Week to visit Europe-please help me plan!
 

I will be rushing off to London, England for work. However, will have a free week at the end of April to look around. With short notice, I need some advice.

My initial thoughts-
-after London's work, take the eurostar to Paris and spend 3 days (is this adequate?)
-head to Brussels or Amsterdam (best method of travel? One or both cities?)

OR
-from Paris, head to southern France near the waters of Nice
-other ideas?

Trip will end back in London for the flight home.

Thanks for any suggestions, pretty wide open on this. We are not run-n-gun tourists. Rather enjoy the area in a few places rather than shotgun a whole bunch.

I will be busy reading up on the forums while working! thanks all, very nice forum

You will get a range of suggestions on the minimum time in Paris. 3-4 days is enough to see a museum every evening (check late opening days) without crowds, tour the major sites, ride the Seine, sit in a cafe. You won't see it all, but you could have a great time. More days if you want day trips to Versailles, etc.

I prefer Amsterdam to Brussels just because to me it has more character, a more distinctive architecture, the canals, museums, etc. Depending on your interests, 2-3 days there are minimum. Also potential day trips such as to Delft and the porcelein factory. Other choices as well.

I have not been to Nice, so cannot comment there except you have lots more ground to cover to return to London.

I would either go to Amsterdam OR Paris for your week. Use the city as a base for a few day trips. Especially since you have to return to London at the end, this is the most simple plan that requires the lesat advance planning.

Certainly you CAN do both Amsterdam and Paris, but that spends more time and money moving place to place. Just depends your interests.

Do you really have 7 full free days after work in London, or do you have fewer days (not counting the travel days to/from London)?

If you have never been to Paris, I think there's plenty to see & do there to occupy all 7 days. You can take a daytrip to Versailles or other nearby towns if you want to visit a "second destination".

Given the way you've described your travel style, I would alot more time to Paris, and do daytrips if you are really not interested. You might enjoy the entire week there, but you might consider stopping in Brussels on your way back to London. I would recommend that you sleep in Brussels (and eat dinner there) but spend your days sightseeing in either Antwerpen, Brugge or Ghent, depending on your interests. They are easy daytrips from Brussels, which -- apart from the Grand Place -- is not a lovely city.

April is not ideal for the south of France and the Med unless you are lucky.

Rather than Amsterdam, I might try smaller venues in Holland that are spectacular with tulips -- but I'd have to research that one. I love Amsterdam, and it's particularly great if you are museum hounds or shoppers, but seeing all those tulips would intrigue me if the color show is on at that time.

Thanks for the quick replies!

Using Paris as our base and daytripping sounds like a fine idea. I thought of Brussels because it's relatively close. I'm open to ideas in France or other areas- totally open here.

Should we do all this travel by train if we go from Paris to Brussels (or Amsterdam) and back to London?

About 5 days (not including London)

Some thoughts: you can take the Eurostar to Brussels as well as Paris. Maybe take it to Brussels, then train south to Paris and return to London. But Eurostar tickets on short notice can be quite expensive as opposed to buying them, say, 2 months ahead.

If you will be based in London, you will have the opportunity to go to Paris or Amsterdam for 3-day weekends. Maybe you should take advantage of your whole week and venture farther. I love Nice, and there's a lot to see around there. And it should be warmer there than points north.

You can explore by train and bus up and down the Cote d'Azur and inland by the little Train des Pignes. Or you could rent a car and go up to Provence, which looks warmer than the coast at that time of year.

Lots of lovely possibilities.

I would spend the entire week in Paris - with a day trip to Versailles and perhaps one to Giverny as well.
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IMHO 5 days is a minimum for a first visit to Paris since there is so much to see and do - and you want to have some time for just exploring acute neighborhood and sitting in a cae with a glass of wine wathcing the world go by - as well as hitting some of the traditional tourist high spots.

You can split into Patis and Amsterdam (way more interesting than Brussels) if you like - but you won't really have enoughtime in either.

Now you say it is only five days - so Paris alone would be my choice. And maybe w/o any side trips at all. 5 days is a good introduction to Paris.

Be sure to return to London the day before your flight out (unless your flight is in mid afternoon or later)