London and Paris

That's as good a time as any to visit London. (I know less about Paris.)

To make the best use of time: Do you know what you want to see in each city? If you haven't already, do some reading (on this site or in a guidebook, for example) about the main sights to be seen in each city, and decide which ones look interesting to you. Beyond that, what kinds of things are you interested in? (History, art, food, shopping, architecture...?)

Sept/Oct is the optimal time to visit both. Rick Steves London and Paris guidebooks are easy and enjoyable to read with all the info you'll need to know to have a great trip. Most libraries have them if you don't want to buy.

Hi rulaurencio:

I have been to both cities on several occasions, and once in tandem (Paris to London). My recollection is that September is the month for the major fashion shows in Paris which means that higher end hotel rooms are hard to find. Check this out on-line to see if this will impact your travel plans.

Geor(ge)

If you're planning on taking the Eurostar between the cities, those tickets go on sale 6 months ahead of your travel date and get much more expensive if you wait too long. We always fly into and out of London and use the Eurostar between the cities. Many others recommend flying into one and out of the other. We like the 2.5 hour trip on the Eurostar and that works best for us. Get online and find out what's best for each city. You might also get on www.tripadvisor.com, both the London and Paris forums.

It doesn't matter which you visit first, but getting your bearings in an English-speaking city can be easier before trying out some French. If you are interested in any special museum exhibits on theater options that have limited run dates, then those might also influence your choice.

My fiance and I are planning basically the same trip at the same time, one week in each place. I did find in my ongoing airfare search that it was costing a little bit more to fly into Paris first as opposed to London first.

Hi rulaurencio:

One other thing to consider is the huge departure tax that Heathrow charges. When I visited London in 2014 United Airlines priced the return flight from London at 30,000 mileage points and $200 while the return flight from Istanbul was 30,000 points and $40. I used the difference in price to fly Turkish Airlines from London to Istanbul (about $160) and had a great time in that city before returning to the USA.

I am no sure if this situation applies to your situation particularly if you are paying cash rather than mileage points for the flights.

Geor(ge)

I've noticed the same pattern Geor has with respect to taxes on frequent flier tickets out of (or connecting in) London, but I'm not sure purchased tickets are the same. Certainly for roundtrips, London is usually among the very cheapest options available on the legacy carriers. I guess competition keeps the total price down even though the airline has to give up a substantial part of the fare in the form of taxes.