Hi there,

Before I ask my new question . I'd like to thank all of you, that answered my last, which was entitled, "Paris in the Winter". Your comments truly was a difference maker.

My daughter (in San Francisco), and I (Washington, DC), are now planning a 10 day trip to France and London, in September '04. Has anyone ever done that combination? if so, how did it work out for you? Also, can you suggest some very very reasonable (but safe and nice) hotels to stay in (both locations), and finally, what would you think, would be the best, and cheapest way (for both of us) to fly in and out (France & London airports).

As always, Thanks in advance . Sincerely.

We visited London and Paris last May and June with Normandy in the middle since we had 15 days. It was a wonderful combination. We had an open jaw flight (United from Dulles to London, returning from Paris). We travelled from London to Normandy and Normandy to Paris by train. It may be less expensive to fly if you are going directly from London to Paris - someone on this board will let you know. I highly recommend Paris and London in September.
I'm not sure what is reasonable for hotels since little in London seems reasonable with the current exchange. In Paris, a hotel in the 6th or 7th Arr. such as the Muguet or the often recommended Bonaparte would probably fit the bill. Enjoy your trip!

What's your price range for hotels? I've got two general, and one specific, suggestion. General (1) - check out Sandra Gustafson's "Cheap Sleeps in Paris"/Cheap Sleeps in London" books - bookstore. She has very specific and detailed descriptions of moderately priced hotels, and suggests alternative accommodation options, too. Specific (1) - One of the alternatives for London, which I used about 10 years ago, was staying at the Women's Residence at Imperial College in London during the summer holiday. Depending on the timing of your trip, rooms might be available (the college year doesn't start until October in the UK). Imperial College is in South Kensington (a posh part of London full of museums), so it's a great location, and the place is very secure. You'll have to share a bath with others on the same floor, but the residence I stayed in was quite attractive and very cheap - a good choice for a mother and daughter trip. General (2) - Make a fully cancellable reservation at moderately priced hotels in London and Paris (starting checking prices now, for the next month). For London, consider the Thistle Selfridge (in the heart of the West End shopping district). When you get to within 10-14 days of your departure date (when you know that you'll be going unless a crisis arises), consider booking a hotel with a discount booking service that charges a penalty for cancellations. I've used Superbreaks (a UK internet firm) and Cheaprooms.com with great success for the UK - got 4* and 5* hotels for 2-3* prices.

Also, don't forget to look into a ticket that lets you fly into one city, and fly home from the other city. I did this about 5 years ago, and it didn't cost any more than a regular ticket. I travelled from Paris to London on the Eurostar.

My son just did a similar trip. This is what he booked for the best fares and times.

JFK to Heathrow (wk in London/Cambs)
Heathrow to Charles de Gaulle (wk in Paris)
Charles de Gaulle to Heathrow (return)
Heathrow to JFK

He flew British Air from JFK to London and British Midland Airways from London to Paris and visa versa.

For many of the nights in London, he stayed with family. He did, however, get a 2-night discounted rate of $25/person per night at De Vere Cavendis St. Jame's for booking his flight with BA.

In Paris, he stayed at a boutique hotel - Hotel Brighton for 198.00 Euro. He requested a recently updated room, which he received. The room was tiny, but the view from his room of the Eiffel Tower, etc. was outstanding. He had nothing but glorious things to say about his trip and for him, it was the perfect combination. Have a great time with your daughter!

Flying between the two might be the cheapest with all of the budget airlines that fly from London but I think the Eurostar would be the most convenient as it takes you from city center to city center instead of to the airports which are 45 minutes-hour outside of the cities. And once you factor in checking in at the airports and gathering your luggage, it's probably also quicker.

We took an overnight bus between the two which was really cheap but I would never do it again-uncomfortable and they wake you up when you go over the channel.

Hotels-the Muguet in Paris is a nice option, it's not as affordable as it once was due to the exchange rate and it's popularity but it's in a nice quiet section of Paris.

For London hotels, personally I would never do anything besides Priceline, I've used it 3 times now in London and have gotten excellent hotels for great rates in great neighborhoods. In June we stayed at the 4* Waldorf Hilton for $100 + tax, right in the middle of Covent Garden.

And KateW had a great suggestion about flying in and out of different cities, we've done it several times at no extra cost but we had to book with a travel agent.

You've gotten excellent advice so far. Many people combine a London/Paris trip, but fair warning, Sept is a busy and not inexpensive time to go. Most airfare discounts seem to start in Oct or later as the weather gets colder.

It is true that with the discount airlines, flying between London and Paris is cheaper than taking the train, but you must add the cost of getting to and from the airport in both places. Because you have to be at the airport something like 2 hrs before flight time the train often winds up being faster. It just depends on what you prefer.

If you don't mind traveling separately for the cross Atlantic flights, it would probably be cheaper for you to do that and meet in whichever location you decide on first. If neither of you has been to Europe, it might be better to start in London where there is no language problem (not much anyway

For finding fares and flights, everyone seems to have their favorite way to "shop". I recently downloaded the sidestep.com program which supposedly shops all possiblitlites and shows you the cheapest. Others here use http://www.itasoftware.com/

or consolidators like
http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm

If you decide to fly between London and Paris, Whichbudget.com is a website that includes all the discount inter Europe airlines. Applefares.net is another. You can see the prices on various days of the week/times. There can be a big difference in both train and plane prices depending on when you go.

I agree for London, bidding on Priceline is absolutely the best value given the horrible exchange rate right now. Read biddingfortravel.com and/or betterbidding.com for help on how to do it. You can also see what prices people are paying for which hotels.

For Paris, there are plenty of reasonably priced hotels but since Sept is a popular and busy time in Paris act quickly. The Hotel Bonaparte is one that gets mentioned a lot.

You could also have a look at a air + hotel package. I'm always a little leary of getting an out of the way hotel on these but many people have been happy with them. The airlines offer packages. You can also find them on expedia and travelocity. Maybe start by checking packages and seeing whether any fit your needs. Check hotel reviews on tripadvisor.com and here at Rants and Raves and on this board. Then compare to what you could get on your own.

Good luck and happy planning.

Here's several recent threads about hotels in Paris:

Paris first timers looking for a good hotel > > >
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34512881

Hotel Muguet vs Hotel de Fleurie or other hotel in 6th? > > >
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34512429

PARIS Hotel, which one? Jardins, Tourville, Littre or Relais du Louvre? > > >
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34513922

paris for first timers > > >
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34493249

If you want to fly into London and depart out of Paris, that is called "open-jaw" and can be booked online with various airlines (look for 'multiple cities' option). It isn't required to do this thru a travel agent.
For instance, in 2003 we flew into Amsterdam and out of Zurich; in 2004 we flew into Amsterdam and out of Paris (different airlines each time).

Shesack-My sister and I just came back from a France-London trip. We flew Air France Boston to Paris and on to Bordeaux, then Bordeaux to Paris where we stayed for 4 nights 5 days at La Perle hotel in St Germaine. I liked this hotel for it's location, staff and great patio area out back where we would meet our fellow travelers each night and talk about our day. Our room was Paris size-just big enough for us.
We then took the eurostar to London. I loved this train. So easy to use a nice ride and only 15 minutes under the channel. I had thought we would be traveling under water for hours (what do I know?) anyway the trip took 3 hours-we bought some wine had a loaf of bread, cheese and a good book it was great. In London we stayed at the St James Crowne Plaza-119.00 GBP a night for a standard room. This hotel was close by Buckingham Palace and very nice. Two days at Nonna's house in Twyford and home on Virgin Air (upgraded to business class!) I compared alot of flights and there really was no difference flying home from a different country-depending on the day ect. Try expedia and travolicity to get ideas of the flight costs. Have Fun!!

In May, my college age son & I toured Paris, London & Cambridge before heading off to Poland. We spent 4 1/2 days each in Paris & London. Afterwards he said he wished we'd only spent a couple of days in London and the rest in Paris. He fell in love with Paris! It's my favorite also, but I didn't know what would appeal to him, so I had split the time evenly between the two. We both hated to leave Paris.

We took the Eurostar train From London to Paris and back. By getting tickets 2-3 months ahead, it was only $45 each way on Eurostar. And it's fast - 2:35 city center to city center.

My definition of "very very reasonable hotels" is different than some others here. I looked long and hard to find reasonable accomodations at budget prices, and "budget" to me meant about $70/night in London and $50/night in Paris.

We stayed at the Caring Hotel in London for 39 pounds/night, including a hearty breakfast. It's in a very nice, safe section of Bayswater, a couple of blocks off Hyde Park. www.tripadvisor.com has a couple of personal reviews of it.

In Paris, we stayed at Hotel Sainte Marie (www.hotelsaintemarie.com), on a quiet street just off the boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle, the boundary between 2e and 10e (20 minutes on foot north of Notre Dame). It was 40 Euro/night (breakfast extra - but I wanted to sample the boulangeries close by!). Not as nice rooms as the Caring Hotel, but the people (guests & help) were really quite nice, the location convenient and safe, and the price right!

I know what my son would say - plan for 1/3 of your time in London and 2/3 in Paris, and I would agree.

Hi -- spend half the time in London, other half in Paris. But you need to move sharpish: September is extremely busy in Paris (conferences, la rentrée) and you have *very little time* to query & reserve hotels/Eurostar or BMI flights/etc etc.

That being said you're probably going at the best time of the year!

HTH, good luck & have fun . . . .

In 2002 we did a week in London and a week in Paris. Flew USAirways (ff miles) into London, took the Eurostar to Paris, flew back from Paris. (We fly in/out of BWI).

We stayed at the Moat House Sloane Square -- which was a fantastic location -- in London, because there was a special deal for 75GBP a night. They even got us a complimentary transfer to the train station when we left. (Never really did figure that one out, could have been the deskman's brother or something. It was a black London cab and didn't cost us a penny!) In Paris we stayed in St Germain at the Hotel des Grandes Balcons (Monica P's recommendation -- we loved it!) We did a daytrip in from London to Cambridge on our own...it was delightful. We had a pub lunch in town that was a highlight (there were no tourists but us, others all seemed to be connected to the University)

If you do the Eurostar, you probably will discover like many of us, it is easier to just by the (cheaper) RT train fare (you do have to give them a "return" date)and not use the "return" ticket. Even with cheap air between the cities, you still need to get to and from the airports. The train stations are right in town, and you'll save a great deal on those transfer fares.

Because London is SO expensive, you may want to spend 4 nights there and 5 or 6 in Paris (not sure how your days work out). But it will be a wonderful trip.

I am actually getting ready to go on a trip to London and Paris in two weeks. The advice on this board was really instrumental in helping me put together my trip and now I am hooked on this forum!!

The advice to use a open jaw ticket is right on. There is really no price difference to fly into London and fly home from Paris. I was actually on Expedia a few minutes ago looking something up so I did a quick search. Price for plane tickets do drop in September (for example from the West Coast from $750-$800 in August to as low as $550 in September).

I originally was going to book hotel and flight through Expedia as often you can get discounts on packages that make your hotel room inexpensive. However when I couldn't get the hotel rooms I wanted through Expedia, I just booked my airfare through them and then went directly to the hotels.

I was concerned about a hotel in London because of cost. I had picked a couple of places but then stumbled on the Kingsway Hall Hotel review on trip advisor. There weekend rack rate is around $300 (US)and on Expedia the room was $180 including tax. I wrote directly to them and they gave me a price of 79 GBP which includes tax. This is $144. For London and a nice hotel this is a bargain. You might not like the location of that hotel but I feel it is worth emailing hotels for their rate.

As far as the hotels in Paris, there are so many and I was so overwhelmed. I am the one who started the thread Hotel Muguet vs. Hotel Fleurie and I had such marvelous response from those on this board. In the end, I got good rates from hotels suggested here and made a choice. Most of the hotels on this forum are not available on Expedia or others as they are small hotels. Priceline for London would be a good option also.

I just noticed that you started this thread in July. Have you decided on your trip? I did notice that hotels in September for Paris were more expensive and less availability so hopefully you have booked one already. We decided to stay in the 6th but it is definitely more expensive and in September the 7th would be a good alternative.

One last point, I decided to take the Eurostar instead of fly between London and Paris. I felt that is was convenient going city to city and didn't want to mess with the airports. However, the Eurostar is not cheap and you can fly for comparative cost or less using some of the smaller airlines. Someone suggested buying the Eurostar RT Day ticket and not using the return, that's what I did. Let us know how your trip is progressing and have a good time.

Just a piece of advice on the London-Paris leg: true, low cost airlines (two available: EasyJet and BMI) seem like the right choice for a one way ticket, but the price you see is not the price you will eventually pay: Easy Jet in particular are very good at adding a zillion taxes (including credit card tax! ) at the very last stage of the payment. Anyway, it is true that on a short stretch like that, airport taxes roughly make up half the total cost of the ticket. Since low cost airlines usually quote tax free, the final bill is normally twice as high. It's the reason why I would recommend a fake return on Eurostar, using only one ticket eventually. Especially good are the "party animal" tickets: out on a Saturday after 16h00, back the day after before noon (but this you don't care since you won't be taking the train anyways). There are so many Eurostars a day, that by navigating their website, you'll just pick a cheap one for your fictitious return (Tuesday to Thursday, 11h to 15h, for instance), add everything up and compare with EasyJet or BMI. The prices quoted on the Eurostar site are all tax included.

It's easy to figure out the total cost of a low-cost flight. You just have to proceed to the final screen. Even with all of the taxes, the flight I took (one-way on BMI LHR-CDG) was almost exactly half the price of the Eurostar.

To be more precise, the flight was half the cost of the lowest possible Eurostar ticket, which happened to be a roundtrip ticket. So if I had needed a roundtrip ticket, Eurostar would have been a good choice.

It all depends on the season: now, for example, it's 70 euros return for Eurostar, difficult to beat either by BMI or EasyJet (and don't forget to add the train fares to and from the airports to get it right).

I'm also planning a London/Paris open jawed trip.

I was just looking at Eurostar prices from London to Paris and see that indeed a roundtrip ticket is MUCH cheaper!! There's a "value fare" - if you buy it 21 days in advance you can use it any day of the week. But what does it mean by "compulsary day return"?? What if we just don't go back? (Which of course we wouldn't b/c we'd be flying back from CDG.) Will we be penalized?

This just seems too good to be true! Help!

Leonard_R,

Please explain to me (on here - or email) HOW you got the $45 on Eurostar. (I will be going to Brussels not Paris - but should be about the same)=I'll be going in May 2005.

Thank you so much (in advance)

Sheshack,

If you will tell us your rough price for your London hotel, and is it for two or for one, I shall be glad to quote you some Fodors forum readers comments.

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