OCaTG

My husband and I are traveling from Seattle, WA USA to London, UK in late September to meet friends and go to Ryder Cup. Had originally planned to try to squeeze in Italy and maybe Spain, but now realize it would be impossible and not do justice to either country. We will be with friends September 29 through October 5; staying in Cheltenham and touring Bath, Stratford upon Avon, etc., see Ryder Cup in Wales, and then travel north to Chester, Southport, and Liverpool. From there we are on our own until we fly back to Seattle from Heatherow on October 13. We want to take Eurostar from London to Paris and spend a day or two seeing the sights. So, we'll have only about 5 days to see everything else in London and elsewhere. Should we try to go from Liverpool to Scotland or just head back to London and focus on seeing those sights? What's the best way to get from Liverpool to London or should we travel back to Cheltenham with friends and take the brain or coach from there to London? Any help you can give would be appreciated! Thanks so much!
OCaTG

MissPrism

I'd take the train from Liverpool to London.
It takes about 2!/2 hours.
If you have only 5 days, you might be better spending them in London.

OCaTG

Thanks for your good advice! Do you know of any good/reasonably priced hotels in/near London? Or the best part of London to stay given I pretty much want to see as much of the beautiful city as possible? We plan to take the double-deck bus tour right away to get the lay of the land and then probably use the tube as much as possible. Anything other ideas? Thanks!

avalon

Personally I prefer the buses to the tube . For hotels try www.londontown.com for good rates. I just got the Millenium Gloucester for Oct for 90 GBP a night.

Dameem

We did the entire tour of London mostly by the bus and by the tube. As Avalon said I found bus to be the best in terms of sightseeing but the tube was the fastest to take us to the places where we wanted to go instantaneously. It took seven days for us to cover the entire London thoroughly. We liked it very much and want to go back again.

OCaTG

What about this idea ... fly Easyjet from Liverpool to Paris; stay a couple of nights and then take the Eurostar to London. This may eliminate a little time checking in and out of hotels. Your thoughts?

jent103

I agree with MissPrism - you can get a direct train from Liverpool to London. No reason to go back to Cheltenham. Have you been to London before? If not, I absolutely agree that there's plenty to see there for five days. Even if you get bored in the city itself, there are so many day trips that are easy to do (these boards have discussions on tons of ideas).

If you have been to London before, you might train from Liverpool to London and then on to Paris (perhaps the same day, perhaps the next day - not sure which would be better), have a couple of days in Paris, and go back to London to finish sightseeing and fly home. This assumes your tickets are already purchased and are in and out of London. If you haven't already bought your tickets and do want to go to Paris, it makes more sense to go from Liverpool to London, sightsee there, then go to Paris and fly home from there.

jent103

Wow, there was a lot of posting going on while I was typing! Actually I think your Liverpool -> Paris -> London idea would work well, but as I said, if you haven't been to London before, there is so much to see and do there.

If you do fly Easyjet, make sure you're aware of the restrictions and fees (weight restrictions on luggage, fees for checked baggage, that sort of thing). Sometimes low-cost airlines don't end up being low-cost.

OCaTG

Yes, I've already booked my flights into and out of Heatherow, so will plan to spend my last few days in London. Good tip about Easyjet - I'll check it out. We may train from Liverpool to London and then Eurostar to Paris that same day to stay for a couple of days and then back to London. I know I can book EasyJet this early, but not sure about the train out of Liverpool and Eurostar. Also don't know about schedules -- do any of you know websites to find out? Thanks!

Apres_Londee

It's too soon to book the trains. I think you can book your Liverpool to London tickets online once you get to the UK (it's cheaper to buy them ahead of time), and pick them up at the station in Liverpool before you depart. Here's the website with the timetables, it's too early for September but you'll get an idea of the schedules:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Same with the Eurostar, it's too early to book but you can see the current timetables on the Eurostar website. Same deal- you can save money by booking them ahead of time and pick them up at St Pancras before you depart.

I'd be inclined to take the train because the Eurostar will take you into the middle of Paris, whereas if you fly you still have to make your way into the city. And overall the train is more pleasant than flying imo.

But- with only 5 nights to split between Paris and London it will be a hectic. If you really want to go to Paris I'd think about just spending available your days there and then returning to London late in the day for your last night. Otherwise you can't go wrong with just staying put in London.

jent103

For Eurostar, eurostar.com. The earlier you can book, the cheaper your ticket. Looks like you can book through July now.

For UK trains, nationalrail.co.uk has all the fares and schedules for all the different train companies, and will link you to whatever web site you need to buy them. You buy from the train company directly. You can book about three months before you travel.

jent103

Dang it, posting the same time again! I'm not sure I completely agree with Apres_Londee on this one, though I think it's largely personal preference. Generally, yes, I think the train is absolutely more pleasant. But with this trip, you'd have to take the train from Liverpool to London Euston, and then get you and your luggage over to St Pancras and make sure you're at the Eurostar in time to check in. (Regular UK trains don't require that - you can just hop on the train - but the Eurostar requires some check-in time.) Now, granted, you can walk between Euston and St Pancras. But for me, the fewer chances I have for things to get screwed up, the better. I'd rather take one direct flight than worry about multiple train times and connections. There are good transport options from CDG into central Paris, and if you took the train to Gare du Nord you'd still have to get to your hotel somehow.

But as I said, I think it's personal preference. If the train ride was a direct one, I'd do the train hands down.

Apres_Londee

jent103 makes good points about flying over taking the train, it really may be more convenient to go that way. I just loath airports. They make me

jent103

Ha! I like the emoticon, Apres_Londee. I hear you. I just try to avoid running like a madwoman with luggage as much as possible, regardless of whether it's in an airport or train station or down a busy street. I've done it too many times for it to be fun anymore!

janisj

London to Paris -- train is best almost every time. But you aren't traveling from London to Paris. You are starting from Liverpool. If you fly Liverpool > Paris, you will already be in Paris and checked in to your hotel about when your Liverpool train arrives at Euston.

Since you need to be back in London to fly out of LHR - you can always take the Eurostar Paris > London.

I'd fly Liverpool > Paris early AM, stay 1 night/2 full days. Take the last Eurostar of the day to London and spend the final 3 days. This will give you the best part of 2 full day in paris and 3 full days in London.

OCaTG

I appreciate all of you logically working through this with me. Having never been to either UK or France, I've no concept of the relationship between one place to another or the time/effort it takes to get between them. I think janisj has a solid path forward given the short amount of time I have there. I'd thought about just making a day trip from London to Paris (leave first Eurostar from London to Paris; return last Eurostar from Paris to London) and just try to catch some type of guided tour of Paris to see the highlights. But, it would definitely be a whirlwind tour. Your thoughts?

jent103

It's certainly possible - people do it pretty often. Whether it's the best choice for you is, I think, your call. The benefits would be not having to schlep luggage and change hotels as much, and of course getting a day in Paris. The down side is only having one very full day in Paris, though certainly nothing says you have to try to do everything.

OCaTG

It would definitely be a full day, but the notion of not changing hotels or schlepping luggage definitely appeals to me. Plus, I may have a better chance of not getting lost or missing connections. I also think I'd be smart to go with a tour of some type and then maybe explore The Louve, etc. at my own pace. Do you have any recommendations regarding tours and/or tour companies/guides? Thanks!