Pros and cons on two different travel plans to England and France

Basics: Language will not be a problem. Two weeks? You can burn a week each in Paris and London. For variety, a day trip by uncar from each would be nice. Four days just might do Paris if you hustle; it won't scratch the surface of London. A car sucks in either city. Four days in Paris and four in London leaves about four for the rest of England which isn't much. You'd need a car to cover much ground efficiently, but only four days puts you into the higher price per day category for the car. Refer to above about driving in London which includes getting in and out (using outlying locations chews up touring time). I do it all the time, but it still...., bad. The other choice is to stay on one side of the Channel or the other and mix urban and rural. Probably moving around costs plus hotels vs apartments would be more than staying put in a national capital. London costs more than Paris (for both bed and grub) as you'll find out. Back and forth Eurostar tickets for four will be expensive. If you stick with the two countries, fly in to one and out of the other; use the train to hook them together. I don't use apartments since I no longer travel with a mob, but that'd be the way to go.

My first response is that it really make any difference how you arrange it. These is not a "BEST WAY" to do it. London and Paris are expensive cities so staying in the cities all the time may add to your costs and, for some, big cities become overwhelming. Take a middle approach. Do an open jaw into Paris and home from London (or reverse). Stay in Paris for 4 days or so with a day trip somewhere, maybe spend a few days around Brussels, Bruges, or go to London for a couple days and maybe work at couple days at York. Remember, every time you change location you lose time just packing, unpacking, checking in and out of hotels, transportation, etc. You have lots of options but none or better than others. What does the rest of your family want to do?

You've hit the nail on the head!. Base yourselves in London and Paris for a week each with 1-2 day trips by train from each. You will not be shortchanging yourselves at all. Apartments are a great way to go with a family. Make use of guidebooks for day trip ideas and how to execute them. We have spent 2 weeks so far in Paris with another in Brittany and didn't encounter too much difficulty with the language barrier. We are returning next summer for 3 weeks exclusively in France (1 each Dordogne, Normandy, Paris). Have fun with the planning and get the kids involved so they can have the excitement build as well.

Thanks for the replies. We wouldn't rent a car in either city...only if we went out into the surrounding countryside. What does the rest of my family want to do? Spend about 3 months going around and seeing everything :) Sadly, not an option...The girls will be so excited to tell their friends they went to Paris and London, that they won't care, as long as we hit both of those places. My husband is probably more excited about England, but whenever I mention something else in Paris or the vicinity, he gets more and more excited by that. I think he'd be happy either way (although, he's the budget guy, so he's more likely to worry about the price difference).

For the "budget guy", I have always found it less expensive to visit France than England, and that embraces London and the countryside. Often we have gone to both London and Paris on the same trip and have noticed the cost differences for lodging and food, and of course transportation. But both cities are marvellous and with research you can find ways to make the "budget guy" happy while seeing them both.

I can't speak to Paris, but there are LOTS of excellent day trips you can easily do by train from London. I think spending a week (or more) in an apartment and doing day trips is a great way to being your girls' travel education. For London you might want to check out the London School of Economics. They rent apartments (and spare dorm rooms) to tourists. Here is a website you can check. Just be aware that their site has problems with some browsers and my say that there is nothing available, when really, there is. Just contact them directly if you are interested. http://www.lsetopfloor.co.uk/ They have multiple locations in central London- all near tube stations or bus stops. You could also check out Citadiens. http://www.citadines.com/en/uk/london We stayed at their Holborn/Covent Garden location once when we took our kids (many years ago). They rent 'aparthotel' apartments. That means you have an attended front desk and some available services (breakfast is available, but costs extra for example). You have laundry facilities available. For day trips by train, check out the article I originally wrote for AAA Carolina's "Go!" magazine, then revised for Trip Advisor.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186338-c176673/London:United-Kingdom:London.And.Day.Trips.html Feel free to contact me by private message if you have specific questions.

Eleanor, congrats on your trip. I think spending time between both great citys would be the cats meow for your first trip also, it would be a great way to get your feet wet on international travel. I think you have more issues with French than your kids would. ALso, its sooooooooo easy to go from London to Paris via the Eurostar. When i went to both citys, i spent 4 full days in each and it was about right for what i wanted to see/do. but it was for ME, not you and your family so the times may vary. I didnt have any issues with my extremely limited french outside of Paris but i only went to Bayeux/Caen area. I was always polite in asking them if they spoke english tho. unless youre going outside of the city, i would NOT drive unless you want to experience traffic. Both City subways systems are sooooo nice and in my opinion, easy to use. I woudlnt plan like its a do or die trip since you will just run yourself ragged and you will in no way be able to see everything anyway in 2 weeks. So make the most of your trip and make it a fun one. also, you never know when you will be back. happy trails.

Eleanor.. I have taken my kids to both London and Paris, by myself on two seperate trips.. I have been to London 4 times and Paris too many times to count. I think a week in each , renting an apartment is a great plan. Renting a car is just never going to be necessary .. the most popular daytrips from Paris and London are done easier, cheaper and faster by trains. Its north american thinking that makes you think you need a car.. you don't. If you are planning for June you need to start looking for apartments now.. they book up fast for june. Flying open jaw is the best plan.. book your Eurostar tickets months in advance for best prices. Suggest you look up these daytrips for kids.. my dd was 11 and my son was 13 , some of their favorite daytrips were Versailles and Provins ( look that one up!!) from Paris, from London, Bath, Hampton Court , and Brighton Beach rated high( this was kids view, I wasn't bowled over by Brighton) I also made each of my kids do some research ( look they are on computers all the time, its time for them to invest some research equitity in trip) .. and they had to list their top three must sees... they enjoy seeing the things they researched plus there is much less complaining if EVERYONE participates in planning. Many museums in London are free to all. In Paris there are some free ones, but not many, BUT children under 18 are free in almost any museum there so its not a big deal. Language is a non issue.

Thanks for all the replies! I think we've been persuaded to the week stay with daytrips idea. The idea of renting a car was when we were planning to leave London and travel around the countryside...and by sticking to daytrips that we can do by rail, that not only cuts that out (and renting a car was freaking me out a bit), but helps narrow down where we're going, so we don't feel like when need to fit the whole rest of England in 4 or 5 days!!

I agree with Pat about getting the kids involved. FORCE them to do the research and pick out things they want to do/see and plan your trip around that.

Having done trips with children that involved both involved (on different trips) a week in London and a week in Paris, I would heartily agree with others that with your limited time, experience, and desires, the best plan is a week in an apartment in each city. You don't mention how much cost is an issue, but an apartment vs hotels will save you a ton of money, provide more room, and give you a chance to save even more money on food, even if you don't make cooking dinners a priority. Just the chance to buy groceries for simple breakfasts, sandwich lunches and various snacks and keep them properly cooled in your apartment will save a lot of money and be a priceless convenience. Cooking dinners saves plenty more and is kind of an interesting shopping experience, too. But it's also work. Both cities have a multitude of day-trip-by-train options. You can figure them out on your own, but I would consider Cambridge from London a must. Both cities will have some apartment options that deviate from the standard 7-night, Saturday to Saturday requirement, but you will increase your options immensely (and get the best $ value) if you can arrange to arrive/depart each city on a Saturday. That will likely require leaving home on a Friday PM. Congratulations. You will have a great time.

You've said that you've decided to stay in each of Paris and London and take day trips, but here are some other thoughts. We (parents of kids now 18 and 15, who each started traveling to Europe with us when they were 10) like to have trips that include both time in the city and the countryside. For our son's first trip, because he was (and is) a big Anglophile (but we liked France more), we combined London, Paris and the Loire Valley. He enjoyed the castles the Loire so much that on our next trip, we visited more castles in the French Dordogne (southwest France). For our daughter, we spend time in Venice, Florence and Rome, as well as almost a week in the Italian region of Le Marche at an inn that was a working farm. Some people get overwhelmed, or just tired of, the noise and bustle of cities. If any of your crew is like that, even more reason to spend part of your trip in a place where the girls can explore the village square (or in France, place), while you sit at a cafe on the square with glasses of wine. Also, day trips do take up time. Check out the travel times for some of the places you would day-trip to, and think about whether you want to spend two hours a day on a train (or whatever the travel time would be, round trip). And be careful of introducing your children to a love of travel and Europe - our son loved it so much, that he's now attending university in Scotland!

I'm not a daytripper (there may be another meaning for that word I'm not intending) for a few reasons:

First, in both London and Paris there is plenty to see and do to keep you occupied. Time, like money, can only be spent once. If you choose to do one thing, you lose the opportunity to do another. In this case, a day trip takes away your opportunity to see sights in London or Paris.

Second, you lose time coming and going and reduce available time to actually see sights. You will see and do less and replace it with transportation to and from your day trip destination (backtracking).

Third, the most expensive lodging you will find is in the big cities. Why pay London and Paris lodging prices to visit smaller cities and towns where you could stay in nicer places at a lower cost?

I normally plan time in a city, then plan a logical swath to see nearby sights with minimal time wasted to backtracking (and eat/stay outside of the expensive city).

I know many people here happily park in one place and daytrip to see nearby sights. It is nice to limit unpacking/repacking during your trip (although I pretty much work out of my bag regardless of how long I'm stopping) and checking in and out of lodging. I often wonder why not choose something nice outside the city and daytrip in rather than pay to be in a city just to leave it daily?

Eleanor - you will not regret either option, but I will throw out two cons to the Paris/London idea. First, as another poster mentioned, you are doing 2 big cities. Even with daytrips, you will return to the big city. Though my children really loved both Paris and London, they very much enjoyed getting out into the countryside - driving, seeing things along the way, staying in small towns. The second thing is that, for us, it seemed to have a much bigger impact to do an "England Trip" and a "France Trip". We focused on the history, culture, food of only one country at a time. Again - there is no wrong way - you will love traveling with your family however you decide to do it!