

Here's my take on it: Remember most of these places will have long lines to wait in that will eat up your time.

Thurs.--you won't get to your hotel until 12-12:30. Check in, have lunch, skip the Champs(long, wide, very commercial). Metro or taxi to Eiffel for your cruise (you are now probably up for 24+ hrs. or so) then see Eiffel, or see Eiffel then cruise. Now if you're still standing, Metro to Arch de Triumph. Back to hotel & regroup for dinner.

If you can do all of this on your first day with jet lag, I commend you.

Fri.--Louvre (you can check out The Tuilleries and the Louvre Plaza at this time). Lunch, and the Rodin. Unless there is a special reason, skip Invalldies and Napoleon's Tomb (absolutely, huge, gray, and boring, IMO). Jewish Art Museum, and maybe add Place Vosges in the Marais (beautiful).

Sat.--Way too much. Versailles is so stunning you will want more. Then I'd do either the Pompideou or Notre Dame & St.Chapelle. Personally I'd choose the latter with a walk on Ile St. Louis.

Sun.---I'd skip the flea market (seen one, seen them all, unless this is a big thing with you). I'd Metro to Sacre Couer, then Metro to Luxembourg Gardens (absolutely fabulous on Sun.). With lunch at noon, this is also alot on your plate.

After seven visits to Paris these are some of my must sees for a first visit: You pick & choose.

Eiffel Tower
Seine River Cruise
Louvre Plaza w/the Tuilleries Visit inside the gigantic Louvre if you must.
Luxembourg Gardens
Place Vosges
The Rodin
D'Orsay
Versailles
Sacre Couer

That said, have a wonderful time in our favorite city on earth.

bardo1

"<i>A lot of restaurants don't open their doors before 8pm for dinner, double check the ones you've selected.</i>"

Just to be clear, this only applies to Paris...

bardo1

<i>Anyone have a good itinerary I could look at to help?</i>

It would be more helpful for you to take another stab at it and come back for comments or with questions. For example, we don't know how important it is for you to go UP the Eiffel Tower. The lines are 1 to 2 hours depending on the time of day. YOU may decide to just see it up close (or even better from the Trocedero).

You'll get there soon enough, just look at all the comments to date and decide what is most important to YOU and delete/pare down accordingly.

Looking forward to the next iteration of your itinerary. Don't get discouraged.

avalon

I too would skip St Oeun, if you want a market try the Richard Lenoir at Bastille on a Sunday.

You need more that 15 minutes for St Chapelle.

But one really nice thing you are doing is staying at Aster House. I love that place. Stayed there many times before we started renting. If Simon is still running it you are in for a treat.

nytraveler

This schedule is based on two facts:
You have some special means of instantaneous tranport from one place to another (via phone booths?)
You will walk by most places rather than enter

Tower of London is 1/2 day - including getting tickets and touring the varouis buildings

You need to get a Michelin guide book which lists each major site and tells you about how long it will take to tour. the time they have is average tourist - not someone who wants to see every single display

You can do about half of what you have listed.

And you're cutting yourself short on meals, relxing and people watching.

StCirq

My goodness. What a combination of OCD and downright impossible. My first suggestion would be to put the guidebooks aside for the moment, now that you've at least identified things you want to see, and get out a detailed map (of Paris - I'll let others speak to London). Group your activities by proximity. As it is now, you are zig-zagging all over the place and will lose valuable time from an already overpacked schedule. My second suggestion would be to bag the idea of putting a specific time for each activity. All you really need to know is about what time you'll get to the first place you're going to visit, when you have lunch reservations (if you do), and when you have dinner or other appointments. You just will not be able to micromanage an itinerary and say you'll spend an hour here, 15 minutes there, etc. Just doesn't happen like that.

Some specific thoughts: Sainte Chapelle is all about the lighting, so I'd make sure I was there at the sunniest time of day on a sunny day. "Scheduling" for a particular time/day could mean you're there in a thunderstorm. Skip St-Ouen. And IMO, too much time at the Louvre, too little at the Pompidou (surprised myself by spending 4 hours there on last visit), and none at the Musée d'Orsay. Day 2 needs paring down especially - you just won't get to all those places.

Glad to hear you're going to the Closerie des Lilas - love that place!

keribear02

DOkay, here's a 2nd attempt, incorporating suggestions from the above responders.

Day 1: Arrive in Paris (Thursday)
9:40a Arrive, get bags, taxi to hotel
12:00a Check into Hotel
1:00p Lunch at Angelina 1st arr.
Bateux-Monche Seine Cruise 8th arr.
Tour Eiffel Tour
7:30p Dinner at Sensing 6th arr.
10p Sleep

Day 2: Friday
8:45a Louvre 1st arr. See Louvre Plaza w/ Tuilleries
12:30p Taillevent 8th arr.
3:00p Rodin Museum (Monet) 7th arr. open till 4:45p
5p Museum of Jewish Art and History 3rd arr. open till 6p
Place Vosges in the Marais
Dinner Somewhere?
8-10p Louvre

Day 3: Saturday
8:45a Versailles
1p Lunch in Versailles at Le Potager du Roy
back to London
5:00p Notre-Dame 4th arr. Open till 6p
5:45p Sainte-Chapelle 4th arr. Open till 6p
6-7p Ile St- Louis 4th arr.
7:30p Dinner at: Closerie des Lilas 6th arr. 7-11p
10p Harry's New York Bar 18th arr.

Day 4: Sunday
9a Sacre-Coeur 18th
11a Luxemburg Gardens
12p Lunch somewhere?
1p Taxi to Paris Nord
1:30p Check in at Eurostar
2:13p leave Paris Nord
3:30p (london time) Arrive in St. Pancras
4:30p leave St. Pancras
5:03 Arrive London Paddington
6:38 arrive Bath Spa
7:00 p Arrive in Bath, Great Britain

Day 5: Monday
9am Roman and Mid-evil baths
10am Bath Abby
10:30a City Walking Tour
12:30 lunch
2:00p Shop in old Bath
3:30p Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms
5:30p Dinner (for pre-theatre discount menu)
7:00p Thermae Bath Spa
Bar?

Day 6: Tuesday
8:00a Produce Market
9:30a Royal Crescent and Circus
10:30a Pump Room
Picnic Lunch
Mad Max Minibus Tour of Stonehenge and Lacock
Dinner
8pm Bizaare Bath Comedy Walk

Day 7: Wednesday
Train to London
Taxi to Bed and Breakfast: Aster House
1pm Check in
2pm Self-guided Westminster Walk (abby, churchill museum, cabinet war room, houses of parliament, big ben)
3:30p National Dining Room w/ afternoon tea
5:00-6:00p National Gallery
Trafalgar Square
Check out Leicester Square for discounted tickets
7:30p Les Miserables?
10p Dinner any suggestions?

Day 8: Thursday
9a Big Bus London Tour
11:30a Buckingham Palace/Changing of the Guard
1p Covent Garden for lunch, window shopping
3:00p Tour British Museum
7pm Dinner
Play, Concert, or walking tour

Day 9: Friday
8:45a Globe Theatre
10:30a Tate Modern
12:30p lunch at Tate restaurant
1:30p British Library
3:30-5:30p Tower of London
Dinner (Any Suggestions?)
Night Life of some sort?

Day 10: Saturday
8:30a St. Paul's Cathedral
10a Kensington Palace
12p Shopping (Harrods)
1:30p Gunner's Pub
4pm Arsenal Soccer game
?

Day 11: Sunday
Fly home

What I'm noticing is that most things are open until 5 or 6p at the latest....Then dinner isn't until late. What else is there to do/see after that? It's hard to get all the museums in, that's for sure!

Thanks so much for your suggestions. They've been very helpful. I'll probably check out a map of London and Paris later today to see how I can cluster activities together.

azzure

I had to laugh at the idea of touring the British Museum in 1 hour, and Ste. Chappelle in 15 minutes!! Also bear in mind that you can't just walk right into many of the places you intend to visit; there are often waiting lines to be negotiated.

rickmav

Can't help you with Paris, but can suggest itinerary for London:
- Take underground to Trafalgar Square. See Nelson's Column. While here you can pop in to see National Gallery and/or National Portrait Gallery which are next door to each other. As you obviously want to see a lot of things in a short amount of time, I'd focus on particular exhibits/or time periods for this first visit. You really will only be able to whet your appetite.
- Walk under Admiralty Arch down Pall Mall towards Buckingham Palace. Just before you get to the Palace, on your right, is Clarence House. In front of Buckingham Palce is the Queen Victoria Memorial. (I wouldn't worry about seeing the changing of the guard. The soldiers are behind a huge fence and far away, so you can't see much anyway.)
- Turn south at the Palace, then east along Birdcage Walk (which borders St. James's Park). At Horse Guard Road go north a bit to the Cabinet War Rooms & Churchill Museum (you didn't say in your question whether you are just walking by or planning on going in. If you are planning to visit this will affect the time you have for this day. I'd pick either the Nat. Gallery/Portrait Gallery or Cabinet/Churchill Museum since you only have half a day.)
- When you come out of the War Rooms go east toward the Thames River on George St. On your right (south), you'll see the north side of Westminster Abbey. Head east towards the Thames, should come to the Houses of Parliament. At the north end is Big Ben. Continue north along Whitehall; pass by #10 Downing Street. Continue north on Whitehall, it will take you back to Trafalgar Square.

(The other option if you don't feel like walking is to take the Big Bus London Sightseeing Tour which basically lets you tour the city on a bus and hop on and off at different points.
- Dinner and theatre. (I never have much luck at the half-price booth - I either end up seeing a play I'm not that interested in because the tickets are cheap, or I pay as much as I would have anyway but for front row seats and I get a crick in my neck - but janisj seems to have figured out a trick to make it work - hopefully she sees this.)

Day 2 – Tower of London (be there early).
- Have leisurely lunch afterwards at Covent Garden watching the entertainment.
- Visit St Paul's
- If you are still full of energy, can see Temple Church/Inner Temple area or Courtauld Institute (not on your list but worth seeing).
- For dinner tube to Piccadilly Circus. See statue of Eros. Great place to people-watch. Walk north towards Gerrard & Lisle streets. Have dinner in Chinatown.

Day 3 – British Museum - there is so much to see here. I couldn't imagine spending less than two hours. But, again, if you want to go in and out, look at website ahead of time and see what you are most interested in and head there.)
- Stroll through Hyde Park - Albert Memorial. Lunch at Serpentine restaurant (I may have that name wrong.) It's right in the middle of the park.
- At the west side of Hyde Park is Kensington Palace. Walk east on Kensington Road/Knightsbridge. (Instead of K.P. you could stop in at the Victoria & Albert Museum instead.)
- Turn south-west at Brompton Road, and about a third of the way down is Harrod's. The Food Hall's are particularly amazing.
- Why not do something different and attend taping of BBC show - I can look through my files for info. on free tickets if you are interested.)

Day 4 - Globe Theatre
- Tate Modern
- Lunch along the river
- British Library
- Your football game

Hope you have a great visit.

StCirq

Sorry, I see a few improvements, but keep trying. And what you do after the museums close and before dinner, especially in your case, is sit at a café and unwind or find a bench and take a nap.

jent103

I can really only help with London. Your observation about dinner doesn't really apply there - places are open at usual North American times. But museums do tend to close around 5 or 6 unless it's a late closing night (once a week or so for most). I'm assuming you've already checked opening/closing times.

<i>Day 7: Wednesday
2pm Self-guided Westminster Walk (abby, churchill museum, cabinet war room, houses of parliament, big ben)</i>
The War Rooms themselves will take the entire hour and a half you have allotted for this. Parliament and Big Ben are walk-bys, but if you plan to tour the Abbey as well, you simply need more time for this.

<i>5:00-6:00p National Gallery</i>
You won't see much of the place in an hour. I'd skip tea this day and devote that time to either Westminster Abbey or the Gallery.

<i>Check out Leicester Square for discounted tickets</i>
I don't know how likely it is that you'll find much at this late hour. I'd look for tickets as the first order of business once you check in, or better yet, plan to do this on another day. Save this night for relaxing.

<i>Day 8: Thursday
9a Big Bus London Tour</i>
You have many of the sites you'll see on this tour on your list already. Skip the tour, save the money and use your time elsewhere.

<i>11:30a Buckingham Palace/Changing of the Guard</i>
If you want to do this, you need to arrive early to get decent spots. Opinions abound as to whether the experience is worth standing around for a couple of hours when you could be doing other things.

<i>Day 9: Friday
1:30p British Library
3:30-5:30p Tower of London</i>
This has you leaving the South Bank to go up to King's Cross, only to come back across town to the same general area again right afterwards. Move the Library (and TKTS booth?) to the Big Bus time and add the extra time to the Tower. nytraveler is right - it's half a day to see the Tower thoroughly.

<i>Day 10: Saturday
8:30a St. Paul's Cathedral</i>
What do you want to do at St Paul's? Climb the steps? Visit the crypt? If so, you'll probably need more than an hour and a half. My opinion: Shopping at Harrod's isn't worth it unless you're in the area and just want to look, or have a very large amount of discretionary income to spend. I have no idea about the pub or soccer game. Unless it's a special pub, personally I'd skip Kensington Palace and Harrod's, and visit the National Portrait Gallery, the V&A, Borough Market, <b>or</b> just save the time to do whatever you've missed or didn't allow enough time for. Grab lunch somewhere else and just go out there for the game.

This is still a busy and packed itinerary. I tend to pack more in than many Fodor's posters and get why you want to do so much, but be prepared to be very tired at the end of your trip. And get good shoes.