Hi everyone! I am traveling to London, Paris and Montpellier for work in a couple weeks and looking for things to do in the evenings. Unfortunately, I won’t have time during the day to do any sightseeing, and reading through Rick’s guidebook it seems like most things close early until May. So, my question is, what are your suggestions for evening activities, sights, restaurants, or anything else! I’m really open to just about anything. Thank you!
Posted by
Phoenix, Arizona
219 posts
You don't say whether or not you have visited any of these cities before. That of course would impact the recommendations from others. I have been to London and Paris. I think you can safely assume that London, at least, is a busy city even into the very late evening. In either Paris or London you can hop on a city bus and just cruise by all the sites that you may not be open. Just seeing the architecture is amazing, even at night.
The Louvre is open until 10 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays, if you are in Paris those days of the week. If you are in London on a Friday, the British Museum is open until 8:30 pm and the Victoria and Albert Museum is open until 10 pm. Do a quick search and you will find other evening hours for popular sites.
Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Washington DC
28247 posts
I'm pretty sure the Tate Modern and the National Gallery each have one late-night opening a week.
Then there's the theatre.
I bet there are things like pub-crawl tours, too. And I'm virtually certain London Walks does at least one (Jack-the-Ripper-themed) evening walk from time to time. Those things are fun and cost very little.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Paris has evening cruises (you can do the non-dinner ones solo) seeing the buildings lit up -- and the Eiffel Tower sparkles at the top of the hour.
Posted by
3459 posts
Is this your first trip to Europe?
My first trip to Europe was a business trip to London, traveling with my boss. It was interesting to observe the inner workings of a law office in London. My boss's first name was "Earl" - which led to some humorous misunderstandings.
If your employer is anything like mine, they are spending a lot of money to send you on this trip and are expecting a big bang for their buck - don't underestimate how exhausting a transatlantic flight can be.