What should we see/do in London and Paris next week?

Superwife and I are headed to London a week from Saturday. We’ll spend Sat night through Tuesday morning in London; drive west to Bath Tuesday; take the train to Paris Wednesday night; return to London Friday, and fly home Sunday. Superwife’s been to France and the UK a few times, but it will be my first trip to Europe. Any recommendations of things to see or do?

I don’t know the types of things you like doing (e.g. museums, galleries etc) but I greatly enjoyed:

London
Natural History Museum
British Museum
National Portrait Gallery
Royal Observatory at Greenwich

Paris
Eiffel Tower (of course)
Musée d’Orsay
La Grande Arche at La Défense
Sainte Chapelle

In Paris, you can also add the Louve. Keep in mind that it is truly huge. Besides the common tourist things, my favorite is the Parisian Catacombs. It is not well publisized and the number of people allowed in at one time is fairly small but it is extremely interesting. The bones of 7 million Parisians are arranged in huge stacks that take over an hour to walk past. If you like that type of thing, it is an interesting trip. It isn’t a guided tour however, and some of the places that you walk through are a little steep and damp.

Go see the Mona Lisa before its too late. Peace.

This thread is better suited for In My Humble Opinion.

I’ll move it for you.

Cajun Man
for the SDMB

Is she going somewhere? :confused:

It’s going to be cold and proably wet when you go, but at least this keeps the number of tourists down. What you do depends on what you both like doing.

In London, invest in a travel card (valid on any bus or underground train) which you can pick up at any station. You can bypass any queues (and save using your CC or having a pile of cash) by buying a Museumcard before you go.

If you intend to go a bunch of museums in Paris, buy both a Paris Visite card (for the Metro) and a Paris Museum Pass at the Gare du Nord (which is where you will arrive). They actually speak English there, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

My favourite Paris museum is the Sewer Museum. :eek:

We were in London in January 2003. It was cold/wet, but the crowds were non-existent. We used the London Pass while we were there and it was totally worth it. Especially the travel card part that gets you onto the Underground, trains and buses.

Besides the usual sites, I recommend the London Transport Musuem in Covent Garden. If you like Indian food I recommend Veeraswamy. We had an excellent meal there. Our waiter suggested many wonderful dishes we had never eaten before. The manager pointed out to us the picture of Ghandi and Charlie Chaplin dining together in the restaurant in it’s early day.

Sadly, I have not yet been to Paris and have no ideas for you. Enjoy your trip!

shE. Thorp and I are going to Paris at the end of January, and we’re greatly looking forward to the reduced tourist population (the last time we were there it was June and the place was overrun).

By my calculation, **SuperNelson **and wife will be in Paris for only a day. I’d like to suggest that the Louvre is too big for such a limited time. Instead, not knowing their tastes, I’d recommend the Musée d’Orsay and the Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris. If you’ve got time for another museum try the Musée Picasso or the Musée de Cluny; another church, St-Germain or Sacré-Coeur. If I had only a day, I’d stick to 2 sights well appreciated and spend the rest of the time in a café, wine bar, or cinema.

In Paris there are many things that seem like they are just tall stuff to go stand on and look at Paris.

The Eiffel Tower
The Arc de Triomphe
Sacre Coure
Notre Dame
Some department store (Printemps I think)
Anyway my favorite was Notre Dame. Go up and see what the Hunchback saw. Going up to the top of Sacre Coure was really cool as well. Not just up to the church on the hill but to the top of the dome. (well close to the top)
See the art at the Cluny, the Louvre, the Orsay and the Pompidou in that order or reverse order if you want.

Oh and don’t forget Rodin and the military museum Invalides. At Invalides I really liked the models of cities up on the top floor. I just wanted to break out about 10000 toy soldiers and plan my attack.

The Opera House is really cool. Go see what is showing there.
Oh and the best crepes are on Rue Cler near Champ De Mars at a place called Ulysse. It’s a restaurant with a crepe stand in front. Their crepes are the best.

The one time I was in London on a school trip, we were only there for three days and only went to the British Museum because I insisted. But I do have friends there.

The one place I haven’t seen mentioned that I’ve always wanted to go to is the Victoria & Albert Museum. It’s my sister’s favorite, the one she always has to spend at least a day in.
-Lil

We’re leaving tonight; thanks for all the great suggestions!

The British Museum is definitely on the list, along with a brief introduction to the Louvre. I’m not foolish enough to think I’ll see even a slight fraction of all there is, but I’m not going to let that keep me from a very light sampling.

I had completely forgotten the catacombs, and am fascinated by the possibility of seeing them; we’ll definitely inquire about this when we get there.

We’ll be staying right by Picadilly station at first, so it looks like Veeraswamy is right around the corner. Deb loves Indian food, so I’m sure we’ll stop by.

I’m also hoping to get to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich Park. It may be a ways out in the suburbs, but I’ve dreamt of seeing Harrison’s clocks for years.

I’ll drop by this thread when we get back.

One suggestion: England is the best place in the world to get Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi food. Go to Brick Lane one evening, and have a meal: you won’t regret it.

MM, I agree, Giles.
London
I was going to suggest Speaker’s Corner at Hyde Park on Sunday (where Britons exercise their right to free speech); it’s great free entertainment, usually in the afternoons but have seen some morning speakers. The Victoria & Albert Museum was so amazing that we went back a second time.
Paris
For Paris, the Cluny Museum (old Roman ruins, incredible ‘The Lady and the Unicorn’ Tapestries) or Musee D’Orsay.

Paris: The Rodin museum was a nice stop in the afternoon for me. in the middle of the city, but real quiet and peaceful, near Napoleon’s tomb I believe.
Also walk by the Louvre outside at night, it’s my favorite site their-just beautiful.
Buy a chocolate croissant, and some chocolates. So much better than ours. And cheese from a grocery store of course.

london: Windsor castle.

Clearly, you should keep your eyes peeled for underpants.

Now everyone in the hotel lobby’s giving me strange looks.
Spent most of the day yesterday at the British Museum, and last night in a couple of pubs around Notting Hill Gate. We haven’t gotten a travel pass or a museumcard, but we did get week passes for the Underground. The Underground, by the way, is as organized as the DC Metro, and a LOT deeper in the earth.
Headed out to the National Maritime Museum this afternoon, and have tickets to a show tonight.

I hope I’m not too late chiming in here - the tour of Tower Bridge is worth a look