You really <u>can</u> stay in London for a reasonable figure. The further you stay from the center, the less it costs for a given accommodation. A weekly Tube/bus Travelcard will get you back and forth for a few &pound; per day.

You might even sneak in an overnight visit to Paris on a weekend: the &quot;Night Trip&quot; on eurostar.com will get you there and back for $58.

I wouldn't characterize Paris as a &quot;pedestrian&quot; city. Compared to places like, say, Manchester, I find it quite exciting. OH! You mean <i>good for walking</i>.

Well, while I agree that there are areas that can be walked in a reasonable amount of time, I would point out that the Louvre is over an hour's hard march from the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower an hour from Notre Dame.

Fortunately, you can get halfway across Paris in 5 minutes on the RER (a little longer by M&eacute;tro or bus).

Unless you came to hike, do your feet (and your timetable) a favor and submit your peripatetic spirit to the good offices of the RATP.

1929jg -- I would like to add that if you're into history -- the British Library is free, and has a special documents room that has the Magna Carta, copies of the Guttenberg Bible, the stamps that sparked the American Revolution, the original complete works of Shakespeare, and the napkins that John Lennon wrote &quot;Yesterday&quot; and &quot;Ticket To Ride&quot; -- among many other great things.

There is plenty to see and do in London that is either free or inexpensive.

Jules

I'll agree w/the majority &amp; say paris. It is easy to naviagte &amp; if you feel the need to leave the city there are many available day trips, Versailles, Fountainebleu, Chartres, Giverny, etc.

1929jg -

I agree with most of the posters here that three places in seven days is probably too much. But some folks (my husband and I, for two) enjoy the travel between destinations, especially by train. You can see some of the countryside, regroup and relax a little, write some postcards and journals, read up on the next place, then dive in to a completely different experience.

If you don't think you'll be going to Europe again very soon, I'd say go for two destinations, but not three.

You will, however, pay a price in travel expenses (but again, train travel is fairly cheap). And you can't expect to completely <i>do</i> any of your destinations in such a short time. But I don't think I could <i>do</i> any major European city if I had six months, so...

My best advice for this kind of travel? Sleep cheap. Fly open jaw. And never, ever rent a car if you can avoid it.

Have a great time! (And here's a pitch for England and Italy, too!)

I'd probably only do this once in such a short trip, but a couchette sleeper on an overnight train is one way to maximize your time and save/equal cost of a night in a hotel.

Try checking with your college about study abroad programs. Usually the coordinators of those programs can steer you towards campus housing at universities in the UK. I know you have your heart set on London or Paris, but consider trying Edinburgh instead. It is a very compact city and known for literature, medicine and history. I got a flight from SC to Glasgow (an hour a way) for $580 in June with US Air. Good site trips Rosslyn Chapel (DaVinci code), the coast of Fife and Glasgow.

Right you are. I should have written: for savings on London to Paris travel, check Easyjet air fares. They can be lower than the cost of the under the under-the-channel, high-speed train.

I promised inexpensive Paris hotel suggestions, Here are two:

Hotel Studia, at 51 Boulevard St. Germaine, has rooms starting at 40 euros per night. (You can't book on line; you must write them).

The Hotel Cosmos, at 35 rue Jean Pierre Timbaud, has rooms starting at 55 euros per night. (You can find them on line.)

Is this another casualty of &quot;can't find their post&quot; again? looks to be one time post, with no return

I agree with what everyone has said. Pick one place, 2 max. My husband and I just did Amsterdam and Paris for 1 week. We could have spent 2 weeks in Paris alone, but the cities had a great contrast and we enjoyed every minute, except for day 1 when we had severe jet lag and no bags! Just a word of caution, unless you are getting a non-stop flight, just carry on your bags so you know you will have it when you get to Europe. Sorry I digress. You could do Paris with day trips- like Versailles and Giverny, you could do Paris and London. Another place I would have like to go was Bruges, so you could fly into Brussels take the train to Bruges for a few days and finish in Paris. Find out by reading on this site what interests you and pick a few places from there. FYI, my husband and I spent around $2600-2700 a piece for our trip, but we did do some shopping.

Like Rex, I've been following this thread and wondering if we've lost our original poster(s). How will they know all our priceless advice? -LOL

The poster is still a student and her husband is in med school, maybe her free time on the web is limited? I am probably being optimistic but I remember my fast and furious college days.

You're probably right. I'm hoping (what with the state of search function and indexing lately or lack thereof) they will find the post when they have a chance to check back here.

What great advice you all have given to those of us who's second thought after deciding about &quot;wanting to travel&quot; is the cost of travelling. my compliments to all, Deborah

Oh, wow! Thanks for all the great advice! I got very busy with qualifying exams for graduate school, and it's been a crazy busy time ever since until now! Please, forgive me for not replying; I had no idea of the rapid response I would get. You are all wonderful! I was hoping to just do one city, and you have given me a lot of hope that we can afford to take a vacation like this. Oddly enough, I have recently been accepted to a conference in Sicily in March, and must attend a wedding in Armenia in September. Perhaps we will get to vacation according to some of your suggestions, as well. Thank you heartily!!