golfdude

Hello,

We are a family of 4 with 2 kids aged 9 and 7. We love traveling and our last trip was 21 days in New Zealand where we drove from North Island to South Island and back.

We haven't been to Europe yet. For 1st timer's can we pick Paris and London as bases and then do day trips from there. Or do we need to travel from one city to next in UK and France ?

I know Europe is vast and one has to pick 2 or 3 countries in any trip. I was trying to see if I can cut down on the traveling inside a country and pick Paris and London as a base. We are planning to go for a 15-17 day trip to Europe.

Thanks.

golfdude

Gretchen

If your total time out of the plane is about 2 weeks, sure. Maybe a week in each country. you might want an open jaw return.
A week in Paris will fly by, and it is up for discussion whether you would make many or any day trips. The same may be true for London.

nytraveler

You can do LOCAL day trips out of London and Paris - but with two fairly young kids you can't be bouncing around to other countries during the day. (Frankly I don't think it makes sense for adults either - but they're better able to take 16 or 18 hour days than little kids are.)

There are many interesting places within 1.5 to 2 hours from London or Paris - but if you want to go much further afield you really need to move hotels.

But, with kids that age - who will still want to be kids - I would do an apartment in an area residential enough to have easy access to playgrounds/places where the kids can just run around. Also will give you the option to have breakfast and snacks in - and not be falling all over each other as you would in a small hotel room.

So I vote for one week each in London and Paris - with 1 or 2 day trips from each. Don;t worry - there is way more than enough in both cities to keep everyone busy.

annhig

what nyt said.

and a heads up that if you intend to use the eurostar train to get between London and Paris, [and why wouldn't you?] they start booking 90 days before your travel date, and the earlier you book the cheaper it should be.

http://uk.eurostar.com/

if it works out with flight times, if you are english speaking i would fly into london and our of Paris - that gives you and the kids your first european experience in english which might make things a bit easier. loads of people in paris speak english but it takes a bit more getting used to, and learning a few words of french which they then get to use will be fun for the kids

Southam

It's easy in central Paris to find small parks where the locals take their kids. For a vivid impression of the city through the viewpoint of a child, read Paris to the Moon by the New Yorker's all-purpose intellect Adam Gopnick. I imagine the same is true of London. Both of these huge cities are residential; families live near even the grandest of boulevards and monuments.
Aside from saving money, an apartment for a week can become "home" in the way no hotel room will. With cable TV (although the English-speaking channels will be limited in Paris), WiFi and video players, diverting the small ones should be much easier. They can also be exposed to such entertainments as shopping for groceries in unfamiliar stores and, especially, farmers' markets. Then there are the delights of riding the subways, surely the equal of a Disney park. They will see escalators in the Tube that are long enough to be the stairway to heaven. It's these little things that can be a delight the first time around -- and you get to see it through their eyes.

goldenautumn

Is there something you specifically want to see outside of London and Paris? Some special thing of interest to you?

Both capital cities are intensely interesting and in many ways define the identity of their nations. Both cities are very intelligently designed with lots of green space, both beautiful formal gardens with chidlren's playgrounds and also many places that feel like being in the countryside, although you are just a few minutes away from the tallest buildings. The cities both have rivers that run through the heart of them.

Of course if you go to other cities and villages, or the seaside, you get to see that France is not just Paris and the UK is more than London. But if you "only" see London and Paris this visit, you will have seen a lot of what shaped the whole country, and you will have real variety every day in your experiences.