London Travel Forum

I have never been out of the United States and I'm planning my first trip to Europe in early April. I'm flying into London, I definitely want to see Paris and I'd like to squeeze in a third destination. I'm unfamiliar with the area and the best way to get around. Germany seems very close, as does Spain. We'll be there for 10 days. Any suggestions? Also, how far is Paris from London? Are there any little towns that I should make plans to visit?

You can get to Paris in a couple of hours by Eurostar or about 40 minutes by air.

If you like train journeys, you could take in Paris and Brussels by Eurostar and still have a bit of time in England.

With only 10 days, try not to do too much - instead, try and see a bit more of each country you visit.

For a quick trip, London to Paris on the "Chunnel" train is a 3 hour trip for about $100 US if I recall correctly.

The web site...

http://www.xs4all.nl/~scottk/

Has an excellent review of how to spend a short time in Paris. (also I don't have to type it all....;-)

Germany is "close" but I think for 10 days, you will find that London and surrounding areas, and Paris by itself could require much more time.

I think you can relax on those two places with 5 days each, but if you want to squeeze, I think Amsterdam will be the place, not far, much different and surely worth a visit.

April is a perfect season to visit Spain. Take a night train from Paris to MADRID, you'll wake up in a warm charming city with many sightseeings, daytrips and nice friendly people. Madrid can take you 2 days.
From here you can take a train to SEVILLA (2 hours) and visit the heart of Andalusia, a vibrant city with moorish heritage and white narrow streets.
Another great city to visit is GRANADA, 2 hours by train/bus from Sevilla. Here you can visit LA ALHAMBRA, a moorish palace that is one of the wonders of the world.
On the way back to Paris you can visit BARCELONA, a magnificient vibrant city in the Mediterranean shore, with wonderful buildings by Gaudi and many museums.
From Barcelona you can take another night train to Paris and back to London.
Enjoy Spain!

Joaquin

stacyh and keti_angel are exactly correct. Whatever you map out, don't bite off too much for only 10 days. Flash images even of London and Paris won't survive long in the memory.

Hum, 5 days in the same city, sounds a lot, I've just spent 4 days in San Francisco, it was just enough, not less, no more...
I'm belgian so I'd suggest to add Brussels to Paris and London ;-) Life there will probably be cheaper than in the two other capitals, you could enjoy Belgian chocolate, beers, wafels,... and from there you can visit Brugge or eventually Amsterdam...
Sounds like a plan?

The key for your 10 days is not to spend all that time going from place to place, but rather being AT the place. Try to pick places that won't keep you on the train, plane or car for hours on end.

Forgot to mention, about the train (TGV/Thalys/Eurostar):
Paris - Brussels : 1h30
Brussels- London : 2h40
http://www.b-rail.be/internat/E/index.html

Thanks for all of the advice. I definitely don't want to cut myself short, as this is what I refer to as my "dream trip". I've been wanting to go since I was a teenager. Are there any do's and dont's for traveling abroad? My friends have suggested that I not make reservations for lodging. They felt there were plenty of places to stay and that I should walk around until I find something I like. Any suggestions for travel guides? I don't speak any French either. Any language guides that might be helpful?

Like many of the other replies it is easy to spend 10 days in just London and Paris. Instead of trying to fit in trips to other major destinations, I would look into making day trips using London and or Paris as your base. Bath (Stonehenge), Windsor, and other stops in England are easy to get to, as there are several tour companies. Paris has an equal number of places that you could visit, Giverny, Versailles, Rouen and Chartres are all a short train ride away, and well worth a visit. However, I would suggest spending the bulk of your time in London and Paris, there is so much to see in each place, and by taking your time rather than hurrying to all the main sights, you can get a better overall feel for the cities.

Since it isn't the peak travel season in April, you should be able to find rooms in London and Paris without reservations;; however, when I visited Paris in April, when I called around about avalibility many places were full.

You probably won't need French in Paris. Learn how to say 'yes, no, where, how much' if anything. You'll feel positively safe in both cities, but though this may be your dream trip, you'll come away feeling it was wonderful, but also that you missed so much or didn't do it quite right. You'll learn more on your debut, something to apply to your return.

You might want to reconsider that "suggestion" of not booking a place to stay. Although at that time of year, yes there should be plenty of rooms and you would be "free" to move at will. If you decide to to that, at least book someplace for the first couple of nights in London so you don't end up somewhere strange, jetlagged and no place to go.

On the other hand, my daughter "backpacked" from Budapest to Amsterdam (including London and Paris) this past summer and only booked Paris ahead of time.

Also you might find the url below an interesting read...

http://www.ferziger-marsh.com/placestosee.htm

Paris to Amsterdam can be done in about 3 and a half hours by Thalys, and I think Amsterdam is immeasurably more interesting than Brussels. However, if you should become weary with Paris (it's huge, busy, full of traffic) the region has many smaller places worth visiting and a lot closer. DO NOT miss Versailles! But Chartres and Fontainbleu also come to mind. It's a funny idea, but the TGV can have you in Lyon in 2 hours, and I found it asurprisingly interesting place on my first vist there last September, and it's the food capital of France. Spain is an enormous distance away. I'd say forget it, but Southwestern France might be quite nice in April, and Toulouse is connected to Paris by TGV.
As for booking hotels, the Paris rail stations have hotel booking services, and regardless of when I've been in Paris I've never had any trouble finding a place to stay.

When you decide to go to Amsterdam (with Thalys train from Paris)) you have to stop in Antwerp...
It's an order ;-))
Enjoy your trip...!

Spain deserves much more time than you are alotting it. There other writers are suggesting Amsterdam and I would agree. It is one of my favourite cities and fits in well with a London/Paris combo.

Everywhere really deserves more time.
This should just be a 'taster' for future trips.

You can see that everyone is really interested that you have the best time possible! In general, I agree that doing too much in too little time is a bad idea.

Let me offer my .02 euros worth:
#1. Ask yourself who you are traveling with. How much stress can he/she/they stand, in terms of moving everyday, finding new hotels everyday, being tired, hungry, cranky, etc.? If the relationship with your travel mates is important, then underdo the travel.

#2. In my first trip through Europe, on a 10 day break, I went from Rome to Paris to Brussels to Amsterdam to Cologne to Munich to Vienna to Zurich to Pisa to Rome. There are only 2 reasons I could do that: (1) I spent every night on a train so I lost no time traveling during the day, and (2) I was 19 and didn't know any better.

#3. However, if you desire to have 3 stops in 10 days - that can be workable - then do your air travel so that it is an "open jaw" trip, that is, that you enter Europe in one city like London for 3 days, then go to Paris for 3 days, then go to another gateway city like Amsterdam for 3 days, then leave direct for the US from Amsterdam. By default, they'll tend to have you arrive to and depart from the same city (and it's often cheaper to do that but not always), but it will cost you travel time to do this. Even if your trip from Amsterdam is through London to pick up your normal return home, you'll lose a half a day doing so...which could be the difference between you getting up at 4 a.m. versus 9 a.m. on the day you leave.

So, keep it simple, keep your travel companions in mind, and keep your expectations in check...because (as you must tell yourself) this is NOT the last time you'll be in Europe!!

Bill

Perfectly put Bill - well said.

good advise from mc. you can probably find a low cost one way flight to get you back to the city you started out in, in europe.

Definitely Europe is to wide and rich in historic sites. So forget too much is ten days. Even ten days in a single european country isnīt enough. So concentrate in three capitals, or one with surroundings. A good choice would be Paris-London-Ansterdam in High Speed train. Or London with the usual, Oxford and Cambridge, Canterbury....and so on. Or even Paris with the Chateau de la Loire or Normandy.....

I suggest you purchase 'Time Out London' or a european travel guide. It will answer all your questions and more. Sorry for the non-descriptive response, but you need a definitive answer, and that cannot be given on the forum.

Have Fun!
Chris.