Day Trip to Paris

Personally, I would not recommend it at all. It is an expensive quick hit. I suppose doing it with a tour group would be more efficient since all of the transportation logistics are prearranged. What time of year are considering? If you do it on your own it is critical that you book the Eurostar tickets as soon as possible as late purchased ticket can be very expensive. Use the search feature here as this has been frequently discussed.

We are doing it ourselves in September. We booked the early eurostar train and the late return. We plan on seeing the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral. We may never get back to Europe so it is definitely worth it.

I did a day trip to Paris from London on the Eurostar at the end of April with a group of 7 total family members. I think the answer to your question really comes down to how comfortable you are navigating on your own. Has anyone in your party been to Paris (or even Europe in general) before? Does anybody in your party speak (or read) any French? (Not that the ability to speak/read is necessary but it might change your comfort level with navigating on your own.) And how mobile are the members of your party? I had my elderly parents in tow so using the metro wasn't going to work for us. If I could've made use of the metro, I think I would have had an easier time coming up with my own plan. If you are hesitant to figure out how to get around on your own, then I would look into a tour group. Otherwise, with a bit of research ahead of time and a plan, you could do it on your own.

However, Frank in his post is correct. It can be expensive. It's also a long, tiring day and a trade-off between what you don't get to see in London and having just a whirlwind glimpse of Paris. Understand that you can barely scratch the surface of Paris in day and that you can't see even close to everything. For us, it made sense. My sister's children got to see a glimpse of Paris (they can go back some day to more fully enjoy it). My parents will not likely take another trip to Europe so it was their chance to see Paris. They really liked just seeing things like the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa in person. I have been there multiple times before so I served as the "tour guide."

I always enjoy Paris, but I found this trip particularly stressful. I was continually worrying about the time and making sure we were back at the train station in time while still making sure folks were having a good time. I thought a lot about what to do to maximize what we could see while still having some time for a nice lunch and not run everybody ragged. My mother in particular has a hard time getting around so I was also worried about making sure she was OK and looking for elevators and any other way to make it easier for her. I got my banana nutella crepe though so I was happy and I think everyone else had a good time.

Good luck with whatever you decide...

I've done it both ways so the question is, what interests you most?

If you want, you can make it a 2 day trip. Book yourself upon the Eurostar and when you get there, go to the Montmarte section, Notre Dame and the Latin Quarters, walk down the Champs d'Elysee and top it off with a visit to the Eiffel Tower (buy your tickets on-line in advance).

Next morning you can visit the Louvre and the Orsay (with or without a guided tour group) and take a late Eurostar back to London.

I love tour groups and have made life-long friends on them but sometimes the tours are a bit "selective" - you should go up the Eiffel Tower and not just drive past it in a bus. The guided tours for the museums, however, are excellent but, again, with a RS podcast or renting the headphones, you will see the treasures of both.

I would book my own tickets on Eurostar if you are far enough out from your travel date that you can get a good price. When do you plan to travel?

To me, there are 2 other critical questions:

• How much time do you have in London to start with? There is SO much to see you don’t want to spread yourself too thin.

• Have you already booked plane tickets or is it possible to fly home from Paris?

I'm not sure how many hours you are talking about. We recently did a day trip to Paris and had only a few hours. I've never had a huge desire to go to Paris, so I looked at it as my one opportunity. It was expensive, but it was somewhat stressful. We didn't have the time to orient ourselves to public transportation so we took a taxi to Notre Dame. To be honest, there are so many other wonderful cathedrals in Europe that have a greater wow factor. It was also stressful walking around with our eyes always on the clock. I'm glad I did it but have no huge wish to return. I can say I was to Paris, but it wasn't on my top 100 bucket list.

NO WAY

Go to the wonderful city of Paris when you can enjoy the city and spend some real time there.
A day trip is ridiculous, expensive and too much travel time.

My first trip to Paris, we spent 6 nights there and it was not enough. I have been back 5 or 6 times and always find more to do there.
The METRO is great to get around.

What do you plan to see on a day trip. Will you have about 4 hours? That is enough to see Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, perhaps.