sewitall

I am taking my granddaughter, age 16, to London and Paris this summer. It is a trip I have promised since she was very young. We will be gone 2 weeks at the end of June and the beginning of July. I have been to London before, but never to Paris. Looking for ideas for another England location to add. Bath is a possibility, but I have been there before.
Also, when I looked at the Warwick Castle website it gave the impression that it was just for young children and it turned her off. The website was very different from a few years ago when I was taking students. Has anyone been there recently. Thanks.

jamikins

What about Amsterdam? Although two weeks is perfect for doing just London and Paris!

Ackislander

Two weeks is perfect for London and Paris.

Has she read the Canterbury Tales or does she know about Thomas a Becket? Canterbury is a great day excursion from London and (great for a teen) has an extensive pedestrian shopping district. Oxford is beautiful and interesting, and in a completely different way, Brighton, which has many funky shops in the North Laines and lots of tatty amusement park stuff at the beach, makes an easy day trip.

Try to do your ticket to arrive in one city and fly back from the other. It is a royal pain to fly between London and Paris. Take Eurostar.

In addition to the usual sites in Paris, most teens would enjoy the Grands Magasins, especially Printemps. They would also like hanging out where lots of other young people hang out -- near the Sorbonne, in the Jardin Luxembourg near the university, Beauborg, etc. She ought to have the chance to visit a branch of FNAC, the French music and electronics giant to see what young French people wear and do.

Watching Amelie and the first Bourne movie will prepare her for the look and feel of various parts of Paris.

I think, especially if you are from the South, that you do need to prepare her for the fact that while the French are very, very polite, they do not smile very much, espcially at strangers on the street.

The most basic French manners: always greet people ("Bonjour, madame/monsieur") even people you only meet briefly, like bus drivers; always thank people ("Merci, madame/monsieur"), always say goodbye: ("Au revoir, madame/monsieur"). This doesn't stop them from pushing and shoving in lines and on the bus or subway, but they are unfailingly polite!

Can't wait until we can take our granddaughters!

Kate

I wouldn't bother with Warwick Castle. Although a beautifully preserved castle, it's now owned by Madame Tussauds and resembles a theme park. A real shame. There's plenty of great day trips from London to see old castles and palaces – Windsor Castle and Hampton Court being the most obvious examples.

There's a zillion things to fill your two weeks in London and Paris - two cities which probably have more to see than any other cities on earth (Rome excepted). They both provide a fabulous mix of history, galleries, shopping, cutting edge culture, dining. However, the Amsterdam suggestion is a great one - sandwiched between stays in two such vast cities, Amsterdam feels positively quaint and is a lovely city for walking. A gentle break in the middle of two weeks of crazy and the chance to experience yet another country with a very significant history of its own.

tejana

I can't comment much on another London location (although I will say I never forgot my first view of Stonehedge), but I can give you some tips for teenage girls and Paris.

I took each of my nieces to Paris when they were 16, and it was great. I agree with making time for the Grand Magasins (just say "mall" to a 16 year old and you are golden). Set the ground rules early for the basics - discuss the 'must see' museums and 'must see' sights in advance, and have her pick out at least one thing that she really wants to do. For one niece, although she was not a big fan of paintings she found that she loved the Rodin museum sculpture garden, and she really wanted to spend an afternoon walking up the Rue St Honore, window shopping at all of the major fashion houses. It ended up being a blast, and something I would NEVER have done when I visit Paris with my husband. She also loved wandering in the Marais on Sunday afternoon, because that is the one area of the city where you can count on the shops being open (the major magasins are closed Sunday) and there are a lot of very trendy little boutiques in the area. The second niece is a budding photographer, and really wanted to spend a morning at Pere Lachaise Cemetary because her best friend is a huge Jim Morrison fan (it had been 20 years since my last visit!) She also turned out to LOVE museums, and we ended up spending 4 hours in the Louvre. GO figure. Neither one is a very adventurous eater, so both were thrilled to find that steak and fries is a very typical meal, particularly at lunch. My funniest memory was the last day with niece #2, we were having a last lunch and she was having ice cream for dessert. She asked me what kind of ice cream it was (she had been having it all week). I told her that in the States we would call it French Vanilla, because all of the extra egg yolks made it a little more brown and richer than a typical state-side vanilla. Her response was priceless... "there are eggs in ice cream?"

daylems

I went to London and Paris a few years ago with my grandmother when I was a teen. We had a wonderful time, and it is something I will never forget. We did a few interesting day trips from London:
Oxford
Blenheim Castle
Hampton Court-we took a cruise along the Thames on the way back.
Stratford. Touristy, but interesting.

Warwick was more like a theme park.Really not worth it.

We also went to Devon and Cornwall, but we had another week.

Highlights for me in Paris:

*Plage Paris..not sure if it will be on when you are there, but they bring in sand and palm trees along parts of the Seine, and turn it into a beach. Lots of music, dancing etc.

*Musee D'Orsay/Louvre/Pompidou--so many museums and galleries

*Bertillons Ice Cream

*Angelica's-Hot Chocolate..I can't even describe it, so rich. Inside the Tulieries somewhere

*Shakespeare's Antiquarian Books-walking around the Latin quarter

*Versailles

*Day Trip to Chantilly to the Horse Museum and Chateau and to watch them train the dressage horses, but the taxi trip from the train station takes some planning.

*Pere Lachaise Cemetery-get a map, it is huge and very very cool.

*Sainte Chapelle

Paris opera-worth it to get a pass to see the inside and museum. Its beautiful. We also managed to get rush tickets very cheaply at the kiosk there for the same evening to see a ballet. We had a private box, like just out of a Degas painting, red velvet seats, little fainting couch and all-for about 20 euros each.

I could gush on and on about both cities. There is so much to see and do, and most of the fun was just taking time to explore and discover the unexpected..like birds stealing our crepes in the Luxembourg Gardens..

Also consider the hop-on hop-off buses in both cities. We had 3 day passes and used it to get around. Sometimes it was nice just to sit and rest our feet and take it all in.

Have a wonderful trip.

sewitall

Thank you for all of the advice. I think you have convinced me that I can easily fill our time in the two cities without adding any others. I may do a day trip out of London. Of course we plan to see several plays as well. The flights are already made so in one city and out of the other is not possible. Leaving June 21 for London, coming home July 5. Now, should I split the time in London with ?? days in Paris in the middle or travel from Paris right before we leave?