Itinerary Help for 2wks - Where to go? London and..???

I'm assuming that you haven't been to London or Paris, or environs, before? If not, I'd suggest limiting yourself to those cities, with some day trips. The Eurostar train is the quickest and best way to get between them. For the most efficient use of your time and money, try to fly "open jaw" into London and home from Paris, or vice versa (the "multi city" option on airline search engines and websites). This will save you the time and cost of backtracking for an airfare little or no more than a roundtrip.

I wouldn't try to "do" too much in your time, like a third city. London and Paris have more than enough to fill your two weeks.

As for day trips, there are many possibilities depending on your interests. From London: Greenwich, Hampton Court, Oxford OR Cambridge, Bath, Brighton, Canterbury, Windsor. From Paris: Giverny, Versailles, Reims, Chartres, Fontainebleau, Vaux-le-Vicomte. For me, Normandy, Mont-St-Michel, and the Loire would be too far away for enjoyable day trips -- too much time getting there (especially MSM), not enough time being there.

Spend some time with guidebooks and decide what you most want to see. Set up your flights and Eurostar as far ahead as possible, and try to set up lodging in the big cities. Don't try to see everything, as Rick says, "assume you will return." Congratulations and best wishes to you both!

You're right, Dick, neither of us have been to London or Paris! We've both been to other parts of Europe on separate trips when we were younger (Germany & parts of Eastern Europe for him, Spain & Italy for me), so we wanted to go to places that neither of us have been as a 1st time trip together.

Thanks so much for the well wishes and great advice, your input is very helpful and thorough! I think you're very right to remind of the "assume you'll return" notion. It's a mindset I need reminding of often!

Eurostar train tickets go on sale about 120 days in advance. A limited number are offered at considerable discounts - like £34.50 instead of £80-100 or more. They usually sell out quickly.

That means that tickets are already on sale for early April. . . . .

I forgot to add: eurostar.com

kelly and party,

Im going by what i like to do/see/experience so you can take it as you see fit.

I gave 4 full days in both Paris and London. I could have spent more time in each, but i know that i cant do it all so i didnt. Those 4 full days did not include any day trips either!

I didnt do Normandy or Mont Saint Michel (MSM) as a "day trip" either. I gave the Normandy area 3 full days with a "day trip" to MSM. I took a personal tour of the Normandy area and the guide did all of the driving from 0900 ~ 1700 or so and i still didnt see all that i wanted to see/do. Also any of the museums on the route were omitted. If i were to do it over again, i would give the just the WWII sites 1,2 or 3 full days in itself. The rest of the time i was there, i spent an morning in Caen at their WWII museum and the rest in Bayeux.

Personally and how i do things, i gather up as much info as i can. Then look at the logistics of where those things are compared to where i will be and see whats realistic in terms of travel, cost and time. The way im wired is that if im on a train/plane/bus warming a seat for 6+ hours, im not doing/seeing what i want. The more time you spend traveling, the less you will see, unless thats what you want. there are those that will spend 1 or 2 full days in a place then move on. again, it will depend on whats important to you, but only you can decide for yourself what that is.

I would get some travel books if you dont already have some. whats nice is that they should have some logisictis info in them.

IE. For me and when i took the train from Paris to Bayeux, it was about 2h20m with a stop in Caen. The Eurostar from London to Paris is about the same time. It helps to know how long you will be warming a seat so that you can plan accordingly.

you can also look at Rome2Rio.com to see some info. I just use it for that and havent bought anything, but for me and how i do things, its a reference. There is also seat61.com and bahn.de for train info.

happy trails.

Kelly: You'd do best to start in London before taking the Eurostar down to Paris. Flying home from London has extra taxes.

Another option would be to take the new 6 1/2 hr. fast train from Paris to Barcelona and fly home from there. Amsterdam also has great train service from Paris, and it's a city we truly love.