# How many Days for London/Paris and....



## Janis (Oct 29, 2007)

We arrive in London late night on 12/21. We leave Paris for DC on 12/30.

How many full days should we allot each city? I'm travelling with 2 teenage girls (14 years old).

Also.... what would be best to do on Christmas day? Would that be a good day to travel between London & Paris? Or, is there something going on in London that would be fabulous for us?

We don't celebrate Christmas, so church is kind of out of the question.

I was thinking of doing London for 4 days (22-25), and Paris for 4 days (26-29)

Thoughts?


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## Carolinian (Oct 30, 2007)

If you or they have never seen either, that is probably a good division of time.  Be certain to include sights just outside of each like Hampton Court palace and Windsor Castle from London and Versailles from Paris.

You have got your air schedule done the perfect way to avoid the UK's huge new ''save the planet'' tax, which is a tax on departure.  The smart way to see London these days is on an open jaws itinerary like yours where the departure is from a different country, not the UK.  The UK tax is only on departures.


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## Janis (Oct 30, 2007)

I didn't even realize the tax implication. I was just trying to save time and not return to the same city!


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## johnmfaeth (Oct 30, 2007)

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Dat (12/26) are relatively quiet in England except Church services, caroling, et al. So the 25th would be a great day to travel. 

Hope you are taking the Eurostar to Paris, it's a lot of fun and the new high speed portion of travel on the UK side is finally open (used to be fairly slow for the first hour or so due to track conditions).

Make sure you wear layers as the weather varies greatly, expect more cold and humid than bitter cold.

I highly suggest an evening walking tour with London Walks, the girls should love it. Really gives you a feel for the City beyond the checkmark tourist spots.

Have a great trip!


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## JudyH (Oct 30, 2007)

Can someone explain this departure tax?  In this case, the OP is still "departing", that is, leaving for France.  Is the departure tax just on airlines, not Chunnel train?


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## glenn1000 (Oct 30, 2007)

Your itinerary and division of time look good. There is more than enough to do in each city so you will have to prioritize. One suggestion- your Christmas travel day is good but I would try to go to mass and/or a concert in a major church- Notre Dame comes to mind. You don't have to be into the religion to enjoy the ambiance and/or the music in the beautiful setting plus there will be little else to do that day. We've done this twice on Christmas- once in Paris and another time in Strausbourg.


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## Laurie (Oct 30, 2007)

I concur about the music in churches, so in the off-chance this would be of interest to you, I found the music in Paris churches extraordinarily beautiful - both Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur - we stumbled upon it both places timing-wise, and I'd even call it a highlight of the trip for me.  Whereas in London, both at Westminster and St Paul's, it didn't do much for me. So if you travel on the 24th, you could probably hear more spectacular music in Paris on Christmas day - if you could get in. 

There are other reasons as well that I'd plan for more days in Paris than London... but that's me. 

I did see the Cluny Museum in Paris mentioned in another post, and agree it's very worth it - that's where the original Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are. And I agree about Versailles, for sure.


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