I am travelling with my mother for her 70th birthday to London and Paris. I will have one regular size roller bag and she will have a smaller bag. My questions are as follows:

1. I have booked us a "larger" room at Base2Stay and it seems very nice and clean (clean being most important) and not too far from the undergound. How would you recommend getting from Heathrow to this location?25 Courtfield Gardens
London, SW5 0PG- it is near the Earl's Court station.

2. Would you recommend this hotel for visiting the usual tourist things? I can cancel but I went ahead and reserved and got a really good "early internet" rate. I realize it is small, but most places in our price range (150-250) were small and not all appeared as clean.

3. We are going to the Normandy region of France - Caen or Bayeux (sp?) how would you recommend getting there? Flying to Paris and then drive with my husband who is meeting us in France? Flying into that region? Train over? I was confused when trying to find a "way" to get to that area - I am thinking that it might work to fly out of the smaller airport in London to Caen or Bayeux (I think it is Hampstead).

ANY advice is very much appreciated!

Since you are traveling with a 70-year-old I am not recommending the train or the tube. My own mother was quite a bit younger than that when we went to London and she didn't like schelpping around her luggage on the train/tube. I think a car service would be best and not terribly expensive. Here's a good one:

www.justairports.com

PS I hope someone else can help with your other questions.

Thank you so much! I will look into this service.

I suspect by "<i>one regular size roller bag . . .</i>" you really mean a large bag, since your mom has a 'smaller' one. Is it a 26" / 28" or thereabouts? I'd consider that a very large bag. But large or small - I totally agree w/ P_M, book a car service. Don't arrive jetlagged and then schlepp in on the tube. The tube is terrific - but not the best intro to London after an overnight flight.

As for Base2stay, there is one particular Fodorite who really praises/recommends the place and a couple of others who have stayed there.

Me personally - I wouldn't. I have not stepped inside the place so this is nothing to do w/ cleanliness or such. But JUST re the location - for such a short stay (and maybe first time?) it is not in that great a location. Not bad - but a relatively long ways from most anywhere you want to go. You won't be walking anywhere from there. That means the tube or buses for everything. And the tube can be very tiring if one is mobility impaired in any way. Most stations have stairs/steps and loooong underground walks.

Your budget is "150-250" whats?? £, US $, Aus $, Can $, € ?

US$250 = approx £160. You can get a much more central location for that. And if you are willing to go the Priceline route, you could get a posh central London hotel for $150-$175-ish - and much less if you bid in zones near Earls Court. W/ a budget as high as yours, you couls bid in one of the posh/up market neighborhoods.

But even if you don't want to try PL, you should be able to get a very nice place w/i your budget. And don't rely too much on photos. Not saying base2stay isn't clean. It probably is - but hotels always put their best foot forward on their websites.

I don;t know that specific place either but it really isn't near the center of things, and I'm assuming your mom might not want to do a lot of traveling to get to sights - and might like the ability to go back to the hotel in the afternoon to rest before dinner.

I would look at Priceline and try for something much more central.

As for France, if you want to explore the area around Bayeaux it is most easily done by car - esp for 3 people. I would meet your husband at the Paris airport - don;t know which since I'm not sure where he's coming from, pick up the car there and drive.

"<i>I am thinking that it might work to fly out of the smaller airport in London to Caen or Bayeux (I think it is Hampstead).</i>"

No doubt you mean Stansted. (there are several London area airports - Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Luton, Stansted -- and only Stansted sounds anything like 'Hampstead')

You can fly from Stansted to Dinard. Not sure of any other Normandy-area destinations from London. Stansted is quite a ways NE of London. You'd take a train from Liverpool Street station which is a very long ways from Earls Court - On the opposite side of central London.

You need to tell us more about your plans. You say you are taking your Mom to Paris -- that would seem to mean you are staying at least some time IN Paris. If so, what I'd do is take the train from London to Paris, meet your husband there and spend a few days. Then you can take the train or drive to Normandy.

You'll no doubt be delighted to hear that the base2stay hotel could be quite perfect - by taking the underground Piccadilly line from Heathrow Airport to Earls Court, you'll have an easy, step free, journey.

From the platform at Earls Court underground station, there are lifts / elevators and even a short ramp in the booking hall directly out onto the street - the hotel is a few minutes level walk away.

Travelling around London from here is easy, with the same easy, no steps, access back down to each tube line at Earls Court s station. There are a few steps up to the front door of the hotel, but there's a bell and the staff are always being praised for their friendliness - see TripAdvisor at
http://bit.ly/basestayTA

Not all the rooms are "small", incidentally - do take a look at the hotel website http://www.base2stay.com - although some of the single rooms are indeed small, they start at £81 a night - astonishingly cheap for this level of comfort and cleanliness in London.

Let me know if I can hep further, please.

Alun Hill, MCIJ
IndependentTravelWriter.com

Thanks for all the advice so far! I am not used to this and am trying to learn the proper posting techniques! We will be in London from May 25-May 31. Then we are meeting my husband in the Normandy region for 2 nights and then on to Paris for 1 week. I wasn't sure if we should just try to meet my husband at the airport in Paris and then drive to Normandy or if we could somewhat conviently get to the Normandy region and just meet him there.(he will have a car)

The price range in London is 200-250 US dollars and I really just wasn't sure what to book. We want to do the usual tourist things (what area of London would you recommend staying)? I was thinking that all the hotels near the "tourist" things and within walking distance of most of the sights would be too expensive.

I think we will try the train to France. I think my Mom would enjoy the travel.

London is a huge city of around 11 million people (plus commuters!), so anywhere is "near" AND "far" to any sights to see, of course.

The London Sightseeing double deck bus tour (which should be your first "must do"!) starts round the corner from base2stay - and the concierge will happily book you a ticket.

This will get you oriented around London, give you lots of stories and history from the guides - and let you decide what you must go and see.

Wherever you stay, you will need a bus, underground train or taxi - and whilst a day pass for train and bus is only a few pounds maximum, taxis can be very expensive.

Additionally, you have to decide whether you want to stay in a leafy Kensington square (base2stay.com) or in somewhere busy, 24/7, like Piccadilly Circus - and a check of the prices (and TripAdvisor reviews) might just persuade you!

Incidentally, taking the train to France is easy - it takes a little over 2 hours and can be as cheap as £30 single if you book online in advance at Eurostar.com - the train leaves from St Pancras, which you would get to from base2stay direct on the Piccadilly line again - the same line you took from Heathrow airport - and it's step free here, too!

And don't worry about your "posting technique" we're all here to help you.

Happy to help!

Alun Hill, MCIj

IndependentTravelWriter.com

Well - your are doing things in sort of the wrong order for easiest/convenience. Some things to consider --

• Normandy is not particularly accessible from London. The most direct route would be to take the train to Portsmouth and then a ferry across the Channel to Caen or le Harve. Your husband would have to drive from CDG to Normandy to meet you.

• If you take the train from London to Paris -- well then you have the issue that your husband will be out at CDG and you will be in central Paris at Gare du Nord. You'd have to take the train out to CDG to meet him. That is a lot of extra schlepping.

• Flying from London to Paris is OK but you'd have to travel out to LHR.

So -- long story short -- London > Normandy > Paris has built in extra schlepping/inconvenience no matter which route you take.

If you can rearrange things a bit, 1st London, then train to Paris and stay 6 or 7 days, then pick up a car and drive to Normandy for a few days. Drop the car back at CDG and fly home from there.

If you can't rearrange things, then you have to decide which of the inconvenient options works best for you.

Another issue: You are staying in London for a full week. I would not stay in any hotel (let alone one inn Earls Court) for a full week. For 2 or 3 nights, maybe 4, sure. But those 4 walls will seem really small after that long. You can get a very nice 1-bedroom apartment in just about any part of London for about £600 to maybe £1000 for the full week. You'd have much more space, a full kitchen, a washer/dryer (which means you could pack less and not have to take that large suitcase)

BTW -- I never said Earls Court station was a difficult one -- it isn't. But Earls Court is well away from any of the major tourist attractions. For instance if you stayed someplace say in Covent Garden, or near Trafalgar Square, or in Westminster You could walk lots of places. Not so from EC.

I also did not say there was <u>anything</u> at all wrong w/ base2stay. I personally would not stay in that area IF I had a choice. It isn't terrible, it is just that you could do better. And I most definitely wouldn't stay there for a whole week . . . .

(Alun - you aren't supposed to advertise you own websites on Fodors)

The link to my site is so that that original poster knows I'm a travel journalist, not a hotel employee - but thanks for the heads up - it's appreciated!

Alun

You can take the Eurostar from London's St Pancras to Gare Du Nord, Paris, then it's two stops on the RER (fast underground service) to Gare de St Lazare (or take a taxi) for trains to Normandy.

Alun Hill, MCIJ

I agree with Alun's last post. I did the trip to Normandy (Trouville-Deauville) exactly as he said. The Corail train took about two hours and it was an easy journey. You can get pretty much anywhere in Normandy from Gare St Lazare. Look at the French Rail site - www.SNCF.com. On JanisJ's other points, I have tried a serviced apartment only once - the name is the greatest oxymoron in the English langauge. It's good value if you expect no or little service, in my limited experience, and with an aged parent, a good front desk with your room cleaned every day is a much better choice in my view, but we all have different needs. However, I looked at base2stay, ans they seem like a cross between the two with a mini-kitchen and a/c, which, if it's hot, is a major plus.

Alun & innisfree: OK - assuming the OP and her Mom take the train to Paris . . .

They will arrive at Gare du Nord, then have to transfer (w/ that luggage again) to Gare St Lazare. Then another train (handling their own bags) to Normandy. Meanwhile the husband will be at CDG. He'll either have to go into Paris and meet up w/ them somewhere, or go to Normandy on his own and meet up w/ them there. Sure it is doable. Easy - not so much.

That is why I suggested they try to rearrange their destinations if possible.

IMO it would be much easier for them to meet up at their hotel in Paris, then later on all three head to Normandy together.

bgr8ful: My guess (just a guess) is you looked at a map and saw that Normandy is sort of half way between London and Paris (well, <i>sort of</i and thought it made sense to do London > Normandy > Paris. Doesn't really . . .

Hopefully flanner or someone else who often travels from the UK to France will see your thread and come up w/ a better recommendation. (I've been to Normandy, I've taken the ferries, I've both flown and taken the Eurostar to Paris -- but trying to link them all together w/ Normandy in the middle - that I haven't done)

We've stay at the Rubens at the Palace Hotel on two separate occasions. It is across the street from the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace and steps from Victoria Station. Both St. James and Green Park are nearby as well as restaurants and pubs.

We booked our room through www.londontown.com. You do not pay for your room up front and can cancel up to one day prior to your arrival with no penalty.

Using your dates, the Rubens is showing a double room for 122 GBP with breakfast which is within your budget.

If you want to stay in the Kensington area, they show the Millennium Baily or the Millennium Gloucester for around 100 GPB (room only).

To give you some perspective re bettyk's info -

The Rubens is walking distance from Buckingham Palace, the Cabinet War rooms/Churchill Museum, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Sq/National Gallery, St James's/Green/and Hyde parks, and lots more. Head and shoulders above Earl's Court. Plus it is a very nice property.

The Millennium Baileys is walking distance to the V&A, Natural History and Science Museums, Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens, the Royal Albert Hall, and Kensington Palace

Thanks, janis.

Gordon Bennet some of you - 70 isn't that old! Why talk of not being able to use tube/trains/mobility problems unless the OP specifically mentions a difficulty. I know plenty of 70plus year olds who put me to shame....and my mum would have bashed you with her bag if you'd suggested she wasn't able to look after it as a mere stripling of 70

nona1, you are right. Shouldn't make assumptions. I also have known some 70 yr olds that could outrun me!