ianjs

My father and I are planning a 9 day trip to England and France and intend to split our trip between London and Paris. We have both been to London (albeit decades ago), but neither of us have been to Paris. Are we being foolish trying to spend only 4 days in each city?

knoxvillecouple

You will get many, many posters tell you that two major cities/world capitals in 8 days (4 each) are impossible - that you must, absolutely MUST, spend more time in each. In a perfect world you would, but if that's the amount of time that you have and you and your father want to see both, by all means do so. You can see a lot in that period of time. You will even have time to get a sense of the people and the ambience of those great cities.

Regardless, you CAN count on Fodorites to give you advice, sound advice, on where you might stay, what you might see, how you might best experience those cities to your maximum advantage.

Bonne chance!

KC

walkinaround

if i were in your shoes i probably would just go to france...split between paris and somewhere else in france. this is not for the reasons of travel time as london/paris is quite quick, however, i would just prefer to immerse myself in one country in order to learn more about it.

other than that, i don't think you are foolish. 4 days gives you a decent overview.

MFNYC

I think it's doable. If you've already been to London, maybe do 3 London, 5 Paris. We've done similar 2 city combos (6-paris/3-amsterdam and 4-Madrid/4-London).

I can always spend more time in each place, but my travel time is limited so I have to make do. These 2 city trips have worked fine for us (we travle with our kids).

chocaholic

I went to Paris for the first time last year. And I found that 9 days was not enough. However, I would go back..not sure when but someday, hopefully soon! I think 4 days in each would be really short...you'd be short changing yourself in either city!

harrowgirl

In the fall, my hubby and I did a 3 week trip London, Paris and various cities in Italy.

We spent 4 nights in each of London and Paris - which worked out to about 3 1/2 days each. This was enough time to see all the highlights - but there was a TON of things we didn't get to see. Paris was run run run to see what we did see, and there wasn't a ton of time to just sit and have a leisurely afternoon in a cafe to people watch/absorb.

4 days will give you a taste of each city. I don't think you are foolish to do that - it is enough time to whet your appetite . It is just important to know what you are going to experience.

Pam

janisj

&quot;<i>3 1/2 days each. This was enough time to see all the highlights</i>&quot;

Trust me - 3.5 days is not enough time to see ALL of the highlights in either city.

But it is enough time to see <b>SOME</b> of the highlights. And you will be able to decide which one your want to return to in the future.

Nine days does work not work out to 4 days each. Your 8 days &quot;in country&quot; should be reduced by:

- the first day is usually very limited due to jetlag/exhaustion. So basically count it as half a day.

- the day you travel from London to Paris is another half day. Sure it only takes a bit less than 3 hours for the train trip. But checking out, getting to Waterloo, checking in for the Eurostar, getting to you Paris Hotel will eat up about 1/2 a day.

- your last day is basically used up packing and getting to the airport.

so you'll really have about 3 full days in each city

I'm not trying to talk you out of it. London/Paris is a great and easy &quot;two-fer&quot;. Just realize your time in each city will be a bit less than you might suppose.