Hi. I will be in Paris the first week in May and would like to know if a day in London is enough time. We would like to take the first train of the day out to London and return on the last train. What are the major sites to see, restaurants to try and shops to visit? Your help would be appreciated. Thank you.

You could take one of the red bus tours (where you can hop on and off all day long, your ticket lasts for 24 hours) and see (not visit or tour) many of the major sites in a day. The bus would allow you to see St. Pauls, Buckingham Palace, the wonderful London parks, Kensington Palace, Royal Albert Hall, Thames River, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, Covent Garden, Harrods, etc.) Of course, you wouldn't be able to stay at any very long or tour the inside, but you'd at least see if London is a place where you'd want to return. Seeing all the major sites wouldn't allow you to shop or have any nice long meals on this day, but you could stop off for a quick lunch of fish and chips in one of the English pubs. For shopping, you might run into the food market/hall at Harrods to pick up a few souvenirs (jams, biscuits, etc.) or when at Covent Garden, quickly explore the vendor markets (for tshirts, prints, etc.) Just make sure you have comfortable shoes and plenty of energy for the day, it will be a long one!

Thank you for the suggestions.

It is definitely enough time. Especially if you haven't been to London and/or don't expect to get back soon.

We did the reverse (visited Paris for the day during a trip to London). We took some family that had never been to either city and probably wouldn't have gone to Paris otherwise. We covered a lot of ground in that day so it was well worth it. The train is nice because you can relax on the trip. It's also very convenient because the train comes right into central London (Waterloo Station).

I too would recommend the bus tours. You can see just about everything and get on and off whenever you'd like. There's a stop in front of the County Hall building that is only a very short walk from Waterloo Station. I'd get off to see the Tower of London.

Enjoy!

GJ40

I have also done a day trip from Paris to London. We booked ours thru Paris Vision Tours and took Eurostar, as well as did the hop on/hop off bus tour. It was a very enjoyable day that you could easily accomplish on your own.

Thank you.

If I only had one day to see London...

Go early on a Monday. Start with visits to St Paul's and the Tower of London. Have a midmorning snack in the crypt at St. Pauls.

Then take the London Walks Panorama tour. It starts at 1:45 from the Tower Tube stop, takes a boat ride up to Westminster Bridge and goes by Westminster Abbey, St. James's Park, Whitehall, Buckingham and St. James's Palaces, the Mall and Trafalgar Square.

It ends just in time for you to see the Dismount of the Horse Guards.

You now either have time for a leisurly dinner or you can attend Evensong at Westminster Abbey and grab some pub fare.

Finish the day with a show.

You can alway nap on the train back

Keith

Thanks Keith

Keep checking the eurostar or French rail web sites for specials. For example, there currently is a promotional fare of 55 euros round trip (Paris/London/Paris), valid for a few months. You can sign up for email notification of special deals.