Please help me plan my trip to London and Paris
 

So I am very excited. My daughter(8) and I are going to Europe at the End of August 2010. We both love to travel and have never been to Europe. She is a princess and loves castle, princess things, the beach, pool, library, and the museums. We are both into scenery and love taking pictures.
As I have family in London I chose London as our first place to visit. Stay with family would be free so that takes out some hotel/hostel cost. Now we definitely must go to Paris. I would love to hop to a another bordering country if that is possible. Any suggestion would be gladly considered.
As I am on a budget I need some help planning, please and thank you. I am looking into inexpensive hotel/hostels that are accommodating to kids. Free and inexpensive places to visit. We both like walking so sightseeing is very good. Beaches are a must,love the beach.
We are flying into Hethrow from NYC. I have been checking airline prices but no luck as I guess August is too far in advance. Any cheap airline suggestion?
I really suck with reading a map. Ive been looking at the online rail system and wow.
I have interest in Switzerland and Brussel but not sure.
I'm on a new teacher's budget so its definitely not a lot.
So far I think we would be in London for about 4 days
Paris 3 or 4 days
Any other suggestion greatly accepted
please help excited mom and child on their first and definitely not last trip to Europe.

Live Love Laugh

How many days do you have in total?

And how much per night do you want to spend on a hotel?

a total of 15 days and about 60 to 70 a night. just to sleep we are always out and about. We can do a couple night trains to 2 boarding countries.

Hi again,

When you say 15 days, does that mean 14 nights?

For myself, I always find it helps to think in terms of "nights" instead of "days" when planning a trip because they are more concrete.

With two weeks, I would suggest thinking about spending a week each in London and Paris. There is so much to see and do in these two cities, and there are lots of day trips to choose from. Also, if budget is a concern, you will save money by travelling around less.

When you say 60-70 a night, is that US dollars? Euros? Either way I think it's probably unrealistic. You might need to up your accommodation budget, or maybe increase your time in London with family and decrease your time spent elsewhere.

Well if you mean 60 to 70 US$ per night - that is an incredibly low price. And many hostels won't allow children - since the rooms are shared - many with partying teens.

I can;t imagine that there are places for that price where you could take a small child except for B&Bs or gasthauses in very small towns.

I really think you need to do some research on prices - for food and sights as well as hotels - and rethink either your budget, the length of your trip or how long you will stay with relatives.

U might want to look into renting an apt in Paris -- generally more reasonable price wise than hotels.

Your daughter would probably like a visit to Brighton while you're in London. It's an easy day trip on the train. From Charing Cross, if I remember correctly. You can wander along the beach, enjoy the rides at the pier, and have a meal.

There is a play area reserved for children in Hyde Park that's named for Diana. Your daughter would probably like the buskers (street entertainers) at Covent Garden. Covent Garden also has the transport museum.

Keep in mind that Many museums are FREE on the First Sunday while you're in Paris. Be warned Paris IS expensive. I was just there June/09. There are many 1/2 day trips that are reasonably priced from Paris (by train).
as for flights wait a few months and then a good site is ATIflights.com Try to book an open jaw ticket so you don't have to back track. For Ex. NY-Lon and return from Paris or Geneva-NY. You can fly pretty cheap from London-Paris. Or there is always Eurolines (bus) a friend did Amsterdam-Paris for only 29Euros. Not too bad. e-mail if you have any questions. I did Amsterdam/Brussels,France,Italy,Spain this summer all by Plane/Bus/& Train.
Good luck and have fun Planning
Laurel

You may want to check out www.my-london-guide.com for when you are in London. We found it really useful.

Thanks all. I definitely know I know I need to up my hotel price. I've seen some sites. You guys have been really helpful.

Lauriel61. I will surely send you a n email soon. I loved that you've been to all the places I really want to go. Not sure if I have enough time... Trip is about 15 days. I am going to Barnes and Nobles to my the frommer book Travel Europe with kids

If taking the Chunnel (Eurostar) train London to Paris booking as early as possible can save hundreds of dollars - airline type pricing where cheaper tickets are sold in allotments and can sell out very early. Your child can get an especially good child's fare.

Check a map. Neither London nor Paris are near the beach. The trip to Brighton is a possibility -- currently the express trains from Victoria station (not Charing Cross) in London will get you to Brighton in less than an hour. The train from London Bridge will get there in about an hour.

From Paris, you can go visit the Normandy beaches; anything in the south of France is a much longer trip.

Londontown.com is a good website for London attractions.

I think saying you'll buy a Frommer book on the Fodors website is prohibited.

Do one week in London (where you are staying free) and one week in a Paris apartment. Both cities have loads of things to see, and some easy daytrips that can get you a little bit out of the city. Moving around costs money. With your budget, you really don't want to try hopscotching from place to place.

In addition to searching and reading threads on this board about booking Eurostar tickets (done properly, it's the most cost effective way to go in most cases), I would also suggest that you consider an open jay itinerary--New York to London on your outbound flight, and Paris to New York on your inbound flight.

An apartment in Paris is great value, and having a place to kick back and relax (other than a hotel bed) can make a trip more relaxing. Kids can get tired and grumpy, and an apartment makes dealing with this easier.

As to beaches, everyone in Europe will be at the beach in August. That's not the time for someone in the US to be making a European beach trip. Save that for another trip.

Well there is a beach or actually two of them in Paris itself during August - when sand is brought in for folks to bask in the sun - one is on the banks of the Seine

Paris Plages - Paris.fr
The summer transforms Paris. The cityscape dons greenery and the riverside thoroughfares become car-free resorts. The Paris Plages (Paris Beaches) operation ...
www.paris.fr/portail/english/Portal.lut?page..

and if you want to actually swim Brighton is always a bit dicey on having coolish weather even in summer.

Thanks everyone, you are most informative. I didn't know that I couldn't mention the book. Thanks a lot. I appreciate every ones help.

natlove -- I think the comment about the book was said in jest. Hope u have a great trip!

thanks yestravel.

In Paris, your daughter will enter every museum and landmark free, so you only need to budget for one. Some places do accept teacher's credentials for discounts. London's museums are, for the most part, free-the Tower is not, but a princess and story-loving child must go! After two 2-week trips to London it's still my daughter's favorite place on earth.
Don't stress about the train maps-you'll be staying in the city and taking the metro/tube, both of which are ridiculously easy. But you do need to plan your lodging close enough to a stop (and preferably on one of the main lines to maximize your time off).
I wouldn't try to see more than those two great cities, with perhaps day trips out to Brighton or Giverny-especially on a budget-there's so much to see and you don't want to feel rushed on your first visit to Europe. You need to be able to sit and people watch and allow time for serendipity. Let me know if you'd like suggestions for books for the two of you.

On a budget - pick fewer locations, not more. Travel costs more than staying put. Since London is a freebie (and most museums/galleries are free for both of you) spend at least a week in London and all the rest of your time in Paris in a studio apartment. That will save you in both travel and food costs. You don't have to eat every meal in - but the occasional dinner in will save a lot of money.

As mentioned, from London take a day trip to Brighton for the beach and the amazing Pavilion.

If your 15 days include your travel to/from then you really only have about 12 full days for London/Paris. Day/night 1 will be spent flying over the Atlantic, Day 2 will be mostly jet lag recovery. Day 15 will be spent checking out, traveling to the airport and flying home.

Forget traveling to neighboring countries -

Also --definitely look into an open jaw ticket. Into London and out of Paris. Besides time, it will also save you $$ in two ways. 1) You save the hassle/expense of traveling back to London to catch your flight home, and 2) flying out of France is cheaper than flying out of London. Departure fees/taxes are much higher out of the UK.

Janiisj and SusanSDJ Thanks for the info. I am definitely sticking to only 2 places, London and Paris. Found a flat in Paris for 300euros.
SusanSDJ - Yes we are interested in the books. We love to read and learn.
Thanks a bunch

In Paris, your daughter will enter every museum and landmark free, so you only need to budget for one.>

well if she is a EU citizen she will, but bot if American i believe

wrong PQ . . . .

Janis - this has been discussed recently here in detail and confirmed American youths under 25 do not get free access to Parisian museums just like EU ones? But i did not note that the girl was 8 years old so you are probably right with someone that young. My mistake thinking the girl was older like say 18 in which case she would not i believe get the under 26 discount.

All kids under the age of 18 get in free, regardless of citizenship.

Young adults with EU citizenship between the ages of 18-25 get in free.

If your daughter is interested in princess-type things, you should definitely take a trip to Windsor while in London. The Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park is also a nice place to relax after a long day of sightseeing, and is relatively close to Kensington Palace if you or your daughter are interested in Princess Diana. Enjoy planning!

natlove: I was joking.

You can mention Frommer, DK, Lonely Planet, Thomas Cook, the moppy-headed guy from Seattle, or any other guidebook on this forum.

But it is a FODORS forum.

And Fodors publishes guidebooks; often good ones. So . . . saying you'll go to the library and look at the Frommer is bad form. Unlike DK or that guy on PBS, Fodors has a pretty full range of guidebooks for all parts of the world.

If you go to Windsor, get your ticket to the castle at the train station (Paddington or Waterloo) and see if they offer a discount for it. We saved 3.50 GBP each on entry fees this way and skipped the line at the castle too.

And in London and the UK, if you go, look into www.daysoutguide.co.uk and print out the two-for-one offers. I've posted on how to redeem these elsewhere. Your daughter will generally get a reduced price entry to places that charge entry fees (e.g., Tower of London is 17 GBP for you, 9.50 for her), but the twofer deals mean you pay only for yourself, and she gets in free.

Did you get an apartment for 300 Euros for a week? That's a great deal (almost too good to be true????). If it turns out that there is a glitch, do consider youth hostels. They do take children, I've had my 11 year old daughter and my 11 year old neice in the, one in Vienna and one here in California. You just have to book carefully and do your research. I usually go with Hostelling International because they have relatively high standards for membership.

PQ: The OP's daughter most definitely does not have to pay most places. We were commenting re natlove's situation (an 8 yo child) not some random 19 year old student.

Thanks all. BigRus..lol. cferrb the apartment is legit. Someone mentioned it to be in another post. I went to a website offering flats for rent and emailed the owners. It seems good. I'm definitely looking into the some one the places mentioned in London and Paris.
I appreciate all your help guys. Thanks

I don't know what the train trip is like to Bruges, in Belgium, but it's one place that I wish I had been able to visit with my daughter when we were in Europe. It might be worth a long day's trip out of Paris.

Hi natlove- if the 300 euro apartment is the one I posted, I've got a few photos of the flat, the staircase, and the surrounding area. I'd be happy to post a link to the photos and to try and answer any questions you might have, just let me know.

If it's a different apartment, would you mind sharing which one it is? At least after you've got everything booked. I'm always on the lookout for cheap places to stay in Paris.

Books for young people:
Britain:
Karen Cushman's Catherine Called Birdy
Carolyn Meyer's Doomed Queen Anne and books about the other wives of King Henry VIII.
If she, like most princess-minded girls, loves these stories, she would also enjoy the film, "Lady Jane" about Jane Grey, the 16-day's-queen. It stars Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes, in his Wesleyan youth and beauty.
When you go to the Tower, you can look for the graffiti in her honor.
Of course, you can search for Harry Potter's London. Peter Pan, Mary Poppins and Paddington Bear have also left their tracks there. Aliki's William Shakespeare and The Globe is a great picture book telling the story of the rebuilding of The Globe-another place you can spend a day.
Kids'versions of Sherlock Holmes and Dickens' novels also set the stage.
For Paris-Madeline, of course, and Eloise in Paris. Linnea in Menet's Garden and The Young Dancer, about Degas.

I'm sorry I'm not coming up with my whole list-but I'll come back to it once my migraine ends and I again have access to all the files in my brain.

I always go to the library computer catalog, look up the place I'm traveling to, then fiction, then juvenile fiction. That's probably obvious, but there's so much out there!

I'm so excited for you. Make sure she's part of the planning.
The book London for Families taught me to have each family member make a top ten list of things they want to see/do. Everyone gets their #1, the rest is negotiated. Have her journal and draw along the way and be aware that her best memories might be the little detour you took or person she meets (children don't need a common language, they all speak "kid"), not one of the big sights.

Children don't get in free to every museum and monument in Paris, although they do to a lot of the national/city museums. You could avoid the places they do not, for the most part, to save money. They don't get in free to some private enterprises, like the Eiffel Tower, for example, and they don't at some museums where kids might naturally go, nor a few others, like the Marine Museum (which surprised me, as I think it is national, but I really enjoyed it)--except for very young kids, like under age 5.

The Paris Plage is not a beach, it's just sand brought in for people to suntan. It's like a sandbox for kids IMO. It is no real beach. I'd forget the whole beach idea on this trip, it doesn't make sense with the other things to do, and seems a real waste of time and money to go to London/Paris to go to the beach.

Natlove - Please won't you be so kind as to give us the link to the apartment you have selected at 300euros? Is that for a week?

If you were only going to spend 3 nights in Paris over a weekend I was going to suggest the Hotel Ibis Esplanade La Defense because they reduce the double rooms en-suite right down to 49euros. It's only 8-10 min metro ride to the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees.
We always stay there to take advatage of the offer.

Natlove - me again. When you say you guys love the beach.............you do mean one with real beach sand don't you? If so, forget Brighton. The "shore" is just made up of pebbles. Ghastly to walk on, worse to lie or sit on. The only good thing about a pebbled beach is that is makes a lovely sound near the water's edge just where the waves ripple in and out!
Brighton on a good day - that is one with bright sunshine and only a slight breeze is MAGNIFICENT for strolling the Promenade and poking around in the little lanes. Even the Victorian seudo Taj Mahal(Brighton Pavillion) looks nice.

lol..thanks guys for all your help.
SusanSDG its ok we have time. So when your migraine goes away send whatever you can.
Tod- doesn't necessarily have to be send. My daughter loves to swim doesn't matter. If there is a pool near by she will be ok. I already told her we might not go to the beach or pool. She swims all summer so she will be ok.

The flats I found are on homliday.co.uk. Someone send me the link and I signed up. You can email the owners directly. I contacted two people that quoted me 300euros.
Apres_Londee.. the one you gave I really liked but I think they were booked the week I want to go. I emailed the owner.
Thanks again everyone for all your help. I will definitely keep in touch.

That's great! Glad to hear it's all coming together.