First I just like to Thank everyone who have helped me out on suggestions for my up coming London trip. I pretty much think I have the most important things down. Now I am looking at purchasing tours online and I am finding pretty good deals with Gray Line Tours. The day trip to Paris was only 140.USD (with my AAA dicount) this is a no guide tour but includes round trip train on Euro Star and a 1 day pass to use Paris transportation system and a map of Paris. Now sounds to good to be true to me, a roundtrip ticket on the actually Euro Star website was like $250.USD. So what I am asking is it better to wait to book trips through my hotel when I arrive or to pre book them through the internet like I am researching now? I also found Winslow, Bath, and Stonehenge for $80.USD.
Posted by
Freedonia
16278 posts
Go back to the Eurostar site, clear your cookies, and register as a resident of the UK. You'll get fares in pounds which in normal conversion in dollars will be cheaper than getting fares in dollars. (Their conversion rate is terrible.) If you book far enough in advance you could get a roundtrip for as little as 59 GBP RT (about $95). You can buy a one day Paris Visite card for 9 Euros--about $12.50. (Remember, to get the best rates on Eurostar you need to book as far in advance as possible.)
You can do the trip yourself for about $110--why pay the extra $30 to Gray Line just to do a little paperwork?
As far as Bath goes, if you are just going to Bath, I prefer the train--faster, more comfortable, you can walk around, get a cup of coffee/tea....and then take a free two hour walking tour
However, if you're trying to do WINDSOR, Bath and Stonehenge together in one day, you will have to take a tour.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Take Frank II's advice. $140 is too much. And you should buy a one-day Mobilis pass (not a Paris Visite) for the bus and Metro, it will cost less than 6 euro. By the way, a metro & bus map can be had free from the metro ticket booth in the Gare du Nord, which is where the Eurostar arrives. Just follow the signs. You can treat yourself to a very nice lunch with the money you save by not using Grayline.
tomsguidetoparis.com is an excellent site for you as a first time visitor to Paris. Try it.
Posted by
St. Cloud, MN, USA
59 posts
I wouldn't purchase any Gray Line tours in advance. These companies always have openings every day for every trip. Just check with them when you arrive to figure out what you want to do.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Absolutely do NOT try to see Paris on a day trip. It would be like getting a glimpse of heaven through a pay telescope and going straight to hell when your thirty seconds is up. You'll hate yourself and waste a wad of money. At best, you'd have maybe eight hours of looking around time (not counting the time you'd waste scrathing your head wondering what to do next. I've been there hundreds of times and pretty well know my way around. If I take somebody new there, I can cover the highlights in about thirty hours of super intense sightseeing (thirty- one minutes in the Louvre, up the Eiffel Tower after supper, etc). To begin to understand Paris, you need a second week after spending the first one seeing the essentials (with minimum museum time).
Posted by
London
291 posts
You do not need the assistance part of a package to Paris, its cheaper and more flexible to book independently as described above.
In an ideal world you should try and get one of the advance purchase Eurostar tickets direct from Eurostar aiming for a ticket much less than the equivalent of $100.
However Eurostar are not fools, the chaep tickets sre limited and supply refelcts demand. At times like a rugby match or Tour De France or at very short notice the cheapest tickets might be $300+.
In this case tour companies are a good source of Eurostar tickets which they get at a contract price.
In London, Golden Tours are the Gray Line franchise.
People like lastminute.com and premium tours are good sources of Eurostar tickets when the cheap tickets direct with Eurostar are scarce. The UK newspapers are also good sources of Eurostar ticket promotions offered to their readers from time time to time.