London 

Never imagined, I would be visiting London. Like Paris, London has a lot of history and no better place to get to know this better than the Museums. London is a city of Museums. There are a lots of museums, very well maintained and up to date and best part is all most all are free and with easy access by Tube (underground rail system of London).

We planned our stay in a service apartment. London has certain strict policies on stay. Hotel/Service apartments are very strict on how many beds/bedrooms you can book based on the size of the family. Since we were 2 Adults and 2 kids, we had to minimum book at 2 bedroom service apartment. Also while booking, we ensured the place is within city limits and closer to a tube station. This saved a lot of time and money and we also had easy access to super markets, places to eat etc.

We had booked our service apartment with Chelsea Cloisters, few min walk from south Kensington - tube station. This was a professional/business service apartment. This was recommended by my cousin, who has stayed her for couple of months when she was travelling on business.

After spending 9 days in Paris, where there was a dread for English Language, felt great that we could communicate to people in English and could easily shop and place an order in the restaurant. We traveled from Paris to London by Euro Star. We had started from Paris in the morning and we were in our London Service apartment by lunch time. We checked-in and stepped out as we weren't tired at all. Had a good Italian food at a small joint close to Kensington station. How much ever we try to convince ourselves not to do currency conversion - it is just inevitable :( Eating out in London is pretty expensive.

After lunch, we walk to the Kensignton station, and purchased the tube pass for the family. It is best to buy the pass based on the duration of the stay. From here we walked to National History Museum (this is right behind the tube station).

Fri 11th May 2012

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

This museum is a huge stone building and very kids friendly. Entry is free. Atleast 4-5 hours is required to cover the important sections in the museum. Such places are filled with so much of information and in so many ways - even if you just glance through each section, you would have gathered much more knowledge than any book can provide.

Victoria and Albert Museum, is 0.2 miles from Natural History Museum

This is another huge museum and very close to Museum of Natural History. We did not spend much time here. We were a little tired. There was an exhibition of Royal Gowns at the museum. This showcased the richness of royal family. It was superb. From here we walked back to our service apartment and called it end of the day.

Sat 12th May 2012

British Library

This is a must visit. It is s huge library and very old. During our visit, there was an exhibition of ancient scripts - some of them very very old. This library is almost like a museum. We spent about an hour and then took tube to

Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace

This is definitely worth visiting. It is a whole day trip and must visit. There are trains from Waterloo station and it would take about 30-45 min. Get down at Hampton Court Place station and it is a short walk to the place. Entrance to the palace is covered by London Pass. 

This palace is built of stone and is huge. The palace is surrounded by huge gardens which are very well maintained. Don't miss the maze in the garden - kids will love it.There are lot of activities, exhibitions running at any point. These will keep changing from time-to-time. You can get a broucher at the entrance and then plan your day. The palace also has a good cafe. It gets crowded at lunch time and could increase your wait time. It is better to plan the lunch slightly earlier if you don't want to waste time waiting for a table. If you have seen Bangalore Palace, you will realize how much influence the Tudor style has on it architecture. More details http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/

We spent the whole day at this palace. By the time we reached our room, it was late evening.

Sun 13th May 2012

We had planned for an entire day at Greenwich. There are lot of attractions here and an entire day can be spent. This to see are

• Greenwich park
• Astronomy Center (must see)
• Planetarium 
• Royal Observatory (must see. Even now, every day at 1pm, red time ball at Royal Observatory continues to drop) 
• Flamstead house and Meridian Courtyard
• Queen's house
• Maritime museum

Mon 14th May 2012

 St Paul’s Cathedral

A must see. The visit will take about 2 hours. There are about 250 steps to reach the dome and it is worth climbing these steps. Best is to reach the cathedral as early as possible, so that you can beat the queue if you wish to climb to the dome. The views are fantastic. Timings are form 8:30 AM to 4:30pm and it is closed on Sunday. The architecture of the cathedral is beautiful. The painting on the dome are magnificent.

Monument (0.6 miles from St. Pauls, can walk)

Next we walked to the monument, which is about 0.6 miles from St. Pauls cathedral. We explored it from outside. we skipped climbing 300+ steps to the top. This was covered by London pass

London Bridge Experience (0.4 miles from monument)

We saw ads to this everywhere and many travel portals also mentioned this as must see for kids. Trusting all this, we decided to visit this place. The kids however were very skeptical from the time we entered the place and waiting in the queue. It was very spooky. We kept telling kids, it will be ok. However as soon as we entered, the kids were very scared. The whole experience is not meant for kids and can leave them shattered for long time. We requested to staff to show us the first possible exit. The kids were really scared. I don't think this place should be visited by kids below 15 years and if you are a person who does not like spooky, haunted experience - please avoid this.

Tower of London 

Must see place. This place is about 2 miles from St. Paul’s Cathedral. This was covered by London Pass. This will take 3-4 hours to see the entire place. Tower of London is right across river Thames. The whole place is built of stone and can be easily spotted. Must see places here are The Crown Jewels - which has the exhibits of all the royal jewels including the Kohinoor diamond, the Tower Torture, White Tower and Medieval Palace. More details http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/ 

Tower Bridge

Opening of Bridge - Tower Bridge

from Tower of London, we walked to Tower Bridge. We waited to see the bridge open and worth the experience. Opening of Bridge to let the ships through may not be everyday. You will need to check the schedule and plan your visit. The schedules are on display in many resturants, supermarkets and also on the web. Visit to the Tower Bridge museum is also good. We got to see the working of hydrolic pumps and how the engines work.

Tue 15th May 2012

Shakespeare’s globe

http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/exhibition

Good tour, if you are interested in the history. Guides will take you on a tour of the iconic Globe Theatre, bringing the space to life with colourful stories of the 1599 Globe, of the reconstruction process in the 1990s, and of how the ‘wooden O’ works today as an imaginative and experimental theatrical space.

Tours begin every 30 minutes, and are in English.

Kensington Palace

This Covered by London Pass. Everyday 10am to 6:00pm. It would take an hour to cover the palace.

http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/

Hyde Park/Kensington gardens

If you get time nice place to visit this park. 

Later in the evening we went to the city to check out if there were tickets available for the Lion King Musical. We bought 4 tickets (which costed us a bomb) and enjoyed the musical. This is something which should not be missed in London. It was mind blowing and icing on the cake was it was Lion King Musical - which is our all time favorite. The whole experience was amazing and the kids were awed as this was their first musical experience.

Wed 16th May 2012

Parliament Building

Queen’s Gallery @ Buckingham Palace

This is covered by London pass. 10am to 5:30pm. 10 to 11 finish this. Then go to change of guard @ 11:30

Change of Royal Guard @ 11:30am

This is more for been there - done it. There is lot of crowd to see the parade. It is worth a watch.

Royal Mews @ Buckingham Palace

This is covered by London pass. 10am to 5pm.

West Minister Abbey

A must see. It is beautiful and has lot of interesting stuff. It requires atleast 3-4 hours to see the whole place. This is covered  by  London pass.  9:30am to 7pm (last entry 6pm)

Big Ben and Parliament buildings

Tourists aren't allowed inside. It can be seen from outside. You can see it while walking towards West Minister Abbey.

London Eye/Thames River Cruise

We skipped the London Eye as we had got a good view of London from the top of St. Pauls Church. We  however took the cruise on Thames River. The cruise was relaxing as we had been on our foot for the whole day.

Free all day hop-on-hop-off ticket - The Red Rover Ticket
Normal ticket price: Adult: £13.50 Child: £6.50

From London Eye, the last boat is at 18:55.

Thu 17th May 2012

British Museum

This museum is free. Actually all museums in London are free. This is huge and would require atleast a day to do justice Free. 10am to 5:30pm.

Harry Potter Studio Tour

Harry Potter Studio

Must see for Harry Potter Fans.  http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/en/your-visit/getting-here

Remember you cannot buy tickets at the attraction. All tickets must be bought in advance. 

Plan to arrive at the Studio Tour 20 minutes before your tour time. If you have an email booking confirmation you will need to pick up your tickets from the kiosks outside of the attraction.

The tour is estimated to take approximately three hours, however, as the tour is mostly self guided, you are free to explore the attraction at your own pace.

Fri 18th May 2012

Science Museum

Must see if you are travelling with kids. Minimum of one full day is required to explore. Check out for the special events and plan accordingly.

Everyday 10am to 6:00pm

 .

Trafalgar Square and National Gallery

In the evening we visited the Trafalgar Square. Nothing much to see here, except it is landmark and right across this is the National Gallery. Most of these buildings are a monument in itself. We skipped going into the National Gallery as we were pretty tired. By now we were exhausted with lots of information across different museums. Europe has lot of history and best part is they have been successful in preserving it and making it interesting for tourists to visit and appreciate it.

Sat 19th May 2012

 Oxford

Oxford Campus

Visit to London is incomplete without a visit to one of the prestigious universities. According to me, a visit to either Oxford or Cambridge should be included in everybody's itenanry. Given enough time, we would have visited both. But since we had only one more day, we planned to visit Oxford.

There are trains available for Oxford (and this is the best mode to travel). It takes about an hour from downtown London.Travel Card does not work for the Oxford train. You can use it to get to the station in London to board the Oxford train. Minimum of one full day is required to cover the campus. Once we reached oxford, we choose to go with the hop-on-hop-off bus facility for the oxford tour. This option is best as the tour covers all the important landmarks and also the audio guide on the bus helps identify important monuments, buildings and events.

The visit here brings lot of inspiration - hopefully the kids will get inspired and strive to study in such universities.

Sun 20th May 2012

It was time to pack our bags and bid good bye. It was a wonderful trip and every moment cherished. We were also looking forward to getting back home to some indian spicy-tangy food - especially Rasam/Rice. We did carry a lot of MTR read to eat packets, gongura pickle, rice, noodles and soups. But nothing like a full meal at home. It felt good to be back after almost 20 days of trip.

Paris - London (May 3 - May 20)

Paris

This was one of those trips where you end up saying “Yeh Dil Mange More!”. We spent a good 20 days between just these 2 cities and yet felt we could have stayed a little more. These 2 cities have so much of History and Culture, one can get overwhelmed with the information. Every street, every stone of a building has a story. One just needs time, patience and of course money to explore these cities.

This trip was planned for good 19 days – 9 Days in Paris and 10 Days in London. We planned and did all the bookings ourselves (with out any travel agents support). It was fun, exciting but time consuming (we spent about 1-2 hours every day for a month). One can get overwhelmed by the information on the internet. But if you love travelling then it is fun. I and Pankaj enjoyed every bit of planning. We felt we have experienced the entire trip even before we went there.

 

For Paris, we used the Ah! Paris http://www.ahparis.com/ (this was suggested by one of my friend) to book a service apartment. For London, we went with Chelsea Service Apartment in South Kensington, London (one of my cousins has stayed here and had recommended this place).

Tips for Paris

•  If travelling with family (especially kids or senior citizens) book short vacation homes (service apartments)
•  Choose an apartment closer to Metro and which is not on higher floor (most old buildings do not have elevators and it can get difficult to climb the stairs. Also choose an apartment within the city limits and closer to attractions. Most points are centrally located.
•  Buy metro card based on your stay duration. 
• Paris is best explored by walk. All most all the important places in Paris are walking distance from Metro station. Use metro and bus service to the maximum
• Buy Museum pass – this will work out cheaper as it covers entry to many tourist attractions. This can be purchased at FNAC store. Find the FNAC store closer to where you stay
•  Disney Land tickets are best purchased online.
• Purchase visit to Eiffel Tower tickets online.
• Check out http://www.parisnet.com/parispassfaq.html  for more details
• Fill your water bottles before you step out (if possible carry multiple bottles).  Water is more expensive that wine here L
• Carry some packed food – especially if you are a vegetarian and travelling with kids
• Learn to speak atleast few basic words like meat/no meat, how to go to a place etc. Most people here don’t speak nor understand English. It can get very difficult.
• Carry umbrella and a light jacket
• Avail Audio guide wherever available. They are worth it - even if you have to pay. Many places the audio guides are free.
• Lot of museums, after a point all seem same. There is too much of information. Choose which you would like to cover based on your interest. The visits to museums can be very tiring.

Must See

• Louvre
• Versallies (don’t miss the musical fountains)
• Eiffel tower
• Notre Dame
• Palace Garnier
• Arc De Triumph and Champ Elysisses
• Disney Land (if travelling with kids)

This was our itenary

Fri 3rd May 2012

Check-in to service apartment. Buy museum cards and metro card. Relax .

Fri 4th May 2012

1.    Walk to Eglis St-Eustachce

Huge Pillar and Arches at Eglis St-Eustachce Church

This is a huge church and also pretty old. It is very well maintained. Try and visit in the morning. The sound of organ is very melodious.

2.    Walk to Royal Palace

10 min walk from Eglis St-Eustachce.  Entry to this palace is not permitted. The palace has a huge garden which is very well maintained with maneuvered trees and beautiful fountains. We took a small break here.

3.    Walk to Louvre museum

10 min walk from Royal Palace is Louvre Museum. Have the tickets purchased in advance or best option is to go with Museum Pass. You will need a minimum of 1 full day to cover atleast the major attractions of the museum. Collect the maps from the Information help desk and plan your day on what to cover. The museum has 3 wings and it is very tiring. Wear comfortable foot ware – snickers.  Carry enough food and water. Eatables and drinks/water are pretty expensive inside the museum.  If you are travelling with very small children, avoid covering all parts in one day. It can get overwhelming and irritating for smaller kids.

The garden/Jardians are beautiful in the evening. Stay back after sunset around Louvre to see the lighting and view of Eiffel Tower lit with thousands of light bulbs. It is worth an experience.

Information
Opening hours: Monday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Friday: from 9 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.
closed on Tuesday. Rooms begin closing 30 minutes before museum closing time.

Entrances to the museum

·         Pyramid and Galerie du Carrousel entrances: every day (except Tuesday) from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. starting from July 1, 2012)

·         Passage Richelieu entrance: every day (except Tuesday) from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays)

·         Porte des Lions entrance: every day except Tuesday and Friday. Opening hours: please contact us at +33 (0) 1 40 20 53 17 (except Tuesdays).

4.   La Defense (Monument)

La Defense (monument) is walking distance from Louvre - right behind the gardens. 

Sat 5th May 2012

1.    Versailles

A must see attraction when visiting Paris. It is full day trip from Paris. Their is direct train - RER from Paris to Versailles. From the Versailles station, the palace is a 10 min walk. Visit all the sites and also plan for the visit when they have musical fountains. They also have a musical show, which is typically in french. Hence we did not opt for the show. The musical fountains and palace are really beautiful. The palace is rich in architecture, the paintings and all the antiques are well preserved. The grandeur of palace is unimaginable. 

Museum Pass site (http://en.parismuseumpass.com/musee-musee-national-des-chateaux-de-versailles-et-de-trianon-64.htm)

The PARIS MUSEUM PASS includes access to all unguided tours, open according to the season: the "Grands Appartements", the Hall of Mirrors, the King's Bedchamber, the Queen's Bedchamber, the Dauphin and Dauphine apartments as well as those of Louis XV's daughters (weekends only), exhibitions, the Trianon Castles and the Estate of Marie-Antoinette.

Sun 6th May 2012

 1.    Notre Dame 

Check the timings before planning a visit. It is recommended to start early if you wish you climb to the top of Notre-Dame. There is a limit on the visitor who are allowed and queue can get pretty long unless started early. The views from top are amazing. This is a very old church but beautiful. The high ceilings, huge hand painted windows, the richness of the church and history leave you speech less.

Also visit Place De la Concorde (square with obelisk where Marie etc were guillotined.

•  Notre Dame Cathedral – 9am to 6pm
• Tours De Notre Dame (10am to 6:30 daily)
• Crypte Archeological Notre Dame are covered in the museum pass (10am to 6pm)

2.    Ste-Chapella

•  9:30 to 6pm, 400m from Notre Dame, backside road of the crypt
•  Paris museum pass covers this

3. La Conceiergerie

•  (9:30am to 6pm, 100m from Ste-Chapella)
• Paris museum pass covers this

 From La Conceriergere, walk to Pont Neuf bridge (400m away, built in 1607). You can experience some ice-creams which Paris boasts about.

4. Palais Garnier (opera house, plan for guided tour, check website)

Must visit palace. Superb opera house. It is very rich, unimaginable. This not covered in the museum pass. At the helpdesk ask for a guided tour. It is worth a visit.

5. Arc De Triumphe

Take the metro to Arc De Triumphe which is open form 10am to 11pm. Get a ticket to visit at the top (Paris Museum pass covers this). Visit to top is only through stairs and can be challenging for elderly and small kids. Visit around sun set is good - as you will get a view during the day and also when lights come on the busy streets of Champ Elysses and Eiffel Tower. 12 roads meet at this arc and it looks superb.

6. Champ Elysses 

After visitng Arch De Triumphe walk through Champ Elysses street to experience the downtown of Paris. Best time is early evening after sunset.

Mon 7th May 2012

 1. Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre

One can take a metro to this place. This place is different from other parts of Paris. You see hawkers selling on road side, lot of people gambling on road side. This is not covered by Museum pass – cost is 5 euros.

Moulin Rouge is 1.2km walk from the basilique, but shows are in the evening and very expensive. If you are travelling with kids, can visit this :(. 

2. Centre Georges Pompidou (Place Georges Pompidou)

This is  covered by Museum pass. Unlike other museums, this has all modern art. The building itself is pretty different. Can be skipped. This was very close to the apartment we stayed, hence visited this place.

Tue 8th May 2012

 1.    EGLISE SAINT GERMAIN DES PRES

2.    Rodin Museum 

If you are fan of Rodin, this is a place to visit. The museum is not very big and can be covered in 1-2 hours. The sculptures are well maintained in the open garden

3.    Orsay Museum 

4.   Eiffel Tower

Open all days till 11pm.  Check the lift operation and book your tickets well in advance. Tickets can be booked online. 

5.    Bateaux mouches River cruise

This can be covered while visiting Eiffel tower. No need to  book in advance.  Go to the cruise place at Pont de l'Alma, Paris, France (900 m from Eiffel Tower). Frequent trips are available and you can choose as per your convenience

Wed 9th May 2012

 1.    Bois de Vincennes (8km from apt)

http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-sightseeing/explore-the-parisian-south-east/in-and-around-the-bois-de-vincennes/

Palace- 10am to 6pm all days.  

Chataeu De Vincennes is covered by Paris pass. Park is 9:30am to 8pm (3 euros)

2.    Pantheon 

3. Musée de l'Orangerie (for water lilies) 

4. Saint Louis chateau

Beautiful castle at the end of metro line

Thu 10th May 2012

Special Disneyland Paris Ticket Prices - Only available online

• Disneyland
• Walt Disney Studios: 10:00-22:30
• Disneyland Park: 10:00-18:00

Both the Disneyland and Studio are excellent, though much smaller in scale than the parks in Florida USA. Studio is open for longer duration, check the show times and plan your day. The park and studio are not far apart. It is better to purchase a combo ticket as you will have sufficient time to cover both the parks.

Fri 11th May 2012

We look a train Euro-Star from Paris to London. This was a unique experience, especially the thought that for some time we would be riding into the underground tunnel in the sea. The trains ride was fun, but the moving from the metro line to Euro line in the metro station was very tiring. We had not imagined that the station would be so huge and so many levels. With all the luggage moving on escalator which are huge and very fast moving was an overwhelming experience.  

Book the train tickets well in advance as the prices steep up as the day of travel gets closer.