Travel to London and Paris with Kids

Carla: I am assuming your "3 nights, 4 days" is in Paris. I think what you are doing is OK, but if you have not booked your flights, why not fly into One and out of the other? It will save a day's travel and may well be cheaper.

As to where to stay - are your boys accustomed to walking? In London we like the Limetree Hotel. It is near the Victoria Coach Station, Victoria Railway Station, the Tube and the Hop on Hop off bus, thus you can get most places with minimal walking, but it is within reach of Buckingham Palace, St. James's Park, The Mall by walking.

In Paris we like the Londres Eifel which is an easy walk from the Eifel Tower and the Hop on Hop off Bus, as well as the Boats on the river. It is not so convenient for teh Metro, but there is a bus service nearby.

Only the most general comments from me.

Length: I believe an extra day in Europe is not going to be wasted. If you can add another, you should seize the chance with both hands. London and Paris are world-class cities, and you are not going to exhaust their charms in ten days.

Organization: Fly into London, take the train to Paris, fly home from Paris. Forget crossing the channel for the purpose of going to Heathrow; what a waste of time and money.

Unfortunately, flying out of Paris is not an option for us. We are using AMEX pts to fly business class into London for a steal and thus must fly in AND out of Heathrow.

I appreciated your recs with regards to accommodations and will organize our trip to spend the extra day.

When you ask wheteher my children are used to walking -- unfortunately they are not -- but hopefully the excitement may take care of them not having developed stamina :).

Carla

We have traveled to Europe twice with our children, a girl and a boy. The first time they were 7 and 5. Last fall, we traveled extensively through Europe (10 weeks); they were 11 and 9. With a well-planned trip, you just make it work. Our kids were usually excited enough that they could put up with a lot more walking than they thought they could. A few thoughts:
1. Planning/reading. Do as much of it as you can, with the kids, before you go. Talk about the trip as a "family adventure," which means that the kids get to pick some things to see and Mom and Dad get to pick. Our kids are big zoo fans. The zoo in London is nothing to write home about, but we went-- with the understanding that they would go to one of our "places" without complaint.
2. Try to book an apartment hotel. Our stays were long enough that we mostly booked apartments, but that usually requires a week rental. But, there are apartment hotels. We stayed in a Citadines in Paris in 2004. Eating out all the time with children is exhausting for them and for you. It's a helpful thing to be able to make at least some of your own meals. Plus, with a little "downtime" in the very late afternoon and a simple meal, we could usually get a little more sightseeing in in the evening.
3. Length of stay. You could spend months in London and Paris and still not see everything. RS advice is helpful: assume that you will return. Don't try to do everything. You'll wear yourself out and fast. But, at the same time, you should plan to push yourselves.
4. Have excellent maps. I would strongly suggest the London (and the Paris) Mapguide, published by Penguin. It has the bus routes right on the map. So helpful in getting around.
5. Wherever you go, ask for children's activities/guides (some are free). We found excellent ones at the Tower of London, the National Gallery, and the Louvre.
I'd be happy to answer other questions.
Have a wonderful trip!

I would spend 9 and use that extra day to "decompress" before returning to work. I don't think it would be exhausting for a 6 and 10 year old but then again we are walkers and we do a lot of long family hikes and walks. I loved Paris and thought the UK was OK. I would spend more time in Paris and maybe try to see Normandy too. Seeing Omaha Beach, the American Cemetary and the museum at Arromaches (sp) were very interesting to our son (then 8). Talk to the kids - see what there interests are. My son LOVES Dr. Who and wants to go to London and Cardiff soley to some Dr. Who museum.

Hi,

your timing is good, the major problem you really have to consider is kids adapting to the newtimzone. So a couple of days to adapt is a good idea.

Eurostar with children is very easy, you can read this post:
http://eurostarclient.com/2009/01/21/traveling-with-children-on-the-eurostar/

You should find a hotel (or serviced apartment, great idea) in Paris around Republique square, which is close enough to the Eurostar train station, and well connected to all the rest of the city.

Don't forget the option to rent a furnished flat in Paris even for a few days. It might cost you 100-120 euros per night so not very different from a hotel, you're really independent and often the hosts can give you great tips and advice.

Hi Carla,
We took our boys to London, Paris, the D-day beaches and Rome when they were 13, 11 and 8. We did it in three weeks. We spent 5 nights in London and 6 nights in Paris and stayed in furnished apartments. Check out chezvous.com in Paris for great apartments. In London, you must go to the Imperial War Museum which has lots of hands-on exhibits and a great area which recreates the bombings of London. I'd also recommend the Tower of London - lots of weapons. In Paris, we visited the usual spots but loved climbing to the top of the Eifel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Also go to Napoleon's Tomb. There is a war museum there too. I got two books by the same auther- Larry Lain: Paris for Families and London for Families. Amazon has them. I think 4 days in London and 4 days in Paris will be suffient. We took a whole day for Versailles and Disneyland Paris. Thus we had 4 days wandering around Paris which was pleny. My boys are now 19-24 and they still have fond memories of our trip. Have a great time. PS - we're from Toledo!
Anne Marie