**Our London/Paris Honeymoon**PLEASE HELP!!

[cluelyss18]

Hi all!! These boards have been a God-send for all that is cruise planning over the years...so as this is my first 'non-cruise' trip in a few, I'm hoping I can still get some assistance!!!

 

Here goes..

Wedding day is May 25, 2013.

Hoping to book flights from BOS-London-Heathrow that will arrive at 7:30am Monday Morning. We will be staying in London from Monday until Friday May 31.

I would love to be centrally located, within walking or bus distance to most major attractions..I'm dying to see Big Ben and the EYE.

----Any hotel suggestions that wont break the bank? At the moment, I'm looking at DoubleTree by Hilton-Westminster

----Any restaurants that are not to be missed?

----How difficult/easy is the public transit? I'm excited to ride in the 'tube':D

----Any tips or pointers for this location?

 

Friday May 31, we will be taking the Eurostar to Paris!(woopeee)

Here, I would like to be able to see the Eiffel Tower when I walk out from my hotel. Though this could quite possibly be out of my price range...so far, I'm thinking about the Hotel de L'alma..any reviews?

----Same questions here, anything we should know? anything we should not miss? I love eating so I'm looking forward to strolling the streets and picking from each and every cafe or street vendor(do they have these?)

----How is public transit here?

 

 

At the end of our trip, on June 5 we will be taking the Eurostar back to London(as round trip flights are way less than one way)....

 

SO! I guess that is all for now. I have a million questions, but I think this is a good start. I look forward to reading your tips, hints, pointers, expertise!

 

Thanks so much in advance:)

[rebeccalouiseagain]

First of all- congratulations! I like your plan and I think the Doubletree is a good choice. The tube is very easy to use. I do recommend using the HOHO bus in London because it covers a lot and I throughly enjoyed sitting upstairs on the Double Decker bus. The eye is ok. I have vertigo so had to sit in the center on the bench. I couldn't go near the glass (but that's just me). The Tower of London is a must see. I loved walking around Kensington and Buckingham Palace- nice area. Can't help with restaurants- both times we were there we had breakfast in the hotel, would go to a pub for lunch and then had Indian food (plenty of them in London) or would grab a bite at our hotel. I love the sausage rolls and pasties in England.

 

In Paris- we stayed at the Hotel Garden Elysee, http://www.paris-hotel-gardenelysee.com/-which I can highly recommend. It is a short walk to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc Du Triomphe. There were lots of coffee shops and bakeries around there. My suggestion would be to make reservations at either 58 Eiffel Tower (First floor Eiffel Tower) or Le Jules Verne (second floor Eiffel Tower)- this way you can skip the line for the elevator. After your meal you can ride all the way to the top of the Tower without a line also. So worth it. YOu have to book well in advance though. We did the HOHO bus there and there is the Batobus (water bus) that goes along the Siene. If time permits- go to Versailles. You can rent bikes there in summer and the grounds are gorgeous and free. (buy tickets online in advance for the Palace of Versailles). At night they have a fountain show. So Versailles is a nice day trip.

[cluelyss18]

First of all- congratulations! I like your plan and I think the Doubletree is a good choice. The tube is very easy to use. I do recommend using the HOHO bus in London because it covers a lot and I throughly enjoyed sitting upstairs on the Double Decker bus. The eye is ok. I have vertigo so had to sit in the center on the bench. I couldn't go near the glass (but that's just me). The Tower of London is a must see. I loved walking around Kensington and Buckingham Palace- nice area. Can't help with restaurants- both times we were there we had breakfast in the hotel, would go to a pub for lunch and then had Indian food (plenty of them in London) or would grab a bite at our hotel. I love the sausage rolls and pasties in England.

 

In Paris- we stayed at the Hotel Garden Elysee, http://www.paris-hotel-gardenelysee.com/-which I can highly recommend. It is a short walk to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc Du Triomphe. There were lots of coffee shops and bakeries around there. My suggestion would be to make reservations at either 58 Eiffel Tower (First floor Eiffel Tower) or Le Jules Verne (second floor Eiffel Tower)- this way you can skip the line for the elevator. After your meal you can ride all the way to the top of the Tower without a line also. So worth it. YOu have to book well in advance though. We did the HOHO bus there and there is the Batobus (water bus) that goes along the Siene. If time permits- go to Versailles. You can rent bikes there in summer and the grounds are gorgeous and free. (buy tickets online in advance for the Palace of Versailles). At night they have a fountain show. So Versailles is a nice day trip.

 

THanks!! I'm on the website for the Eiffel Tower Restaurant right now! I'm going to assume, a ho-ho bus is a red double-decker thing?

And the water bus..do we need to book tickets for this ahead of time?

[rebeccalouiseagain]

You don't have to book the HOHO bus ( yes it is a double decker type- open on top) or the Batobus ahead of time.

[John Bull]

Doubletree by Hilton, Westminster is very popular amongst US cruisers. But other than the Tate Gallery it's a half-mile walk to the nearest sights (Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, etc,) and that's also the nearest tube station & ho-ho stop.

More convenient would be Park Plaza Westminster Bridge or one of the County Hall hotels such as the Marriot, a 5 min walk from Big Ben & right by the lively South Bank of the river.

Or any hotel handy to a tube station & preferably a ho-ho stop, in west central London - broadly between Buckingham Palace in the west & the Aldwych in the east, and between Oxford Street in the north & a narrow strip along the south bank of the river.

Vaguely within the blue line on this map

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Buckingham+Palace+Road,+London&daddr=51.50172,-0.16131+to:51.5117641,-0.17446+to:51.51377,-0.12345+to:51.507416,-0.1159951+to:51.498836,-0.120381+to:Eccleston+Bridge%2FA3213&hl=en&ll=51.503293,-0.132694&spn=0.073409,0.179901&sll=51.503293,-0.132694&sspn=0.073409,0.179901&geocode=FVG_EQMdSsT9_ykFnKlUGAV2SDHvzYQoXQz74A%3BFZjaEQMd4on9_ymZM6QAOQV2SDGLvo490bGZMQ%3BFdQBEgMdhFb9_ylvKKGjTQV2SDERzOXyyYUREw%3BFaoJEgMdxh3-_ymFaAmkzAR2SDHhQ2s2xoUREw%3BFdjwEQMd5Tr-_ymBgFYctgR2SDEQmZc2xoUREw%3BFVTPEQMdwyn-_ym5vuMgwQR2SDEwD585xoUREw%3BFZm8EQMdz8P9_w&oq=Aldwych&dirflg=w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=13&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&z=13

 

The tube is extensive but easy to ride, unless you have luggage or mobility issues.

The tube map makes navigation easy, but it's diagrammatic & not to scale - two tube stations close together on the map may be a long distance apart. The tube map should only be used "under-ground" - for navigating between tube stations. Use a regular street map for above-ground locations

So find out the nearest tube station to the place you want to visit, using a street-map (or attraction websites & leaflets usually quote the nearest tube station), then use the tube map to plan your route

http://www.tubemap.com/

(no need to print it off, free copies at tube stations, etc)

Since you'll be in London for several days, get an appropriate ticket rather than buying a ticket for each journey. Sorry, London ticketing totally confuses me, hopefully a Londoner will chip in.

 

"not-to-be-missed" restaurants book-out weeks or months ahead, and will break the bank. There's a huge number & choice of restaurants throughout central London, including streets where virtually every building is a restaurant, esp in theatre-land.

 

Here's a useful London website, stacks of useful pages:

http://www.londontoolkit.com/

 

Have you already booked your flights?

Flying out to London & back from Paris doesn't need to be two expensive single tickets.

If both flights are with the same airline & you start/finish in the same city (Boston), you can book an "open jaw" or "multi-city" return ticket for a price equivalent to a return ticket. But you'll not be offered that price if you search each flight independently, you need to find the open-jaw or multi-city option on the airline's website, or phone the airline for a quote

 

JB :)

[Cotswold Eagle]

JB is spot on as usual (although I think the nearest tube station to the Doubletree will be Pimlico, that doesn't alter the points he makes :) )

 

Can't stress enough the point about an open-jaw ticket (as JB says look for multiple cities or multiple destinations on your booking site). Not only will you not save money, taking the train back to London to catch a plane will eat up most of a day.

[LondonTowner]

Plenty of good advise already given here, but if I was you I would read through Tripadvisor on the London and Paris Forums. You will get a lot of information from locals and also put any questions you have.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

One point about the tube- we used it. Even if your hotel is next to a station (Doubletree is a 15 min. walk to either Pimlico or Westminster station)- once you are inside the station there are often long walks through tunnels and then another long walk when you get off the tube. So it's easy to use but you will walk quite a bit and then you don't see any of London and are all turned around when you come up from the tube. Kind of like a ground hog sticking your head out of a hole.

 

My advice is to do the HOHO bus. Yes- you will be stuck in traffic from time to time but who cares? If you are sitting upstairs you will get to see so much of the city and I loved it and never minded being stuck in traffic- everything is so interesting.

[Anubi]

First off congrats on your upcoming wedding. You are going to have a great honeymoon.

 

If you want to see the Eiffel Tower from your hotel room I would suggest the Hotel Duquense and request Room 55. http://www.hotel-duquesne-eiffel-paris.com/en/ The Eiffel Tower is about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. One thing we absolutely loved was being able to watch the twinkle light show from our hotel room while having a wine and cheese party for two. We had an early morning the next day so watched from the room.

 

This is the actual view from the room...please excuse that we're standing there LOL ;)

 

If you have any further questions about the hotel please email me at wandatp@rogers.com

[hubofhockey]

----How is public transit here?

 

 

At the end of our trip, on June 5 we will be taking the Eurostar back to London(as round trip flights are way less than one way)....

 

 

Mass Transit it excellent in Paris. In fact, the Metro is the absolute best way to get anywhere that doesn't involve a quick walk. Traffic can be bad.

 

As far as hotel reviews go, you should read the reviews on Tripadvisor.com. Hotels in Paris aren't cheap. We stayed at Hotel Gramont Opera. It's close to the Opera, stores, and two major metro stations. Price was very good and they are English/American friendly. Getting to the Eiffel Tower was easy on the Metro as Trocadero is a direct route. But if you have your heart set on getting a room with a view of the Eiffel Tower and are prepared to pay for it, go for it.

 

I disagree with you on flights. If you are looking to save money and flying out of Boston, book with Icelandair. They have the cheapest flights (although not direct, they do have a very quick layover in Iceland. which is still much quicker than taking a train to St Pancras and then getting transportation to Heathrow) and fares are no different one way than they are for round trip. Moreover, it is cheaper flying from Paris to Boston than it is from London to Boston and that relates to taxes.

 

Congratulations and enjoy.

[Cruise NH]

Lots of great advice already but I want to throw the Premier Inn County Hall into the mix as a hotel choice. http://www.premierinn.com

 

It is right next to the London Eye and very very near Big Ben. Plus the HOHO busses pick up right on Westminster...

 

It's not a fancy hotel, but can usually be had for a great price and it has a great location. As others have suggested, research on tripadvisor as well.

 

Premier Inn is a huge hotel chain in the UK.

 

The last time we were in Paris, we stayed at the Hotel Relais Bousquet. Maybe a 10 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower and the Seinne. Great restaurants around there and the world famous Rue Cler. http://www.hotel-paris-bosquet.com/

 

Congratulations on the big event!

[cluelyss18]

WOW WOW WOW...yet again I'm amazed at the kindness and information provided by my fellow board members. Thanks a bunch!

[dogs4fun]

Yes, congratulations! Paris & London ... 2 great cities. Hope you have a wonderful honeymoon vacation.

 

I too have used Iceland Air (thanks to recommendations here on CC) for great fares.

Looking at Kayak's site for Iceland Air (you can book on Iceland Air's official site if you so desire), here is the ticket info:

$934 roundtrip "open jaw" or "multicity" on Iceland Air

5/26 - BOS - LHR

depart BOS - 9:30 pm

arrive LHR - 11:45 am (Monday)

6/5 - CDG - BOS

depart CDG - 8:00 am

arrive BOS - 12:05 pm

Next cheapest fare that I can find is $1091 with Aer Lingus.

jill

 

[hubofhockey]

Yes, congratulations! Paris & London ... 2 great cities. Hope you have a wonderful honeymoon vacation.

 

I too have used Iceland Air (thanks to recommendations here on CC) for great fares.

Looking at Kayak's site for Iceland Air (you can book on Iceland Air's official site if you so desire), here is the ticket info:

$934 roundtrip "open jaw" or "multicity" on Iceland Air

5/26 - BOS - LHR

depart BOS - 9:30 pm

arrive LHR - 11:45 am (Monday)

6/5 - CDG - BOS

depart CDG - 8:00 am

arrive BOS - 12:05 pm

Next cheapest fare that I can find is $1091 with Aer Lingus.

jill

 

 

An 8:00 am return flight out of Paris could be tough on a weekday. Paris traffic is awful. I would take the afternoon flight (prices don't change) Obviously, that's a choice for the OP.

 

I agree that Aer Lingus is always a good alternative. We have used both Icelandair and Aer Lingus for our travel from Boston to Europe. They are both decent discount airlines. I would go with Icelandair to get the $314 price difference. However, Aer Lingus does provide a meal (Icelandair has food for purchase) and has slightly better on demand video entertainment. The seats on Icelandair are a bit more comfortable and Reykajavik airport is nicer and easier to get around in than Dublin airport.

 

Sounds like a great vacation.

[cluelyss18]

Has anyone use Priceline bidding option for Hotels in either city?

[cluelyss18]

Also, if we stay near the Eiffel (center of city), how far would we be from Disneyland? I'd like to do a day there if possible.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I've never been to Disneyland Paris but you go by train from Gare de Lyon station and the journey takes about 40-45 min and costs 7 Euros each way. Trains run back and forth frequently (every 15-20 minutes).

 

http://parisbytrain.com/rer-train-paris-to-euro-disney/

[dogs4fun]

Also, if we stay near the Eiffel (center of city), how far would we be from Disneyland? I'd like to do a day there if possible.

 

I spent a day at Disney Paris in 94 ... far too long ago to comment on its merits today. However, as Rebecca says, it is very easy to reach via train. Disneyland Paris is located in the eastern suburbs (Chessy, Marne-la-Vallee) about 20 miles from the center of Paris.

 

Versailles is amazing ... was again there in 2010. As recommended, book your tickets online. http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

 

We really enjoyed our evening at Moulin Rouge last year ... saw Feerie & it was spectacular. If you are interested in that type of entertainment, check-out their website. http://www.moulinrougeparis.co.uk/tickets-and-tours/

 

I have never used NYOP for either Paris or London, but if you check-out biddingfortravel you will get excellent information for NYOP bidding in both cities.

jill

[Cotswold Eagle]

I've never been to Disneyland Paris but you go by train from Gare de Lyon station and the journey takes about 40-45 min and costs 7 Euros each way. Trains run back and forth frequently (every 15-20 minutes).

 

http://parisbytrain.com/rer-train-paris-to-euro-disney/

 

Staying near the Eiffel Tower, Gare de Lyon may not be the most convenient station to get on the RER A. Auber or Chatelet Les Halles might be easier, depending which metro line the OP ends up staying near, but of course they would only add on a few more minutes.

[skisteamboat]

To be honest, I never take the tube unless it is a long distance. Riding the bus you see a lot more than the inside of tunnels.;)

 

Public transportation in London and Paris are excellent so I would find a hotel you like and not worry about specific locations.

 

I strongly suggest you take the advice of those who suggest an open jaw ticket by flying into London and out of Paris. You avoid the terrible departure tax flying out of London as well as the return Eurostar tickets.

 

Cheers

[phabric]

Lots of great advice already but I want to throw the Premier Inn County Hall into the mix as a hotel choice. http://www.premierinn.com

 

It is right next to the London Eye and very very near Big Ben. Plus the HOHO busses pick up right on Westminster...

 

It's not a fancy hotel, but can usually be had for a great price and it has a great location. As others have suggested, research on tripadvisor as well.

 

Premier Inn is a huge hotel chain in the UK.

 

Did you stay at the Premier Inn County Hall hotel? We have stayed at the Premier Inn in Dover.

 

We are trying to decide between Premier Inn County Hall or Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, both are roughly in the same area. The Premier Inn County Hall is about 150 GBP less.

[Chester & Brewster]

Have a look at booking your Paris hotel & Eurostar ticket together as a package. We did this a few years ago & got a great deal.

Definitely worth a look...

[hubofhockey]

I spent a day at Disney Paris in 94 ... far too long ago to comment on its merits today. However, as Rebecca says, it is very easy to reach via train. Disneyland Paris is located in the eastern suburbs (Chessy, Marne-la-Vallee) about 20 miles from the center of Paris.

 

Versailles is amazing ... was again there in 2010. As recommended, book your tickets online. http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

 

We really enjoyed our evening at Moulin Rouge last year ... saw Feerie & it was spectacular. If you are interested in that type of entertainment, check-out their website. http://www.moulinrougeparis.co.uk/tickets-and-tours/

 

I have never used NYOP for either Paris or London, but if you check-out biddingfortravel you will get excellent information for NYOP bidding in both cities.

jill

 

I agree on Versailles. It's funny. When we were looking at going to Paris last year at this time, I read some posts here on CC saying that they thought it was too opulent or something to that effect. After going to Versailles and gaining a historical perspective on what Louis XIV wanted to build, you realize that was what they were shooting for and that's why you're going. The Hall of Mirrors kind of blows you away.

 

For the honeymoon couple, some more advice. Pick up either a 2-day or 4-day Paris Museum Pass. It includes admissions to Versailles and allows you to skip the lines at all of the great museums, including the Louvre and Orsay. If you have the Museum Pass, you certainly wouldn't need to purchase tickets early or online for Versailles. But I would recommend getting on that 8:07 am train. The train is pretty cheap. I think it was 6,50 euros round trip.

 

We only got to see the Moulin Rouge during a walking of Montmartre and not the show. We may go to a show there next time we go. I guess I got nervous after reading mixed reviews.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I loved the grounds at Versailles as well. There is the Petit Trianon and the Grand Trianon, as well as the little Hamlet area. The gardens are expansive and you can rent bikes there in the spring and summer. I really enjoyed my visit to Versailles and I would go there for sure if you are going to be in Paris for several days. It is not over-rated.

 

http://www.sandy-travels.com/versailles.shtml

 

Versailles is a nice little town and Gordon Ramsey has a restaurant there if you would like to have a nice meal next to Versailles at the Waldorf Astoria.

 

http://trianonpalace.com/gordon-ramsay/index.html

[Cruise NH]

Did you stay at the Premier Inn County Hall hotel? We have stayed at the Premier Inn in Dover.

 

We are trying to decide between Premier Inn County Hall or Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, both are roughly in the same area. The Premier Inn County Hall is about 150 GBP less.

 

We did stay there.

 

We've also stayed at the Premier Inn in Dover. And you know what they say...once you've stayed at one Premier Inn...you've stayed at them all...

 

The location and price make this the best choice I believe.