Which is better, London or Paris, and why?
 

Making vacation plans and am trying to decide. I like museums and plays and fine dining. What do you think?

London. They speak our language in more ways than one.

I like ice cream; which is better, vanilla or chocolate?

<BR>I like colours. Which one is nicer: red or blue?

Careful with the way you phrase the question ... you might tick off the French if you don't say &quot;Paris or London&quot; instead ;)<BR><BR>Unless you're going for a very short time, why not do both? They're only 3 hours apart via the Eurostar. For museums, I'd go with Paris. For plays definitely London. Fine dining is a draw - you can eat well in London as long as you don't eat British food. Never had a bad meal in Paris.

In my personal opinion, London and Paris are only comparable in the fact that they are both large cities and the capitols of their country. Of the things that you listed, both cities will make you happy. However, on the play front, you might be happier in London because of the language barrier, however, Paris has some wonderful concerts at many of the cathedrals. Honestly, I think you need to think about which one you've always wanted to visit, neither is better than the other, both are fabulous cities. <BR><BR>All that said, depending on the length of your vacation, consider going to both cities. With the Eurostar, you can easily depart one city center and arrive in the other city center in relatively no time at all.

Unless you have excellent French the plays of Paris are god, but of no use to you, and London is better.<BR>There is fine dining in London, but what costs 40 dollars in Paris costs 80 in London, and Paris fine dining is better.<BR>Overall, the museums are of similar quality, but I find it easier to read labels fast in English than in French, so London is better.<BR>So in your fields I see the score as London 2, Paris 1, and your best plan will be to visit London, eat moderately for most meals, but have gourmet meals from time to time. If you had shown a field for style and elegance Paris would have won, and the score would have been 2 to 2.<BR><BR>Welcome to Europe<BR><BR>Ben Haines<BR>

Paris, no contest. You did mention good food, didn't you ;-)

Hi, I just returned from one week in each city with my wife and two children. There was plenty to do and see in each city and we enjoyed both places. I allow the children (12 and 10) to shop each day for awhile and this pleases them while focusing each day on one museum, castle, chateau,etc.<BR>The prices in London for food, taxi's, etc. is 50-60% more money and the quality of the food is much less. When we traveled via the chunnel to London and were struck by the change in prices we could not help but compare and it influenced our enjoyment of the city. <BR>The crowds on Oxford St and Regent St were in my opinion large so how can there be such high demand and high prices?

I love Paris, but really do theatre in London, usually doing two a day most days I'm there -- up to 15 to 20 shows in two weeks.<BR>I've always said if they could move London's West End (theatre district) to Paris -- it would really be the greatest city in the world!!!

I would opt for Paris for the same reason that Chuck chooses London. Viva la difference. The fact that the language, culture and history is so different, and &quot;foreign&quot; to us, makes it all the more interesting. While you will probably have to forego theatre, unless you speak French or would consider the Moulin Rouge or Lido cabaret/Las Vegas type shows, the museums are extraordinary. Do not miss the Louvre, Museum D'Orsay and Picasso Museum.

And now that I'm thinking about it, why must you choose? How long do you have? If these are your main two options, check out flying into one and home from the other and taking the Eurostar between them. If you only have 10 days total, 5 in each city is a great option!!!!

The English like us, the French do not.

The French, for the most part, like Americans; they just don't like American Foreign policy. There's a big difference.

<BR><BR>I wouldn't be so sure !<BR>

For fine dining &amp; museums - Paris. For plays - London. Overall I would say Paris simply because it is more different to where I'm from than London is - plus more beautiful I think .

If you choose Paris, do visit the new Musee de la Collaboration Francaise which I believe is due to open towards the end of April.

Speak for yourself xx when you say the French do not like you. I happen to be an American and either all the French people I've run into liked me or else they were incredibly good actors.

Hey, let's be specific here -<BR><BR>The French do like Americans. The French (those who live in France outside of Paris) don't like Parisians and the Parisians don't particularly love Americans. <BR><BR>That said, outside of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and that 5-sided building across the Potomac, most Americans don't particularly care for American foreign policy right now either.

I have lived in London and visited Paris several times. I agree with some of the others who suggest you do both. London definitely is more expensive than Paris. If you like big cities you'll enjoy both. (I have never run into any anti-American attitudes in Paris. Learn a few words of French and keep in mind that Parisians are more formal than Americans and you'll have a great time. Also, I would look into the discount flights from London to Pair before taking the train.)

I digress, but I keep reading on here about a Collaboration Museum in Paris; what is this about?

I just love those Brits. So friendly. I have never had a rude encounter in England whereas I did run into a rude frenchman or two that pretended they didn't understand the word &quot;ketchup&quot;. I would return to Paris for the Llouvre alone. It is quite beautiful but sometimes the people aren't. But nothing says home to me like England. Why not try both? The Eurostar doesn't take very long. I wouldn't want to see France again for more than a few days though. As you'll see you'll get lots of opinions on the subject.

<BR>I did a week each in London and Paris last spring, by myself, first time ever to Europe. The experiences were different, but I loved them both. I would suggest going to both. I flew in and out of London, went to Paris on Eurostar.

I have been to Engand and I have been to France and I will take the USA any day.

Paris is better: great food (and edible also) and great hotels large and small.

Paris - Food is much better for much less money. The city is much more charming. More interesting day trips outside the city. London wins with the plays but other than that one trip to see all the highlights is all I need but I could visit Paris every year. Without even speaking French I feel more relaxed and comfotable in Paris than London.

I live in London although I travel to Europe (inc. France) several times a year. I enjoy French culture but find Parisians to be some of the rudest and most obnoxious people i have encountered - I speak enough French to get by and always make the effort; other areas in France tend to be fine and the people are always more than happy to converse and help me out. There is no reason why you cant visit both cities; they both have fantastic museums, theatres and restaurants although Paris does have the edge on dining due to the lower cost.<BR>As for not eating British food - Pah! nonsense, just stay away from any chain steak houses (Aberdeen, Angus etc) and you will have a great experience - its not all fried breakfasts you know.

Museums:<BR>Both are comparable for art galleries, with Paris perhaps having the dge, depending on what kind of art you're ineterested in. London would have the edge on modern art (by that I mean art of today - Brit Art) - see the Tate Modern.<BR><BR>Beyond art, I would suggest that London has the edge on other kinds of museums (history, decorative arts, design, natural history etc).<BR><BR>Theatre - this one's already been answered.<BR><BR>Fine dining<BR>For day-to-day dining, Paris will always win, as somewhere where you can drop into any old bistro and expect a decent meal. For budget dining in London, you need to know where you're going, as there's plenty of bad pub meals and tourist steak houses to fall into. There is good budget dining out there, but you need to do your research.<BR><BR>For fine dining, London, believe it or not, is now often quoted as being the world's leading centre for contemporary cuisine. There are many well-known french and italian top chefs who've come over to London because it's more cutting edge than Paris or Milan. Paris tends to be more conservative (and protective) about French cuisine, whereas London is more adventurous, representing current trends in an enormous range of international cuisines, including &quot;Modern british&quot;, which is excellent.<BR><BR>So as someone who dines out frequently, I prefer London, but fine dining here IS expensive, and if you prefer more traditional styles of cuisine, atmosphere etc, you may prefer Paris.<BR><BR>So I guess my vote would be London, based on your criteria, although I do live here so naturally I'm biaised. But you wouldn't be disappointed with either.

I think it's interesting that Londoner lives in London but travels to Europe. Huh?? Last time I looked London was already in Europe. Did they move it.<BR>I live in New York and also visit the United States several times a year.

xxx<BR>Would you want to list each state that you visited or isn't it easier to just say the US. <BR>When a Londoner travels outside of England, they ARE visiting Europe. Not Asia or Africa, but Europe, get my drift? Some will say &quot;the Continent&quot; but we all know what they mean.<BR>

Paris in a heartbeat! I've been to both and IMO it's not even close.

My personal preference is for Paris but, given your criteria, I would probably say London. Mostly for the plays. Both are great cities - I hope you get to spend some time in both.<BR><BR>BTW, I find London shop assistants can give the Parisians a good run for their money in the rudeness stakes on any day.

Museums/fine dining=Paris<BR>Plays=London<BR><BR>$$note: London is generally quite a bit more expensive than Paris.

Hi,<BR>I took my 2 kids (age 12 and 19) to London and Paris over Thanksgiving. <BR><BR>We enjoyed both for the museums. We saw plays in England, which we could understand.<BR><BR>We liked Paris because there was much more of a difference to what we are used to in the US,and beautiful, but we were thrilled with Stonehenge and Bath.<BR><BR>The one thing that I must disagree with is the cost of food! We found Paris MUCH more expensive.<BR><BR>I imagine that for fine dinning, Paris was cheaper, but we found it much easier to find inexpensive food that all would like in London.(And not just Pub Food).<BR><BR>We had hot chocolate in a side walk cafe in Paris and it was $6.50 per cup!<BR><BR>We spent more on lunch in Paris than we did for dinner in London! Again, I am not talking gourmet. Just basic food, kid friendly.<BR>