Hello
This September my husband and I (age 63) are going to London and possibly France. With flights, we’ll only have 7 days to visit. We will stay at St Ermins in London.. we love to walk and explore both touristy tours and local pubs and cuisine.
Do you think that is too short to visit both countries?
Best places to visit in London?
Any suggestions where to stay in France if we decide on both countries?
Thank you
If you fly into London and out of Paris then you should have plenty of time, 3 days in one and 4 in the other.
7 days - Do London only with day trips as you desire. Edit - then there’s the idea above which might be great for you if you just want “a taste”. I tend to be a more “in depth” traveler. Personal preference!
Hard to identify “best” without your interests. It’s easy to research. For instance: https://travel.usnews.com/London_England/Things_To_Do/ lots of good guide books to start with - perhaps get one with pictures like DK Eyewitness - everything looks appealing!
There is a great walking tour company many of us have enjoyed. Different focuses to the tours - London Walks. https://www.walks.com/
London is also easy to find online walking maps and easy to explore on foot without guided walking tours. Edit - Paris is also highly walkable!!
Some popular day trips - Hampton Court, Windsor, Oxford, Cambridge, Bletchley Park, St Albans, Canterbury, Brighton, I could go on and on. Some do Paris in one (long) day trip via Eurostar. Eurostar is easy to use.
We visited London and Paris in August for that amount of time and had a wonderful trip!
You could have 3 days in London and on the 4th day take the Eurostar from London to Paris and then have 3 days in Paris. In London you could see the Westminster area with Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and the outside of Buckingham Palace. The Tower of London with the included beefeater Yeoman Warder tour is great and best done in the morning to see the Crown Jewels first. Seeing the Churchill War Rooms or one of the museums and having tea somewhere and shopping at Harrods is also fun.
In Paris I would recommend a Seine River Cruise soon after arrival and going to Trocadero to see the lights of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Our favorites in Paris are the Musee D'Orsay and the Louvre (especially the Napoleon III apartments there and hot chocolate at Angelina's in the Louvre for a break), We also enjoy strolling along the Champs Elysees and seeing the Arc d'Triomphe. The Luxembourg Gardens and St Germain area as well as Sacre Coeur and Montmartre are also great.
Get tickets in advance for the Eurostar as they get more expensive closer to the date you go. Also arrive 90 minutes before the Eurostar departure to go through security and immigration since the UK is not in the Schengen zone.
If you wish to have a more leisurely trip there is plenty to do in either London for a week with day trips to Windsor Castle or Hampton Court Palace, or a week in Paris with a day trip to Versailles.
Thank you. These suggestions and information is very helpful. Any suggestions where to stay in France
Thank you
Kay51's perspective is great for a two city trip.
My wife (multiple visits to UK and France) and a good friend (her first trip) just got home from a two-week trip with one week each in London and Paris. So, if this is your only trip planned for the next few years, then the London and Paris option may be best. You can hit the top spots in each city.
If you are going to travel more frequently and take longer trips in the relatively near furture, then just do London. You can easily spend 7 full days there, especially if you daytrip out to Windsor, Bath, etc. Paris can be the next trip.
I doubt we will be able to get back to either place.
We’d like to get a taste of both. Just starting to look into lodging in Paris
Do you already have your flights yet? If not, plan to fly "open jaw" and book in to London and home from Paris. You'd do that on your airline's website choosing the "multi-city" tab.
You can use this as a scouting trip. Many of us thought our first trip would be our "only" and found that we couldn't NOT go back lol. You all are young and retirement may bring the freedom to travel more.
If you want to do both, do it. If you find you are pulled to stay in London the whole time, you can certainly find plenty to do to fill weekS there, lol.
I like to stay in the 7th in Paris although others on the forum are not crazy about this area as they find it staid. You might enjoy 2 of the hotels I return to again and again. Take a look at Hotel Muguet on Rue Chevert or Hotel Relais Bosquet on Rue du Champ de Mars. There is a metro station near both and dozens of restaurants within walking distance.
Our go-to hotel in Paris has been the Familia Hotel in the Left Bank (aka Latin Quarter) neighborhood. Their sister hotel, next door, is the Hotel Minerve.
We enjoyed staying near the Arc d'Triomphe area which is near the CDG Etoile Metro. Some hotels to consider in that area would be Hotel Balmoral Champs Elysees, Splendid Etoile Hotel, and Rochester Champs Elysees Hotel. Wishing you a wonderful trip!
Hotel Muget in Paris
Only seven days, pick one city.
