AlineWyllie

Hi friends,

I am planning to go to Europe this summer and visit London and Paris. Problem is, I only have six full days to spare between the two of them. Therefore, for those of you who have been to those two towns already, how should I divide these days between them? Or better yet, what would be the minimum acceptable lenght of stay in each city?

Thank you.

iowamom

With only six days, pick one.

danon

Split the time evenly ...in three days you can see some of the monuments and get a general feel of the city.
Not much time for museums.

fmpden

Got it three and three and there will still be plenty to see on the next trip. Over the years we have spent nearly three weeks in London and still have not seen everything we want to see. Three days is really two so you will get a quick overview.

twoflower

I agree with both the above. With only 6 days, pick one. Or, if you really must do both, split the time evenly with 3 days each.

xyz99

Most of 1 day will be lost with traveling between the 2 cities, getting to the new hotel, checking in...which leaves you with technically 5 days.
I would pick just one.

janisj

If you try to squeeze in both you will have about 2.5 days in each city. That is fine if you really don't want to see/do too much in each city. Depends on what you want - maybe 3 or 4 major sites in each and a couple of nice meals . . . or time to see a bit more of one city.

It will be cheaper if you stick to one city if budget is an issue.

Which one most interests you?

ParisAmsterdam

Pick one.

ira

Hi AW,

>Minimum number of days to stay in London and Paris <

At least a week in each.

Pick one. The other will still be there for your next visit.


PS: If you are planning on dieing before your next visit, go to Paris.

FerrisFar

What I would do is stay in London but take a day trip from London to Paris. There are several day trip offers that are pretty reasonable and would give you "the sights" and maybe a chance to do one thing you really want to do in Paris.

The day-trip will make better use of your time than checking out of hotel and spending time traveling to another hotel to check in, etc.

This way you get to see a fair amount of London and have a little taste of Paris to whet your appetite for the next time.

janisj

A day trip is certainly doable - but if budget is an issue that will be a pretty expensive 8 or 9 hours in Paris.

undergrace

I had a similar situation a few years ago - I am only allowed one week off at a time at my job, so I have to make the best out of a short amount of time.

The option we chose (and I highly recommend) is to fly into and out of London, and do an overnight tour of Paris through Golden Tours.

http://www.goldentours.com/paris_overnight/

It includes round-trip tickets on the Eurostar, an overnight in a Parisian hotel (ours was down the road from the Arc de Triomphe) and a guided tour of the city on Day 1 and freedom to explore on your own for Day 2 - you just have to be on the return train from Gard du Nord that evening! It was so wonderful to have everything provided for us... the boat cruise, going up the Eiffel Tower (our group was able to skip the line as well), entrance to the Louvre (and our tickets weren't date-stamped by the guards, so we returned briefly the following day!). We had the evening to walk around the city, seeing the Eiffel Tower's light show, climbing the Arc de Triomphe and seeing Paris at night. Then the following day we visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Sacre Coeur, Pont Neuf, and back to the Louvre before heading to the train station. They give you your return ticket the previous day so it's simply just you walking onto the train.

We found a really great deal on Hotwire for a hotel room in London (Holiday Inn Express in Southwark, right near the Tate Modern and Millennium Bridge) for only $60 a night, so we just kept the hotel room the whole week and only brought minimal items to Paris.

We had 4 days in London and even though we didn't see EVERYTHING, we did a large majority of the things we wanted to do, including visiting Stonehenge and the Greenwich Observatory.

Hope this long novel of an answer helps!

greg

I thought London was a city except in the song "Around the World" where it is referred as a "town."
You seem to be heading to the French Riviera after your stay, so it seems Paris is a given. Are you then starting your trip on London irrespective of whether you are spending any days in London or not?

AlineWyllie

Hi guys,

Thank you all so much for your opinions. In fact, the 6 days are, indeed, full days, meaning that I left out the travelling days. Obviously that even 3 full days in each town would not be enough to see it all, but I could always go back to one or the other in another opportunity, like "fmpden" did. And it is true that as I would be going to the French Riviera afterwards, a day trip from London to Paris would not work. Now, I may just be able to aqueeze one more full day in there. In that case, what would be better - 3 days in London / 4 in Paris or vice-versa? Like "undergrace", I would love to choose one or the other, but I also have to make the most of the little time I have. Flying from London to Paris, rather than taking the train, as I originally thought of doing, might allow me to get a little more time in one or the other town too. Again, thank you so much for your tips. If you want some from Italy, have lots to give

greg

I am not sure where you get an idea that flying from London to Paris gives you more time. Unless you are already at the airport in London, it would take you longer to do a trip from downtown London to downtown Paris. The train trip is about 2 hr 20 min and you need to check in 30 min before the departure.

janisj

>>Flying from London to Paris, rather than taking the train, as I originally thought of doing, might allow me to get a little more time in one or the other town too.<<

Absolutely NOT. Flying takes <u>much</u> longer. The train is city centre to city centre w/ only a 1/2 hour advance check in.

Flying requires an hour + just to get to the airport, 1.5-2 hours advance check in, and another hour in from CDG to central Paris.

janisj

Meant to add - 6 full days can't possibly give you 3 full days in each city. Even the train eats up half a day w/ all the transfers and checking/out/in. Flying would be worse.

Also, does your 6 days include your arrival day?

jamikins

If you are arriving from overseas I would spend the extra day in your arrival city due to jet lag.

forgottenlife

I agree with most of the above comments, you need 6 days to see each of these cities properly. But if you have to do them both in 6 days i would split them evenly.

If you haven't already organised you transportation between London and Paris, I would suggest taking the Eurostar train as you can travel from city centre to city centre in just 2 hours.

ira

Hi AW,

>... I also have to make the most of the little time I have.<

No, you don't, if you mean "see as much as possible".

You will, I submit, enjoy your visit a lot more if you went to Paris and France and saved London and the UK for another trip.