Hello. I have been looking for info regarding some great tour companies. My hubby and I would like a general touristy tour of the major sites in London and Paris and Rome. Could anyone recommend a company that does day trips? Also, anyone know of a good company that does reasonably (I laugh using this term) priced Harry Potter tours in London? We will be in London 5/25-30, Paris 5/30-6/3 and Rome 6/3-6/7. THanks!

Hi S,

>a general touristy tour of the major sites

For that you don't need guides, just good guide books.

Start with "Destinations"

For Paris, see Paris Superthread
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34519236

100 Great Things to Do in Paris
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...mp;tid=1277898

Degas’s Paris Walks
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34712768

Kerouac’s Ethnic Walk
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35095155

Enjoy your visit.

For Harry potter tours - this is a reputable company:

http://www.walks.com/Homepage/Harry_Potter/default.aspx

You can easily hit all the big sights on your own in those cities using public transportation, walking or taxis to get from point to point.

There are a number of absolutely free audio museum guides and self-guided neighborhood walking tours available for download from iTunes. You can buy a splitter and share the same iPod with your husband.

There are also plenty of hop-on/hop-off sightseeing buses - some with live commentary and others with pre-recorded audio which can be an option if you just want a general overview of the city on your first day.

A lot of Harry Potter was filmed outside of London and other sights (like "Gringott's Bank&quot are private property that you cannot visit. The Rick Steves London guidebook contains information about the location of many of the Potter sights (including Platform 9 3/4ths) which you can easily do on your own as you walk around the city in general.

In London, I really enjoyed the "Big Bus" tour but you have to take the one with live commentary. There are 3 routes and it's a hop on/off bus tour. I enjoyed it so much that I took it again the second day in London on my first trip.

The great thing is that if you're short on time, you will get an overview of all the great sites/city, but if you have the time, you can hop off at various sites and then pick up the bus again (very easy) - one price per 24 hrs altho' it generally runs from 8:00-8:30am to 6:00pm. But if you didn't get on the bus until later in the day, it's good until the same time the next day.

However, my info is about 10 yrs old so you need to look up the hours that are valid now.

Also, London Walks has good tours in specific areas. They're very good.

I haven't taken the same type of tour in Paris & Rome but I know they have city bus tours.

Don't get the "head phone" tours; they'll put you to sleep!