London/Paris travel advice

[HFCS]

Anybody have any general advice for what to see or skip on a trip to Paris and London?

Likely won't be able to go outside either city's transportation systems so mostly looking for advice on what to do in the two cities only. I'm a huge Beatles fan but don't think I'll be making it to Liverpool, anybody know any Beatles things to see or do in London outside visiting the Abbey Road crossing?

[CycloneSupt6]

Check out the London Eye, even on a rainy day, its fun. Buckingham Palace, changing of the guard. They played ABBA's "Dancing Queen" the day I was there. I would recommend buying or borrowing a travel book on each city to find things to do. The "Tube" in London is very easy to navigate as well.

[rebecacy]

you cannot go wrong in either city -- use the tube and metro to get around and go see the stuff you want to see most -- would highly recommened a show at the theatre district in london and the house wine and a ham or cheese baguet at any cafe in Paris ----- walk alot and see the sights ---if you are going soon the cities are going to be at their spring best. I love london and paris, been everywhere and these are my two most favorite cities. Have fun.

[MLawrence]

If you make it out to Versailles, be sure to walk down to Marie Antoinette's village. It is a long walk past the gardens, but I would defiantly say that is worth. The village was probably the most unusual thing that I ever seen, but it was defiantly really cool.

[cyclone13]

In Paris, if you want to ask for help, don't forget to start with French. You'd get much more help and the Parisians are very willing to help someone who wants to speak their languages.

[MLawrence]

The reason why I want to France was to take part in class that made a Travel Channel like production. I believe the first half of the movie should just be about the sites in Paris, and the other half is about the Loire Valley and Normandy. Here it is, if you're interested or if you want to see some of the place that you could potentially go to:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1wWm8hXMns]Through the Lens: France - YouTube[/ame]

[CyOps]

We were in Paris for one day and wanted to see as much as possible. We took a bus tour that went by a lot of the major attractions. Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc, Lourve, and other sites. The tour was narrated so you could learn about each site you went by. The buses were on a 30 minute schedule so if you wanted to stop and tour Notre Dame or anything else, you could and then just jump on the next bus. The tour buses were double deckers and the top deck was open.

[alarson]

See the Monument des Poissonieres. It's a monument to all the local fishermen who were lost at sea. Frommer's says it's supposed to be..."quite moving."

[agcy68]

My wife and I did Paris/London last year. She talked me into getting a "Paris Pass" and a "London Pass". We could have proably done what we did little cheaper a la carte, but it had free entry to most of what we wanted to see and I didn't feel bad for leaving the Louvre after a couple hours. It also included subway tickets - very handy if you get lost and have to get back on. The only thing it didn't cover was the London Eye - pretty cool.

We also bought Rick Steeve's books for our iPhone and used that to help discern what to do.

Paris
- Louvre - too much there to see it all
- Notre Dame - cool
- Eiffle tower - make sure you see it at night
- Arc de Triumph - I could watch the traffic there for hours
- Bus Tour - take your own ear buds...

London
- Westminster Abbey - largest indoor graveyard I have ever seen
- London eye - cool
- River Cruise Tour
- London Tower Bridge - interesting engineering
- Jewel Tower - historical castle

My 2 cents anyway...

[dmclone]

Only had a couple of days in London so we just went to the major sites. Parliament, Westminster, London eye, big Ben, etc. The best part was walking along the river thames and visiting Tate Modern. It seems cheesy but I always like to take one of those hop on hop off tourist busses on the first day. They give you a good idea where everything is located.

In Paris we had a few more days. Went to the usual spots. Also checked out the army museum, took a night cruise, Centre pompidou, Versailles, etc. It's fun to just sit outside coffee shops and people watch. If you pick the right spot you'll soon figure out why they call it the city of love.

I really liked both cities but if I was to go back in would spend more time in the Normandy region, which is more my style.

[RayShimley]

I stayed in the Montemartre area of Paris and was able to walk to all the major sites (other than when we took the metro to Roland-Garros for the French Open). In fact, I found just walking around and stopping at the cafe for a drink or a snack was one of the most enjoyable experiences. It really just depends what you like to do. You can see most of the major sites in a couple days.

The only thing I regret not doing is a tour of the Catacombs under the city. I've heard that is pretty interesting.

[Gullie]

When I went to London and Paris with my family my 3 favorite things were
the open bus guided tour of London, the Tower of London and the dinner cruise on the Seine River (even saw the minature Statue of Liberty on the river).
Very fun trip no matter what you end up seeing!

[dmclone]

Plan on being harassed a lot while visiting the efiel tower. Not a big deal if you just ingore them.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzsC5rx5IpI]VID00018 - YouTube[/ame]

Please excuse the shakey camera work

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnP7WeZc5j0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnP7WeZc5j0[/ame]

[dmclone]

I found London to be a lot more expensive than Paris but London may be better now since the pound has lost a lot since I was last there.

[cdnlngld]

Definitely plan on at least 1/2 to a full day in the Louvre. You will still not see everything. Eiffel tower is a must. If you are going during the summer plan on long lines(we were there during the tour De France, so we might have seen worse then normal) I would suggest taking the stairs(cheaper and took less time because of the lines). Plan on eating at at least one fine restaurant(you will not be disappointed) Versailles was cool. I think you can get on bus out to that. Best suggestion is to wonder off the beaten path and walk some of the side streets. You will be surprised at some of the cool things you can find(just be careful). I think the most fun overall in Paris was wondering around after seeing all of the touristy crap, but I love to people watch(great big pavilion by the tower for that).