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Post by jshuey on Jun 9, 2015 10:42:15 GMT -8
I’ll be at a meeting in Manchester in August. I would like to spend two weeks with my family before the meeting – perhaps flying into Paris, and then take the train to London. They would head home while I head off to Manchester for my meeting.
What do you think we should do with our two weeks? Just see Paris and London? Should we take a side trip to Brussels or Lille (or somewhere else)? Are there day trips outside the big cities we should do? What do you think we have to see besides the obvious museums? Will I get bored if we spend a whole week in one city?
I will try and arrange a couple days at the BMNH while we’re in London – that much I’m sure of. Any other suggestion are more than welcome.
Thanks,
John
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Post by nomihoudai on Jun 9, 2015 16:41:17 GMT -8
It really depends of what you want to do and what you like. I have been like 10 times to London now (as somebody felt to point out once, I am rather young compared to most here) and there is still things I have not seen and want to do. I spend two full days running through the British museum and managed to quickly see every display, but that was it, not read anything in detail. You can easily spend two weeks there and do something else every day. For Brussels I am also very familiar with the city, I have friends and family living there. Brussels is well connected to London by train. The Eurostar, it is near empty every time but you should still try to book in advance as the prices rise quickly and for no reason. The management of the Eurostar is one of the worst in my opinion and I am the uncrowned king of missing that train. Three times already! For that reason I switched over to flying to London  So book in advance and be at the station on time, if you do this Brussels is easy to visit. Now inside of Brussels I think there is by far not as many things to see and visit than in other places. You have the grand place, the city center and good restaurants and chocolate and ice cream manufactures around. They are really nice. You also have restaurants that offer interesting things, but it is very expensive in the city center. One place had an "elephant steak" on the menu for 250€, I never found out if it was just a big steak or really some piece of elephant?! I never visited many museum in Brussels as there is not so many and they are obviously not as big as Paris or London. I enjoyed the Natural History museum in Brussels, and if you want to see butterflies try to get out of the city to Tervuren and visit the African museum with one of the biggest collection of African butterflies in the world. For Paris, I have never been there, I can't really tell you anything. Out of experience I can only tell you that I think flying from London to Paris should be the quickest, cheapest and best option from a transport point of view. |
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Post by nomihoudai on Jun 9, 2015 16:59:08 GMT -8
As I see your initial plan is one week in Paris and one week in London. I think this is a good choice. If you want to do Brussels in between you should take the Thalys train from Paris to Brussels. I have never taken the Thalys on this part of the track but I took it from Aachen(Germany) to Brussels and it is a clean, fast train. Once you are in Brussels you should easily get to the Eurostar train without missing it (I always missed it when getting stuck in traffic from Luxembourg to Brussels). I personally would not do Brussels in between as it cannot compare/keep up with Paris or London (sry to all my Belgian friends!), it will cost you time/money and exhaust you. Resources far better spend within Paris or London. I cannot think about any day trips outside of the city which are a must do, but in London you always have the option to travel by coach bus to Oxford/Canterbury/Cambridge. I only did these coach rides after the 10th time in London (all my trips combined equal to 2 months spend in the city when I remember correctly) and I was up for a change.
So much information for now. Think about what interests you and your family in London ,museums(art/nature/history)/food/drinks/shopping(clothes for example), and feel free to ask me by PM if you have further questions. At least with London and Brussels I should be able to answer most questions.
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Post by ornithorchid on Jun 9, 2015 17:43:26 GMT -8
Hi John, If you plan on going to France and that you have two full weeks to kill... don't hesitate to push it all the way to the South and continue your adventure to French Riviera with visit/stay in cities like Nice or Porquerolles (a small island on the shore with water as blue as any great Pacific lagoon). It is only 4 hours from Paris using the fast train (TGV). If you plan ahead you should be able to get your round trip for less than a 200 euros per head. I added an example of booking for 2 people leaving August 11th and heading back the 14th (Hyeres is the city just in front of Porquerolles island I mentioned above). When it come to Paris, you can surely spend a whole week at the Louvre... but you ll get tired after 1 day. Eiffel tower for sure, and Arc de Triomphe with Champs-Elysees Several other monuments to visit depending your religious background as well. Paris, I miss YOU! Enjoy, Emmanuel Paris_Hyeres_TGV.tif (80.96 KB) |
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Post by wollastoni on Jun 10, 2015 7:45:07 GMT -8
I would agree with my European friends.
2 weeks are perfect to see Paris and London (both are unique, wonderful cities) + 3 days somewhere more relaxing.
Island of Porquerolles is indeed an excellent advice, you would also see a lot of nice butterflies there in Southern France.
If you fear the heat of Southern France, you can also visit Normandy or Brittany (St Malo).
I recommend you to take the Eurostar (train) between London and Paris (very practical and fast).
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Post by bobw on Jun 10, 2015 9:18:41 GMT -8
John
I would definitely recommend taking the Eurostar between Paris and London; it's city centre to city centre and once you take into account the waiting around at airports - quicker. I can't speak for Paris but there's plenty to see in London and many day trips to interesting places such as Oxford, Cambridge, Stratford-on Avon etc., it depends what interests you; check with a tour company online.
I work one or two days a week at BMNH so I may see you there.
Bob
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2015 14:08:30 GMT -8
Go to the highlands of scotland (west coast). A flight from london only takes about 50 minutes. You will not be disapointed........depends how long you will be in the UK for. Attachments:
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Post by ornithorchid on Jun 10, 2015 14:31:13 GMT -8
Go to the highlands of scotland (west coast). A flight from london only takes about 50 minutes. You will not be disapointed........depends how long you will be in the UK for. That landscape looks just great. |
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Post by ornithorchid on Jun 10, 2015 16:06:47 GMT -8
Attached a typical view from the south part of Porquerolles island: this is what we call a 'calanque'. Signature from that southern coastal region.  |
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Post by ornithorchid on Jun 10, 2015 16:19:56 GMT -8
The north side of the island. You can keep walking in the sea for 50-75m yet the water won't go above your belly button.  During the day, there is that smell of pine, eucalyptus and other nice heavy fragrances from other plants. At night just relax on the shore listening to the waves or go to the village listening to frogs (real french ones). My friends working for the french gov used book a small 2-bedroom house across the light house (south tip of the island)... Hard to get back home at night after you partied hard since there is no bulb to light up the streets/paths. Ok enought said... Just f*** go there even for two days. You will love it. |
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Post by exoticimports on Jun 11, 2015 5:42:32 GMT -8
When you go to BMNH, make sure you budget time to get OUT of the entomology basement and actually go look through the museum. I didn't make it through half of it, but what I saw was excellent. And see if Tennent is around, he's quite a chap.
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Post by jshuey on Jun 11, 2015 11:55:23 GMT -8
Thanks everyone,
As I make my plans, I'll ponder your suggestions. I doubt that we'll stay a week in each city - as I'm easily bored and exhausted by big city things. For example, I was ready to leave Rio after three days, and that was with all the scenery to look at on Copacabana beech!
John
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Post by timmsyrj on Jun 11, 2015 12:16:44 GMT -8
Yes I imagine there's only so much volley ball you can watch, I would imagine even that gets boring " eventually".
a visit to Lord Rothschilds museum at Tring is a must for any entomologist.
Rich
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So book in advance and be at the station on time, if you do this Brussels is easy to visit. Now inside of Brussels I think there is by far not as many things to see and visit than in other places. You have the grand place, the city center and good restaurants and chocolate and ice cream manufactures around. They are really nice. You also have restaurants that offer interesting things, but it is very expensive in the city center. One place had an "elephant steak" on the menu for 250€, I never found out if it was just a big steak or really some piece of elephant?! I never visited many museum in Brussels as there is not so many and they are obviously not as big as Paris or London. I enjoyed the Natural History museum in Brussels, and if you want to see butterflies try to get out of the city to Tervuren and visit the African museum with one of the biggest collection of African butterflies in the world.
