marcielee

Would the experience be worth it just to pop over for a day ? Thank you

gard

Hi

I'm not sure I understand the question...are you going to Paris or London? And would you like to take a day trip from one city to the other?

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

marcielee

Sorry. We were planning on doing Paris for a week and were wondering about taking the tube to London and looking about. Or even flying into London, staying night, and then, going on to Paris ?

PalenqueBob

Whether worth it or not - to me yes but you should book early the day return tickets - about $96 return if bought in US but if you wait till London these often elusive to book tickets may cost much much higher for the next available category. I say go for it - the trip itself on trains up to 186 mph blasting thru the signature French and English countryside is well worth it (well currently limping thru england until Nov 2007 when the high-speed Channel Rail Link is fully operational). In US i always recommend calling BETS (800-441-2387) - a RailEurope agent but won't charge Raileurope's $18 mailing fee for orders under $399 and are experts at booking. And i always recommend hitting www.eurostar.com to compare prices in British pounds which at times may be cheaper or more expensive and have the tickets mailed to you - whatever is cheaper and easiest. Take the earliest train over and last one back and you'd have about 8-10 hours in Paris, enough to whet your appetite to return for a longer look. But if interested in the $96 day return you should book as early as possible - can book up to nine months in advance as these tickets are sold in strictly limited numbers.

PalenqueBob

Oops - you're going from Paris to London - same day return info but check eurostar.com for fares in euros from Paris. Actually if you go one way from London to Paris there is an $89 one way fare that is even harder to book than the day return fare.

nbodyhome

I'd go for a night or two, and then do the rest in Paris.

athornberry

totally. The trip really takes no longer than an hour..maybe an hour and an half by ferry. The ferry itself is a great experience too. There is nothing like the white cliffs of dover.

janisj

athornbury: &quot;<i>The trip really takes no longer than an hour..maybe an hour and an half by ferry</i>&quot; What ARE to talking about?? Paris to London by ferry takes much, MUCH longer than 90 minutes - like nearly a full day. One would have to get from Paris to Calais, then the ferry to Dover, then the train from Dover to London.

marcielee: London is fantastic - but trying to see much of it in one day is pretty frustrating - it is a HUGE place. If you can change your plans, fly into London and home from Paris and spend 2 or 3 days in London - then great. But if you are mainly interested in Paris - spend the time in Paris.

jules4je7

The 3-hour train trip on the Eurostar from/to Paris/London will take 3 hours (plus another 1/2-1 hour for check-in &amp; security) so no -- I wouldn't try to do it for a day unless you spend one night in the city you're visiting. Airlines will take longer even though the flight is shorter, at least the trains have a shorter security/check-in wait, and they drop you pretty much in the heart of both cities.

My husband and I have twice flown into London, spent a long weekend there, then headed to Paris for our longer visits (our first trip went beyond Paris)...and that's what I'd recommend. I'd fly into London, spend a few days there, then go on to Paris, and fly home from Paris...that way you're not wasting time backtracking, and you can give London at least a couple days, even though it richly deserves at least 4-5 days.

Have a great trip.

Jules

PalenqueBob

If you leave on the earliest Eurostar trains, you could be in Paris by 10am (lose an hour going over, gain one coming back) you could spend at least 8 hours in Paris before returning - i'd say go for it especially if you don't plan on returning to Europe again for a while and have never seen Paris. Yes nice to spend more time there but also nice just to see as a whole if that's all that's possible. Go for it. And at $96 return, you'll probably save money over paying for things in London all day - Europe's most expensive tourist mecca in my experience. Indeed you could even save money! For spending money pay for a drink on Eurostar in pounds and get change in Euros, vice versa on way back.

rachael9

If you really want to see London I'd say go ahead and do it. To see all the big sites while you're there I recommend a bus tour of the city. I was in London for two days and got to see about all I wanted to with &quot;The Original Tour&quot; (which cost me about 18 pounds.)

Spend most of your time in Paris though... it's much more worth it.

PalenqueBob

Oops - sorry i got you going the wrong way - even better, due to the time zone change you'll have an extra hour in London as you gain an hour going over - pay for a drink on the train in euros and get change in pounds and vice versa.

NeoPatrick

Which is better? 12 hours in London (or Paris) or 0 hours in London (or Paris)? Not a hard decision to make in my opinion. Of course if you can expand that 12 hours to a week, so much better, but that really isn't the question is it?

PalenqueBob

Exactly!