LHarbar

Avid runner, outdoor adventurer. Good food, good wine. Would rather not rent car. Possible thoughts, London, Ireland, Scotland and Paris?? Hate to be vague but can't get beyond overwhelmed with information. Wish someone could pick it for me!!

tailsock

London and Paris is a very good start. The two capitals are only a 2 1/2 hour Eurostar train ride across the English channel. lots of nonstop flights to both as well

LHarbar

Afraid I did a very poor job of expressing my interests. After lots of reading, I can't decide whether to go London, and try to include the Cornwall area, due to books I've read I would love to visit. I also would love to be able to visit Highclere Castle, where Downton Abby is filmed. The thing is I'm female, traveling alone and I would rather not rent a car. Not sure if this is a realistic trip. Keep reading about Bath, need to read more about what's there. Or...there's Paris, where I'm sure I would love but don't know where to explore from there. I would rather spend quality time in just a couple of places than try to do too much. I would also prefer hotel for convenience and company of people around in lobby and bar. Sorry for confusion and lack of communicating desires.

PalenQ

for trains I always spotlight these fantastic IMO sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. You are probably not traveling enough for any railpass as you may want to spend the bulk of your time in London and Paris and perhaps do a day trip or two from each - ditto with Edinburgh.

Try open-jaw flight - say into Paris, take the Chunnel train to London and train to Scotland and fly home from there.

LHarbar

Thanks for the thoughts. I've been thinking maybe I'd be ready for some beach/relaxation after 2 big cities. Has anyone been to Nice or other beach suggestions. Just thinking it would be easy to take train from Paris to Nice, avoiding airport. (I have always thought about Greece/Santorini etc. but it would be so much easier to stay in France. I would love a luxurious hotel, without too many crowds. I've given some thought to just doing Paris and not including London, but it seems silly to not do both since i've never been to either. Thanks for any advice.

tdk320n

I also travel mostly solo. I am a senior woman and have had no problems exploring by myself. I only rely on public transportation and travel yearly to Paris and then to Nice
Nice is really not a good beach town, it has a great boardwalk for strolling and people watching, good restaurants and very easy and inexpensive access to other cities on the Riviera. The beach is very rocky so is not good for sitting. I have become addicted to the city and use it as a base to explore other areas.
I always rent apartments both for the convenience and to lower the cost of my trips.However I understand your reason for wanting to stay at a hotel.
I like to return to my apartment and chill out with a glass or two of wine after a day of walking and exploring.
Whatever you decide have a great trip

LHarbar

Thank you tdk. I been looking at other threads and I'm curious about Provance (read lots of good things about Luberon area) vs. Nice. It sounds like you're very familiar with the area. For a first timer, also solo traveler, what is your, or anyone else's opinion. Do you think being a single traveler, Nice would be more appealing, given activity...people watching, as you mentioned.

tdk320n

Remember that if you are talking about a 14 day trip 2 days are for travel to and from Europe,So in reality you are talking 12 days.
London.Paris and Nice is doable however I would eliminate one My ideal trip woud be 7 or 8 days Paris and the balance Nice. Fly into Paris then either train or plane to Nice and fly back to the States from Nice.
Depending on when you are going Delta has direct flights to Paris and returns from Nice and British AIR has flights to Paris and Nice with connections in London.

I am not too familar with public transportation in other area of Provence, since my travels there were with my DH before his passing.and we always drove. I always loved exploring the towns there but it was by car.
You could easily spend the entire trip in Paris and not see and experience it to the fullest.
I do undersand wanting to see more and the combination of Paris and Nice is great.
Buses and the Metro in Paris are superb and cheap.
Buses in Nice are wonderful and also cheap Ditto the trains. For 1 euro by bus you can go to St.Paul de Vence, Eze Monaco,etc.
A short train trip will take you to Antibes,Cannes etc.

My husband was a runner and a biker and he enjoyed both sports in Paris.

I find both cities very easy to be in as a solo traveler. There is so much to see and do that I never get lonely and just sitting in a cafe with a coffee or a glass of wine is the best people watching possible.
Also wandering up and down streets aimlessly to see what else is beyond the next corner there is fascinating.
Forgive the rambling , I hope this helps.

LHarbar

That's so much help, yes. I know, deep down, that I should only do either Paris or London given time restraint. People seem to advise Paris. I believe that's what i'll do, and London for another trip. I'd rather savor the cities than spend time scrambling from one place to another. Thank you for you time.

Mimar

There sre lots of Paris enthusiasts on this site. I'm not one of them. There are lots of London enthusiasts also. Since your first thought was of London and England, I'd stick to that. It's an easier introduction to foreign travel if you speak the same language -- sort of.

And I'd make a point of going to at least one other location not the big city. Just to see the beautiful English countryside and get used to doing some independent travel. Bath by train would be perfect. Lots to see there and around there. But there are other options. Like Cornwall.

What time of year will you be traveling?

Back in London, lots of good parks for running in. Also look at London Walks (www.walks.com). They have a large number of guided walking tours in London and also longer explorer days outside London to places like Stonehenge and Salisbury or Oxford and the Cotswolds. This is a great resource for solo travelers.

Michel_Paris

Beacsue there is an easy link betwen Paris and London (Eurostar), they make for a good combo. You could even do London-Amsterdam.

Startgin in London makes a first time European adventure easier, since the stress of landing in a country with a different language goes away. You land, you get over jetlag, lots to see.

You have choices after that. With train system, you can do many day trips, based out of London. These can be DIY, or you can link up with many companies that offer day trips.

Or...you have two bases there, London...then ?

Renting a car is not as bad as you think. I'd suggest not driving in London, and go for a standard, if possible.

In Paris, could do same. Visit city, day trip(s).

You would want an Open jaw ticket, fly into one city, home from another.

Beaches in South, ones I've been too, are a bit 'stony'. If you are in Paris in summertime, they 'create' a beach along the Seine, good times.

PalenQ

www.eurostar.com is the official site for the Chunnel trains London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord or Brussels - and the early bird does indeed get the worm as tickets are sold at deep discounts weeks in advance but only so many per train and perhaps none of some trains - try to pick a Tue, Wed or Thur when train demand in lower and easier to get cheap tickets - in U S I noticed in www.seat61.com's line to Rail Europe that RE pretty much matched what was available on www.eurostar.com so if you are unconfortable booking online try www.seat61.com's commercial link to RailEurope US and see what is available there as well (or for personal info and search via phone call the folks at www.budgeteuropetravel.com, whom I have bought railpasses from for years and attest to great service sans pressure - but in any case if taking Chunnel trains book as early as possible - www.eurostar.com seems pretty straightforward to use by many comments here so that may be the easiest vehicle though I always advice checking both that and RailEurope.

ParisAmsterdam

I didn't see any dates mentioned... don't go anywhere near London when the Olympics and Special Olympics are on...

nytraveler

Paris and Nice would make a great trip - as long as you understand that most of the beaches on the riviera are not very pleasant - pebbles or rocks versus sand, no tides/waves, very crowded, and you have to rent chairs, umbrellas etc at very high prices.

There are a few smaller towns along the coast that have decent beaches (by us standards) and you might stay in one of those and explore by train or bus. Nice is a great city - just not a great beach.

As for Provence - yuo really need a car to get around. (We did the riviera by car a couple of times, but if you stay in one central spot it's reasonable to travel to several others for the day by train or bus.)

As for language - if this is the way you are going and you have no French I would sign up for a basic conversation course. Yuo don;t have to be fluent by any means, but a little basic knowledge is very helpful, esp in restaurants (you don;t want to each in places with menus in 14 languages - usually very high prices and poor food).

LHarbar

Good practical advice. Mimar, are you familiar with the castle in Downton Abby, Highclere? I'm so interested in trying to visit if I go the London route. Would it be a day trip, and how about getting there from the city. I've always felt like Cornwall would be beautiful, could you give opinions about trip out of London for 2/3 nights. Would Bath offer more than Cornwall. If I had a 14 day trip, how would it best be spent. London 4nights, Bath/Cornwall 3, what about the rest? Would Amsterdam (my daughter loved Amsterdam) or Scotland be good options? Sorry, I failed to mention I'm trying to put together for last part of May beginning of June. I know...I need to get things going and firmed up. (I've about given up on Nice, and maybe even Paris due to language barrier. May not be best first attempt for successful European trip, you people are smart...)

StCirq

Take your trip to wherever you want to go, but by all means don't dismiss Paris and Nice because of a misconceived "language barrier." They are huge international cities used to hosting hundreds of thousands of English speakers. There isn't going to be a language barrier. Period. Out in a small village in the country, maybe, but not in Paris and Nice.

Nice, by the way, is IN Provence. It's a great city. The Lubéron really can't be seen without a car; neither can the rest of Provence with out some fairly complicated advance planning. You can get along the coast by train, and there are some inland buses (but they are geared to locals' needs, not tourists").

Lexma90

I'll jump in on the "avid runner" portion of your description of yourself. I LOVE running while on vacation. I see places and people that I wouldn't otherwise see, primarily because I run early(ish) in the day, before the usual tourist time. In some places, I arrange my route to stop at some pastry shop at the end of my run!

I have run in all the places you mention except for Provence, which I've visited but didn't run while there (health reasons). I don't usually run IN parks, because I'm usually not familiar with them and not confident enough re safety - I'm a small female. I also have a horrible sense of direction, so always print out (before I travel) a little map of the area around my hotel, just in case. I've found that running by rivers is easier for me, as you can't really get lost if you follow the river. In Paris, we stay in the 6th Arr., just a few blocks from the Seine, so I usually run to the Seine, and often around Ile St. Louis and Ile de la Citie. Notre Dame early in the morning is wonderful.

On our next trip (late May - early June), I kind of steered our London hotel choice to a location that allows me to run in some of the parks there, or at least along the edges if I don't feel comfortable running through.

LHarbar

Lexma90, have you been to London before?? What area of London did you choose, if you don't mind sharing. I'd love nothing better than a good run, and end with a great cup of coffee and pastry. Glad I'm not the only one out there! Are you familiar with Bath? Just curious, friends tonight said it wasn't to be missed... Thank you all so much...every little bit helps. (Ditto on the sense of direction, thank goodness for I phone and map my run!!)

isabel

You seem to be going back and forth between deciding on wanting to go to London, Paris, and other places. You don't want to try to cram in too many places but with about two weeks you could easily do a week each in London and Paris with either some day trips or an overnight or two. From London Bath is commonly done as a day trip but so are lots of other places e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury, Stratford, etc. With keeping London as your base (only need one hotel)you are more flexible as to which days you decide to do day trips, how many,etc. This will give you enough time to get to know London a little plus a taste of some of the English countryside. All very easily done by train (Oxford is an easy day trip by a bus called the "oxford Tube' - not to be confused with "the tube" which is the metro/subway in London).

Then take Eurostar to Paris for the second week. You can do day trips from there, especially if you are willing to do long days there are plenty of places that are about a two hour train ride. Given that you are going in late May/June the coast areas will probably be crowded and since you can't do everything that's probably the area I'd skip. But a week each in Paris and London with a couple of day trips from each to sample small towns would be a great trip.

LHarbar

Such good advice. Thanks everyone. I've promised myself to have it booked and done by this time next week. Lots of research.