What would a family friendly 8-10 day itinerary for London/Paris look like?
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Anonymous
| Train to Normandy, get a rental care, spent a night. Mount St Michel if you have time. |
Anonymous
| I agree with the PPs - don't do the Tower the day you arrive. A doubledecker bus tour is good idea because everyone will be tired by the afternoon. We were in London in August with our teens and one day we took the tube to the Tower in the morning (when you first come in, go directly to the Crown Jewels, then come back to the front and catch a tour with a Yeoman) then walked across the bridge to Borough Market where we had lunch, then went to Tate Modern, then walked back across the Thames on the Millennium Bridge and walked to St Pauls Cathedral where your kids might enjoy climbing up to the top of dome (it was my 13-year-old's favorite thing in London). Another day you can do Buckingham Palace/Westminster Abbey/Big Ben/St James Park/Churchill War Rooms/London Eye. We did a daylong tour to Stonehenge and Bath, and a day in Oxford. If your kids like Harry Potter, the studio tour is a must but book your tickets well in advance. I know you said that museums aren't a priority, but you should try to get to the British Museum - it's free so you don't have to stay long but there's no other place like it. |
Anonymous
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i think you will have a better time if you spent the entire time in either London or Paris with day trips from a home base apartment. First, an apartment will be much more comfortable for your family than a hotel and you won't have to eat out for every meal. Second, there is easily enough to do in Paris and London to spend 10 days in each. If you stick to one place, you'll be able to see more than just the main tourist attractions but also experience the city a bit.
For Paris -- My kids did not like Versailles and frankly we didn't like it much either - I don't think it's worth wasting a day on it. Didn't think my kids were that into art museums but Paris really has some of the best - I think it's worth going to the Louvre or the Musee D'Orsay. Other things for kids in Paris: Catacombs tour, sewer tour, shopping at a street market, Bois de Boulogne (sort of like Central Park), Disneyland Paris day trip, Sacre Couer, Notre Dame (climb the stairs to see the gargoyles up close), Eiffel Tower (you can also walk up to avoid the line and for bragging rights later). Just walking around the city is really nice and the whole city is very walkable. The Metro is super easy and convenient too. For London - harry potter tour, see Les Miserables or another musical, tower of london, British Museum is amazing, Tate Modern, Hyde Park, shopping at one of their big department stores, walking around notting hill. Now I want to go with you! |
Anonymous
We did a tandem for my six year old. We were lucky and had terrific weather. We took the tour to Versaille. Bike in paris, took the train to versaille. There was a little market set up and my girls shopped. We got some cheese and bread and some other items near the train station and then had a picnic on the grounds. Not sure which tours they have now. We did the tour about four days into our ten day stay. It was a great way to get out of Paris. One of my daughters still swears it was the best bread she has ever had. (it wasn't.) One nice thng we did was go to the Rue cler and just got a variety of prepared fodds for a dinner in. Our apartment had a view of the Eiffel tower and it lights up every hour. It was like fireworks every night. One recommendation I have is stay within a block of a metro or rer. I loved our apartment in the seventh but the kids were pretty wiped out walking several blocks back to the apartment. Happy to answer any other questions. We did London before we got to Paris and agreed we should have skipped it on that trip. We had already been a few times and it just added quite a bit of travel. |
Anonymous
I am not OP, but this is helpful. Thanks for this information! |
Anonymous
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OP again with a follow up question:
If we add on another country after visiting London and Paris, what should it be? Ireland? And where should we start? |
Anonymous
| This is the bike tour poster. I would not really recommend another country but since you asked I would have to say Spain. It was my kids favorite trip. They were four years younger ( 14,12,9 and 1 1/2). We spent 17 days and traveled all over. Madrid, Granada, Malaga, Sevilla. I would probably recommend Barcelona if you only want to go to one city. Spain is very kid friendly except that they like to eat late. |
Anonymous
| Why not do Scotland? |
Anonymous
| Tell me about Scotland! |
Anonymous
| How many days do you want to spend? You can easily do Edinburgh and Glasgow, but you can do more if you'd like and have more time. |
Anonymous
| Let's say we are planning to spend ten nights total in Europe. Open to going anywhere. Prefer to bounce around and see lots of areas. |
Anonymous
Haven't been with kids but this was a highlight of my France trip. |
Anonymous
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http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5022492
Anyone been to any of these coastal towns in the UK? |
Anonymous
Penzance! Gorgeous there-I'm very fond of the English coast. |
Anonymous
| Where else would you recommend in France? Either as day trips from Paris or a bus/train ride away for a couple nights? |