jeffrx

I just returned from my first trip to London with my daughter (her graduation present). It was fantastic! We took a non-stop overnight flight from Cleveland to London Gatwick. We were too excited to sleep, even with sleep-aids. The flight went well. We quickly found an ATM and withdrew pounds with no problem. We then took the Gatwick Express to London, a quick 30 minute ride. At Victoria Station we found the TFL office and bought 7 day bus passes. We then went out and found the taxi queue, which had at least 20 people waiting for a taxi. The taxis came quickly and we were soon on our way to the Royal Horseguards Hotel. We were told our room wasn't ready yet, so we left our baggage with the concierge and went exploring. London is so beautiful and exciting! After seeing the Horseguards, we caught a bus toward St. Paul's Cathedral. We went to the upper deck and sat in the front row. It was amazing to watch the London traffic! They get so close, we found ourselves gasping on several occasions thinking an accident was about to happen. And yet, the whole time we were there, we never saw one! We passed Trafalgar Square and went down the Strand and got off at St. Paul's. We used our London 2 for 1 to get both of us in for 8GBP. We climbed the 500+ steps up to the dome, but we could go no further. It was beautiful. We made our way back to our hotel and checked in. Our room was beautiful, comfortable and quiet! The rest of the day we spent shopping (Harrods, Marks & Spencer, etc..). I can see this is getting long, so I will condense the rest. The 2nd day we took the Eurostar to Paris. I must say, I did not care for Paris very much. We could not find a single ATM in the entire train station, so I ended up using my credit card for everything. I realized that I had not allowed enough time there. All we had time to do was the Eiffel Tower. The lines were very long and the city was very congested. We caught a bus near the Tower (#42) which was headed to Gare du Nord (our train station). We got about half-way there and the bus shut down and everyone got off. We had to walk back to the last stop and catch another bus 42 to the station. Next there was a huge traffic jam and we ended up running to the station and nearly missed our train. Paris was lovely to look at, but I would not go back. The third day we took a tour of London with Golden Tours. I do not recommend this tour company. They were terribly unorganized. Our tour of Westminster Abbey was cut short, and I believe we missed the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace because our guide thought it was cancelled because of rain. The 4th day we had scheduled a tour to Windsor with Golden Tours, but they cancelled it because only 4 people signed up. That was very disappointing. So we toured Kensington Palace and Gardens and Hyde Park. That evening we saw Swan Lake performed by the Royal Ballet. It was the highlight of our trip! The 5th day (Sunday) we attended a service and an organ recital at Westminster Abbey. Both were wonderful. We also went on the London Eye. Great views! I hope they don't take it down! Monday we rented a car and drove to Alton Towers amusement park. Although we had fun, Alton Towers doesn't compare to Cedar Point in Ohio. Alton has too few rides and way too long a wait for the rides they have. I must say, we both noticed how well behaved the teens were there. Very respectful and very little loudness or bad language. Next we drove to a Holiday Inn in Peterborough. The driving was surprisingly easy to adjust to, but they have an incredible lack of road signs. We never saw a speed limit sign on the motorways and we got lost twice. But it was fun to see the English countryside. The next day we had planned to visit Sandringham, but decided we were too tired and drove back to London. Our last night we stayed at Thistle Victoria because of it's proximity to Victoria Station. It is a very old hotel in need of refurbishing, but it served its purpose. We had our last dinner at Sole Mio Italian Restaurant on Belgrave Rd. It was very good. We took a bus to Trafalgar Square for one last look at London. We really hated to leave, but our time was up. The next morning we walked to the Gatwick Express and caught our flight back to Cleveland. I left out a lot, but I just wanted to say that London is now my favorite city in the world and my daughter and I want to go back some day, if we can. Thanks for reading this!

sallyjane3

Great trip. You walked in some of the same footprints as my daughter and I just a few years ago. I'm betting you'll make it back there. Once we get bitten by the bug.....

Mary_Fran

I encourage you to not judge Paris on the basis of this trip. You had too little time and saw too little to make a judgment.

Our first day in Paris, we took a bateau boat cruise of the Seine, and the views were breathtaking. We strolled along the Seine from Notre Dame to the Orsay Museum and were dazzled by the impressionist paintings. We visited the Marais district and were enchanted by a small orchestra, playing classical music for spare change. On the metro, a gypsy woman played beautiful music on a violin for spare change.

Paris is on the top of most Fodorites' list of favorite cities. It's not at the top of mine (Rome occupies that spot), but I still recognize it as a stunning city. So give it another try when you can stay longer and walk and see more and really experience the history and ambience of the place.

bettyk

Enjoyed your report. While I was glad I saw Paris, I've been twice and have no desire to go back. But I always enjoy London. The only problem I have is that everybody is always in such a bloody hurry! Down in the tube stations, a person can get trampled if they hesitate for 1 second! LOL! But the history always enchants me as do the parks. I know I will always return.

I'm glad you got out into the countryside because it gets easier after the first time and there's so much to see and do. The Lake District, the Peak District, The Moors, York, Devon, Cornwall, etc. One could spend the next 20 vacations just exploring England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales!!

jeffrx

Thanks for the responses!
SallyJane, I think you are right. I have been bitten by the travel bug! Now I just have to figure out where the money will come from!
BettyK, I know you are right about the next 20 vacations. I can't wait!
MaryFran, if I ever go back to London with my wife, I am sure she will want to see Paris & I will definitely give it another try.

pixielily

your trip sounds wonderful; what a wonderful graduation gift! your report has me even more excited about our upcoming (but still oh-so-far-away!) sept '05 trip to london.

we're flying out of louisville, ky, connecting in detroit, then on to gatwick. our hotel is just a few minutes' walk from victoria station.

we'll be there 9 days, and i'm so excited i can hardly stand myself!!

now, a question: you said, "We used our London 2 for 1 to get both of us in for 8GBP." what IS this "london 2 for 1" you're referring to?

thanks!

MarthaT

London 2 for 1 is a web site you can go to to download various vouchers for things to do in and around London.
All you have to do is show your train ticket(in March I had a return Gatwick Express ticket)at the ticket window.
I saved alot of money seeing Kew Gardens, Tower of London and eating in a couple places.

PatrickLondon

I think the 'London 2 for 1' offers may have been mentioned in other threads - they tend to be available with tickets on rail lines that go a fair way outside London - hence Martha's success with a Gatwick Express ticket.

francophile03

I'm sorry you had an unpleasant experience in Paris for your first visit. I happen to appreciate Paris more than London which I didn't care for. There are many ATM's in Paris outside of the train station. It's unfortunate that due to your short visit you didn't realize that. Sorry about that broken down bus and the Eiffel Tower crowds too. The tower is usually crowded. If you had a longer visit it would have been much more pleasant I'm sure.

walkinaround

this is why i always recommend people do not try a day trip to paris. i don't see how anyone can enjoy that much travel and so little time to enjoy anything. as you prove, it can be a challenge to see any of the city on even the most superficial level in one day.

going to an amusement park in europe is generally not a good idea as overall, they do not compare to those in the US.

finally, the roads in the UK are very well signed. perhaps you didn't read up on the signage and rules first (potentially dangerous in many situations). motorways are always 70 unless marked and sometimes will have the sign indicated "national speed limit" is in force (differs by type of road). this is just a circle with a line through it so perhaps you did not recognise it.

Travelnut

The comments about Paris illustrate, to me, that it is NOT WORTH IT to take a "day trip" to Paris. They saw the Eiffel and the inside of a bus - hardly a fair assessment of a city with a dozen major historical monuments, at least 13 varyingly beautiful parks and gardens, several former palaces, about 35 bridges over the Seine, over 50 museums, world-renowned cuisine and volumes of history behind it all.

luvtotravel

I just returned from Paris and also took the Eurostar from London. We, too, had difficulty in finding the ATM. Why it is practically hidden when so many people are arriving on the Eurostar I can't understand. It took much walking around and questioning numerous people to locate it. Finally got accurate direction from the information desk. Yes, there is an ATM inside the station, not far from the information booth.

francophile03

Again I have to say that you can't see Paris in one day (and not even one lifetime in my opinion). jeffrx, you experienced London for at least 5 days and found it to be very interesting. You need to visit Paris for at least that many days to begin to appreciate its beauty. This isn't to say that you will like Paris any better, but at least then you would have had more time to make a better assessment. Please don't write off Paris. I visited London twice and came to the conclusion that while I do appreciate its history it is not as interesting to me as Paris is.

jlillberto

We took a train from one of the stations in Paris to Nice about six years ago. I found an ATM which promptly ate my card! Luckily we had credit cards and cash and weren't depending on the ATM. However it seems like there are ATM machines every half block in the city. And I've never had a problem with them.

I day trip to Paris is pretty much worthless, IMHO. I had to laugh at this because so many people favor Paris over London.

francophile03

I can only speak for myself. As much as there are others who don't care for certain cities such as Paris, I did not care for London. If I were given a choice between London and Paris, I will always favor Paris. It's just a personal preference and surely each city does have its own nice qualities.

jeffrx

I can see that my negative impression of Paris has not gone over very well. I will definitely give Paris another try (and a lot more time) if I ever get the chance. But I am sure I will always love London best. I miss it already and can't wait to go back!

voyager61

I think my favorite times of day on any vacation are the mornings and the evenings, and with a day trip, you experience neither. We loved our sense of anticipation in Paris as we set off in the morning on a walk, but even better were the evenings. We visited the Eiffel Tower around 7 to 8 p.m., with the sun low in the sky and the crowds dispersed to ready for dinner. Then we walked from the tower through the park next to it and observed the wonderfully calm Parisian culture on a night that was very hot and sticky, so much so that we couldn't eat until almost 10 p.m. The weather is a slighter memory than the tower at that time of day and the civilized but animated slice of life in the park. It's been said already...try Paris again.