Paris or London before Cruise

[Santiago Sister]

I'm trying to plan some pre and post Cruise tours. We are hoping to spend 2-3 days in both London and Paris. We are planning on Princess British isles cruise but don't know if it is better to do London for 3 days PRE- cruise and then after the cruise, take the train and head to Paris for 3 days and back to Heathrow for flight back to states. Any opinions or thoughts to help us decide? Thanks,

[Keith1010]

I think either one is a nice option having done it both ways before.

 

I would just look at factors such as flights arrivals and flight departures and train schedules to see if doing it one way or the other way makes better sense.

 

Sounds like a wonderful trip.

 

Keith

[LondonTowner]

Yes, I would fly into one city and out of the other and take the Eurostar between the two.

 

Book the Eurostar on their own website. Best prices released 120 days before date of travel.

[John Bull]

Yes, I would fly into one city and out of the other and take the Eurostar between the two.

.

 

Yes, fly into London (Heathrow or Gatwick), explore London, cruise, Eurostar to Paris, explore Paris, fly home from Paris.

No need to return to Heathrow

 

If you book SLC to London and Paris to SLC as two singles the cost of the flights will probably be horrendous. :(

But if you book "open jaw" (aka "multi-city") return tickets, they'll cost approx. the midway point between a SLC to London return ticket and a Paris to SLC return ticket. :)

You have to book both ways in one booking (as you'd do with a regular return booking), you must return to the same city as you started at (in your case SLC) and you have to use the same airline or airline alliance for both flights.

 

So find out which airlines operate flights out of SLC to both London & Paris, and look on their websites for "open jaw" or multi-city".

 

Paris is perhaps more laid-back than London, so better to visit Paris post-cruise, when you'll want to chill. But flight schedules or dates may mean that London post-cruise works better or cheaper.

 

JB :)

Edited March 8, 2016 by John Bull

[Enforcer]

Hi,

 

If you are going to France it would be very helpful to you if you learnt some French, assuming that you can't parle at the moment.

You will be treated so much better by the locals.

 

Pete

[Bob++]

It's the same as anywhere else in the world. If you at least try the odd polite phrase - hello, please, thank you and maybe numbers up to ten, the locals will appreciate it.

 

A tourist with a couple of days to 'see' Paris, is not really going to encounter many language problems.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Bob++

[ADBark]

I'm trying to plan some pre and post Cruise tours. We are hoping to spend 2-3 days in both London and Paris. We are planning on Princess British isles cruise but don't know if it is better to do London for 3 days PRE- cruise and then after the cruise, take the train and head to Paris for 3 days and back to Heathrow for flight back to states. Any opinions or thoughts to help us decide? Thanks,

 

We are doing the exact same thing with Princess. We chose to spend a few days in London first (flying in to LHR) and then making our way down to Southampton. At the end of the cruise, we are taking a short flight out of Southampton directly to Paris. There is a discount airline called Flybe that has a few flights to Paris right from Southampton. After a few days in Paris we will fly back to the US via CDG airport.

 

If you chose this option, be sure to read all the fine print before you book with Flybe. They have very strict rules, particularly with respect to the weight of luggage and size of luggage - both inside the aircraft (carry-on) and underneath the plane (hold-luggage). Bon Voyage! :)

[LondonTowner]

ADBark

 

Your information is correct and to fly to Paris after a cruise arriving back in Southampton is spot on. However, if I didn't live in the UK I would choose Eurostar. I go to France fairly often on Eurotunnel which is the same track as Eurostar uses, but I take the car.

 

It never fails to amaze me that after 35 minutes I arrive in a foreign country as the experience for me is like taking the London Underground to work.

[insidecabin]

check the itinerary

 

depends on the Le Havre stop which is the best option.

 

if at the end of the cruise

 

fly into London do london head to southampton

 

At end of cruise go to Paris from Le havre and fly home from there.

 

By far the best use of time.

 

you only miss one over night on the ship and have a much easier disembarkation.

 

 

You can also look at flying into Southampton via Paris if you want to do paris first.

[John Bull]

Yes, I'd forgotten about Round-Britain cruises with Le Havre (or Cherbourg or even Zebrugge/Bruges or Amsterdam) as a last port-of-call.

 

In those circumstances quite a few cruisers jump-ship in order to spend time in Paris. Needs cruise line's OK, but I've never heard f it being refused. Princess even have a routine for those departing those cruises on the last night.

 

And as per latest replies, that may well be ideal for you.

 

JB :)

[SpartanMom76]

Following. I'm planning a similar trip cruising on the Caribbean Princess May 25, 2017.

[DEW95]

I took this cruise a couple years ago and disembarked at Le Havre. We hired a taxi from Paris to pick us up at the port since train service from there was going to take to long to get to the city. We shared the taxi with 2 other couples. It cost about 150euros per couple. We found the other couples using the roll call for our cruise.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Edited March 28, 2016 by DEW95

[Pet Nit Noy]

I'm trying to plan some pre and post Cruise tours. We are hoping to spend 2-3 days in both London and Paris. We are planning on Princess British isles cruise but don't know if it is better to do London for 3 days PRE- cruise and then after the cruise, take the train and head to Paris for 3 days and back to Heathrow for flight back to states. Any opinions or thoughts to help us decide? Thanks,

 

There departure tax on flights departing from the UK is higher than the departure tax for flights leaving the Paris airports. I don't recall whether or not you're flying British Airways, but that carrier imposes additional fees on its departing passengers.

 

The official rates at the UK government website are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-air-passenger-duty/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-air-passenger-duty

 

Here's the chart of APD rates from 1 April 2016:

 

Destination Bands and distance from London (miles)

 

Reduced rate: (for travel in the lowest class of travel available on the aircraft) Standard rate: (for travel in any other class of travel) Higher rate: (for travel in aircraft of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers)

Band A (0 to 2,000 miles) £13 £26 £78

Band B (over 2,000 miles) £73 £146 £438

 

I've read posts where travelers all but foam at the mouth about the high UK departure rates. If this matters, consider flying home from Paris.

 

To find out the price of flying into LHR and out of CDG, use the multi-city option for booking flights. This lets you specify a return trip that is not a round trip ticket to/from the same airport.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Pet Nit Noy