I'm planning to take my two kids (13&19) to London and Paris in August. What is the best way to go from London to Paris, flight or train or? Should we fly RT to London or fly into London and leave from Paris to go home? Any suggestions where to stay in these two cities?

hmmmmm.

With 2 children (and if you can afford it), it's a very simple answer. Fly into London, fly back from Paris. If you buy tickets now, you might be able to get the Eurostar for a reasonable rate, and that's my favorite way to travel from London to Paris.

You haven't given nearly enough information for anyone to answer your lodging question. What is your budget, etc.? WHat are you interests in both cities?

Thanks for your response. I haven't done much research yet. Don't really know what to do and where to go. We will probably be visiting the popular tourist places. I'd like to stay at a moderately priced (3 star?) hotel that is close to tourist attractions. Nothing too expensive or too cheap. I really appreciate any suggestions.

&quot;<i>I'd like to stay at a moderately priced (3 star?) hotel that is close to tourist attractions. Nothing too expensive or too cheap. I really appreciate any suggestions.</i>&quot;

Sorry - don't want to nag but you still haven't given us enough info. What do you consider &quot;moderately priced? We really do need to know your budget because one person's &quot;not too expensive&quot; is another's &quot;very expensive&quot;

Plus no single hotel will be close to more than a handful of tourist sites -- especially in London. That's not a problem since both cities have excellent public transport.

So - how much do you want to spend? - and also how long are you going to be in each city? Because often an apartment is a better choice than a small triple room in a hotel.

Concur w/prev posters. It will be a wasted trip w/o doing your homework.
This also holds true for your 2 kids.

Start w/getting their input esp. since
their 6-yr age spread would make for
different interests

Hi clm,

This August?

Get cracking.

Look for airfares, into LON and out of CDG, at www.kayak.com.

Check www.venere.com for hotels.

See www.eurostar.com for train from London to Paris.

One-day RT tickets are usually cheaper than one-way.

Good luck.

Hi there - I second the option of an open jaw flight into London and out of Paris. Definitely take the Eurostar - your kids will love it. You leave from the center of London and arrive in the center of Paris. It couldn't be easier.

For hotels in Paris, my fave 3 star and very popular on this board is Hotel Muguet in the 7th. This is around the corner from the Eiffel Tower in a lovely area with plenty of eats and the nearby Rue Cler street market. Inexpensive and very, very clean. August is slow month in Paris (the Parisians leave for their vacations) and many hotels will offer deals.

Since I live in London, a bit difficult for me to recommend a hotel since I never stay in them! To save money in London, it's worth it to stay in nicer hotels in, say, Kensington/Gloucester Road area and take Tube/buses to all the various sites along with the locals. London is SO spread out. Take the boat to Greenwich one day and see what I mean. Inevitably you will need to take public transport at some stage so I would worry less about the location and concentrate on bagging a decent hotel.

My father and I stayed in a very reasonably priced four star hotel in Paris situated across the street from the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysee and it was really lovely. The name is Hotel Splendid Etoile Paris and rooms start at about 270 euro per night.

~ciaolaura

As the other replys have indicated, planning will help you have a much better trip in alot of ways. The fact that you found this site is a good start. But as you will quickly see, people here are PLANNERS. I can honestly say I have never had a bad trip to Europe and I firmly believe it's because I plan.

To start with take your kids to Barnes and Noble for several hours and all of you read read read guidebooks. Then buy a couple of your favorites for each city. Really, those three or four hours will pay back in spades once you get there. Then go on line and do more research. For starters, look at photos and when one of you sees someplace you really want to see, make a note. There's so much to see in both cities than you won't see it all (How long do you have - you say August but how much of it?). You can start with my photos at www.pbase.com/annforcier. I have galleries for both Paris and London. But also do a search on this site for photos, lots of Fodorites have posted links to their photos.

For Paris I would stay in the 5th or 6th. I have stayed at the following 3 stars and can recommend them all: Hotel St Jacques, Hotel Minerve, Hotel du Champ du Mars. Also Hotel St Andre des Artes which is only a one or two star but I really liked it and it's location is wonderful. I have also stayed in the Marais (in an apartment) and that's also a good location. I would NOT stay in the 1st, even though it's close to &quot;attractions&quot; I don't think you'll get the same feel for Paris. And I woulnd't stay in the outer quarters for a first trip.

In London I usually stay in the area just north of Kensington Gardens, or in Victoria Station area. There are a ton of &quot;relataively&quot; inexpensive hotels in both areas. My favorite is Craven Gardens (all the hotels I've mentioned have websites). It's pretty reasonable for London. People here love priceline but I don't think it will work if you need a triple.

Welcome to Fodors...

A question I would ask is...why Paris...why London?

A good start would be to read the Fodor's destination guides at this site.

You will get great support from people here, but you also need to help us...to help you.

How long are you going for, how much time in each city?

Doo a search here for london and paris itineraries, hotels, appts,etc...There is a deep amount of materiel here.

August of this year...cutting it a bit close. You need to get going NOW.

Thanks for all the responses. I understand planning is the key to a great vacation. So, here I am at this webiste. I plan to stay at each place for 4-5 days. I did find a decent airfare from San Francisco to Heathrow and back from Paris for $900; ok, maybe not that's decent; it's the cheapest I can find. I will check out some of the hotel suggestions. Don't know how much a 3-star hotel cost. I'm willing to pay up to $150 per night.

Good idea on the open Jaw.

Look at Eurostar to get you from London to Paris (and yes a roundtrip ticket coud be chepaer than a one-way, just don't use return)

People here often recommend Priceline for cheap hotle rooms in London. have a look and do a search here for ideas on using this. I've also stayed at B&amp;Bs in London and there are not a bid idea either.

For Paris, I'd look in the 4/5/6/7th arrondissements (districts). There are the most popular and are very central. Plenty of restaurants and easy walks to some sites (Metro is very good to get around and not $$)

Hope this helps

Mike

Good move with the tickets into London and out of Paris. I think that's an OK price from west coast USA.

So you are looking for a quad room (4 people in the same room) for $150USD? That may be more like a 2-star hotel, I think. Rick Steves guidebook for Paris would be right up your alley.

re paris- Have you thought about an appt? If you stay a week you will have no trouble finding something in your price range. I am not sure whether you will be able to rent for less than a week in August but worth a try. That would also allow you to save on some meals. re London- a real problem on your budget unless you use Price line but all room are double max on PL and no you wont necessarily be allowed a fold away bed. I thin I might choose to be a bit assymetric and spend more time in Paris and less in London if dollars are a real issue.

$150 is an extremely modest allowance for a hotel for 4 people - esp in London - and at this late date. (In Europe most hotel rooms are for 2 people - either one double bed or 2 twin beds. And most are way too small to bring in extra folding cots - which really only works for smaller kids anyway.

I urge you to search this site for information on &quot;fanily rooms&quot; - what rooms for 4 are generally called in europe. Also check venere.com, then matchoptions with tripadvisor.com to get traveler reviews - AND definitely map them on a London city map. (Many less expensive hotels are in outlying areas - and London is a big city to trek around.

You might look at apartments if you're there enough nights - they can give you more room for the same price. Also - realize that in your price range air conditioning is extremely unlikely.