weekend getaway to paris?
 

We will be in London for two weeks and would like to spend one of the weekends in Paris (Friday night to Sunday afternoon). Any recommendations on where to go to buy a package (train/hotel or air/hotel), or if you even recommend getting a package? Do you recommend that we wait until we're in London to purchase the package or to buy it online beforehand? What are some good Web sites that offer good/discount London to Paris package deals? What are some nice hotels in Paris that don't cost a fortune, that are near public transportation, etc.? Merci!

Just about any hotel in arrondisement 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 is close to major sites. Go to Parishotels.com and see what you can get for one of your weekends. I'd suggest anything in 6 or 7. A roundtrip on the chunnel is pretty easy, and takes you from center city to center city. WHEN are you planning to be there? I'd reserve a hotel first, then do the train tickets. A RT is a good deal (in fact, many of us have bought RT tickets and just not used the return when we were only going one way.) www.tripadvisor.com is also a nice site that will give you opinions on any hotels you are looking at...and you can always plug in the names here in the search box. It's likely someone has stayed there and has an opinion.

Hi cat,

I wouldn't bother with a package.

You can get RT tickets at www.eurostar.com for about 120GBP.

There are many hotels in the 4, 5, 6& 7 districts for about 115E dbl w/bkfst.

I recommend the Hotel Bonaparte, 61 rue Bonaparte in the 6th. abt 120E
Tel 33 (0)1 43 26 97 37
FAX 33 (0)1 46 33 57 67

They don't have a website, but you can do a text search here for comments.

Go to Google and search for "bucket shops." Then search for good deals from London to Paris. There are some amazing deals that can be had once you are already in Europe to get to other destinations, and some of those bucket shops have them. Otherwise, put it together yourself with Eurostar and inexpensive Paris hotels.

We are doing a Friday morning to Tuesday morning at the end of May and have booked tickets on the Eurostar for $150 each. We'll be staying at the Hotel de L'Esperance in the 5th for 84 euros/night. This was booked approximately three months ago, so I'm sure your costs will vary...but good luck!

StCirq, what is a bucket shop?

I'll be going in mid-May. So I'm looking for last minute deals. Or should I make sure to book now?

Iregeo: I think they are essentially what we call consolidators. There are whole streets in London filled with them, and you can find a lot of information on them on the internet as well. They seem to focus on cheap package deals.