London and Paris - what tickets do we need in advance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe something cultural?

OP here. I should clarify, sorry. I meant, what specifically is going to sell out and requires advance purchase/reservation, vs. just going up to the window and paying that day.

I want to buy in advance what we truly need, but don't want to lock us into a more strict than necessary schedule.

If you’re going next month most of what you want to see if likely already sold out. You waited too long.

[Anonymous]

Assume everything should be booked in advance if you actually want tickets and/or don't want to wait in a huge line. British Museum, London Eye, Tower, Westminster Abbey, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, etc. They all require bookings or have huge waits if you can even get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe something cultural?

OP here. I should clarify, sorry. I meant, what specifically is going to sell out and requires advance purchase/reservation, vs. just going up to the window and paying that day.

I want to buy in advance what we truly need, but don't want to lock us into a more strict than necessary schedule.

If you’re going next month most of what you want to see if likely already sold out. You waited too long.

-The Maestro

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to go to the Dior museum in Paris because people raved about it, but tickets were sold out.

Co-signed

Also the Churchill war rooms in London (well, maybe that’s obvious that they’re in London!) I would suggest that your kids be at least 11 to really appreciate this but visiting those underground bunkers where they ran war strategy is so inspiring and there is an excellent exhibit about Churchill too. But you really need to be able to read!

Wahaca restaurant in London is THE BEST (I liked the one in the west end) and people really like Dishoon. Good to reserve both of those in advance. And the low-key Ottolenghi restaurant whose name escapes me

Have so much fun!! You can’t go wrong in London and Paris.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe something cultural?

OP here. I should clarify, sorry. I meant, what specifically is going to sell out and requires advance purchase/reservation, vs. just going up to the window and paying that day.

I want to buy in advance what we truly need, but don't want to lock us into a more strict than necessary schedule.

If you’re going next month most of what you want to see if likely already sold out. You waited too long.

OP here. Thankfully no, but I am booking this week.

[Anonymous]

I think the only thing we didn’t really need to book in advance was getting rental bikes at Hyde park. Other than that I booked one thing per day and then walked around for rest of day. Harry Potter studios, tower, British museum, palace tour., west end tickets. Did eye the same day as tower. We booked tea when we were there but many of the fancy popular places were booked up.

[Anonymous]

If you have to ask on DCUM, please do not bother going. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I don't like this era of tourism in which everything has to be booked in advance. I'm a spontaneous person and it stresses me out to have to plan everything. I *can* do it but it lessens enjoyment for me.

[Anonymous]

The Europeans really love advance booking. I would do everything in advance you’d be sorry to miss out on. Some places reserve some day-of tickets but you have to show up in the morning at opening to get them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't like this era of tourism in which everything has to be booked in advance. I'm a spontaneous person and it stresses me out to have to plan everything. I *can* do it but it lessens enjoyment for me.

This is only a problem if you want to go to the same places everyone else wants to go. There’s so much to do in huge cities like London and Paris besides seeing the same 5 sites every tourist goes to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Paris, as the PP mentioned, you’ll want to book well in advance for the big attractions (the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Versailles, Notre Dame). Musee d’Orsay also sells out well in advance, I believe.

I’d also recommend the Musee de Cluny (medieval art museum near the Sorbonne). It’s fascinating and you can see the remains of the Gallo-Roman bathhouse upon which it was built, along with the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry. We got tickets last-minute, but it was also Easter Sunday, so maybe less crowded than usual.

A poster on here recommended Notre Dame Eternelle, the virtual reality experience across the square from the cathedral itself. Don’t miss it! It was so cool, my husband and kid did it twice!

The only attraction we missed out on getting tickets for was the catacombs. We waited until a few weeks before our April trip, and tickets were sold out.

You can only get tickets 7 days before for catacombs and 2 days for notre dame

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't like this era of tourism in which everything has to be booked in advance. I'm a spontaneous person and it stresses me out to have to plan everything. I *can* do it but it lessens enjoyment for me.

This is only a problem if you want to go to the same places everyone else wants to go. There’s so much to do in huge cities like London and Paris besides seeing the same 5 sites every tourist goes to.

It is a lot different. My suggestion would be to travel outside of these big cities. We flew to Heathrow recently but never went into London. We had a splendid time in another part of England.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have to ask on DCUM, please do not bother going. Thank you.

Ick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to Paris and had all the aforementioned booked in advance. And it definitely takes something away to have appointments to get to but I think this is how these things are now. We did the Louvre, up the elevator in the Eiffel, a Lupin mystery tour of the Opera House, a concert at Notre Dame, and the Catacombs. Lupin woukd be fun to watch before you go.

And then it all goes to hell when Paris people go on strike and you can’t get anywhere you need to go.

[Anonymous]

We were in London and Paris for Spring Break. I booked Tower of London, Natural History Museum, Churchill War Rooms and Eiffel Tower ahead of time. I wish I booked Versailles as we tried to walk up at 10:30 am and they were sold out of palace tickets until 4:00 pm. We killed a lot of time in the gardens but definitely made for a really long day.