Paris Travel Answers

welcome to VT forum on Paris. hotels check www.paris35.com or st-christophers.co.uk/paris-... london we stay very nice at Earlcourt studios here http://www.earlscourtstudios.com/ also try the travelodge chain you mean the train from paris to london? its about 4hrs see the site eurostar http://www.eurostar.com days is up to you, but for the two weeks I will be fair to say do a week in each. Cheers

Some answers to your questions: 1) I'll leave this for other to answer as we have only been to Paris once for 4 nights and stayed in a hotel. 2) The train from Paris to London or London to Paris is the Eurostar and will take about 2 1/2 hours. The train stations are Gare du Nord in Paris and St Pancras in London. 3) Length of time in both cities. Since you are going for 2 weeks I would suggest 1 week in each city. They are both very interesting and I know you would find more then enough to do in both cities.

@ Gwened - Did you forget about the 1 hour time change from London to Paris? We took the Eurostar and it was only 2 1/2 hours station to station.

The Eurostar from London to Paris or vice versa is 2 1/4 hours, there is a time zone change as Paris is one hour later than London. The best fares go on sale 120 days out from travel, I'd recommend buying them as soon as you know your travel plans. Once the cheapest fares are gone, they are gone. Try booking.com for London hotels, hotels are expensive in London, I try to get mine by blind bidding on Priceline but if that doesn't work I stay near Paddington where there are a lot of cheaper hotels or try to get a room at one of the budget chains like Premier Inn. How many days in each city? Hard to say without knowing anything about you, both cities have a lot of things to see and do. If it were me I'd split it in half. Make sure that you are visiting London after the Olympics are wrapped up, the closing ceremonies are on August 12 and some people will stay on a few days after I imagine.

Yes, I would agree that a week in each city would be good. Hotel or apartment doesn't really make much difference. What makes the difference is cost and location. Make sure you book your Eurostar train tickets as early as possible. It is never really cheap but the cheapest fares do sell out very quickly. The booking 'window' is open 120 days in advance of travel. Use the official website www.eurostar.com Very difficult to make hotel suggestions without knowing your budget, but you might look at the Euro Hotel..it is very near St Pancras (where you will arrive), in a quiet leafy square. Good value for London. The Mentone is next door, and is also perfectly reasonable. My reviews are on my London pages. Look at www.booking.com and www.venere.com to find hotels (in London or Paris or both) for your dates. They are reliable sites used by many VT-ers. www.hostelworld.com and www.hostelbookers.com will give you hostels and cheaper B&bs. Some hostels have separate rooms..they are not all dormitories. The official London tourist information site lists all accommodation: www.visitlondon.com/accommodation You can search by landmark/area if you wish. Be warned that August is the height of the high season for London, and prices will reflect that.

The Eurostar time is between 2:16 and 2:28 according to the Eurostar website, the cheapest adult fare appears to be 34.50GBP each way, 69GBP round trip. Once those fares are gone, it goes up to 49.50GBP each way and gets more expensive as the dates get closer, right now you can only book until May. Since your sons are under 25, make sure you click on the lower fare category.

You mention being there after the Olympics. You should also know that the Paralympics are held several weeks after the Regular Olympics. The dates for the Paralympics in London are August 29 to September 9. One other thing. Be sure to get tickets in London ahead of time for 2 must see activities. One is the tour of Buckingham Palace where the Queen lives. Buckingham Palace is open to the public for only 2 months of the year (August and September). My wife and I were there in September and got to see parts of the inside and how it was set up for a state dinner. Very interesting. You will need to buy tickets several months ahead of time. The other event I would be sure to see in London is the Ceremony of the Keys at the London Tower. My wife and I spent most of the day at the Tower of London and then came back at 9:30 p.m. for the Ceremony of the Keys. Your 2 teenage sons should love visiting the Tower of London. And one activity I would do in Paris would be to take a guided bike tour. There are several companies that offer tours and it would give you a good introduction to the City of Lights.

Also note that August isn't exactly low season in Paris but a lot of Parisians leave town and some people avoid going there that month. I actually like going in August, it's a little less crowded, hotel rates are cheaper (I'm wondering if this might also help on the apartment rental) and the sights are all open, it's just some restaurants and shops that are closed.

I would also split the holiday 50/50. A cheap way to stay in London in excellent area and accommodation is Book at: www.londonuniversityrooms.co.uk (Look for 'Beit Hall' and 'Prince's Gardens') This site also allows you to compare university accommodation across London from other universities. Paris accommodation is also expensive so look to see if Paris Universities rent out rooms in the summer

I am currently researching low cost accommodation in Paris and came across these links: The secret hotels of Paris (all have rooms under80.00): m.budgettravel.com//bt-dyn/c... and this, I haven't stayed yet, as it requires a minimum of 3 nights and I am going to Paris for two days only, I will keep it in mind for a future visit. The place has an indoor pool and a garden, the rates are reasonable. paris-oasis.com/fiche_studio...

Shh, those are supposed to be secret ;-) I booked my last Paris hotel from that article, the Hotel de l'Esperance. The location was great, right near the rue Moufettard and the room was under 100E which can be tough to find in Paris. But I don't know that they have rooms for 3-4 people.

yes rich I must be sleepy late, the one hour diff and the the connection time for me. So yes straight out of gare du nord is about 2.5 hours. and yes you can have hotels in Paris for under 100 euros, just look at the site I gave you. Of course its in FRench but you should have a contact to get the rate as from 50euros hotel-pas-cher-paris.fr/hote... hit the arrondissement you want to be then put the dates you want and you will see a listing, for example near gare du nord, hotel liége strasbourg, you want that one hit it and will take you to the page of the provider in this case its voyage-sncf, the main travel site of the French railroads. Cheers

I think Paris is easier to find reasonably priced accommodation than London. Try the Accord hotels website and consider Ibis and Etap hotels near the periphique (the main road that circles the 20 arrondissements that constitute Central Paris). If the post code is 75001 to 75020 then it will be inside the periphique and probably close to metro stations etc. For holiday apartments try www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holiday-rentals.co.uk, or www.ownnersdirect,co.uk . These are all UK based companies and have a lot of apartments for let for short periods. These are holiday lets and may not be the cheapest option. These websites also have apartments in London. Our son recently stayed in the Travelodge in Battersea, London and said it was adequate and cheap. This was in January! Last August we rejected this hotel as the cost was going to be too much for the standard of hotel. We stayed at a Ramada Encore in East Acton. As to How long in each city - I suppose 7 days in each, especially as it seems to be your first time and there are many things to see in both cities. Having said that, I personally would stay the whole time in Paris. It is my (and Mrs Flying-Scotsman's) favourite city (see my Paris pages) and we could spend 2 weeks easily wandering about Paris. Hope this information helps. Whatever you decide, enjoy your holiday. Bruce

Eurostar London to Paris - 2.20min Svetlana Bellon

Regarding some sites (mentioned in the answers) for booking your cheap accommodation in Paris - be very careful - some are not legitimate and if you can't find their telephone number on their site it wouldn't be wise to book through them. Svetlana Bellon

Svetlana why you make a general misleading statement like that. The sites are good,the properties can be found by the OP=original poster and contact them directly of course, thats the idea of giving the sites. your response is a bit weird ::)

We booked this apartment through Paris sweethome it was perfect and it a great spot. parissweethome.com/parisrent... Hope it helps..