First time in Paris and London for 10 days recommendations

• 1
• 2

• 

  yanimarj on 22/11/2014 - 19:27

  We just moved back from living in England for the last 15 months and from my experience, try to book Premier Inn for an inexpensve hotel - they have specials all the time and we could get hotels for GBP29 per night, very clean,super comfortable. Actually in London it will be a little more expensive but you can get rooms for less than GBP100 easily. You must do Tower of London and check the website because in March/April they do night tours which book out quickly but sound amazing (I missed it last year). Westminster is great but busy during holidays or weekends,but the queues move quickly - the guided audio tour takes about an hour.
  Both London and Paris have fantastic underground rail systems so you can't go wrong there.
  Have a look around the O2 - it was so unexpected, loads of restaurants. I personally love Greenwich, beautiful area with great food.
  If you can, jump onto the UK Groupon site or other group deal stes and look into getting vouchers or deals for restaurants - you can then try some of the great foodie places at a fraction of the cost.

  Have fun!

• 

  yanimarj on 22/11/2014 - 19:30

  And I personally would check out Selfridges over Harrods - the service at Harrods was disgraceful. Unless you are dripping in diamonds, you arent allowed into some areas. Their food court was good but otherwise not worth the time…

  • 

    Cluster on 23/11/2014 - 12:22

    The savvy orbargainer would deck themselves out in cubic zirconias. Harrod's staff couldn't tell the difference.

• 

  akastyl13 on 23/11/2014 - 18:51

  Hi @wozup12,

  Being French (but from South of France) I can recommend few things as I visited Paris myself a couple of time.

  French are rude compared to Australia and Paris is one of these cities were people do not smile often in the public transport, so don't be shocked if you smile at someone and get nothing in return.

  Few advices:
  - whenever you go, never keep your passport/wallets/photos in the small pocket of your backpack (if you carry it in your back), just put everything in the main / large pouch as it is difficult to reach if any pick pockets are trying to get anything from you.
  - do not buy "souvenirs" down the eiffel tower, cheap quality and expensive price. better to buy from a small shop you might spot while walking around the city :)
  - if you can and it's not too cold, pick up a "velib'" which is the bicycle you can pick up from the street with your credit card and do a bit of bicycles around the river, it is really enjoyable. Once you are done, just put back in a "bicycle terminal" ( here it is http://en.velib.paris.fr/How-it-works )
  - try to not use your ipad, iphone, amazing camera IN the train, depending of which train you are taking and what time of the day it is. Do not be scared, even myself I am paying attention to this when I am back in France.

  If I can help you in anything, please pm me.

  Again, some advices might sounds Paris is incredibly unsafe, but that is wrong. Any city is safe/not safe, it is all about luck, I never had any trouble in my life, some friends have been once in Paris, once in Sydney, once in Sweden and had 3 horrible experiences with pickpockets.

  Enjoy your trip !

• 

  eve on 23/11/2014 - 19:51

  Love Paris! I found French people quite friendly and welcoming! (Holiday only, Paris, Avignon, nimes, nice).

  I felt fairly safe during summer (when the sun is out until 1030pm) in the main parts of Paris where it's busy with people. (Tuileries, Marais etc). Common sense safe travelling rules apply.

  Metro was great and easy to use. Much more interesting if you go by foot where possible though =)

  Lebara was a useful and cheap sim that I'd recommend.

  Don't need to go fine dining - just go to the artisan boulangerie, get a long baguette for $1, head to the deli or supermarket or market street to get cheese, meats, terrines etc..

  With Paris… If you can, try to minimise the queues!.. Louvre is a class of its own and you just have to go, but if you can skip going up the eiffel tower, there's so much more in Paris and I honestly found it just has such a beautiful feel…

  Take a cruise along the seine, get lost in St Germain and Marais, walk through the market streets like rue montorgueil, richard lenoir markets, take the bus ride to giverny.. =)

• 

  mightyhawks23 on 24/11/2014 - 11:05

  Bit late to the discussion but OP might find something useful

  Went May last year (still a bit cold at times) with the wife and spent about 10 days all up in London/Paris as well except our return tickets was to/from London so we did 3 days London, 5 days Paris then other bits of Europe before back to London for a few days

  Stayed at Tune Hotel near Kings Cross for the first few days - location not bad but was mainly cos I was planning to take the Eurostar to Paris after checking out of the hotel in the morning and didn't want to lug the luggage on the tube during peak hour. Was within walking distance so worked out nicely. Way back, stayed at Thistle Hyde Park - opposite Hyde Park and < 5 min to the tube

  What to do - we walked a lot so might depend on your mum
  Trafalgar Square then to Buckingham Palace for changing of the guards - bit of a snooze fest actually but guess it's the touristy thing to do. Walk through St James Park towards Westminister Abbey
  Did the Churchill Museum - we both aren't that into history or WW2 etc but we both found it really interesting

  In Paris, we stayed at an Ibis in Grand Boulevards - walking distance to 2 separate metro lines. Like the others, I'd suggest buying the 10x metro pass. Definitely hire the bikes to ride around town - we only did it when we got tired walking after a day or two and thought why didn't we do this earlier

  Versailles - definitely book online and still get there early. If you don't book, you gotta queue up once to get a ticket then join queue number 2 to get in. By far the longest queue I've seen

  Louvre - there's the main entrance that everyone knows (glass pyramid) and there's the not as much known entrances. Can't remember right now but you can find this online. We went to one of the other entrances but wasn't opened at that time so went via a 3rd entrance underground - goes through like a shopping mall. Especially good if the weather isn't nice, you don't need to wait and queue in the elements. They also have a free day one Sunday a month so you can Ozbargain your way in

  You can get your own walking tour via http://www.greeters.paris/?lang=en
  Normally a local giving you a tour of his/her neighborhood - no charge but we gave our guy 20 Euro tip

  I was reading probably the same dangerous stuff in Paris as you but just be street smart and you'll be fine. The worst I had was going to Sacre Coeur at night - big african guys at the bottom of trying to hustle you & drunken youths on the steps breaking bottles etc

• 

  Bendo on 24/11/2014 - 12:44

  If you have time go and see one of the incorruptibles. Truely a wonder of the world.
  These are bodies of saints that have not corrupted at all. There is no natural explanation.
  There is one in the heart of Paris. Address is 140 Rue de Bac in the 7th arrondissement of Paris (the same district of Paris where the Eiffel Tower is I believe).
  She is St. Catherine Laboure. In a glass coffin that you can go right up to.
  Her eyes are open and are a beautiful blue. She died in 1872 so incorrupt for 142 years. Pick up a miraculous medal while you are there. Google incorruptible saints for more info.

• 

  AlanHB on 24/11/2014 - 14:01

  +1

  I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the catacombs in Paris.

  http://www.catacombes.paris.fr/en/homepage-catacombs-officia…

  Now that's a must see. Check it out.

• 

  razorack999 on 25/11/2014 - 02:37

  the easiest sim for paris is free.fr http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/10/operation-free-mobile/ they have vending machines that means you can have your sim in 2 minutes just use a credit card. They have a 2 euro sim that gives you 2h of calls plus a small amount of data. or they have this plan for 20euro https://mobile.free.fr/subscribea/ that gives 3gb of 3g or 20gb of 4G coverage! this is prepaid but you have to cancel otherwise your credit card will be rebilled.

• 

  pattiepoo2 on 01/12/2014 - 11:25

  Hello
  Yay! Very excited for you. As a 50 year old woman who has travelled to Paris a number of times (on a budget), here are my recommendations:
  1. Apartments are by far better for accommodation than hotels or youth hostels. You can go through agencies to hire from owners and it's way cheaper and better. (eg. vrbo.com). We rented a 2-bedroom apartment for 5 people that ended up being half what it would have cost in a hotel and about three times the size! Make sure you factor in the agency fees though. Advantages: cook your own meals, more room, more comfortable beds, access to washing faciities. Disadvantages: none. But be careful of what level of the building you are on and if it has a lift or not — you don't want to be on the fifth floor with no lift after a big day. Does not really matter which area you stay in, as long as you stay in a numbered arrondisement. Metro will get you everywhere.
  2. Buy a weekly or monthly metro card. You used to be able to buy a carnet of ten tickets but two of you can easily go through this in a day.
  3. Museum passes — give you access to many of the main attractions for free. Make sure the museum we wish to visit is open on the day you plan to go. Go early.
  4. Avoid the queues — find a quiet time of day and look for an alternative entrance. eg. Louvre's main entrance is under the glass pyramid and queues are long but there's a side entrance for the disabled that also allows able-bodied visitors with practically no queue.
  5. Eiffel tower a definite must… If you go at sundown you get to see and photograph during daylight and, if you time it right, will also be there when the lights come on. Expensive to catch the lift to the top (and long queues) but you used to be able to walk one or two levels (very cheaply) and then get a ticket to the top from there. Saves time and money. My seven year olds managed it just fine so it's not too difficult. When you go there, catch the Metro to Trocadero — the views of the tower from there are fantastic!
  6. On your first day, take one of those hop-on, hop-off tourist bus tours. While I have generally dissed this type of tour in the past, it gives you a great feel for the city and layout of the land. Otherwise you just pop out of a metro station and have no idea where you really are.
  7. Go to the 18th arrondisment — to Abbesses metro station that has one of those beautiful metro entrances — visit the Moulin Rouge and walk to the bottom of the hill where the Sacre Coeur is. Ride the carousel. Catch the finiculaire up the hill (one metro ticket) and visit the Sacre Coeur. Up the top is also the Place du Tertre which is where all the artists hang out. Fun. the Boulangerie near the Abbesses station also has great pastries and Pomme de frites — french fries that are cubed — and they're great!
  8. Notre Dame — four things of note — a. tour of the bell towers — definitely worth it but queue up early (about half hour before they open). It will probably be the shortest wait than going later in the day. Gargoyles are good for pics and good view of the city. b. the inside of the cathederal itself — fantastic. c. under the Notre Dame are ruins from Roman times (not many people know you can go down there). d. there's a marker out the front which is used as the "centre" of the city for mapping purposes, so that's worth a look. Watch out for the scammers — they're really just sophisticated beggars. Don't engage them, it's not worth it…
  9. Visit the Saint Chappelle chapel nearby. There are a gazillion churches to visit but this has the most spectacular stained glass. We ended up going back to hear a string ensemble play Vivaldi's Four Seasons (pretty cheap) and they played while the sun went down and all the colours changed and it was probably the highlight of the holiday for us (and I'm not a classical music fan). Next door is the Conciergerie (old prison).
  10. The Catacombs were the highlight for the kids — thousands of skulls/bodies interestingly arranged deep underground. Quite fascinating.
  11. Consider a Paris Canal tour. Better than a normal river too because it takes you up the river through the locks.
  12. Buy fresh food from the markets. Beautiful produce.
  13. Galeries Lafayette has a beautiful domed roof and also nice to visit…
  Then there's all the regular stuff — Arc De Triomphe, Champs Elysees, etc.
  Have fun!

• 1
• 2