London, Paris, Brussels? Where to land next fall

If you're not big city lovers, then Brussels with side day trip to Bruges, followed by Luxembourg, sounds like a good plan!

I would discount London, since it would be a shame to pass through Paris without visiting.

Have you already been to London and Paris?

Neither. This year we landed in Munich, then visited family in Salzburg and flew to Amsterdam.

But, got to spend 8+ hours at LHR!

Sounds like you’re already familiar with LHR so London’s got to be it! You can’t go wrong with London/Paris.

I could make a case for visiting any of these cities before your bike trip, so if you have the time/funds (or can extend on either or both ends), why not all 3? ... for London and Paris, you would obviously just be getting the appetizer, which would then help you determine if you wanted to go back for the main course and dessert ... Brussels you could probably do in a few days and add side trips to Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp, or if you're a history buff, go south to Waterloo ... whatever you decide, try not to leave from London (transiting though is okay), their departure taxes are crazy high.

If you've never been to London and Paris, I don't know why you're considering Brussels. If I'd never been to Brussels, I wouldn't have missed anything important.

Thanks for the replies. London/Paris seem to be top on the list.

I agree with Cala. Both London and Paris are far more interesting than Brussels.

But if you say you're not really into cities, I guess I would fly into Paris and then catch a train from there to somewhere else.

Although my recent entries have been automated and fast, I despise LHR. Paris is inexhaustible, as is London. Since it is no longer true that Parisians are "hard" on Americans, I vote for Paris.

Note that you haven't said anything about ease or cost of booking, or direct- flight availability.

See if your airline can book a two- segment return from Cologne, which is worth 2-3 days itself.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/can-i-see-enough-of-cologne

My solo tour in 2018 took me from London, to Paris, to Brussels, then Amsterdam. Flew back from Amsterdam to London, then flew home to the US the next day. Worked out beautifully. Round trip on Virgin Atlantic. 2 weeks total.

I am booking with miles through Alaska airlines which will probably be via British airways. I should be able to get most places via lhr. Which i agree is awful. Luckily we had sceduled around 5 hour layovers there which wasn’t excessive.

So, my thoughts (this moment, it may change) book either just to lhr or to paris and just connect through lhr. If we can’t book with a connecting flight to Paris, then London for a bit and then Eurostar to Paris.

So, Paris for a few days, then work our way to Metz via maybe Nancy. And then a few days in Cologne at the end and fly home from Frankfurt.

We can fly out of either Seattle or Vancouver, so we have lots of variables.

Thanks again. I knind needed ammo to sway my hubby away from Brussels.

Keep in mind that a direct connection Paris to Metz on the TGV exists. You are not going north but east to Metz. It's part of Lorraine.

Your departure is from Gare de l'Est. I've been to Metz a few times. Aside from the history museum, I would suggest seeing the cathedral. If you had more time and decide to get a rental car, I would recommend seeing the villages west of Metz, much more efficiently done with a rental car.

If you are going to take a few days in/near Metz and will be there the first weekend in September, look into possibly going to the Fiddlers Festival in Ribeauville (near Colmar, about a 2 hour drive from Metz) ... supposedly wine flows freely from the fountain in the central part of town but could never find that ... but the parade down the main street was awesome (grab your place along the route early, it got very crowded).

Your tour may include a look at Metz itself. If not, this small city is worth a full day on its own. Attractive gardens, the cathedral as mentioned, and a notable train station built by the Germans. Metz ping-ponged between France and Germay Lots creating a distinct cuisine and fine beer. On the outskirts a branch of the Pompidou contemporary arts museum in Paris occupies a bold/weird building with frequent special shows.

You mentioned not liking large cities, but making an exception for London or Paris. London is 4x more populated than Paris - In 2022, London had 8.9 million people vs Paris with 2.2 million. (I looked it up because Paris just feels so much smaller.) I would transfer in LHR to Paris & spend 2-3 nights there before making your way towards Metz. That way you will get a 'taste' of a fascinating city while you recover from jet lag & without being too rushed. By the way, getting into London after spending time at UK immigration, then a few days later taking a taxi to catch the Eurostar, going through security & immigration, travel time to Paris, etc could easily eat up half a day.

I am leaning on doing Paris for a minimum of 4 nights there then heading to Metz.

Love everyone’s thoughts. Each trip i have really tried to not pack in too much. Amsterdam for 5 nights was maybe 1 night more than we needed.