Wondering if I vist both places and allow 2 weeks if that will gove me a reasonable anount of time. Flying from the USA. Also I want to visit Princess Di's gravesite so I understand that can only be done July thur Aug. So I guess airfare will be higher...what about the weather then?

Two weeks should work just fine. I was able to see all major sites in Paris and many many lesser ones, plus take daytrips to Chartres and Versailles in a little under a week. I would imagine that London is similar. Can't speak for London, but that time of the year can be quite hot in Paris, and many hotels have little or no air conditioning. When we went during the last week of August/first week of September, it was very pleasant though, with highs in the mid-70s. Many smaller shops and restaurants will be closed in Paris for much of August, as this is when the locals go on vacation. You won't notice though, unless you want to visit a specific establishment that is among the closed.

Two weeks is very 'doable' for these two cities and should allow you enough time to see the major sites and take a day trip or two as well. It will be quite warm - check if the hotel you book at has a/c, many older/smaller places do not. I don't know if the exhibit will be there when you visit but there has been a collection of Princess Diana's gowns at Kensington Palace. If you are interested in her (and I assume you are since you want to visit Althrop) visit Kensington Palace - even without her gowns there it's a beautiful place. There was an exhibit of other "royals" clothes when we were there last spring. I think if you allow a week in each city you will be pleased - just remember many people in Paris take vacation in August so some places close up. Happy planning and if we can help in any way please post your questions.

Dan - you mentioned that you visited Paris in the beginning of September. Are the crowds generally diminished by then? We would like to do Ireland and France, and are trying to find a good time to go - good weather, few crowds. We were considering May as well.

Last September I spent 5 nights in Paris and 5 days seeing the points of interest. We went to Giverny one day, which took a day away from Paris. In that period of time we failed to see many of the places that were high on my list. If I had devoted 2 more days to Paris, I think I could have hit the remaining category I places I wanted to see. <BR>When we went to London, we had 7 full days. We went long and late each day, but still had a few morsels left on the plate. If you visit Windsor, Kew Gardens, Greenwich, and take one day trip outside of London, 7 days will stretch you a little. <BR>But you cannot see it all, so a week may leave you with a few places to see on your next trip.

Being from Europe I can tell 2 weeks is a good time and you should visit quite a few places... If you want an alternative way of travelling from one city to the other, I advice you to take the Eurostar, an high speed train passing under the Channel - www.eurostar.com <BR>You can buy tickets directly via the web site, it's cheap AND it takes less time than by plane. Another thing, as two weeks is quite a lot, I recommend a smale visit to Brussels (1 or 2 days). You can again take the train.

Two weeks is a good amount of time to visit London and Paris. Airfares are usually higher in the summer; check consolidators and airlines with new routes (for example, an airline that is starting a Baltimore&gt;Paris route will offer an introductory low price). The weather in London and Paris will be warm and mostly sunny (it does rain in London, but not necessarily everday nor for very long).

Jenny, <BR>We were in both Ireland and France this past October and the weather was perfect,with very little rain as well.

2 weeks is a good amount of time, allowing you to do lots of stuff as well as allowing you to do side trips. <BR>Re the weather. Believe it or not, London can get stiflingly hot and sticky in those two months. Last year we endured weeks of hot, sultry weather. What made is especially bad was the humidity. The tubes and trains were unbearable with temperatures in the mid to high 80s and lots of dampness! <BR>I also recommend going to Paris via Eurostar. Try booking ahead on the web, and if you do a search for 'Thalys', the high-speed rail link from Paris to Brussels, you can then think about fitting in a short trip there.

Consider the following: <BR> <BR>1. USA-London <BR>2. London-Dublin (or Glasgow) <BR>3. Either of the above-Paris <BR>4. Paris-USA <BR> <BR>If you play your cards right, you can have #2 and #3 for a song on RyanAir - - www.ryanair.com - - and 1+4 might cost you only trvilally more than USA-LON roundtrip. <BR> <BR>In almost every case, this (#2 + #3)will be cheaper than the Eurostar; moreover, your avg daily lodging cost will go down by swapping 2 nights outside London for 2 fewer nights there. (This sentence is also true for Paris, e.g., side trip to Normandy, for example) <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR> <BR>