London only or London and Paris?
 

Hello,

My wife and I are planning a trip to London in late August. We will be flying out of New York on Wednesday night, August 29th, arriving in London on the morning of Thursday, August 30th. We plan on being in London all of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and flying back Monday.

Here's the dilemma - we went to Paris on an incredible trip two years ago and loved it. We've also discussed trying to get back even for a short period of time when we visited London considering they are so close.

So the question is, does it make any sense to be in London for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and take a Eurostar train Sunday morning to Paris for the day before leaving Europe on Monday, just to have one day in Paris? Or is London so overwhelming with things to see that it would be crazy to leave a day early?

Any opinions are welcome. Thanks everyone!

yeah, id say to go for it. You could even come back the same day so if you have the option of staying and leaving from paris then thats even better :-) get the super early eurostar

dont get me wrong london can fill weeks but you seem to have a fond memory of paris so think it will be nice to look forward to it while you are in london

That's a great idea. I had it in mind that we would leave our London hotel and have to check in to one in Paris. You're right, we could arrive in Paris around 11am, stay for the day, and then head back to London at night.

You can certainly go to Paris if you want - but London has enough MAJOR sights for at least 10 days. Before you make decision I would list what you hae to see in London and how long that will take.

It's entirely practicable, if not necessarily cheap or restful (NB - to get the prices on Eurostar, you'll need to book well in advance), to leave on an early train and get a good few hours in Paris before returning in the evening. Lots of people do it.

Remember Paris time is an hour ahead of London, so you "lose" an hour going, but get it back returning.

It all depends on what you want to do, what you find interesting or not; but to make it work for you, you'll need to commit to the ticket for Paris pretty early and make that a fixture in your planning.

If you had an incredible trip to Paris I would not try for a rushed day trip. I think it will ruin the magic you remember. Save Paris for when you have several days. You'll spend more time getting to and from train station and travel time on the train than you will have in Paris.

Plus, London has more than enough to keep you busy for 4 days.

Hi cj,

Many folks take an early train to Paris and come back that night.

As much as I love Paris, I wouldn't do it.

((I))

A day in Paris will be very rushed and you spend a lot of time by travelling.
I love Paris more than London. However, there are so many things to see and to do in London and you have only a short time there, so I would stay in London.

I agree...You should concentrate on London this trip. You will be going back to Paris again someday.

Will a rushed trip do justice to the memories?

I would do it only if I were flying back from Paris. Once in Paris you have to stay the night.

Keep in mind the Paralympics are going to be starting 29 August so that may impact you. You may want to check out this website for transit impacts. http://www.getaheadofthegames.com/

Would you think that visiting London during the Paralympics is a bad idea?

Not at all just be aware of any transit disruptions in your plans. I don't think most sites, especially those on the western side of central London will be any different. Just something to be aware of!

Ok thanks. I just didn't know if the city might be so congested and full of street closings. Just want to be prepared and make sure our trip is as good as it can be.

Check out the website I gave you for that info...nut street closings shouldn't affect you as you won't be driving and public transport should be taking any closures into account. London is a huge city that can take tonnes of tourists - I just don't want you to plan to take the tube to st pancras for the Eurostar or something and find there is a planned closure or huge queues! Enjoy London!

My humble advice: Get out of London, but not to Paris. Take a day trip to Bath or take look into guided tours that will hit several sites outside of London. Consider breaking up your stay in London (instead of taking the day trip at the end).

Paris is my favorite place in the world to visit but London is great, too. With only 4 full days, I would stay in London. London is an amazing city with so much to see and do that you couldn't cover it in 4 weeks let alone 4 days.

Give London the entire 4 days; you will love it.

I like London a lot but I love Paris. But with the short time you have... only 4 days... I'd stay in London and go back to Paris next trip. I wouldn't take a trip out of London to Bath or elsewhere either... 4 days is all too short.

I would not do Paris either. I loved going to Paris but 1 rushed day is not worth it and as others have said there is plenty to keep you busy in London. If you feel the need to get out of town I would suggest going to Windsor. I personally loved it and it was a great trip out of London.

WE loved Paris too but we spent more time in London. London has enough things to do for 10 days or more (even a month and you can't see everything).

Some Highlights that I consider "must sees" in London

Tower of London--we spent 5 hours here
Churchill War Rooms
Parliament and "Big Ben" along with Buckingham Palace--walk by
Westminster Abbey
St Paul Cathedral--worth the climb to the top
British Museum
National Gallery
V&A Museum
Museum of London
Imperial War Museum
Kensington Gardens (not the Palace interior) and Hyde Park
Hampton Court Palace--(easy day trip by train-half day venue)

I could go on and mention the little museums like John Soanne, which is unique, Courtald Gallery, etc. etc.

As you can see, you can very easily fill up 4 days and will have to chose what to leave out because you can't see all that in only four days.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your trip!

This is all a great help. Thanks everyone. We've decided to steer clear of Paris this time and focus on London, perhaps with a side trip to Windsor. You are all right, there is just so much to do in London...

Keep in mind that the Tube doesn't open on Sunday mornings until 8 am, so Sunday morning flights from Heathrow would involve other ways of getting there. We used the bus sytems at 6 am, with one transfer point, but worried that it might take too long. We've also taken the train to the airport from Paddington Station, which was easier and more expensive, but less hassle.
Also, the tube closes at midnight; make your late night plans accordingly.

Windsor is 20 minutes by taxi from Heathrow so it might be a good place to stay on your first or last night