Itinerary feedback? Dublin - London - Paris in 16 days?

Your time allotment sounds good to me! Since you have friends in London, and there's no language barrier in Ireland and England, they will be an easy introduction to Europe for your husband and daughter. I'm sure they will love these places. And you will have a short stay in of Paris to wet your appetite for more visits!

You're actually going to be twiddling your thumbs if you spend four nights right in Dublin. You can make an all-day excursion using the city buses to Howth and Malahide. The main bus office on the west side of O'Connell Street Upper - - it's north of The Spire and just past either a McDonald's or a Burger King.

I'd cost out a cheap flight from Dublin to London, that's a long time looking at the Irish Sea and sitting on a train. If you stick with a train, get seats on the left so you can see the Menai Strait as you zip across north Wales.

All day on a bus driving around London is a bummer. There's shorter bus tours. A substitute is the DUK amphibious vehicle tour that runs pretty much the same road routes but jumps in the Thames for a while as well. They leave from Chcheley Street which is within spitting distance to the south of the Eye. There's a chain pub right across the road that kids seem to like - - Snail and Lettuce or something close.

For a day excursion with a royal touch, How about Hampton Court?

You've only got a choice of two stone circles anywhere around. Avebury is just up the road from Stonehenge. It's free and I like it better.

Ten year old girls are too far back for me. We had the grandrunts in London for a couple of weeks last year, but they're much younger and nothing transfers.

The Paris catacombs are a long hike. The first five minutes of stacks of bones are interesting, but more than a half-hour of looking at the same stuff gets old fast. How about the Sewer Museum - - it's at the left bank side of the Pont de l'Alma bridge - - kind of dark and unsmelly?

Hi "drea" I haven't been to Dublin, but I can relate to being 10 (even after all these years) and I've been to London and Paris. I'd shave a day off Dublin and add it to Paris. If you can add days (highly recommended), at least one should be to Paris (6 nights gives you 5 full days - no, it isn't too long). Also consider taking a later train to Paris, giving you the better part of Sunday for sightseeing in London, then get settled in your hotel, out for a late supper and ready to go the next day. Bear in mind that sunset is very late and if you want to see either city after dark, you'll be up until midnight.

London first. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is one of the oldest pubs in London, goes back hundreds of years. It's at 145 Fleet Street, in a little alleyway off the main street. Do go there for lunch when you're nearby. Wander down the stairs, several levels, before choosing where you want to sit. Tons of atmosphere. The City of London Museum is very interesting for all ages. It sounds like daughter would enjoy a 1/2 day at Windsor Castle, one of the highlights is Queen Mary's dollhouse. Hampton Court is a look at England in the days of King Henry VIII and lovely gardens too. I was completely underwhelmed by Stonehenge, and that was on a 7-day tour. I think it would be a waste of a day to shlep out there from London. The London Eye is very expensive. Go to the new Shard, the tallest building in London, if you want a pilot's eye view of the city. For a bird's eye view, climb the dome of St. Paul's. Take a couple of London Walks. Their website is extensive, with descriptions of each tour (there are several day tours out of the city), each guide, and reviews from tourists. I took several and the guides were terrific with kids. They must have a Harry Potter tour and a ghost tour - and many others. The Victoria & Albert Museum has a costume room. It's the first thing you come to if you take tube. Men and women's clothing (undergarments too) 17th-20th centuries. They often have a special exhibit on as well. Plan at least one nice afternoon tea. There was a recent thread with lots of recommendations. Go to theatremonkey.com which is the site for all things theater. Find out what's playing while you're there, where you can get bargain prices, which seats are good, which are bad, and lots more. Borough Market (London Bridge tube station) has the best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever eaten (also raclettes) at Kappacasein. . Late morning to mid-afternoon on Thursday - Saturday are the best times. Many of the vendors, including Kappacasein are only open then. Tons of different foods and drinks, fresh and prepared, with everyone pushing samples at you. Warning - if you eat the grilled cheese first, you won't have room for anything else. The National Portrait Gallery (free) has paintings of most of the royalty and other notables in English history. The British Museum's Egyptian wing fascinates most people and there's much more besides (also free).

Paris follows.

Paris has wonderful museums too. The Carnavalet in the Marais quarter is both free and very interesting. It's a museum of the history of Paris. Paris Walks has a chocolate tour several times a month, usually on Thursday or Friday mornings, and once a month a special Taste of Paris tour. Iris does the chocolate tours and she is lovely and the chocolates (dark) are yummy. There are other walks offered as well, that do not need to be booked in advance. Angelina's is the place to go for excellent hot chocolate "The hot chocolate is pure decadence; try the speciality 'African', a velvety potion so thick that you need a spoon to consume it. The pastries are amazing and they are big, so start by sharing. You can also buy some to take for later. A day trip to Versailles with the best palace in Europe, wonderful gardens, and don't miss the Petit Maison, either. The fountains there operate on weekends and Tuesdays (usually less crowded). Many of the churches are beautiful inside, with lots of gilt - the French did gilt to excess. It's worth popping in on just about any one you pass.

Chani jogged my brain.

Street entertainers:

.Out the back door of Covent Garden
.The open area in front of the Pompidou Center
.If you're down by the V&A / Natural History Museum (good dinosaurs), Harrods is just to the east a few blocks. If you were to come out their front door and hang a right, there's an open area with a tube sign (Knightsbridge ?). In the space between Brompton Road and the steps, there's sometimes a piper playing.

Thank you all so much for the replies! Really good feedback! The ferry we would take is the Ulysses which I gather is almost more like a cruise ship (though I'm going to see if I can get a first hand account from someone) and a longish train ride across England appeals to all of us -- seems like a quintessentially European way to travel, shades of the Hogwarts Express, we just kind if like trains. None of us is crazy about air travel, seeing it as a necessary evil. I guess I am thinking of it as a built in "down day" after a quick visit to dublin (and probably a few too many pints) and before launching into the hustle and bustle of London sightseeing. All that said, I will price the difference between flying Ryan air and the sail/rail tickets -- it may in fact be worth the switch to gain a few hours of time in London. We need to try to be in dublin at least Friday and Saturday night, because we are meeting friends there who arrive Friday am. (It was coincidence that we were both planning to be in dublin at around the same time -- one of them is there to celebrate her 50th birthday with a holiday around Ireland, can't pass up having a drink with her in dublin!). So losing a day there would mean adjusting our arrival date -- which is doable. I need to work on convincing DP that there is more to Paris than the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and fashion.... perhaps then I can finagle an extra couple of nights there! Can't thank you enough for all the tips for Paris and London! Many things I would not have thought of (chocolate tour??? Sewer museum???).

( on my phone so please forgive typos and weird formatting!)

Re: the bus tour while in London -- I was thinking of something along these lines:
http://www.theenglishbus.com/trip/bath-stonehenge -- not in/around London but outside of the city. I've read elsewhere that Stonehenge is a bit of a disappointment, but it just feels like a "must see"... Hmmm, will consider and research more. In the city I expect to use the tube, taxis & walking. I think the kid will want a ride on a double decker bus too!

@ Ed Slug and Lettuce! Is that still there. A chain pub in London. My son worked there 15 years ago.

St. Chapelle in Paris. It's like being inside a painting. And the Turner watercolors at the Tate in London.

That's it. They must be more than just London. The only one I ever went in was maybe in Chester which is why I recognized the name/logo.

Drea - Our family did 4 days in Dublin in 2012. I would cut a day of off Dublin, and add it to Paris.
.In London I would take your daughter to Harrods. What kid regardless of age, doesn't like browsing through a glitzy department store.
.If your dates are finalized, I would suggest booking your Eurostar tickets asap. Current fares for 2 adults and 1 child traveling Sunday in July is $345.00. I would also recommend taking a budget airline to London from Dublin.

I agree with the posters on this thread. 2 full days in Dublin would be enough to see the highlights. You could use the 3rd day to do a daytrip. A couple other options would be Monasterboice, Hill of Tara, or Newgrange.

For London, there are plenty of great day trips like Greenwich. With 7 days you could do at least 2 or 3 good day trips. Or, you could split your time with Bath. You could spend 2-3 nights in Bath instead and go out to Stonhenge much quicker, and visit some of the towns around there. I know that Mad Max tours out of bath is well worth it. Lacock is a town they visit which was featured in many BBC movies as well as Harry Potter.

Otherwise I think the rest of the information is good. Thank you all.

Thanks for all the further feedback! Really appreciate it! A day trip from Dublin is a definite -- thinking Malahide? So many options for day trips from London!

When comparing flights from Dublin to London, take into account

1. airport. I don't know about Dublin, but there are several in London, from some it's fairly easy to get to the city, from others it can be a shlep with luggage and/or costly.

2. extra charges. The budget airlines charge extra for everything except the toilet - they thought about it, though. The luggage requirements are often strictly enforced, the hand luggage limits are severe, and they charge extra for checked bags. Hand luggage can be limited by size, weight and/or number. One piece means anything you can't put in your pocket needs to go in the bag - computer, camera, purse, everything. Weight for carry-on can be as low as 8 kg. and the weight limit on checked bags may be lower than on transatlantic flights. They often charge extra for choosing seats in advance - which would matter with an 8-year old.

3. prices the longer you wait to book, the more expensive the tickets get.

4. travel time Be sure to add the extra time to get to the airport, security, check-in, etc. and at the other end, baggage collection, passport control, time to get to the city.

Tell your partner that Paris is romantic. English architecture is similar to North American (with notable exceptions). Paris feels more like Europe. The food and wine are excellent, so are the museums.