Where to stay in London and Paris
 

My wife and I are going to London for the first time Aug 19-25 and are looking for a hotel centrally located for sightseeing. Priced 150-175BPS per night. We have no clue what area would be best for a first visit. Paris is our next stop for 3 nights. Last year we stayed near the College de France. Should we stay there again or try another area? Any help, recommendations will be appreciated.

What's a bps? The international monetary abbreviation for UK money is GBP.

The notion of "best" area for sightseeing in London is generally rubbish. It's the largest city in Western Europe and the Brits didn't shove all their top "sights" into one central 20-acre area for future visitors to wander around, especially if you want to pop out of the city confines and visit Greenwich, Windsor or Hampton Court.

Go to Londontown.com, use the interactive hotel map to find lodging. Stay in Zone 1 on the Tube/bus system. Anything near the Northern Line branch that goes through Leicester Square will put you in a pretty central location, but you're not going to be able to walk everywhere unless you like long perambulations (frequently wet ones).

And go to www.daysoutguide.co.uk and print off every voucher of interest before you leave. Bring passport sized photos of you and the missus with you to London. Get a 7-day Travelcard at one of the national rail stations from the manned ticket booth (Charing X, Waterloo, Paddington, Victoria, etc.) and you'll get 2 entries for the price of one at various sites, including the Tower, Cabinet War Rooms, Hampton Court.

DO NOT GET AN OYSTER CARD.

I think BigRuss means don't get an Oystercard IF you want the 2for1 offers. This topic has been done to death in umpteen threads. Some options work for some, others for others.

For London, more or less anywhere in TFL's Zone 1 would be okay, though generally the closer you are to the middle (roughly Leicester Square) the better in terms of convenience, in my view (for first-time tourists). Some areas are nicer than others, and people have personal preferences, but you should be fine sticking to this area.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...und_Zone_1.png

Personally, I like Bloomsbury (preferably closer to the British Museum than Kings Cross); I've stayed at the Morgan Hotel, the Holiday Inn at Russell Square and the Thistle on Southampton Row, and based on my last experiences would recommend them all. (I booked the last two on Londontown.com.) Mayfair, if you can afford it, is central and nice; Victoria and South Kensington are also good. The City is fine but pretty dead after business hours. You'll be using the Tube and/or buses anywhere you stay regardless, so I'd look at reviews of specific properties and go from there.

If you're flying into Heathrow, don't have tons of luggage and want to take the Tube to your hotel, look around the Piccadilly (dark blue) line - that's the one that goes from LHR into town. That's one other reason I like Bloomsbury - the Holborn stop is on that line and a fairly easy walk to all the above hotels. But depending on the number of people and amount of luggage you have (or if you're flying into a different airport), the Tube may not be your best choice.

<<Some options work for some, others for others>>

There's two travelers, never visited London, staying for one week. What option would conceivably work better than a 7-day paper travelcard? None.

We also like Bloomsbury and stayed at Montague on the Gardens. Might be about $300 US per night. On our last trip we tried an apartment through One Fine Stay which we liked very much. For your first stay you might like the service offered by a hotel.

My husband and I have tried several areas in Paris to find new restaurants, explore churches and get a feel for the city. Our favorite is actually the 7th arrondisement which seems more residential (well, except for the Eiffel Tower).

Paris is a remarkably compact city so "where to stay" is never really a problem as long as you are within the city limits. The metro system is excellent for getting around, but you will already be amazed at how many places you can walk to.

First time visitors do tend to prefer the lower numbered arrondissements, which are in the central core of the city, notably the Latin Quarter which straddles the 5th & 6th arrondissements and the Marais which straddles the 3rd & 4th arrondissements.

I don't know what BPS is either, but in the past had good luck with hotwire.com in London. Bloomsbury, Mayfair, Westminster, and Chelsea (on their map) should all be good bets for 3.5 - 4 star hotels, always noting the % recommended. Priceline, too.

Agree with Kerouac about Paris. I prefer residential areas farther from the center, but am minority on this.

I agree with Kerouac about the Paris METRO BUT BUT BUT...as extensive as that system is you can find yourself RIDING and perhaps changing a LOT depending on where you are going and where your hotel is.

We once stayed in Paris in a hotel which was within SIGHT of TWO Metro stations. Getting to the Eiffel Tower? Might as well have booked a flight to the moon it sometimes seemed.

Look at a MAP. you KNOW what you want to see in Paris...pick some spot that looks central to all those places.

And NO, all hotel rooms in Paris are NOT small.

Can no one guess what the OP meant by BPS?

BPS = GBP = £ ;)

<<Can no one guess what the OP meant by BPS?>>

Of course. But if the OP wants to be understood, he needs to talk the actual financial language. BPS either meant British PoundS or British Pounds Sterling. Either way, it's incorrect as a synonym for the unit of monetary value because the international code is GBP, the symbol is the unholy union of a lowercase f and an uppercase L (which janis showed above), the word is "pounds" and the most accessible slang is "quid."

It's helpful if you say what your budget is but these are my top picks for both cities:

London
Haymarket Hotel
This is a central location

Paris:
Four Seasons George V
In the 8th -- but so worth it.

For London, in your price range, with a great location in the Covent Garden area, I always recommend The Seven Dials Hotel (http://www.sevendialshotel.com/). My husband and I stay there, as do other family members when in London.

The rooms are small, so I'd recommend getting the triple room. There is no elevator (lift) and if you have trouble with stairs, this wouldn't be good for you.

It is clean, with full English breakfast included.

Regarding Oystercard vs Travelcard, as PatrickLondon says, some options work for some, others for others. You should spend the time researching both and see what works best for you with what you want to see and do.

>>London
Haymarket Hotel
This is a central location

Paris:
Four Seasons George V
In the 8th -- but so worth it.<<

Neither is even remotely near the OPs budget . . . The Haymarket 's cheapest room runs well over £300 and the George V is more.

For people still confused about BPS, it means "British Pounds Sterling." That would make the OP rather elderly, dating back to the times of the British Empire.

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned that before GBP, the official currency code was UKL.

Just as an aside on Paris, the Eiffel tower does tend to actually be more accessible by bus than by metro, but I would say that is an exception-most other sites are fairly easy by metro. In general, if metro access is key for your visit, then staying along the 1 line near the river is good or the 4 line that runs north south is a good choice. Like many long time visitors/residents on the board, I actually prefer locations a bit outside the central tourist neighborhoods of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th.

One place I recommend to folks who have already been to Paris and don't want to be totally in tourist central is near Denfert-Rochereau. It has the advantage of being on the RER line that goes easily to CDG, Orly and Gare du Nord. It also is near Rue Daguerre, a great walking market street, and it is an easy an pleasant stroll to the Mnntparnasse area, which has lots of shopping, etc.

As kerouac says though, central Paris is small, so it you are able to walk easily, there are many cool neighborhoods to stay in-it mostly depends on your interests. When I first lived in Paris but went to London alot, it blew my mind to see the A to Z street booklet for London compared to the same one for Paris-about 3 times as thick! London is different challenge-but since I happen to love buses, I am always happy to take the time to just hang out in the bus and people watch my way through London!

What I was actually saying was give the guy a break.

Here, here tuscanlifeedit - there's a difference between pickiness and giving advice.

BigRuss is on a bit of a rampage today. Make sure you don't cut him off in traffic.