brian

Spending 9 days in London Our first trip to London. Should we do the day trip to Paris or is it a rushed day? It's expensive and want to be able to enjoy it and not feel like we are running. How early does the train leave? When does it return to London?

Jim Rosenberg

brian, it's a long (but do-able) day trip. You can check the schedule and fares yourself at:<BR><BR>http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/eurostar/index.htm<BR><BR>Whether it is "worth it" is entirely up to you, but I would suggest that with nine days in London, you might want to carve out more than a simple day trip to see Paris. You will have to spend approximately 8 hours in round-trip transit and transit-related time to do it.<BR><BR>An overnight or several nights in Paris would be a lot less hectic and more enjoyable, IMHO.

Mary Patton

We took a Eurostar day trip from London to Paris and found the commuting portion of the trip perfectly comfortable and interesting. HOWEVER, no one told us that all the major museums in Paris are closed on Tuesdays (hard to believe for a world-class city) and that was the main reason for our day trip. Shame on us, we hadn't done our homework but it was a great disappoint. Nothing rivals your first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower though, it takes your breath away. We chose one neighborhood (Monmartre) to explore in the afternoon after seeing the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, etc in the morning. Anyway, beware of Tuesdays.

Vincent

If you do settle for a day trip, it'll cost you an arm and a leg (&pound; 200 +) on a week day (business clientele). It's better to do it on a weekend or British bank holiday, where it'll only cost you &pound; 80 or so. But you'd better hurry, since the early trains fill up quickly on this rate (check eurostar.co.uk)

Norma

Tuesdays are not a total bust. The Musee d'Orsay, Musee Rodin and Sainte Chapelle are all open Tuesdays. I think museums in all "world class" cities are closed to the public one day of the week.

Barb

The Eurostar have early morning departures. If you decide to do it as a day trip I recommend the tour group British Shrinkers. At about $150/pp, includes the R/T Eurostar ticket departing at 7:30am from the Waterloo Station, an experienced guide accompanies the group (typical size :40 people) from London at all times. Nice, comfortable three hours ride, only 20 minutes under the channel, if you sleep you'll miss it. Upon arrival at Gare Du Nord, you are taken into a 1 1/2 hr Panoramic, guided Tour with a local guide (very good guides). Only one stop at the Eiffel Tour for pictures. The group is then dropped at the underground location of the inverted pyramid at the Louvre where the group meets five hours later (6pm). You are free to do whatever you want; shop, sightsee, etc. If you walk toward the Arc du Trioumphe is about 45 minutes straight walk, 20 minutes to Notre Dame, Rue du Rivoli (shopping street) is right behind. A one-hr tour of the Louvre is offered by British Shrinkers at about $20-30/pp. The only advantage is that you don't do the lines for tickets. The Louvre is a great place to have lunch, although you should probably experience one of the cafes, you are in Paris after all! At 6pm the group is taken back to Gare Du Nord where you take the train; back to London at about 9pm. Not a bad day at all, very doable. Paris is so wonderful, even an hour is worth it. Advice you to wait till you get to London and check the weather reports so you'll get a good bang for your buck. <BR> You can call from the states or play it by ear and wait upon arrival, check the better weather days in Paris. Pick up the tickets upon arrival (Royal National Hotel; walking distance from British Museum, near Rusell square station).

anon

Brian: I don't know what your traveling experience is and it may far outweigh my own. However, in my humble opinion, 9 consecutive days in London is a loooong time (at least 9 consecutive days would be to me). London is exciting and has a lot to offer but is, in its own way, kind of exhausting or nerve racking (again IMHO). Instead of a one day round trip to Paris, consider spending at least a night or so. Or I hope you are taking some day trips out of London to the country. Again, just my opinion.

elvira

I've done the trip a couple of times (both ways - day in London while staying in Paris, and vice versa). <BR><BR>Check the eurostar site Vincent mentioned - OCCASIONALLY, there are cheap weekday promo fares. If you happen to catch one, book right then and there. Don't wait, they disappear fast. Weekend fares are always cheaper than the standard weekday fares.<BR><BR>Paris is one hour ahead, so if you leave at 6am you arrive at 10amish - returning, you gain an hour (leave 8pm arrive 10pmish).<BR><BR>To get the biggest bang for the buck, you have to decide before you get on that train what you want to do. If strolling with no special destination is the idea, then take the RER from Gare du Nord to St Michel - you're on the Left Bank right on the river for a stroll to Notre Dame, visit the bouquinistes, stroll to the Champs Elysees (long walk, but go through the Tuileries) then along the river to the Eiffel Tower.<BR><BR>If you want to see specific stuff, get out a map of Paris and mark where it all is and put together an itinerary that doesn't include zig-zagging or backtracking. If you want to see the Louvre, either buy a ticket ahead (www.louvre.fr) or a museum pass (RER station at Gare du Nord has them; someone said you can also buy them at Waterloo) so you avoid waiting in the ticket lines (wasting time). No way to buy tickets ahead for the Eiffel Tower - it'll be a matter of luck about the line length, or a decision if it's worth waiting. The l'OpenTour bus is a good way to visit the city - hop on/off at the sites you want - the Seine boat cruises are also fun.<BR><BR>It'll be a fast trip, you'll probably wish you could stay longer, but you'll get a taste of the city - and the fun of thinking "oh yeah we went to Paris for a day..." <BR><BR> <BR><BR><BR>