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Planning a vacation to London and Paris!!

P

propita

Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Plans are coming together. Tickets will be bought soon and reservations made!

London for 12 days, then Eurostar to Paris for 9 days. I went to London in 1986 and 1987 with my parents. Hubby hasn't been out of the country since he came to this country, age 6.

We're starting to really looks forward to this! I'm doing a lot of research, but haven't figured out what told about phones. We have AT&T iPhone 4s--do we use those theough ATT? Get them unlocked and buy sims? Just buy a cheap phone there? Not sure yet...willing to take advice (and instructions).

Stupid question--all we need are valid passports, right? No other documents? My parents handled a lot of that stuff last time.
 
^which goes for every country in the European Union.
As for the phone: depends on how much you plan to use it. If you're intending to call lots of people while being abroad, a local SIM card with a prepaid account might be cheaper. If you just want to be accessible in case of emergency, your American SIM will suffice completely. Over here, we use different frequency bands but that should be no problem. As soon as your cell logs in to the British or French net it ought to automatically be referred to the local AT&T or its partners. Info is available here: http://www.att.com/esupport/travelAndIntl.jsp?cv=820
and here are your details for France and Britain: http://www.wireless.att.com/travelguide/coverage/coverage_details.jsp?CIDL=1308%7C250&MNC=410&DID1=487&DID2=&STEP=5
 
How exciting for you!

If you haven't booked your flights and hotels yet, and you are flexible on departure and return dates, I would look into discount and last minute sites like http://www.lastminute.com/ which can allow you to travel for a fraction of the price (depending on destinations), sometimes one third less than booking directly with the airlines... keeping an eye on them regularly before booking helps, too... because prices can fluctuate daily. Generally, on Lastminute.com, the closer to your travel time you book, the cheaper the ticket. The day of the week in which you want to travel can make a significant difference to the price as well.

Also look into if you are landing in Heathrow or Gatwick airports, sometimes you can save a lot by looking at both. Getting to Gatwick from London doesn't necessarily take longer, but if it saves you hundreds that you could use on your holiday instead, why not.

Check your airline's luggage weight allowance, and make sure you stay within it... the costs can spiral otherwise... not to mention public transportation from airports is murder with all the stairs and long walks between train switches. Might be easier to invest in a cab if you can afford it.

If you know you will not be making nor receiving a lot of urgent calls, you really don't need a sim. You can switch your phone data off (to make completely certain you will not receive surprise bills), and switch on the wifi and make free calls home to family and friends via Facetime, Skype, Google Hangouts, or whatever... texting can similarly be switched to wifi with iMessages or WhatsApp or similar apps. I'm sure your hotel will have wifi... and most bars restaurants and shops in London have wifi now... so you can check your messages when you're out and about, too...

If you feel you might need to make and receive calls, then you can have your phone unlocked, but the new iPhone system will lock itself to the new network once again, so you may need to do it a second time when you're in Paris.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ is a good app to download before you set off... it uses your location to tell you the nearest well reviewed pubs, restaurants, etc... if you find yourself somewhere without a definite plan and you want to be spontaneous, it can make a big difference to the quality you get. The reviews and descriptions are on the whole extremely reliable.

Bring your adapter plugs with you... saves you using your vacation time looking for such things... and choose the dates you switch your money from the dollar to the pound and Euro wisely, exchange rates can also fluctuate... and shop around to get the best deal, banks and airports are not usually the best offers.

You might want to call or visit your bank to let them know you may use your card overseas, some of them automatically shut down your card if they notice unusual activity... they will also inform you if there are extra charges involved in paying with your card overseas, or withdrawing from cash machines... they'll also tell you the cheapest options of accessing your money whilst there e.g. banks they are affiliated with who will not charge you. Bringing cash and transferring to local currencies in advance may be easier. Beware of pickpockets in both London and Paris, it happens a lot and they do like to target tourists... they use sophisticated distraction and diversion techniques, so do keep your wits about you without letting it distract from your good times.

If you are Californians, dress more warmly than you think you might need... layers help, it can get pretty windy here these days, so a windbreaker type outerwear will make a big difference.

Beware of hotels advertising themselves as being centrally located, sometimes zone 2, 3, or 4 hotels will tell you they are near the attractions... Ideally, what you want is zone 1 (they are zones which divide the city in concentric circles going outward)... what you're not being told is you will pay a lot in using the underground train system. Although you can get to and from those zones in minutes, you do pay for every extra zone you cross. If you are good walkers, you can see a vast majority of attractions on foot! Things are closer together than you might think, and you have more time to see stuff, rather than time spent in public transport. Any difference in hotel price should be offset by savings on travel costs.

The cheapest way to travel is an electronic tap in and tap out Oyster card... you can get this at any train station.

I hope you have a wonderful trip and the weather is kind to you!
 
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An Officer, are you from London? Last time I was there (3 years ago) there was no other payment possibility than an Oyster card for all public transport.

Quite a lot of international flights go to London-Stanstead - that's also a cheaper option than Heathrow. But Heathrow has the best public transport connections.
I always book at least 6 months ahead - I usually get a huge discount
 
There are paper tickets which are quite exorbitant.

Stanstead is a bit of a pain to get to and from (depends what a traveler is willing to tolerate), there's a very nice fast train to and from Gatwick.
 
Rhubarbodendron said:
An Officer, are you from London? Last time I was there (3 years ago) there was no other payment possibility than an Oyster card for all public transport.

Quite a lot of international flights go to London-Stanstead - that's also a cheaper option than Heathrow. But Heathrow has the best public transport connections.
I always book at least 6 months ahead - I usually get a huge discount
Click to expand...


Well one reason why Stanstead might be chepaer is location. As whilst it is called London Stanstead it's not exactly London. Perhaps someone who lives in that area of the UK might no better but I think it's about 20-30 miles outside of London. But no doubt you will be able to get a coach or train to London.
 
Nice, when are you going? I'm flying into Heathrow just over a month from now, but I don't expect to spend much time in London at all. I'm very excited to see England though!
 
An Officer said:
There are paper tickets which are quite exorbitant.
Click to expand...
I had no idea they still had those! Last time the nice gentleman at the Tube station in Heathrow recommended the Oyster card to me. It's really a cool invention, particularly as you can load it up so easily and it automatically charges you the lowest price: If you go only on a short trip it'll charge you for that trip. If you drive all over town all day, it'll automatically charge you for a cheaper day ticket. It remembers how far you went that day, adds everything up, substracts what you already payed and then on your next trip only charges you the difference to the day ticket. Pretty smart card :)


MacLeod, according to Google, Heathrow is 20 km out of town, Stanstead and Luton about 50 each.
(btw, if it's not too personal a question: MacLeod of those around Ft William or MacLeod of the Isles? Just wondering in what tartan to picture you :D)
 
propita said:
I'm doing a lot of research, but haven't figured out what told about phones. We have AT&T iPhone 4s--do we use those theough ATT? Get them unlocked and buy sims? Just buy a cheap phone there? Not sure yet...willing to take advice (and instructions).
Click to expand...

Call AT&T and let them know you will be going out of the country. They need to enable you for international roaming (enabling is free). They may offer you some international packages. Unless you intend to use the phones a lot, though, you probably don't need those packages, they aren't much better than pay-as-you-go unless you talk a lot. International text messages are much more cost-effective than international voice with AT&T. Prefer them except for emergencies.

The exception to the above is data. If you want to use international data, buy a package---pay as you go is ridiculous for data. If you don't want to use international data, check your phone's settings and make sure Data Roaming is disabled so you don't use any accidentally.

You might want to advise people not to call you. I have been charged one international minute just for my phone *ringing* abroad, even though I didn't answer it.

Stupid question--all we need are valid passports, right? No other documents? My parents handled a lot of that stuff last time.
Click to expand...
They might want to see your onward ticket, but that should be it. Two important things, though:
1) Make a photocopy of your passport and keep it in a separate location.
2) Your passport stops being accepted in most countries six months before the stated expiration date, so if it's getting close, renew the thing now rather than waiting.

There is a train to Stanstead. Be aware that the UK uses a "chip-and-pin" system for its credit cards, and not all automated terminals are able to process the US magnetic strip cards. I encountered a train ticket machine that did not when I was there.

One last thing: Notify your bank where you will be traveling, or they might put a fraud freeze on your credit/debit cards when you start using them over there.
 
that's a new one for me, too, but being European I only need my identity card to travel within the EU. The 6 months rule does make sense, though, as non-EU citizens may stay a maximum of 6 months without requiring a visa.
The same goes for EU citizens visiting the US, btw.
 
Thanks, every, and especially An Officer. And, yes, tripadvisor can be your friend--provided you read reviews, look at the pictures, and remember that what’s bad for someone else is okay for you and vice-versa.

Here’s what I’ve got, well, not all of it, obviously:

Money: We got a Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa, for its chip-and-signature (to avoid swipe problems), its 0% Foreign Transaction Fee, and its rewards. The thing is metal. Very cool looking. A bit heavier than most cards. We upgraded to a USAA World MC, mainly for it being a true chip-and-pin (hard to find in the US). We’re getting a USAA ATM card, never bothered with one, because they reimburse withdrawals from bank atms so we can get some cash.

Flights: There’s NO non-stops from where we live to almost anywhere. It’ll be about $1250/person for Home > London and Paris > Home, with one stop each way. That’s really not bad when you think about it. Economy class, naturally. Oh, and carryon only. At least going. Returning, I have a collapsible case, so we can always check something (1 bag free on international flights, but we don’t want to bother with it on the way).

Hotels: We’re looking at budget hotels (Premier Inn level) and renting apartments. Husband wanted to be near St Pancras for the eurostar, but now he’s changing his mind and driving me nuts. I hadn’t done research in other areas. Lots of ideas for Paris, nothing settled.

Transportation: In London, we’ll get an Oyster card with just a bit on it, but then get a week pass from a TRAIN station to take advantage of 2-for-1 discounts at A LOT of places--no 2-for-1 if the passes are bought at Underground stations. We just have to schedule our day trips rights.
In Paris, since we’re getting there on a Monday, we’ll get the appropriate Navigo Decouverte, which will cover both Versailles and Disney. The last day or so will be by carnet. I ran the numbers, for zone 1-5, we’d need to ride the Metro twice a day to break even, but convenience adds to that, at least for us.

Phones: I’m reading what’s been posted here and getting more info. I know we’ll have our roaming off unless we’re at a hotspot. Even on a plan, I don’t want problems. But I’ll also be taking my iPad mini, which will only work on wifi, so no risk of outrageous bill there. I just have to remove the bookmarks from iCloud backup and delete bookmarks I don’t want available in case anything happens to it.


I will be reviewing this thread more for the input already provided, and anything else that gets added.

Our day trip plans for London include Oxford and Harry Potter. We’re such geeks!
 
Instead of a hotel, I'd recommend a B&B in London. They are far cheaper, often very conveniently located, you get very good insider tips by your host and in my experience all London B&B hosts are incredibly nice :) (and the breakfast is huuuuge and better than in any hotel).
I made particularly good experiences with The London B&B Company.
2 years ago I tried another agency that's even better: welcomehomes. They have very cheap offers and really excellent customer service. If you have special wishes or requirements they'll do their best to help you find the right place to stay. Please mind that not always all B&Bs are available. Hence, in the request form you are required to list your 3 favourites. They'll try to give you the first on the list but if it's already booked, you'll get # 2 or #3. If all 3 are booked already they'll contact you.

If your itinerary isn't completely full yet you might perhaps like to visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum in 221 B Baker Street (where else?) and the Beatles fanshop next door to it =). If you're interested in plants, I recommend the Chelsea Physics Garden (and Kew Gardens, of course).
 
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