JeanneB

djk,
I use that website, too. I'll be keeping an eye out for a trip to Rome in May.

What timeframe did you snag tose fares?

JeanneB

Tose = THOSE

namaka

well, I found a flight on either VA or Ba r/t from SFO to LHR for $478.00. It is for late March, early April. I figure I could just continue on with Easy-Jet for 11.99 gbp each way.

I am still not entirely sold on these months, and would like to find similar fares for May. I realize that's probably not going to happen, but if not, then March it is.

Thanks for all your help!

francophile03

To namaka, don't worry about the weather. Typically spring is still cold and rainy, but it's bearable, and you may get sunny, dry days even if they're on the cool side. The main thing is that you will be in Paris and it won't cost as much as if you visited during high season airfare months.

W9London

An added bonus: you'll get one extra day of sunlight as Europe goes summertime on the last weekend of March.

mv_rd

namaka-
DH and I were in Paris in March. Although it was was cold for me (I'm from So.CA), I would go back in a heartbeat. I took the advice from this board and bought silk long underwear. Just bundle up and you'll be fine.

The best part about going during this time was not dealing with crowds and long lines.

Hagan

Flyboy, just wondering what your thoughts are considering when March airfare sales to Europe are going to start surfacing? I really need to nail down our 4 tickets soon so everyone's plans can be finalized. I've seen the prices go up about $20 in the last 10 days, so I'm getting nervous!

kerouac

Having lived in Paris for many years, I would say that the most pleasant month for weather is usually October -- but there have been a few years when October was COLD. This year it was spectacular again.

namaka

Wow, maybe I should consider October then! I hadn't really thought about the fall, but if I can get good airfare,(and I saw some great prices for this past Oct), then it just might be worth it. I just hate to be cold.

nessundorma

namaka,

Why don't you try looking to economize in ways other than airfare? Shaving $30 bucks a night off your hotel bill may very well save you the difference. There are other economies you can make, I'm sure.

If you need warm weather, go when it's warm. If you don't need to eat in destination restaurants, go in August -- which I find delightful. The town is nearly empty, it's nice and hot (I was raised in SoCal) and so long as you stay away from the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tour and the Champs-Elyesses -- where all the tourists congregate -- you feel like Paris is all your own. (August is my favorite month in NYC too.)

Other tricks you could try for flying in "high season" is checking out flights to Brussels or London instead and taking the train. Flying through Iceland or Frankfurt, etc.

nessundorma

Also, namaka, by the time you add airport fees and taxes to EasyJet fares, plus the cost of getting from LHR to Stansted, those 11.99GBP specials can turn into 60GBP -- meaning another $120 in your transportation costs.

I'd rather go when I wanted to and buy fewer lattes to pay for the trip.

Christina

I'm in Nessundorma's camp. I don't think changing your itinerary just because of airfare is worth it in comparison to other costs. The only thing cheaper in those months will be airfare, not hotel or anything else. So you are planning an entire trip at a time you don't really want to go in order to save how much? Maybe $200 or $300 tops?

You can save 15-25 pct or so on a hotel room if you go from mid-July through August, during hotel low-rate season, and could save that amount of money in a week's stay, probably. Some people might prefer weather in March, but I wouldn't. I paid about 100 euro a day instead of 140 on the room I had in a 3* Paris hotel last summer just because I arrived July 15th, when the rates dropped. YOu can get reduced room rates in some hotels in Nov or late Jan-Feb, also, but you don't want to go then, I'm sure.

I do think October would be a fine time to go, though, but never saw any great airfare deals to Paris in October myself.

ira

Hi N,

IIRC, August is off season for hotel rates.

djkbooks

Again, namaka, you'll need to shop like the dickens, playing with dates, for airfares and hotels. I recently scored amazing airfares with FlyEurope, a ridiculously low room rate for a 4* with Hotwire for next September.

There are bargains, you just have to endeavor to find them!

We've visited Paris in May, June, and September, and September has always been absolutely fabulous. Fantastic weather, flowers in bloom all over!

So, we could not be more thrilled!

tod

Last year went in first half of Oct. which I don't think is quite low season yet but the weather was so Hot! (And I come from sunny South Africa) Must be all this global warming the weather people keep referring to!
Don't forget in Oct. there is the wine festival for three days in Montmartre, also Nuit Blanche (did I spell that correctly Kerouac?) and there were loads of flowers still in bloom. I love October in Paris!!

sallyjane3

I was in Paris this past May ( thru the 29th). So cold! And so windy my eyes "wept" all the time! But wonderful anyway.

Randy

I have been to Paris in the fall and the spring. I would prefer the spring because the daylight hours are longer.

kerouac

Yes, tod, the Nuit Blanche was extremely warm this year -- and it is an incredible experience for people visiting Paris in October. My brother and sister-in-law were here from California, and they were flabbergasted by the events we saw in la Goutte d'Or, near my appartment, notably the giant African head made out of pots and pans in the Saint Bernard church, the street life vignettes on the rue des Gardes (especially the dinner party scene with one woman endlessing tossing the salad right up against the shop window and the 'teenage TV night' chaos with flying popcorn in another window), not to mention the 'Night Sun' event on the basketball courts with the inflated giant balloons and blinding spotlights, or the strobe flashing labyrinth in the Halle Pajol -- at 2 a.m., we had to call it a night, but there was so much more to see and do.

namaka

okay, I'm re-thinking now for Sept or Oct. The weather sounds like it will be on the warm side for me.

How many daylight hours around that time? We were shocked that it was still light around 10pm in June, but I loved it.

I guess I'll just have to be very vigilant in my search of good airfare and such.

Nikki

OK, Kerouac, your description of Nuit Blanche has me salivating about an October trip. THAT sounds like FUN.