Day Trip from London to Paris / Brussels

You could, although I wouldn't reccommend it, especially not to Paris, which in my opinion deserves its own trip! If you do do it, I recommend that you pick one major site in Paris that you want to see and just go see that and get a nice lunch. You won't be able to squeeze much more in with the train ride 2 hours both ways. I haven't ever been to Brussels so I can't speak on that one. Also consider taking a day trip to somewhere in England outside of London to get to see the countryside.

I agree with the previous poster. Take a tour of the Cotswolds, or drive down to Dover to see Dover Castle above the white cliffs or to Canterbury.

If you wish to see another country, how about taking a plane into Edinburg for a stay in Scotland or a train to Wales? Our British posters can tell you how feasible going to Scotland or Wales would be.

When my daughter and I were in London two years ago on vacation we took a day-trip to Paris. I think if you do want to do it, be as prepared in advance as you can be to take advantage of the short time there. We arrived by Eurostar at about 9AM and had just under 12 hours. We pre-paid for our train tickets, metro day pass, tickets to the Lourve and a pre-paid meal at the Hard Rock Café. We had pre bought tickets to the Catacombs, but unfortunately, delays on the metro made us late to our tour and we weren't able to get in (as the lines without pre-paid skip the line tickets are about 3 hours long). Fortunately, the tour price was refunded to us and we used the unexpected time to walk around the city and just people watch and absorb the sights and sounds. We walked around and saw Notre Dame and other sights, including Luxembourg Gardens/Park. We visited the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory at the Lourve. We bought lots of souvenirs, including some street art. We had dinner at the HRC and then ended our day with a picnic under the Eiffel Tower. Then we collapsed on the train and slept most of the way back to London! ;-)

Obviously, it would be wonderful to have many days in Paris. But if you only have one, there is a lot you can pack in if you're motivated enough and have a good game plan. Then you'll know what you want to go back and see should the opportunity arise to revisit!

See Rick's one-day plan for Paris at http://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/paris-itinerary. The Louvre and a few other museums are closed on Tuesdays; while the Orsay, Versailles, and a few other museums are closed on Mondays. Notre Dame and St. Chapelle are open daily.

If you decide to do this, then reserve Eurostar tickets soon for the best rates (limited seats at each price). Eurostar trains depart London as early as 5:40 weekdays (but require check in at least 30 minutes in advance of that time), a bit later on Saturdays, and not until about 8:00 on Sundays. You can catch the return train as late as 21:00 most days (again with 30-mintue check-in requirement).

All great advice--thanks, everyone! I started looking into a day trip to Paris and found this activity on Golden Tours: http://www.goldentours.com/paris-at-your-leisure-only-a-few-seats-remaining. Tickets are about $188 per person which includes roundtrip reserved seats on Eurostar (I believe these are Standard seats, but I have to confirm with the company), one-hour cruise on the River Seine, and a map of Paris. Saturday, 2/14/2015 would be a good date for us because the train leaves to Paris earlier than on a weekday. Also wanted to mention that we will be staying at The Montague on the Gardens which is not too far from St Pancras Intl station.

The price sounds too good to be true (I checked Eurostar and it's about $400+ four roundtrip seats on Standard) -- should I book it? But I think I should contact Golden Tours to truly confirm if this is really a good deal...

robeastprints, Eurostar fares are between £69 - £347 per person return. Click here for fares. To get the cheap fares you have to book a long time in advance. You were probably looking at the fares for the next few days. There are many companies offering inclusive day trips from London to Paris (and vice-versa). They block book at the cheap rate a long time in advance, then add the cost of whatever sightseeing bus or coach trips they include. They are gambling on selling all the seats. But it is still a good deal, as you get a guided bus tour (or boat trip) thrown in.
Many of the companies advertise with leaflets in London hotels.

Thanks, Chris F. I just checked Eurostar for the date of 2/14/2015 and it came out to $670--yikes. So that Golden Tours activity is looking really good. I'll look into this further and hopefully book something soon.

rankster - How was dinner at HRC? Any other nice restaurants you could recommend for lunch? And I like the idea of ending the day with picnic under the Eiffel Tower. Thanks for your advice!

Sometimes it pays to be flexible. Valentines day can be a time when romantics head off to Paris and days either side can be a bit cheaper.

Also going on a Saturday means that there are fewer trains, and the first outbound is later.

For the full experience of Paris it can be good to get the first weekday train from London at 05:40.

My wife and I were in London over the summer and did travel to Paris via the Chunnel for a day to hang with my brother and family who were there are the end of their European vacation. It certainly can be done but I wouldn't recommend it. The reality is that there is so much to see and do in London alone that the benefits of "see(ing) another country" are more than offset by seeing less of London. (There's also the additional cost to consider.) Moreover, as others have noted, Paris is more than worthy of a six-day visit all by itself. RS makes the point repeatedly that we should approach such trips with the mindset that we will return and that has been my experience on trips from everywhere from Dublin to Prague. Better to immerse yourself as much as possible in London this time around and as soon as you get back home beginning planning a trip to do the same with Paris.

For many people the beauty of Paris only becomes apparent on Day 3. It's hard to explain, but it happened to me on my first visit. Years later I returned with a friend (her first time) and it happened to her. In February, if you get a dreary day, you may not enjoy it much at all. If it's a really rainy day, it won't be at all nice outdoors. There is so much to see and do in London, and there are easy day trips to Oxford, Cambridge and other places.

@ prints

rankster - How was dinner at HRC? Any other nice restaurants you could recommend for lunch? And I like the idea of ending the day with picnic under the Eiffel Tower. Thanks for your advice!

Im not sure why you travel, but i dont spend a lot of $$$ just to eat and see things i can over here in the USA. the food is just the same as you would get over here since they are chains. they may have local type specials like McDonalds and Burger king does, but I'm not sure since i dont frequent those places on my travels but I'm aware of them. I do get some souvenirs from the HRC gift shop since they have stuff with the local city printed on them, but thats about it. You can find baguette sandwiches all over the place and those for what little they had were so delicious.

If you want to have a meal in the HRC neighborhood there are restaurants in the area. Im sure others more familiar with the area will be willing to give you some pointers, but i choose to "take a chance" i find and pick my own local places. Most if not all restaurants will have a printed menu on the outside so you can choose your poison.

Now, if you want to frequent a chain, then i can understand going to a Starbucks. The ONLY reason i used them was for 1. A bathroom, and #2 was that the French dont do "coffee to go" cups with lids. But after a few days, i decided to adopt the French way of having coffee - by sitting down at a table to stop and enjoy life while having my coffee.

just my 0.02. going to Paris for a day is cool and a great way to get a taste just as long as you understand, you won't be able to do/see as much as you could if you had planned for more time there. No different if you were in Paris and wanted to see London for a day. Plan to come back since Paris deserves it.

happy trails.

Yes, there's plenty to do around London if you stayed in town. But......if you've never been to Paris and don't think you'll get there soon, do the day trip. (And if you've never seen Paris, forget Brussels. Is fine, but no comparison.) I did a Paris day trip from London using the Evan Evans Company. I've also been on their day trips by bus around greater London. They do a good job. And now I can say I've been to Paris.