theproman23

I'll soon be going to London on Business for about two weeks towards the middle of March. Since, I've never been to London and since I've always wanted to do a Euro Trip I am planning on adding an extra week to do some personal traveling.

This is what I am thinking in terms of my schedule

Mar 16th - 17th - Travel from Canada to London

Mar 18th - Sunday - Look around the city a bit

Mar 19th to mid day 23rd - Work

Mid 23rd to 25th - Rome (already booked with a tour) Return to London on the night of the 25th.

26th to 30th - Work

31st to mid day 1st - Explore London

1st to mid day 3rd - Paris (Sunday night to Tuesday afternoon)

Night of 3rd - Travel to Normandy (still need to figure out how to work this, I heard there's a TVR train)

4th - D-Day beaches and Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel (might book a tour) (Wednesday)
either night of 4th or early 5th - Either go to Brussels or Amsterdam (still haven't decided where and how to get there)

6th or early morning 7th - Back to London to catch my plane to Canada at 10:30 AM on the 7th.

Now I know this pretty ambitious so if someone wants to set me straight more than happy to listen! I'd really appreciate it if people can give me some pointers:

1. Best way to get to Paris - Chunnel or BA Flight? BA flight is coming out to be cheaper

2. Which area to stay in Paris so that it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg but I can get to the sight fairly easily (preferably walk)

3. How to get to Normandy from Paris (I keep reading of some TVR train, I think, but can't find much info. on it)

4. Once done in Normandy - Do I go to Brussels or Amsterdam - My preference for sight seeing is Castles, World war 2 related sights, beautiful architecture, etc. Museums are not the first thing on my list.

5. Once I decide either Brussels or Amsterdam, or may be someone will suggest something completely different how do I get there from Normandy? Do I need to go back to Paris to do that?


Thank you so much in advance!!!

bilboburgler

1. Best way to get to Paris - Chunnel or BA Flight? BA flight is coming out to be cheaper. Is the BA flight from City or are you going to have to schlep back to Heathrow or Gatwick? The train goes from centre of the action to the centre of the action.

2. Which area to stay in Paris so that it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg but I can get to the sight fairly easily (preferably walk). The 5th is my favorite; loads of good hotels at 85 Euro a night including small breakfast. The Metro RER is good for getting around

3. How to get to Normandy from Paris (I keep reading of some TVR train, I think, but can't find much info. on it). TVR is a type of car. TGV Train de Grand Vitesse might be the thing. There are some good tours from Paris to the Beaches or get a train to Caen and hire a car

4. Once done in Normandy - Do I go to Brussels or Amsterdam - My preference for sight seeing is Castles, World war 2 related sights, beautiful architecture, etc. Museums are not the first thing on my list. I'd avoid Brussels, but I might like to go to Luxembourg city, Bruges, Amsterdam or Strasbourg

5. Once I decide either Brussels or Amsterdam, or may be someone will suggest something completely different how do I get there from Normandy? Do I need to go back to Paris to do that? There are some good train networks about you can look at http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Bike_Links.php or seat61.com or bahn.de will tell you how to get about.

Loco2

I think that the itinerary is a bit back to front. I do understand that you're trying to fit things around your work schedule...

However, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels are easily accessible by train and it's by far the most comfortable way to travel. I don't know anyone who flies to Paris anymore. Even if it is cheaper than the Eurostar (which is £69 return when booked in advance - not breaking the bank), it's only 2.5hrs city centre to city centre as bilboburgler mentions. To get to Amsterdam, it's 4hrs 16mins by train, and since you change in Brussels, you could actually see a little of both cities. In fact, for the price of a ticket to an station in Amsterdam you're able to stop of in Brussels either way. I have written about this in more detail here:

http://loco2.co.uk/engine-room-forum...-in-4-hours-16

If you want to get from Paris to Normandy you can go from Paris st. Lazare to Caen (for the D-Day beaches) in just under 2hrs by express train.

Another interesting option may be to take the overnight ferry from Portsmouth in England which arrives in Le Havre the next day. I have heard that there are shore excursions that depart le Havre that take in all the D-day beaches. Then, from Le Havre it's 2hrs15min into the centre of Paris and 2.5hrs back to London. Or if you haven't already booked a flight, it's not far from Paris onto Milan and Rome by overnight sleeper.

So I would do Paris and Normandy in one stretch and then London-Brussels-Amsterdam in one stretch, using trains or a combination of boats and trains.

Michel_Paris

Have you booked flights? It seems a hassle to have to bet back to London, how bout an Open Jaw out of Amsterdam,for example?

Flights to Paris might look cheap..but you need to get to airport (early) and at other end, get into city. The Eurostar is central London to central Paris.

It always helps to define a price range for hotels..since your arm and a leg might be shorter than mine

Staying in the 4th-7th is good, if one in your $.

Look at Parisvision and Cityrama. They offer coach tours out of Paris to many locations, including Normandy..but a long day.

Other option is to train, either TGV or regular (SNCF) there and catch one of the local D-Day tours. People here have recommended tours, so a search will give you some ideas.

StCirq

Well, that's a really choppy travel schedule, but I guess you have to work around your work commitments.

It's not really possible to see the DDay sights in Normandy and le Mont St-Michel in a day. You need more time. And there's no TGV (not TVR) train to Normandy - just take a regular train to Bayeux or Caen. Yes, you'll have to go back to Paris to get to Brussels or Amsterdam, but frankly, I'd just stay put in Normandy because you haven't allotted nearly enough time for it as it is. No need to go bouncing off to somewhere else.