London & Paris Help
 

I'm from the United States and will be traveling to London for vacation this spring with my mom. We will eventually be going to Paris at some point during my stay, but haven't decided when. We get to London on May 18 and leave on May 30. I need help on places to stay and things to do in England and France.

Besides getting excellent advice and encouragement from this Fodor's board, you must go out and buy two good travel guides on London 0r Great Britain, (which covers London) & Paris.
I particularly like The EyeWitness travel books which are in super colour and have maps of the city and Tube/Metro routes.

How much are you planning to spend on hotels?

Hi

My wife and I went to Paris in April last year and I have posted a trip report with pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/Paris_France.htm . Maybe you can find some useful information there. I have also made an interactive Google map that shows you where some attractions and restaurants are located and you can find the map on http://gardkarlsen.com/paris_france_map.htm . Hope this helps in the planning :d

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

I know it's quite expensive to stay in London if I want a good hotel, so we would like to stay perhaps just outside of London and in other cities as we travel.

Lots to see in and around London. Nearby Hampton Court, Leeds Castle (about 40 miles), Knole/Knowle House, Windsor Castle, etc. In London, get on a London Sightseeing bus where you can hop on, hop off at all the important places in the center.

The Lonely Planet guides are very good. Also get some maps. Stations have plans of the Underground and Metro. Metro is flat fare in Paris but more to airports, etc. May involve lots of walking between stations. Underground is easy if you know what stations to change at. Change money for Paris in London as it's commission free. Take yourself a telescopic umbrella.


http://www.london.world-guides.com/

http://www.paris.world-guides.com/

http://www.travellerspoint.com/budge...ci-707-21.html

http://www.paris35.com/


Lots to see and do in both places. Plan beforehand so you don't waste your time.

Hi sepaltoona,

After reading guides here on London and Paris (under "Destination"), tell us what your interests are, budget, time in both cities, style of travel (busy days, slow days), food likes/dislikes, want museums, want guided tour, always wanted to see changing of the guard,etc,etc..

The travel agents at this site require some basic info :)

Hi S,
I take it that you have your plane tickets, yes?

>I need help on places to stay and things to do in England and France.<

That's why we have libraries. :)

After you have done some research, come back with a draft itinerary and we will help you improve it.

You only have 11 nights:
5 in London
5 in Paris
1 in London before flying home.

>we would like to stay perhaps just outside of London...<

I don't think that the commute will be worth the savings.

((I))

A lot of people here recommend Priceline to get the costs of hotels down from the stratosphere. B&Bs are also another possibility.

Do some reading at betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com (the 1st is a little more patient with questions). You can really save on hotel in London, we stayed right in South Kensington for under $110 a night - almost unheard of when booking traditionally.