Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did London and Paris in 2019 with our then 8, 8, 6, and 1.5 year olds.

Our kids' favorite things in London were: Tower of London British Museum, St. James Park and the playground there, Convent Garden, Leicester Square and the huge lego store.

They weren't crazy about Westminster Abbey and got scared of the idea of all the dead people there.

Highlights in Paris were the Eiffel Tower, Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, and the trampolines in Le Jardin Tuileries. We also went to Disneyland Paris for 3 days after, which was fun.

In London, we stayed at Citadines Trafalgar Square. In Paris, we stayed at Aparthotel Adagio Paris Centre Eiffel Tower.

https://www.discoverasr.com/en/citadines/united-kingdom/citadines-trafalgar-square-london

https://www.adagio-city.com/gb/hotel-6790-aparthotel-adagio-paris-centre-tour-eiffel/index.shtml

The views from our room to the Eiffel Tower, especially all lit up at night, were amazing.

Did you think Disneyland Paris was worth it?

Trying to decide if we should stay by the Eiffel Tower Vendome or Arc de Triomphe.

Most hotels seem to have only one bed. I need a hotel with a king and 2 queens/twins. It seems like no hotels in Paris have 2 queens.

That's correct, it's close to nonexistent. You can search booking.com by bed type. There are rooms with two twin beds, and rooms with double beds.

Sometimes you can find a hotel room that has one double bed and a convertible couch or roll out bed for one child, but OP would still need two hotel rooms. Last time we went to Paris, I had a hard time finding even apartments for rent that were centrally located that had two bedrooms. We ended up in a one bedroom that had a fold-out couch. It had a lovely view of the Pont Neuf, though.

I have never stayed here, but they do have 1 bedrooms with 2 double beds. https://citadines-stgermain-paris.h-rez.com/rooms.htm

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would like to find a good Indian, afternoon tea and fish and chips for Londong. Friend recommended Savoy for tea.

There is good Indian near the Tower of London, good fish and chips near Covent Garden. With kids I would do the Orangery or maybe Fortnum & Masons for tea.

Horse Guards might be more interesting than Buckingham Palace from the outside— palace can be pretty disappointing to just see it through the gates but I get that sometimes you just want to cross it off your list.

Fortnum & Masons teas taste like bilge water. Don’t waste your time there.

No need to be rude— your entitled to your opinion but being an ass about it doesn’t make you more convincing or sophisticated.

With 3 kids ages 5-12 I think Fortnums is more appropriate than the Savoy, if OP is even serious, but ymmv

Try Plum Guide for apartments. We’ve never had a bad place with them in Europe.

All of these day trips sound exhausting and don’t leave much time for actually explore the cities you’re in! But to each their own. So much depends on your specific kids and their interest. We have a mix of kids who love to learn and see cool old stuff and also ones who need to run and play a lot in between activities. I suggest looking into museums and anything else you want to do ASAP. Some things we wanted to do had admissions limits due to Covid and we didn’t realize it until too late to get tickets for the limited window of time we had. And some things were closed certain days of the week, which I didn’t consider!

We have done both of those cities with kids, though ours are younger. London highlights were the Tower of London (beefeaters are hilarious) London Eye and the playground at the base there, getting treats in St. James Park, going to the playground and walking by Buckingham palace and the changing of the horse guards, and the London Transport Museum, but that may not be as much fun for older kids. We stayed in a suite at the Taj and had a great meal in the Indian restaurant there. Also at Dishoom. My kids loved the Diana playground, we had tea at the Milestone hotel near there and it was very fancy and delicious.

Had an AirBnB in Paris but I can’t remember exactly where. Couldn’t find a hotel with enough space! Kids loved the playground near Les Halles, I can’t remember the name but it is only open certain hours and they just let kids in while the adults wait outside, which my kids thought was amazing. Also loved the Eiffel Tower, seeing the Mona Lisa, a boat tour and eating tons of pastries and delicious food. Oh, and the Pompidue!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you'd like the Sloane St. area near Harrods, Hyde Park, the palace, etc. Very walkable. Doable on your budget.

I’m about to book my flights to Paris from London.

I remember liking the Harrods area.

Meant train tickets, not flights. Wondering if we should stay in London 5 days and 4 days in Paris. Wimbledon is going to take a day and I really want to go to Stonehenge. I do not plan on doing any excursions in Paris besides Versailles.

I would switch to longer in London if you’re doing Wimbledon. I still recommend against Stonehenge. It’s really underwhelming.

Every hotel I am trying to book is sold out for all or part of our stay.

I think the only hotel that accommodate our family is shangri la at the Shard.

What exactly did you expect trying to book multiple rooms in central London in summer 2022 with less than a month’s notice. You really didn’t think this through.

OP— just get a travel agent and have them handle all the bookings/itinerary. Don’t waste time doing this yourself. They might find deals you don’t.

I dislike waiting and going back and forth with a travel agent. I think the only time we have used a travel agent was for Bora Bora and Disney. I only used the Disney agent because our friend was using the agent.

I believe our bank and AMEX offers some concierge travel services. Every time I have called them, they have not been very helpful and it wastes time calling them and waiting for a response.

Anonymous wrote:

Did you think Disneyland Paris was worth it?

Trying to decide if we should stay by the Eiffel Tower Vendome or Arc de Triomphe.

Most hotels seem to have only one bed. I need a hotel with a king and 2 queens/twins. It seems like no hotels in Paris have 2 queens.

Have you been to Europe before? Other than a suite, you will not find a hotel room with a king bed and two other beds of any size. Your best bet is an apartment or two hotel rooms.