Planning a trip to London and Paris

[abbyquack]

Ok so I'm very excited to have purchased my ticket to London and Paris, but now I am overwhelmed with lots of stuff, like where to stay, what sights to see, etc.

I am spending 4-5 days in London, then going to meet my sisters and mom in Paris, then returning to London to take my flight home. Now I've seen that Easy jet has pretty cheap flights but they're from Luton- is this completely out of the way? Can I take the Tube to the Luton airport?

Also I saw some affordable hotels in Croydon, but again, is it connected by the tube, or would I be better to spend the extra money and stay in London?

Any tips for traveling around London or Paris would be greatly appreciated, as I feel a little overwhelmed right now! I have spent the last 2 hours trying to book hotels and such, and I have no idea what to do!

TIA

 

[JennsJewelz]

I'm so excited for you!!!

I've never traveled to London in the same way you're planning too, but I did work as a Group Leader for an international summer school company and toured groups of high school kids around Europe! I've never been to Luton, but I was able to find this info for you about the shuttle/train service: http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/luton_rail.htm

Croydon is only about 15 min away from London by train, but if you're planning to do most/all of your sightseeing in London, it may be a pain (and a bit expensive) to go back and forth all the time. Sometimes there are spare rooms you can rent in university housing that are worth a look (I'm pretty sure LSE does), but if you find that it's still going to be cheaper in Croydon and going back and forth, it's not all that bad

With only 4 or 5 days in London and Paris, the best thing to do would be to decide on your "must-sees" and go from there. Note that a lot of the tours and admission costs are pretty steep, but just going to look doesn't cost anything!

I really loved seeing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Picadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, and Buckingham Palace - I didn't do the London Tower or Madame Tussaud's, because I didn't feel like paying for them, but I hear they're fun to visit, especially if you can get a discounted multiple visit pass to several attractions. It is AMAZING to see Shakespeare performed at the Globe, if you can get tickets! There are also lots of inexpensive shows you can see in the Picadilly Circus area. Stonehenge and Oxford are a little out of the way, but are totally worth the trip. If you'd like an awesome tour of the city, go on a double decker bus tour that you can hop on and off at each destination. If you're a Harry Potter fan, King's Cross station is easy to get to, especially if you're already on the Tube to get somewhere.

Paris is my favourite!

Must-sees include the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, l'Arc de Triomphe and les Champs Elysees, Sacre Coeur, la Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter, and some awesome day trips include Versailles, Fontainebleau, Chartres, Vimy Ridge and Giverny. There's some awesome shopping to be done around Chatelet-Les Halles and St. Germain. Les bateaux mouches offer nightly cruises - aim for one around 8:30 in front of the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night!

In terms of traveling, never let a stranger handle your suitcase, be wary of people offering you items in the streets (bracelets at Sacre Coeur are notorious, as is an engagement ring ploy along les Champs Elysees). Don't carry too much cash on you, and if at all possible keep it close to your body and hidden in a traveler's pouch, just to be safe. Also, while it's tempting to pack your days with stuff to do, make sure you pace yourself - take the time to enjoy the scenery, otherwise you'll be too stressed and exhausted to enjoy any of it!

My absolute favourite, low cost thing to do in Paris? Grab a fresh baguette, some cheese and a bottle of wine and picnic in the park - under the Eiffel Tower is an awesome spot, as is the tiny park across from Notre Dame in the Latin Quarter.

Woo, sorry, I didn't realize I had so much to say!! I hope you enjoy your trip - I'm insanely jealous, I miss Europe!!

 

[anita22]

Sounds like it'll be a great trip!

The tube only covers central London, so doesn't reach as far as Luton. However, you can take the train or bus to Luton. (More info here: http://www.london-luton.co.uk/en/airport/ ). If you're in Croydon it won't be so straightforward, your best bet would probably be to go by train but it'll take you at least an hour and a half. Depending on where you end up staying, it might be easier to fly from Gatwick - the Easyjet flights are usually slightly more expensive from there, however bear in mind that public transport here can really add up (it's so expensive!) so might actually work out cheaper. To help you find your way from place to place, there's a really good journey planner - it only covers the south-east of the UK, but you can put in just about any address and it'll tell you the best way to get there.
Link: http://www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk/se/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&timeOffset=15

For sights, the ones mentioned above are all good recommendations. I'd definitely recommend the Tower of London, and also any of London's wonderful museums and art galleries (I think all of which are free): Tate Modern, the British Museum, the V&A, etc. The British Museum, despite its name, has items from all over the world, including the Rosetta Stone and many of the sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens (the "Elgin Marbles") so is well worth a look. I highly recommend the guided tours, which are free and run for most of the day.

If you're keen on shopping, hit up Harrods, and also Selfridges in Oxford St. The Westfield at Shepherds Bush tube station (literally right outside it, you can't miss it) is also a great place to shop.

If you have time, as the previous poster suggested, a day trip to Oxford is well worth it, there is a bus called The Oxford Tube which departs from several main tube stops in London and takes you to the city centre. There's a lot to see there - I highly recommend the 2-hour university walking tour which leaves from the main tourist information centre on Broad St, and the Ashmolean Museum.

Also, if you're looking for hotels in Paris, I usually find lastminute.com generally has good deals.

Hope that helps, if you have any more questions just let me know.

 

[banana1234]

croydon is the 'ghetto' lol, its not the nicest of places, and i'd hate for you to think that all of england is like that, i live there, it isnt a nice place really,
its good access on the train to london 30 mins or so, but that depends where in croydon you are staying, some may say they are in 'croydon', but may be a 20-30 minute bus ride to the station and then a 30 min train into london, if i were you i would spend the extra cash to stay in london. if you give me examples of some of the hotels i can tell you how far they are from east croydon station and how easy it would be for you to get into central london.

luton is totally out of the way, i would fly to heathrow or gatwick only for london, or you will spend a lot of time on buses/trains on the days you arrive and go home.

places to go in london... Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Tate Modern (Free), Victoria and Albert Museum (Free) The Natural History Museum (Free)... Maybe book a go on the London Eye for a view over london. Go shopping on oxford street (oxford circus tube) and regent street etc. (for harrods, selfridges, john lewis etc) The westfield mall (shepherds bush) has lots of shops and also designer shops(prada, LV, gucci etc), if that's what ur into..

Theres also The Globe Theatre, (you know, shakespeare and that), the millenium dome, also known as 'the o2' in greenwich for gigs etc

 

[User38]

lol @ ghetto.. but true... some parts of Croyden are on the edge. I got there cause I got lost and took the wrong turn at Elephant & Castle

 

[LittleMaryJane]

I don't have any places to go or tips to give as I've never been to either city but I hope you have a GREAT time!

 

[abbyquack]

Thank you all for your wonderful tips! I ended up finding chunnel tickets for quite a bit less than I originally had, so we are taking that to Paris and back. Thanks for all the shopping recs and such

 

[lolcats]

Luton isn't that out of the way to be honest. You can get a overground train from luton to kings cross st pancras and it takes about 35 minutes. It runs every 15 minutes too. I'm from East London so know London relatively well. I wouldn't suggest staying in Croydon, the train isn't the most reliable and it's proberbly worth spending the extra pennies to stay a bit closer.
Tourists love covent garden, and it is nice there but does get busy. Charles Fox is in Covent Garden which is pretty cool, its like one of the few places you can get Kryolon in the UK, its more specialist make up, but lots of fun.
Check out a pub aswell! There are lots of them all around the place, its always good to sit down and have a drink after a hard days shopping. You can always see a show aswell, there are quite a few good ones, but yea have a lovely time!

 

[Cydonian]

Aaaah this is so late, I wish I could have recommended something for you as I've been 3 times

Luton Airport is quite a bit out of the way from Central London. The airport will have a train that can take you into downtown relatively easily... about 20 minutes on East Midlands train service (that is your best bet, most reliable). I think for most sightseeing, take a route to London Charing Cross, from Luton Airport that is only one stop (I don't know if you plan on going directly in or not, just saying to get to that stop). You can walk outside of Charing Cross and pretty much be in central London. Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace are out that way as well! The Tower of London is a must see, so is London Eye... even if you just sit on the grass nearby and watch it (it's usually pretty busy). I think my favorite was honestly just walking down the river and looking at the buildings. We also took the ferry from one end of the river to the other, just to do it!

For hotels, if you haven't gotten one, I stayed in Jurys Inn near Heathrow, which is again a little out of the way but by tube not too bad to get back into central London, and it was a REALLY nice hotel. No issues, very comfortable, and virtually NO jet noise. Very well priced too. That is the only suggestion I have on hotels as I usually stayed with my (now) husband. Just make sure the hotel you book has AC if you're going in the summer!

Last thing I will mention is that you have to go to Hampton Court Palace. I don't know if anyone else mentioned it as I haven't read other responses yet... but it is a must see. It was my favorite place that I visited there, even over Windsor, honestly. You would have to take a train to get there, so if you happen to have even half a day to take a ride out there and look around... it's so worth it. To get there, best bet is to go from London Waterloo on a South West train, it's about 35 minutes and there is a stop specifically for Hampton Court. You'd have to check the times online for the specific date you want to go. Highly, highly recommended

Also, don't forget to hit up Superdrug and Primark... Primark is like a high end American thrift store, only with actually cute clothes

I totally understand that you're flustered... it's normal when you're traveling to a foreign place... especially one with SO much to do! My biggest tip is to give yourself more time than you expect you'll need to do things. That is the mistake I made when I travelled over there. I didn't account for jet lag (you -will- feel like crap the second day you're there) or train times, or buses being late... it sucks up more time than you think. Also remember to plan as much as you can, get a bare bones schedule and don't overschedule yourself. By saying do a bare bones schedule, don't hold yourself to doing 10 things in one day if you can only get in 6. It probably will happen, you just have to be prepared for it!

Have fun!!!