eyepreferparis

I would spend a little more time in London, maybe i extra day, because it's very expensive.You could stay in Paris a few extra days and take some side trips to Versailles, fountainbleu, normandy/mont st. michel etc.

Have a wonderful trip/

Best
Richard
www.eyepreferparis.com
www.eyepreferparistours.com

janisj

richard: Welcome to fodors. In future you really shouldn't link to your business/website -- advertising is not allowed on here.

travel_buzzing

the thing is, amsterdam and barcelona airports are very quick and very cheap to get to and from, e.g. barcelona airbus is like 3.70 Euro or something. the return is slightly better value, similarly you can jump the train with your metro pass (vaguely allowed) back to bcn airport so it costs about 4 euro tops. right on comparison, the return from for example, london stansted airport, last time i took it is about 30 sterling- which is 50 euro, more or less. im sure this has gone up since then. ONE single journey on the london underground is a scorching 3 pounds sterling, or more, about 5 euro. a 10 journey pass for the metro in barcelona is 6.90, about 4.50 sterling.

about the packing- i suppose thats a matter of taste how you choose to pack and unpack, really. other benefit of an apartment, you can get a washing machine and dryer also.

i think that 3 days is fine for seeing a city. besides the fact that you would never get around london fully in 5 days anyway, it really costs a bomb to travel round the city.

my other point of view, this is a first time trip for you both. europe is not cheap to get to from the states and i think that to come here and to not fully take advantage of the fact that you are here in europe and are capable of doing this with the cheap inter europe flights etc. well i would.

JoeTro

With an Oyster card in London, you will definitely save money from what travel cites.

ira

Hi A,

I suggest flying into London and out of Paris, or vv.

Take the Eurostar between cities.

Split the time equally between both cities. There is plenty to keep you occupied with a daytrip or two from each.

Enjoy your visit.

robindp

Sounds like you are getting a lot of great opinions. Truthfully, London and Paris are two of my least favorite European cities. And after falling in love with Italy, it will be disappointing! Barcelona is great, Amsterdam is great, the south of France (Monaco, Nice) is breathe-taking and unforgettable. ANd as for day trips, Versailles is a short train ride away and will be part of your Paris tour. Paris is a huge city. Our best food there was at markets, some fresh baguettes, cheese, salami and a bottle of wine. (also the cheapest). We were charged upwards of $5 for a GLASS of water at resturants.
Are you checking out the trains yourself? I have a phenomenal agent that makes all our train arrangements for us and last year we went by train from Paris to Switzerland, had a couchette (overnight bunkers), Switz to Venice, Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome. Our cost was only around $150 per person. So that $300 seems awful high for you and your husband. I do all the rest of my arrangements on my own except for the train as it was cheaper. And we had private riding cars and seat reservations each time.(well worth it)
And I agree with do as many cities (without overdoing it) when you are over. Do London, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam and then leave from London, You might be tired but the memories will be worht it!! Enjoy..Travelbuzzing gave great advice...
PS Were planning southern Italy for next summer and I'm excited

travel_buzzing

heyyy. not to change the topic but robindp, if youre doing southern italy, you MUST look into sicily, palermo and the surround; the food is amazing, with the atmosphere and scenery quite different from italy. went last summer and will never forget it, you leave a part of you there.

appletea

hi everyone,
thanks for all of your advice!!

after thinking more and redoing the itinerary about 5 more times, i think we're more settled now.

we fly out on Aug 31st and arrive in London at 3:30pm on Sept. 1

Sept 1-4 - London, Sumner Hotel
4th - Train to Paris 9-1pm
Sept 4th-10th - Paris, Henri IV Rive Gauche, Hotel Mayet
10th - Flight to Barcelona from Orly
Sept 10th - 13th - Barcelona
13th - Flight to London
Sept 13th - 16th - London

We're going to take day trips in Paris - any suggestions other than Versaille? We plan on going back to sleep in Paris, I think. Think we can make it to Provence for a day?

As for the flight to Barcelona, we were thinking of flying Paris Orly to BCN in Barcelona. There are other cheaper flights to the airports on the outskirts but we're both not familiar with the city, so would you suggest we stick with the bigger airport or is transportation pretty easy?

Also from Barcelona to London - not sure which airport to fly into? Luton, Stanston? Gatwick - I've read they are all kind of far away.

Last question . . . any other recommendations for $200-$250/night London hotels? We like the boutique type, chic hotels, and we would ideally like it in a good location.

Thanks again for any insight and opinions!

JoeTro

I loved Giverney and could recommmend that as well, but I'm a huge Monet fan.

I personally would not recommend Provence for only a day.

As for airports, I would personally choose based on price and schedule. It depends a bit where you will be staying, but London is accessible from all the airports via bus/train/other public transport.

I've never done this, but Priceline seems to be good for saving money on London hotels and still getting 3-4 stars. It may be difficult to find the place you describe in September for about 120 GBP or less by booking directly with a particular hotel's website. London is expensive!

appletea

hi all,

now we're thinking of going to amsterdam instead of barcelona. there is a cheap fare on vueling for 46 euros, but the catch is it's at 6:50am.

06:50 Paris(CDG)
08:15 Amsterdam(AMS)

what time would we have to get to CDG airport? and if we are staying in the city, what time would we have to leave.

the train is $308 euros for 2 of us, which seems really pricey.

we already booked the london to paris train too.

otherwise, the other option of barcelona is still there which leaves at a decent time. price is about 80 euro a person.

please advise! thanks!

travel_buzzing

if you still havent decided between amsterdam and barcelona, i would put all the airline websites in your favourites and watch them. like a hawk. you still have over a month before fly-time, the flight prices will rise and plummet in the next week or two. you could also research nice accomodations for each city.
here is a really cool apartment near the macba gallery in Barcelona: http://www.way2stay.com/Barcelona-ap...-en-52-885.htm
September is great in Barcelona for the summer heat, fewer tourists, beach, Gaudí, art, etc.

appletea

We've finally decided! =)
We're going to Amsterdam.

Sept 1-4 - London, Sumner Hotel
4th - Train to Paris 9-1pm
Sept 4th-10th - Paris, Henri IV Rive Gauche, Hotel Mayet
10th - Train to Amsterdam from Paris
maybe stop in Brugges?
Sept 10th - 13th - Amsterdam
13th - Flight to London
Sept 13th - 16th - London

Do you think we can manage a day trip to brugges or do you have to stay a night in brugges? maybe go paris to brugges and then to amsterdam?

robindp

CDG airport is quite a hike from downtown Paris, better off with the trains. Paris trains are everywhere and easily accesible to the main station.
Are you sure you want soooo much time in London?? Spend time in Brugges and Amsterdam, you will enjoy..
HEy travelbuzzing, thanks for the tip on Sicily and Palermo, we had been thinking about that too. Our plans are to fly into Barcelona (love it) for4-5 days, then to the AMalfi coast and rent a villa for a week (use it as our base) then a little side trip to Rome for two - 3 days to see extended family & fly home from there.. Would you recommend a town more southern for a base? We are traveling with our 3 teenagers too. What city to fly into from Barcelona? Oh yeah, I am going to look into the 20 Euro flights rt from Barcelona to Madrid, never been there. We had done France, Switzerland & the northern part of Italy(Venice, FLorence, Pisa, Rome) last time and the kids loved it, esp Venice. Everyone wants to do just Italy but our family has never been to Barcelona and I am insisting. We will probably do the trains again? Or do you recommend a rental? Thanks, robindp

travel_buzzing

robindp- the 20E flight was a lucky strike, although they were also doing free (completely free) outgoing or rtn flights about a month ago. kicking myself because i couldve booked the free one way and waited for the 10 Euro to come up (shame shame) for the other.

i mentioned before i also got cheAP Rome-bcn, again with lovely vueling. easyjet do flights milan-palermo, i suppose it depends where youre flying in from initially. shoestring-flying is easy if you've got plenty of time to wait and watch for the bargain flights.
im a little confused by your itinerary, by rental you mean car? well i dont drive but getting parked in bcn is a nightmare so cant advise.

did you ask about accommodation in rome? going to be staying in a nice vac. apt, i'll post about it in october. nice apts in barcelona http://www.way2stay.com/Barcelona-apartments-en-52.html.
my long-winded paragraphs on this thread have basically been about bargain flight shopping (although i hate flightfinders, as they clearly add-on and are sponsored anyway)- I suppose I think you should shop the same! I was also on a thread earlier mentioning a ferry from rome-bcn, apparently its pretty economical.

travel_buzzing

(the free flights i mentioned were for all destinations, i didnt mean kicking myself at not saving 10 euro on madrid ha)

Snowflake25

We, too are planning a trip that includes London and Paris but after finding some very reasonable flights on Easyjet have also added Prague, Budapest and Berlin to our itinerary. We will spend 3 1/2 days in London, 4 in Prague, 4 in Budapest, 3 in Berlin and 3 in Paris. The connecting flights are only costing about $150 each (this doesn't include Prague to Budapest). We used Priceline in London and Budapest and got 4 star hotels for under $150. With all that said, we have spent many hours on the internet checking connecting flights etc to get the most convenient times etc. So I would suggest that you keep checking and don't give up. The perfect itinerary for you is out there.