We are stopping in London for a week on our way to Asia. What to do? Where to go? What to visit? Was thinking of taking a train to Paris as well. Is the train ride scenic? Or should we head to Ireland instead?
You could easily spend a week in London and not run out of things to do. I would recommend the hop on hop off bus tour, where you get to see all of the major sites. If you like museums, the British National Museum is outstanding. If you like theater plays, London has the world's best theater scene. A personal favorite is the Tower of London. They have regular guided tours which I highly recommend.
I would recommend going to the Emirates for a game and watching the commotion amongst the Pro Wenger and anti Wenger fans.
A week in London that's a vacation -- you're not just stopping there you're having a vacation on the way to your vacation. Vacation.
Tru tru. Kid wants to visit London. With the new no laptop/camera in cabin policy, we played around with airlines that would let us take the items in cabin and decided, might as well stop by for a secondary vacation on the way.
Lucky for me I am from Boston and have been aboard Boston Tea Party ship at the harbor couple of times.
I am not sure if I want to spend all 7 days in London. Maybe a 2- days in London and drive/take train or even fly elsewhere. Yorkshire maybe? Was thinking of renting a car and driving around in England. How is driving in England? We also thinking Paris/Amsterdam or both? Would a London/Paris/Amsterdam trip in 7 days be too hectic? How about just London/Amsterdam then? Argh.... Europe is like an overpacked buffet....too many choices, too little time!
Many years ago, we rented a car in London (never do that! rent the freakin' car on the outskirts of London), drove up to Yorkshire, into Scotland, across Scotland, then down to the Lake District. After the Lake District, we motored back to London. Did all that in 10 days (my mother had flown over to meet us, and that's why we did that part of that trip in that way! would never have done it that quickly, otherwise). York is a fascinating city, as is Edinburgh. The Lake District is spectacular. There are castles everywhere. Having said all that, I'd either spend your entire time in London, or London/Paris, or London/Amsterdam. You only have a week. Good luck!
Jokes aside, OP, you spend very little time in the chunnel -- it's freaking short -- and a lot of time above ground zooming through gorgeous French countryside. Also, Paris >> London, especially if you are taking a kid or kids. Also, as to your thread title, yes, I did tip when I was in London, for what that's worth.
To me: more beautiful, better walking city (by far, London is freaking dangerous from the car traffic and angry drivers), more chill, more to do with kids, 1000x better food, bars not filled with Brits (LOL), and so on. But honestly, I love both cities. I just associate Paris more with vaca and better for kids. (I don't have kids but we were traveling with friends who had two little girls. The Parisians would really fuss over them and welcome them everywhere; Londoners just tried to run them over.)
Driving in England is a dream, as they're some of the safest drivers in the world, but you'll have to get used to being on the right side of the car (you may find it hard to judge the position of your car within the lane). If you decide to go to the continent, all three cities is too much for one week. I'd do three in London and four in Paris. I'm a British passport holder whose been bred to hate the French, but Paris is simply amazing. You can get a hop-on/hop-off bus in each city to take you to the touristy spots quickly. Visit London's museums--they're all free. The British Museum has an Easter Island head and the freaking Rosetta Stone. Skip the London Eye. In Paris, the Louvre is a whole day, but the Musee D'Orsay nearby is quieter and fantastic in its own right. Visit Père Lachaise in the morning when it opens up. Such a beautiful place. What time of year are you going? If it's not July, expect drizzle in London. If it is July, also expect drizzle.
I drove from London to Cornwall last time I was in the UK. Cornwall is beautiful. And Stonehenge is on the way if you want to check that out.
Exactly. 3 days in London; 4 days in Paris. These cities are two of the best to visit in all of Europe. For transportation between the two cities, I recommend taking the train (2-2.5 hours). Remember to book pretty early to save money on the ticket/reservation. Like a plane flight, train tickets get much more expensive as one gets closer to the vacation. I highlighted some of @Jugdish's post above because I agree with much that he has said. There really is just a lot to see, experience, and enjoy.
Sans kids, I'd suggest a quick stop at a "coffee" shop in Amsterdam on the way to Paris, but you have kids and not much time. You'll have to rough it.
