5 nites in paris 4nites in london 3 nites in barcelona oct.19-nov2 2011
 

need some direction for don't miss attractions including including less known attractions .first time to these cities.

What you should see depends on your interests. Pick up a good guide book for each city and it will tell you the highlights and you can decide what interests you. You can also click on the Destinations Link above and get information.

thanks for your insights , the real touristy material I can find online, and I was more interested in the type of information you provided.

We enjoyed the hotel des invalides on our recent trip to Paris. Also loved the British Library and enjoyed immensely the chicken pie in their cafe.

loved walking through Ile de la cite in paris. have an ice cream at Berthillon and have dinner at Sorza, before 7 pm they have a great prix fixe meal. We had THE best parmesan rissotto ever there. We also enjoyed the old bookstore Shakespeare and Co. on the left bank.

I like your ideas and will place them on my list thanks again.

Opera Garnier in Paris is gorgeous; I second the stop at Berthillon for their amazing ice cream. I also love Sacre Coeour (sp); I love a stop in any local cafe for a glass of champagne in Paris...stand at the counter and engage the locals; i love to stroll through the local markets and love the food hall at Le Bon Marche in Paris and at Herrod's in Paris

in London, I enjoyed Churchill's war rooms and the Tower of London was great; haven't been to Barcelona

great ideas and I hope to incorporate in this trip. thanks again.

we enjoyed the walk through the left bank in the evening terminating at the St. Sulpice church featured in the Da Vinci Code book. The church is nicely lit at night.

Sacre Coeur is also wonderful at night. We loved wandering around the square nearby which was very lively even late in the evening. Montmartre is very cool at night.

check out these walks in london; we loved them. They are only 8 pounds each;

http://www.walks.com/

We did the Chelsea pub crawl and the Beatles tour.

thanks for the site

There is lots of good information on Barcelona in Maribel's guide at www.maribelsguides.com.

I find many of my best ideas by reading trip reports on this message board. You can do a search of the forums for trip reports on Paris, London, and Barcelona. They will have far more detailed suggestions than the answers to the question on this thread.

In Paris I would not miss the stained glass at Sainte Chapelle, the art at the Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre, and if you like modern and contemporary art, the Pompidou Center. Many people enjoy the Fat Tire bicycle and segway tours of Paris.

In Barcelona I really enjoyed the Museum of the History of the City of Barcelona, which gives access to the underground remains of the Roman city. You can take a cable car from the waterfront in Barceloneta to the top of Montjuic for a great view. A performance at the Palau de la Musica Catalana is a treat in a beautiful moderniste space.

In London, many of the museums are free, allowing you to sample them even if you think you may not want to spend a lot of time in any particular one. The British Museum was one of the highlights for me. A performance at the Globe Shakespeare theatre was a great experience. But London has so many attractions large and small that it would be worthwhile to find the trip reports other posters have written to see what appeals to you.

Barcelona: If you get a Barcelona card, you can save on transport to/from the airport into the city, and also get free rides on the buses along with discount admissions to many of the museums, etc. If you like Gaudi, you will want to visit the Apartment house he designed (with furnishings from the era as well) La Pedrera as well as the unfinished Sagrada Familia, and the Parc Guell. I found the Picasso museum to be very good -- I remember reading about his work as a portraitist early on, and he was quite good, but you can see his imagination and confidence develop into what we all now think of when we hear the name Picasso. There is also a small Dali museum that is quite packed. As you won't be visiting the "big" Dali museum in Figueras, you may want to hit this one. Although if you don't like modern art, you will probably find Barcelona very disquieting. Take a funicular up to Parc Montjuic and visit the big MNAC - the Museum for the National Art of Catalunya. It is huge. They've got a great gift shop.

The best advise I can give you about eating in Barcelona, is to take advantage of the lunch specials and have a hearty lunch. Unless you like eating all by yourselves for dinner, you should expect to not head for dinner until at least 9 or 10PM.

We were in Barcelona a couple years ago in early October. It got up to 80F several days. I expect you'll have decent weather in early November.

where is the pompidu center? What type of music is at the Palau de la musica catalona? thanks all for these great ideas.

The Centre Pompidou is in the Marais between the Hotel de Ville and Rambuteau metro stations. Visitor information:
http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompido...ssionM=3.1&L=2

Palau de la Musica Catalana has a varied program of classical and other music. A schedule (click on English in the upper right corner):

http://www.palaumusica.org/

Palau Musica is a GORGEOUS building, even if you don't get to see a performance. Barcelona is one of the most amazing architectural cities I've ever visited in the world. Truly. It is a place of visual overload!

need a recommendation for half day tour of versaille.

is first class on eurostar from paris to london worth the extra money?

1st class is not worth it IMO. Allyou get extra is a bit more room, a newspaper and a mediocore meal. I can go 2 hours without food and can buy a peper or magazine .

If you like street markets the Richard Lenoir in Paris Thus and Sundays is my favorite , near Place Bastille. On Sat there is a contemp. art fair there. In London on Fridays and Saturdays , Borough mart is not to be missed. You can tour Southwark Cathedral at the same time and visit all of SouthBank on the same day, includes the Eye,

has anyone taken boat rides in oct. in paris and london at nite time is a nite time bus tour better?