Hey all....Talking Fam to London Paris Aug 13-30. Anyone have suggestions on things to do or place to stay including discounted hotels etc? So far nothing set in stone. Kids are 8 & 12. Please post and PM w/ info.

Thanks - Baja.

 

Leaving from Paris is usually cheaper. Airport fees out of the U.K. are very high.

 

If your kids (or you) are Harry Potter fans, highly recommend the Warner Brothers Studio tours up north of London. Most of the sets preserved and a really nice overall experience. If you want even more magic, there is a cab company that does personal tours of the HP sites where they filmed on location in the early movies......Lacock, Oxford, and several sites in London. All day gig with just you and a very knowledgable driver ( request Gordon ). Have fun!

 

We're going over for Christmas. Kids are 16, 13 and 10. We've had some great input so far. Places to stay are huge

 

Dine in Latin quarter in Paris. Tons of different types of restaurants, all begging for you to come in. Fixed Price 3 and 4 course meals are usually quite reasonable, or you can get a gyro or pizza slice for kids if they prefer. Good Italian Ice cream is available to finish the deal... Cite or St Michael metro stops are closest...St Michael is right there.

Parks are free and full of families and kids playing. Kids usually make friends in 9.5 seconds so its fun to watch your young ones start making friends with local kids. Park by back of Notre Dame or Luxembourg Gardens are free, fun, and a nice place to spend some time. You can momma can sip wine while kids explore.

Depending on size of 8 year old renting the bikes from the stands is a cool way to explore. My daughters loved scooting around Paris on the Celib rental bikes.

 

We go to Paris once in a while with the family. As far as hotels go, we have pretty good luck just using the standard hotel booking sites: hotels.com, trivalgo, bookings.com, etc. I don't know how many you have in your family, but keep in mind that hotel rooms tend to be small and many hotels don't have rooms for families. Sometimes it requires getting two hotel rooms or renting an apartment through VRBO or similar.

Second the suggestion on the bikes. We have used Fat Tire bike tours in the past (ranked highly on Trip Advisor) and enjoyed their guided tours very much. If you get the day and night tour package (which includes an evening boat tour on the Seine) you get a pretty good discount. Kids love riding the bikes in a big guided tour gaggle down the Paris streets.

We also have done the Sandeman "free" walking tours in Paris, also highly rated on tripadvisor.com. They're free, but you're supposed to give a tip at the end based upon how well you enjoyed the tour. I have yet to receive anything less than very good tours from them.

The first time I went to Paris, I did the double decker bus tour, but I don't recall which one. Regardless, as lame as I thought they would be, they were a great way to get a lay of the city, allowing us to see sites that looked interesting, then visiting them later on either by walking and/or using the Metro.

Paris is expensive, despite the favorable exchange rate we are currently enjoying. Hotels in Paris commonly include a light breakfast, so you're covered there. We like to go to the many bakeries and get sandwiches and drinks and just eat in the many parks, which saves quite a bit of money for lunch. Restaurants in particular can be quite expensive- 5 euro cokes and 15 euro cheeseburgers are not uncommon. As mentioned above, the Latin district has tons of restaurants in direct competition with each other, so the prices there tend to be more reasonable. Otherwise, try to find places to eat AWAY from the super-touristy areas so you don't get gouged.

Note that in Paris the RER C branch is mostly closed downtown due to construction. It is kind of a PITA when trying to get around as it runs down the middle of Paris and for us is the "spine" of many of our Paris travels. If you want detailed instructions on how to get from Charles De Gaulle to downtown using the RER and getting around on the Paris Metro (subway), drop me a PM and I'll send you my notes.

Have fun. It's a great city.

 

Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

Nobody would ever accuse me of being an art snob, or even of knowing anything at all about art. I do know that standing in a huge room full of Van Gogh's works raised my pulse. That was only one room and for me was the highlight.

Many works by many of the Masters; there is a reason they are called Masters. Get there early because there is a line to get in. Plan half a day.

My $0.02

 

Harrod's. Tourist trap but worth it.

 

The Catacombs

 

Get the museum pass so you don't end up waiting in line for everything. I believe they offer multi-day unlimited metro tickets too but watch the zones....get off at Versailles no problem but you can't get back on without paying more. Take a trip up to Normandy....accessible by train but quite a ride....best to hire a tour guide to meet you up there and guide you around.