My sister and I are planning our first trip to Europe next spring. It will be a 5 night trip and have time for only one city. We just can not decide which city to visit, London or Paris. We have asked everyone we know and the voting is tied between London and Paris. I am leaning towards London (I hear Paris is filty dirty and the people rude) but my sister is leaning towards Paris (she hears that Paris people are nice if you know how to talk to them and the city is sparking and elegent!)<BR><BR>Fodorites: Please help us decide!

If you are going to do search on this forum you will get some great ideas. Nobody can make this decission but you. Do your homework Mary.

I'd suggest your enjoyment of Paris will largely depend on your ability to speak a little French- just being heard to try the basics e.g. Bonjour, Au revoir, S'il vous plait and merci and how to get by in the restaurant, hotel etc. does help. Culture-wise, galleries, museums abound in both cities

If you are really and truly torn between the two, then I would recommend London just so that you don't have to deal wtih a language barrier in addition to all the other learning-curve travel stuff that you'll have to deal with.

But if you choose Paris, you'll really feel like you are in Europe! Paris gets my vote every time; it's beautiful.

Mary, I will get a lot of hate mail for this but here goes. London is not really Europe--it is the UK and is more like Boston than the rest of Europe. If you want to experience a different culture and see some of Europe then go to Paris, or Rome, or Madrid or anywhere that is not the UK. Just my humble opinion.

Paris is not filthy and dirty-I have yet to meet anyone rude. I am from NY and that gives me some comparison-I have always been charmed by the Parisians..and I do not speak much French,mostly "menu",but it has never been a problem, I try and so do the French and we all get along-THAT SAID- London would probably be best for your first trip abroad..why add the extra pressure of trying to understand another language..you will never see everything that you set out to see, it is so full of wonderful sights,places, warm and friendly people, you will love it and the spring is a great time to go...Then with London under your belt, you will be ready for France on your next trip~C

BOB- you won't be getting hate mail from me, because I kind of think along those lineas as well. That said, I am going back to London on Feb (sister trip) and to Paris from there on the Eurostar. After having to cancel the last two trips to Europe, I am really looking forward to the museums and shopping . <BR><BR>As far as the post, the desicion is ultimately a very personal one; I would list the highlights from both cities and decide which one you'll love to see first. Neither city is going anywhere. If in fact it is unlikely that you'll get back to Europe anytime soon after, then if I were you I would consider a Paris in a Day tour available for about $150/pp, which includes a guided tour.<BR><BR>As far as Paris being filthy and the people rude, this is a totally undeserving reputation. Just like in every major metropolitan center, you could encounter both in Paris, but it is certainly not any more than you would encounter in any major city.

Paris is just plain dirty, take my word for it, I live there.

For a first trip to Europe, I definately suggest Paris over London!!<BR>Isn't part of the fun and experience hearing all that 'foreign language'?Besides, you can easily get by knowing only a few key, polite phrases. London is fun and exciting, but to me it is a little like Boston or New York, with a few palaces and Towers thrown in. And in the spring, come on-Paris in the springtime, ahhhh! So, my vote is Paris, bien sur, unless you want to throw Rome into the equation........friendly people, great food, those 2000 year old ruins, easy as well to get by on a few key phrases---just an idea.

I think it totally depends upon what type people you are. Are you adventursome? Willing to go a little more on the edge? Are you just wanting to go to Europe to say you've been there, or are you really excited about experiencing a whole new world? I have a friend who was joining her sister in Paris for a week, but the sister got stranded for two days by a cancelled flight. My friend literally stayed in her hotel for the whole two days, scared to venture out into the streets because she couldn't speak French. If you are like that, definitely stick to London. I disagree that you need to speak any French at all to really enjoy Paris (although you should spend a few minutes to learn Bon jour, bon soir, and merci at least). But I also agree that if you really want a "European" experience then choose Paris.<BR>Incidentally I have spent a lot of time in both, and I'm still hardpressed to figure out which of the two is my favorite. They are quite different, but both wonderful.

Mary, I had heard that Parisiens were unfriendly, as you have heard. When I visited Paris a year and a half ago, I found that bit of information to be totally untrue. The people of Paris were very friendly, the city was absolutely beautiful, and not dirty at all. As a matter of fact, I was surprised at how clean it was condidering it IS a city. I also went with my sister, and we both absolutely loved it!<BR><BR>We also went to London. Both cities are wonderful for different reasons. I have to say though, that it was MUCH easier getting around London. The London subway system is much easier to use than the Paris system, and not just because everything is in English in London. The Paris system seems to be more convoluted with many more connections necessary to get where you want to go. And although the people of Paris are extremely friendly and WANT to help, many do not speak English -not even the subway ticket workers, so it is difficult to get help if you need it. London does not seem as European, but does offer SO much to do. My sister and I were up early every morning and were busy until 11 or 12 every night. We went to several shows, saw many sights, ate at wonderful restaurants, stopped at great pubs, and shopped. <BR><BR>So, having experienced both, I would choose London for the first trip and definitely visit Paris on the following trip. As many of the previous posters stated, make your first trip to Europe less streeful by not having to contend with a language barrier. I am looking forward to going back to Paris with my husband, but I am going to try to take a French class before I go. If you decide to go to Paris, a short continuing education class in French might be a good option for you as well.<BR><BR>Which ever you choose -have fun! <BR><BR>I

mary,<BR><BR>don't choose based on 'dirty'. i live in london and it is disgustingly dirty.<BR>what's even worse is that people litter right in front of trash bins, and not just small wrappers either. i think if you can just try to speak a few words of french: please, thank you, etc. you will be fine and it would provide a bit more exotic experience, but london would be easier-depends what you want. just remember to be street smart in both cities: hold on to your bags/valuables and don't let anyone buy metro/tube tickets for you, don't let people get into your stuff on crowded tubes/metros, etc....the basics.

We used to go to London every year, I would live there if I could.My husband kept telling me that we had to go to Paris, but I was worried about the stories of rude Parisians..but one year staying in London,we spent a weekend in Paris...and we have been going back every year since...and now I want to live there! I have never had any of these experiences of rudeness that people talk about, my husband hasn't either, but he says if you smile, people will smile back at you, and I try hard to say the few French words I know, all the time Bonjour,bonsoir,Merci and sil vous plait. That and reading a menu is the extent of my French and it gets me around just fine.Remember, Paris is hundreds of years old, the buildings are not new and shiny glass skyscrapers, the streets are made of stone.They wash the streets and sidewalks every day..that is better than in the US , and look at the buildings in the US that are old, they look kind of dinky and dirty too...so my advice is, go and see for yourself, with an open mind, and you will probably love it like so many people do....Have a wonderful time~M

Well my choice is of course Paris. This past April My mother and I spent 1 MOnth in Europe We flew into London and atayed at the Kensington Hilton, this was my 3rd time in london Mom's first. We could hardky wait to get out of London, the theatre is great and much less expensive then NYC, however London is the most expensive city in the world for no real reason. A simple pasta dinner in london will cost close to 100 usd. Paris however you can savour , there are great museums and the cruises down the seine, the louvre, side trips to Giverny, chartres,normandy or if you must see London Cityrama has a day trip on the Eurostar to London, you can get a taste of london and still be in Paris. The cityrama trip also provides you with a bus tour of london. I have to agree with an earlier post that london is a mirror image of Boston. When I was a teenager our scholl trip to london (1976) london was still very Dickensesque, now you can go to claires acessories like the ones here in the mall and buy hairbows. London has lost it's charm .

Another vote for Paris. Nothing against London, but Paris is something completely different and completely captivating. Paris is NOT dirty. From late 1999 on, the city embarked on a major cleanup campaign. I have been visiting Paris regularly (several times a year) since 1973 and it's about as clean now as I've ever seen it. There may be some trash around the major tourist areas because the trash cans had to be sealed to prevent their being stuffed with explosives by terrorists (or run of the mill hooligans), but the city has wised up and replaced the cans with trash bags in most places. <BR>For your first visit, I suggest you stay in the 6th or 7th arrondissement. The Marais area is popular but crowded and overdone IMO. The 6th and 7th will give you a nice mix of shops, restaurants, tourist sites and some greenery. A friend recently came to visit us for a month and we spent the first several days in Paris. Although he'd been there before (visiting us when we'd rented an apartment in the 16th for a month), he said Paris looked incredibly beautiful and everyone was very nice. <BR>BTilke (Brussels)

mary,<BR><BR>i still vote for paris, but had to interject about some inflated price quoting about london. i live here and yes the prices are astonishing, but even living in one of the priciest neighborhoods here i'd be really hardpressed to find a restaurant in london that would charge '100 usd for a simple pasta dinner.' i don't know where that poster ate, but somehow they got ripped off because again, while prices are very high here, they aren't that high-unless it was a michelin rated place with drinks, etc. just don't want people to get an exaggerated view of things here.<BR><BR>re: areas in paris, while someone discouraged the marais, we just came back from there and loved it. just shows it's all subjective. we thought it was actually filled with lots of 'real' people that truly live there and found the interesting mix of gay/jewish/trendy neighborhood really full of character and charm and not crowded or touristy. also loved that it was just across the river from notre dame and near safe areas to walk about at night. but again, it's all personal-so there may be other areas which are even less touristy.

Mary, I'd pick Paris but you can't lose whichever you choose. Here's a recommendation; see two movies, one based in each city and see which place you are left wanting to go to most. For Paris see Amelie. For London maybe Notting Hill or Bridget Jones.

Mary<BR><BR>You're looking for opinions; here's mine: choose PARIS!! My first & only trip was to London/Paris last March and I loved Paris. London was okay. I speak very little French, just the basics like Bonjour, etc. & I got along splendidly (I totally butchered the language trying to order Gitanes & Galoises cigarettes, but the proprietor thought it was amusing). I didn't find Paris to be dirty, but then again I stayed mostly in the Latin Quarter. I thought they were very friendly, too. I went by myself and had a great time! In fact, I'm dreaming right now about when to go again. Next time I plan to skip London altogether.

Just a thought on rude people-my daughter was treated very rudely in Disney World. I have seen people treated badly in shops in Beverly Hills, on the other hand, I have seen some really kind and helpful people in NY and in Paris .So, I really think everyone has to get rid of this old-fashioned stereotype about the French being rude--PEOPLE are rude,and some people are not!Thank you for the opportunity to say that