SLCLibrarian

Here is the plan right now:
Fri 24-
land in paris
Get to our hotel (which we haven’t picked yet!)
Drop luggage and go
Find lunch
Notre Dame
Walk around
(maybe the Musee d’Orsay)
Either a River cruise or the Eiffle Tower at sundown…
BED!

Sat 25-
Louvre
Café lunch
Arc de Triomphe
Champs Elysées
And then a River cruise or the Eiffle Tower (the one we didn’t do)

Sun 26-
Versialle (by train if I can figure out how)
Afternoon??

Mon 27-
Pick up rental car
Disney land (Hubby is really wanting too!)
Then head towards Giveryly (closed on Monday)
Spend the night nearby (where??)

Tues 28-
Visit Monet’s home and Gardens
D-Day Beaches and American Cemetary
Mont St Michele (spend the night on the Mont-Need to get a reservation asap)

Wed 29-
Tour Mont St Michele
Then drive through Brittony and head back towards Paris

Thurs 30-
Drop the rental car at the station and catch the Eurostar to London
Arrive London early afternoon
Take bags to hotel (don’t have one yet)
Then off walking:
Trafalgar square
London Eye
Buckingham Palace

Fri 31-
Pick Up where we left off-
Tower of London
Westminster Abbey
Thames River Cruise

Sat 1-
Get a rental car head out of LOndon
????


Sun 2-
????
Back to a hotel near Heathrow

Mon 3-
6Am flight out of Heathrow



???????'s-
Best way to get from Degaul Airport to Paris center?
Can I get a Eurostar ticket on the spot-or does it have to be before?


I feel like I have too much time slotted for Paris. (relatively speaking since we are only in Europe for 10 days). We just saw a travel show on Brittony& Normandy and loved it! Now we want to see a few places (like Onfluer). Would it be better to just grab a rental car when we land and head straight for Giverly, Beaches, Mont St Michele, Brittony, etc and then work our way back to Paris …and then spend a couple days there until the mood strikes to catch the train and head for London. Is Paris better to on Fri-Mon or Mon-Thurs? For example we found Venice was totally dead on Friday night. Shops closed early etc. We want a balance of things being open but not necessarily the most crowded days…I suppose rooms would be cheaper on the weekdays?

Ok-I'm officially panicing...any advice? You guys said to come back when I had a firm itinerary...there it is...pick away!

PS-We travel really...fast...if that makes sense...we don''t really linger except over a cup of coffee in a cafe. Museums are a walk through...and if I can get him to even SLOW DOWN on the audobon I'm doing good. So that might effect your suggestions.

Thank you all!

nessundorma

You might want to rethink getting a rental car and driving "out of" London. The city is vast, vast, vast and you'll spend most of your time driving through miserable traffic if you pick up a car anywhere near your hotel.

If you are determined to see something non-urban and more rural, I would recommend booking your last nights into Kew or Richmond, from which you could easily get a car service to take you Heathrow. While in Kew or Richmond, you could tour the gardens or Hampton Court.

If the weather is nice, you can take a cruise boat all the way from Westminster to Kew. Or else you can take an underground train.

In the alternative, for your last nights, you could take the fast train to Heathrow, pick up a rental there, then start touring the countryside. Then return the rental back to Heathrow.

alanRow

You can get a Eurostar ticket "on the spot" but it'll cost an arm an a leg.

Go to the Eurostar website and look up their various fares.

Hint - if a return ticket is cheaper than a single buy it as Eurostar don't care if you don't use the return portion.

Train to Versailles BTW is a piece of cake though there's a longish walk at the far end.

Lexma90

In only 10 days, you're planning to do a lot. And you're only spending your arrival day and one full day in Paris (as your last day in Paris will be mostly at Versailles); many people would say you're not spending enough time. But you know how much time you like to spend on various activities (such as walking through museums). It also sounds like you two prefer countrysides to cities. That being the case, maybe 1 1/2 days in Paris is too much, though I don't think so.

Re doing the countryside first. Think about what you're most comfortable doing in a new place (I'm assuming you haven't been to Paris/Brittany/Normandy before) and while jet-lagged - driving around northern France, or visiting a big city? Your answer should determine whether you do Paris or the countryside first.

ira

Dear SL,

>...We travel really...fast...if that makes sense...<

We all have our own styles, but you have a real trek planned here.

10 days split between London and Paris is a very good first-time visit. I suggest that you leave the hinterlands for the next time you go to Europe.

flygirl

Eiffle Tower - Eiffel Tower

Versialle - Versailles.

Giveryly - Giverny

Mont St Michele - Mont St. Michel

Degaul - Degaulle

Onfluer - Honfleur

Brittony - Brittany

audobon - autobahn

the above might help you in your research. I think you're biting off more than you can chew though - and I tend to try to pack a lot in myself.

noe847

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to rent a car for one day or so spent out of London. You'd be getting adjusted to the driving on the "other" side of the road just in time to leave off the car. You can do any number of day trips out of London by train/bus or tour. Cambridge, Oxford, Stonehenge, Bath, etc. I also like Nessundorma's idea of going to Kew or Richmond the last day and hitting the airport from there. But really, you could find enough to do right in London, even for "fast" travelers. We just returned from 6 days in London, and hardly did half of what we wanted to do in London itself (and we eliminated our possible day trip).

jonldn

Hello

Wow what a lot you have planned - good for you!

With regard to the London Section -

1) You can pre book your tickets for Tower of London on Line and I would suggest getting there first thing (get the tube to Tower Hill) there is not much to see around this area - unless you fancy crossing over Tower Bridge and walk along the Embankment to look at the Belfast (warship)

If you really want to get out of London - I agree with the comments on cars - you could consider getting the train from London to Hampton Court Palace - its not far from London - and is a little like Versialle - nice gardens and VERY historic -

River Cruise - nice get the one from Westminster Pier to Greenwich which takes in most of the Historic sights of London - DO NOT get the boat to Hampton Court it will take you 4 hours!!!

i would suugest Sunday for Hampton Court or River Cruise

Saturday- why not take in the South Bank - Borough Market (great for food!)
(London Bridge Tube) and a walk along river side back to Westminster - you pass the Globe Theatre- Great Views of St Pauls - The National Theatre and then to Westminster and the London Eye...(pre book the London eye to avoid qs)

Although we are a LARGE city all the things you will want to see are in walking distance if you break them down.

South Kensington is nice for Museums (Victoria and Albert is nice) and you can then walk along to HArrods(which I loathe!) or up to Hyde Park /Kensington Gardens (to see the Albert Memorial - gosh she must have loved him!)

At Trafalgar Square you will find National Gallery and a short distance National Portrait Gallery - I like the latter especially the Tudor Galleries.

Anyhow - hope you have a GREAT time and bring some foot cream - you are going to be doing a lot of walking!

Jon

DiG

Dear SLCLibrarian:

My DH and I had prepared a similar trip
wanting to travel to London, Normandy, and Paris.

Our trip plans had to be changed several times over the past two years so I planned and revised many itieraries
to cover these 3 places.

What I learned from our research:
In 14 days, You can visit London, respectfully travel in Normandy (ei: DDay sights) and enjoy Paris but in a limited style.

In 10 days, You can visit two places
but again only in a limited fashion.

For a 10 day trip we found 3 reasons for eliminating one place.
1. You lose valuable time transferring from one base to another. With London-Normandy-Paris you lose a good half day, each time you move.
2. You are not able to give yourself adequate time to enjoy the places you are visiting.
3. You are only on the ground 9 days without air travel days.

Please note that in March, Giverny is closed except for the American Art Musuem.

On your proposed Tuesday, the drive from Giverny to the beaches will be 3 hours and from Disneyland 3.5 hours. The drive from the DDay beaches and sights to MSM (Mont St.Michel) will be 2 hours.

For London sidetrips, we learned that we would use the train on an inclement day and use the boat transportation on a good weather day. Renting a car, driving out of the city, visiting a sight or two and staying elsewhere for just (1) night is expensive, tiring, and timeconsuming.

Even though you say you are fast travelers, my suggesstion is
10 days London & Paris. You can do a sidetrip from each base.

I would save Normandy for another time.
But if you're set on it then go there first, then to Paris then on to London.

Let us know what you decide and hopefully we can be of further assistance.

Di

donw

I think it's a great trip plan to just see a little of lots of places. You'll want to go back to Paris, etc. on another trip.

Have fun!

DiG

Dear SLCLibrarian:

If you decide to stay with "Paris, Normandy & London" here is a suggested
itinerary. It includes all the things you listed except Giverny, as mentioned it is closed in March.

2N Bayeux
1N Mont St Michel
3N Paris
4N London

Friday:
Arrive Paris.
FROM CDG Take Roissy Bus to Opera Garnier stop.
Walk 5 blocks to Gare St.Lazare.
Here get train to Bayeux.
(www.voyages.sncf.com)

Pick up a rental car in Bayeux.
(www.autoeurope.com)

Bayeux.

Saturday:
Bayeux open air market morning.

Drive 15 minutes to Caen Peace Museum.
Visit museum for a couple of hours and
check out the guided tours for Normandy.

Drive to Honfleur. Enjoy lunch in the seaport and spend your afternoon here.
Return to Bayeux.

Sunday:
Drive yourself on a self guided tour of
the DDay sights or take a guided tour.
Good lunch stops are Arromanches and Port-en-Bressins.

Drive to Mont St.Michel.
Mont St.Michel.

Monday:
Morning visit for Mont St.Michel.

Drop car in Pontorson and take RER-C train into Paris.
Paris.

Tuesday: Paris

Wednesday: Paris,
Versailles take RER-C line.

Thursday: Paris,
Disneyland take RER-A line.
Take late Eurostar to London.
London.

Friday: London

Saturday: London

Sunday: Boat cruise or train to Greenwich, Kew Gardens, or Hampton Court. London

Monday: Home


Have you bought your air tickets yet?
If not reverse London & Paris:
3N London
3N Bayeux
1N Mont S.Michel
3N Paris

Then on the day you visit Mont St Michel you could drive to Versailles for the afternoon, giving you an extra day in Paris.

Good luck and happy travels!
Di

alanRow

"Boat cruise or train to Greenwich"
If going to Greenwich take the Docklands Light Railway (which is treated as part of the Tube system) and get off at Island Gardens. You then have a lovely view over the Thames towards Greenwich. Then all you do is take the pedestrian tunnel under the Thames to Greenwich