need escorted tour advice
 

We are traveling to Paris & London
and are looking for 8 day tours, which I find many of on-line.BUT,
which ones have you used and liked
the best? Any to absolutely avoid?
Help please!

You should tell us which tours you're looking at since sometimes you book through a consolidator and take the tour with another company.

I'd recommend Grand Circle Travel from personal experience but I doubt they have one-week tours. I'd also recommend Elderhostel. Tauck is a very reputable company.

I would not recommend Globus (from personal experience) but others would. My Globus experience was hotels outside of towns, bad (really bad) food, tour guide lacking in knowledge. It depends on what you're looking for from a tour company and what you want out of a vacation.

You really don't need an escorted tour for London and Paris as it's very easy to get around these cities and there are local tours (both bus and walking tours) you can book either ahead for bus tours or simply show up for the walking tours. I've done walking tours in both London and Paris and they're wonderful.

If you do a search for tour companies, by name, you'll find some information and recommedations already posted.

Tours can make sense for a lot of places/countries. But really, London & Paris are just about the two easiest cities to do independently. They are made for the independent traveler. Very easy public transport, English spoken just about everywhere - even in Paris, simple to get from one city to the other, etc.

What tours are you considering? How many of you? What are your ages?

I must agree with janis, I don't think you will benefit from a tour of London and Paris, even if you are a first-time traveler. Additionally I think 8 days isn't nearly enough time to see both of these cities. Any chance you will consider doing this on your own, and maybe add a few days?

British Airways has some good travel packages. They also have tours that you can book through them while in either city. Request a brochure from them.

Tauck offers A Week in London and Paris. If you want to stay longer, you can fly into London a day or so before the tour and/or leave Paris a day or so after the tour. Tauck will have special rates at the tour hotels, which they will arrange, or you can book your own. I have not taken this tour, but I leave this week for my 5th Tauck tour to Europe. I have never been unhappy with any of their tours. They have amazing guides, they stay at fantastic hotels, the food is wonderful (and often a la carte), and they never try to sell you any "extras" or "optional excursions."

Go to my "Guenmai's Paris Apartment Rental Experience" thread and I have noted an American, private tour driver in Paris. Happy Travels!

Hi

You mean an 8 day tour from Paris to London? I have used Cosmos, Trafalgar and Insight. All very good but food on Cosmos and Trafalgar was very ordinary.

Hi J,

As noted, it is very easy to do those cities on your own.

Fly int London, take the Eurostar to Paris, fly home.

If you tell us your dates, budget and hotel requirements we can help you.

((I))

judithlee~ Because Fodor's is most a forum for people who self-plan their vacations... Well that's what we'd tend to recommend.

Especially for going to Paris and London over an 8 day period, this would be an extremely easy trip to arrange on your own. Then you can see & do what you want, instead of being tied to a group and their schedules.

&quot;<i> . . . instead of being tied to a group and their schedules.</i>&quot; and their hotel and their food (often yuk) and their &quot;foibles&quot; . . . . . . .

We booked our first trip (one week) to Paris with Trafalgar and were very pleased. The package included hotel (with full breakfast, a huge bonus in Paris), airport transfers (worth about &euro;100), a half day tour of Paris and a half day tour to Versailles (done the same day), a Bateaux Mouches ticket (valid any time), etc. The rest of the time we were on our own. A Trafalgar rep was available throughout for assistance. The airport transfers were very convenient, especially being novices we overpacked. The package was nicely priced - the hotel was a real bargain compared to the rate we would have gotten booking on our own. It was also nice to have acquaintances for sharing information. I think Trafalgar has a Paris/London package.

We have subsequently visited Paris many times on our own, but appreciated the package for our first trip.

When choosing a package, be sure to check the hotel reviews (and their location) and compare all price to booking independently.