Spending 2 days in Paris and London should we get the Paris Pass and London Pass?

Are you spending two days in Paris and two days in London, with a travel day in between? Or is your entire stay two days, split between the two cities? (There's a Dickens book title in there somewhere...)

If the former, these passes might work all right for you. It depends which sites you want to visit that charge an entry fee. I'd say don't just examine the list of covered sites -- also look at the map to see how far apart they are and which ones you can realistically go to, in what order, in the time you'll have.

We are spending about a full day and a half in Paris and then two and a half in London. We will hit the main spots in both that are free entry with the passes in both locations outside of the Eiffel Tower.

The Paris Pass is not felt to be a good deal as it bundles transportation which you may be able to get less expensively (depending on where you are going to stay) and some discount coupons that you'll never have time to use in 2 days. It also includes a Paris Museum Pass which used to be a good idea but maybe has become less of a good idea in the last week or two because of crowding at the Louvre.

You can easily buy a 2-day Paris Museum Pass (48E) and get a carnet of Metro tickets (14.80 E) to cover all your needs. There is a new Paris Metro Navigo Easy pass that is just the metro tickets loaded electronically onto a card for an extra 2E.

The Paris Museum Pass has been less valuable the last 2 weeks as they have been limiting the visitors to the Louvre to those that had timed tickets and refusing admission to Museum Pass holders. This may change - who knows. Another advantage used to be that you could re-enter museums but that seems to have been changed to one entry to each museum.

You'll have to compare the costs of what you want and what you can reasonably see in 2 days (is that 3 nights?) to decide if the Museum Pass is a good buy for you. You do NOT need to buy this ahead. You can get it in Paris.

**cross posting with you: So one full day and a half a day - what days of the week? There are museum closures on Monday and Tuesday so that will also affect what you can see. Are you leaving on the Eurostar on the afternoon of the half day? Or arriving in the AM on the train?

The London Pass is not really worth it as many government-owned museums and sites have free admission.

The Paris Pass is nothing other than a collection of readily available tickets/passes which may be otherwise purchased at far lower cost. Avoid the Paris Pass.

I've used the London Pass during a week's stay in London. I broke even. For a short trip, it doesn't make sense.

Are you using the eurostar for your connection between London/Paris? I'm wondering if we should then take the train on to the airport (CDG) or try and stay around Paris Gare du Nord to eat/stay and take off to the airport in the morning. I am really unsure about Paris. Love to hear your plans.

Arrive at CDG and sightseeing in Paris the day we arrive and the next day. Then renting a car at Gare du Nord the next morning for a day trip to Normandy and Omaha Beach area. Will return the car the next day and depart from the station on Eurostar to London. Sightsee in London that afternoon and the next two days and fly out of LHR. Will probably do a half day out and back to Stonehenge on of the days. Booking as many tix for day and time entry up front such as Eiffel Tower and Louvre. Used HomeAway to book accommodations near Metro/Tube stations for easy access around both cities with multiple bedrooms/baths/living room/kitchen. So far I have flights, train, car, accommodations booked. After so many comments about the passes not being the way to go, I am doing things one by one. Eiffel Tower books 60 days out. Getting Louvre tix today and will look for what else we want to see/do and book those as well.

Arrive at CDG and sightseeing in Paris the day we arrive and the next day. Then renting a car at Gare du Nord the next morning for a day trip to Normandy and Omaha Beach area.

Have you been to Europe before? Have you driven in Europe before? Do you drive in big cities? What time does your plane arrive at CDG? Your plans raise a lot of red flags.

First, according to what time your plane arrives, you may not have a lot of time for sightseeing. Getting from CDG to the city is time consuming. If you've flown in from the states you'll be suffering from jet lag. I sure wouldn't book anything for the first day, especially anything with timed tickets.

I have actually returned a car to Gare du Nord. We rented it at CDG and drove to the Loire Valley. We returned it to Gare du Nord before taking the Eurostar to London. Driving in Paris is not for the faint of heart. To get to Gare du Nord, you'll be in some pretty heavy traffic. Also, finding the entrance to the parking deck takes some concentration. It's barely noticeable.

Finally, Normandy/Omaha beach isn't really close enough to Paris to be a day trip. It's 3 1/2 hours (probably more like 4+ from Gare du Nord) driving. What time do you plan to leave? What time do you plan to return? What time is your Eurostar?

Frankly, what you are trying to do in the time you have to do it sounds like a nightmare.

Have you been to Europe before? Have you driven in Europe before? Do you drive in big cities? What time does your plane arrive at CDG? Your plans raise a lot of red flags.
First, according to what time your plane arrives, you may not have a lot of time for sightseeing. Getting from CDG to the city is time consuming. If you've flown in from the states you'll be suffering from jet lag. I sure wouldn't book anything for the first day, especially anything with timed tickets.
I have actually returned a car to Gare du Nord. We rented it at CDG and drove to the Loire Valley. We returned it to Gare du Nord before taking the Eurostar to London. Driving in Paris is not for the faint of heart. To get to Gare du Nord, you'll be in some pretty heavy traffic. Also, finding the entrance to the parking deck takes some concentration. It's barely noticeable.
Finally, Normandy/Omaha beach isn't really close enough to Paris to be a day trip. It's 3 1/2 hours (probably more like 4+ from Gare du Nord) driving. What time do you plan to leave? What time do you plan to return? What time is your Eurostar?
Frankly, what you are trying to do in the time you have to do it sounds like a nightmare.

Been to and driven in Europe...nothing is worse than Boston traffic where I grew up. Jet leg is not an issue unless you let it be. Get car when it opens (8am) and depart to Omaha Beach area...get back when I do that night...could be 11pm. Train is at 10:43am. Not planning on going into much afternoon day 1 but will book Eiffel Tower around 4:30pm and visit others. If you plan properly none of it is a nightmare. Did the same going to Rome/Florence/Pompeii and Gothenburg/Stockholm with no issues. Will just visit some things and not "enter". Understand the time/delays and schedule appropriately.

OK, I just wanted to point out some "gotchas" if you were a first timer. It sounds like you understand the situation. Have a great trip!