sewitall

I will be taking my granddaughter to London-Paris this summer - June 21-July 5. I am trying to decide how to divide up the time. I have purchased the tickets so I will be going in and out of London. I hope to take 2-3 day trips from London such as York, Bath, & Oxford. I thought we would be in Paris for 4-5 nights. Should we spend time in London, go to Paris, then return to London for a few days before we leave or should we be in London, go to Paris and return just before we leave for home? Confused and grateful for any perspectives on an itinerary.

dfourh

If you are FLYING to Paris from London, with separate tickets USA-LON-USA and LON-PAR-LON then it is safer to have a day or two in London as a buffer on your return, since if there is any delay getting back to London (it not being on the same ticket), the LON-USA airline has no responsibility to re-accomodate you if you miss the return. (Come to think of it, if you are taking Eurostar and there is a delay, the same is true.)

sewitall

I planned on using Eurostar. Thanks.

janisj

Are flying or taking the Eurostar a from London to Paris.?

In any case you'll want to be back in London at least the night before your flight out.

Is the 21st - to the 5th your entire trip, or the time you have "on the ground"?

If its the entire trip - you only have 13 days to play w/. Day one (22 june) in London will probably be a jetlagged slog anyway. So I might suggest you book a flight from LHR (assuming you arrive at LHR) to CDG 3 to 4 hours after your arrival on the 22nd and spend 5 nights in Paris. Then take the Eurostar to London and spend the rest of your time there seeing the city and doing the day trips.

janisj

oh - I didn't see your 2nd post.

My point mainly is to not split your time into 3 small segments London/Paris/London -- but instead do Paris and London in two bigger chunks.

AisleSeat

How old is the granddaughter? What are your (her) interests? You can certainly find plenty to keep your attention in both places for as much time as you budget for it.

frogoutofwater

I have done this type of a trip before and would suggest that you do the following:

- Spend at least 3 nights in London to start. You will be jet-lagged, and just starting to find your way around, so a 3-night stay is nice.

- Do at least two of your sidetrips afterward, because otherwise, Paris might eclipse them (i.e., Paris will be so great that it will take a bit of the enjoyment out of York, for example). You might be able to do these as 2-day trips (i.e., one night away) and still see the sights.

- Then, take the Eurostar and spend at least 4 nights in Paris.

- Return for at least 2 nights in London. That will give you a chance to cover what you missed. If your granddaughter is old enough to be into shopping, she can do some reconnaissance missions in London before Paris, and then return to buy in London if she doesn't spend all her money in Paris.

GoodLuckGirl

About 10 years ago we did the same type of trip. We flew to London from the US and stayed for 6 days. We felt it would be a little less stressful to stay in London once we arrived. Since we had been there before, this vacation was much more easygoing, and we did a few day trips outside the city.
Then, we took the Eurostar to Paris for another 5 days, and departed for the US from CDG.
Planning our itinerary this way gave us a little bit more breathing room to relax and when we started on the second journey of our trip for Paris, we were more refreshed from a great time in London.
Whatever you decide, enjoy your trip with your granddaughter. I am sure that whatever the two of you do, it will be wonderful.

janisj

GoodLuckGirl's plan would be my choice too (by far) IF you had booked open jaw into London and out of CDG. But since you are flying home from London -- you have the hassle of returning to London for at least one night.

Now -- another option -- can you change your return flight to leave out of CDG? Even if there are change fees, they might not be much more than the extra travel back to London. If so, fly in to London, stay a week-ish, Eurostar to Paris, stay 5-6 days, fly home -- That would be the easiest.

nytraveler

I would definitely try to switch tickets to open jaw - into London and out of Paris. If decent fares are still left the change fee probably won;t be more than the return fare on the train - never mind the aggravation of all the toing and froing.

In the time you have I would stick with 1 day trip each from London and paris - or you will be skimping on them. IMHO York is fascinating but too far for a day trip. I wold probably stick to Windsor or Oxford - and do Versailles from Paris.

But this all depends on your interests and those of your granddaughter. Is she a child or a young woman?

jamikins

Another option is to fly to Paris directly from London on arrival, so you dont have to change airports or go into central London to get the eurostar.

Spend half you time in Paris, then take the eurostar to London and spend the final half of your trip.

This would eliminate the need to split the time in London.

I would do 1 daytrip per city given the time that you have.

Enjoy your vacation!

sewitall

I mentioned her age on another post, but forgot it here. Sorry, that would make a difference. She is sixteen. I will check into the return options. I think it will be $150 per ticket. I am using air miles for my ticket, but paying for hers.
I guess I was starting in London because I felt more comfortable with that segment since I had been there before. I do not speak French.