Day trip from London to Paris

I've visited both London and Paris many times, but never as a day trip. But if it's something that has peaked your interest, go for it! Rick's day trip chapter has some rock solid tips. Just keep your itinerary down to a minimum and don't rush around too much.

I agree with Michael that the key is not to try to do too much. It's just a day trip so you know going into it that you're not going to see much. Focus on the couple of sites you really want to visit and soak up the atmosphere of the city.

When I went to Paris, instead of going up the Eiffel we hung out at Trocadero for a while. It's a cool area that's great for people watching (lots of street performers, etc.) and has a great view of the Eiffel. To each his own, but it seems strange to me to go up the Tower when from there you can't see the most recognizable element of the Parisian skyline, the Tower itself.

IMO, while a day trip from London to Paris is do-able, it's well worth it to spend one night in Paris, even if you have to pay for an empty hotel room in London to do it. The City of Lights is beautiful after dark. Take some time to walk the streets at night as well as during the day. Warning: My wife and I did this in the middle of a ten-day trip to London and it made us determined to go back for more! The same may happen to you.

I would do the 2 day, one night in Paris version. Gives you more time in Paris and if you leave early one day on Eurostar, say around 7:00 AM, you will arrive about the time Paris is opening, and return late in the evening of the second day, you have 2 days in Paris. This gives you time to see more for your bucks. Find a cheap hotel room in Paris and enjoy. Etap can be had for as little as 58E per night, insuite. Hotelformule1, in St. Ouen, and next door to Etap, can be 45E per night, bath and toilet down the hall. Others might chime in with cheaper one night places.

Remember to check the opening dates of places that you wish to go. Some museums are closed on Mondays for example and at other times they can be free to enter and/or have late evenings hours of operations.

I totally agree with Tim and John. Paris is simply beautiful at night. We did the overnight trip from London with our then 16 year old daughter. We went up in the Eiffel Tower (had dinner in it that night as well over looking the city), a leisurely stroll down the Champs d'Elysees, the Arc de Triomph, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and Rodin's home and gardens. Didn't feel as though we had been very rushed in doing all of it.

Thanks everyone, the more I look at it we might just open jaw it and fly into Paris and out of London. Maybe it will save us some money! Darn pound :)

Flying open jaw is a good idea.

Assuming you plan to take the train between London and Paris, be aware that registering as a resident of the UK at www.eurostar.com will get you cheaper fares than registering as a resident of the US. If you book well in advance, you can get a single (one-way) fare of 35 GBP and a return (roundtrip) fare of 59 GBP.

Flying open jaw is really the best idea.

If not, and you do a day trip, take Tim's advice on registering and fares.

Do not attempt to fly between Paris and London on a one day round trip. It is the biggest waste of time.

Train between London and Paris, city center to city center, is about 3 hours including check in. Plane between London and Paris and getting from city center to city center will take at least 5 hours. Do you really want to waste 2+ hours traveling when you could use that time exploring Paris?

Excellent advice to spend at least one night in Paris. I agree with others not to plan too many sights, but allow for lots of walking and just soaking everything up. I would recommend walking from the Eiffel Tower along the river to Notre Dame, then explore the island where ND is and the little island behind ND. This is the best of Paris, imo, and experiencing it by walking is the absolute best.

My husband and I have done a day trip to Paris. Like you we have little to no desire to make a trip entirely devoted to Paris. We enjoyed the day trip very much. We took the chunnel. It was just what we wanted at the time, as we wanted to spend most of our week in London. We are considering doing an open jaw trip London/Paris. Recently Best Fares has had some nice packages to do this. There are so many options for traveling. It sounds like you have made some decisions about splitting the trip between London and Paris. Good luck.

We did the day trip on our first Paris visit, taking the first Eurostar train from London and a late train returning the same day. Sleeping on the return leg is quite acceptable.... Book your RT tickets at 120 or 90 days (can't remember which it is) in advance to get the cheapest fares. We took the hop on hop off bus tour in Paris because we didn't know the metro and then walked the Champs Elysses from the Arc to the Louvre. A taxi from Gare du Nord to the Louvre or anywhere in central Paris is about 15 Euros and the taxi ride across Paris with all the monuments on the horizon is priceless. A day trip will whet your appetite to return again, trust me on this.

oprah44

My first trip to Europe didn't include Paris initially because we were not all that interested in it, but we did add it and spent 5 nights there. It was not at the top of my list of places to go on the trip during the planning stage. Fast forward...we fell in love with Paris and went back to spend 10 nights there over the holidays last year. New Years in Paris = fantastic! You really have to experience the City of Lights at night if you can. If you can swing it I would highly recommend spending at least one night there. With a limited visit the hop on/hop off bus might get you to the major sites in the time you have. You don't say what time of year you are going, but in the Spring - Fall they have a hop on/hop off boat called the Batobus.

All the above info is great because I have been planning on a day trip to Paris, as well. Now, I might just do an overnight trip. Thanks so much!!! Theresa

Dont plan on a trip up the eifel tower lines are killers unless that is all you want to see --- pretty interesting from the bottom -- the arche de triump might be agood view sub.

The Eiffel has finally started their long promised reservation system...no need to wait in the long lines. It's in test mode right now but may be in full operation when you arrive in Paris:

http://www.digitick.com/index-sete-sete-pg1-lgen.html

Thanks everyone! I think we are devote 2 nights to Paris and then chunnel over to England. Now I just need to wait until September :( Yes, I am such an over eager planner.

Tracey, you are not the only overeager planner around. I too am starting to book things for my trip next September!