Trip Planning Advice 2 week open jaw Paris London

Not going to address Paris ( been there 3 times) but will share intel on London. Its my favorite city on the planet.

Predicting weather is a lost cause but a waterproof rain coat is a must.

London and Paris are very popular tourist destinations. Not only for yanks but for other Europeans, travelers from Asia, South America, Canada, etc. Won’t be as crowded in March as say June or July but won’t be dead either.

Yes I would use public transport ( Tube and trains, maybe a bus or 2 ) to see places outside London proper. Easy 1 hour train ride from London to Cambridge. Windsor Castle is about equal distance.

Rye is a pleasant 1.5 hour train journey so is the coastal town of Whitsable.

If weather is good the massive Richmond Park is wonderful to walk about. Hopefully you’ll get to see the fallow red deer.

Walking the Thames River path is enjoyable.

There is so much to see and do in London:
Theatre, free museums, street markets, galleries, music venues are just some of the things of interest.

Been visiting for decades. Never fail to find something new to explore and enjoy. This past July it was the Shoreditch neighborhood murals. In November it was Bletchley Park.

Pack light, dress in layers, wear well worn comfortable shoes, take gloves and review such websites as TimeOut London, Visit London, EaterLondon, and https://officiallondontheatre.com/ websites a couple of months before you go.

Pubs are often great spots for lunch, resting tired feet, observing a dart game, a game of pool, etc.

Pub lunches with bowls of soup and stews often hit the spot to ward off the chill. Look for sidewalk signboards advertising their lunch offerings.

The Dove in Hammersmith is a favorite of mine after I enjoy a walk along the Thames path. Same with The White Cross near Richmond.

Be forewarned though not all pubs serve meals. The Jolly Gardners ( 36 Lower Richmond Road ) doesn’t but great proprietor and nice pint of Guinness.

Coffee shops are rampant now. The evil empire of Starbucks everywhere. Thankfully better options: Costa, Cafe Neros, Harris and Hoole….and a great new find for me in July, OAT coffee in Bricklane.

I follow aladyinlondon.com on instagram and she has some amazing posts.

Take a look and enjoy!

Cambridge is very easily done as a day trip from London - it’s only an hour by train, and would save faffing around with an extra change of location. There are many other excellent day trips from London (Bath, Canterbury, Winchester, Windsor, Greenwich, Rye etc etc) so I would do maybe five days in Paris, the rest in London with some English day trips.

You can reach Bruges from Paris in 2.5-3 hours taking the high-speed Thalys train and connecting in Brussels
for Bruges. To reach London from Bruges in 3.5 to 4 hours you return to Brussels and take the Eurostar to London. Buying the tickets in advance cuts their cost considerably.
As for the predictability of the weather— I was in London for five days in February three years back. It never rained at all and was in the 60’s during the daytime! To be prepared, a breathable waterproof windbreaker with a hood and a merino wool sweater hugely cuts the bulk in the suitcase.
Have a great Trip!

I second Kenko's advice. Both the train to Belgium and then catching the Eurostar from Brussels to London.

And Yes, absolutely to WaterPROOF jacket with hood. I did Paris/Ghent/Bruge in March/early April 2019 and it was pretty rainy and chilly. I'm pretty cold tolerant so I was comfortable but in Paris the locals on the Metro were still bundled up in winter coats and scarves. Your profile does not reveal your location so hard to guess if you are cold-hardy or if you are from a more southern location. I'd plan to take a puffy vest or puffy jacket to layer under your waterproof jacket. I'd have glove liners as well. My usual liners are Smartwool which are warm enough for me for most activities even in winter in N. Idaho but they are expensive and if you won't get use out of them you might want to get something less expensive.

I'm pretty sure on one of the Trip Reports from this spring the poster mentioned snow on April 1, lol. That happened in Paris as well!

As far as concentrating on Paris and London...I'd do what sounds fun to you. If Bruges is interesting to you, do it. The train from Bruges to Midi Station in Brussels where the Eurostar starts is not that difficult to do. You'll need to allow time to do the process before the Eurostar journey as you will pass thru Schengen Exit Immigration as well as UK entering immigration before you are allowed into the Eurostar waiting area.

What a fun time!

Wow, thank you so much everyone for your detailed and thoughtful replies.

I’m still deciding between the extra stop in Bruges or concentrating more on London, but these responses so far give me a lot of information to better make the decision.

I much preferred Bruges to Brussels, but it was so cold in early March that the water in the canals had frozen over and didn’t melt during the day. I was cold even though I had dressed for the weather - thick fleece, padded down jacket, thermal underwear, scarf, hat and gloves and a pair of good walking boots. I would save Bruges for a non winter trip.

If you have been before, I would allow 4 - 5 days for Paris and the rest for London with day trips or if you want a third base, then York would be a good option, easily reachable by direct train from London. There will be little colour in the gardens, so it’s not the time of year to be visiting the Cotswolds.

Day trip suggestions from London - the excellent and never mentioned on this forum - The Royal Chatham Dockyard and the next stop on the train is Rochester for the cathedral; Greenwich market and The Royal Observatory; Brighton for the quirky arcades that comprise The Lanes for great independent shops, antique dealers and cafes plus of course the Royal Pavilion; Kew Gardens (visiting the glass houses is ideal in the winter); Stamford in Lincolnshire where Middlemarch was filmed; Bletchley Park for WW2 history; Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire for aviation history; Oxford or Cambridge and Chartwell in Kent, the former home of Winston Churchill.

Bruges is rather small and doesn’t require much time, ( perhaps two days max) and I wouldn’t go too far out of the way to see it, especially in mid March.