London or Paris Tours

[UConnFan]

Hi My best friend and her boyfriend are going to London and Paris this summer. I'd really love to pay for a tour for them. She'll be my maid of honor for our wedding in May, so I thought this would be a really special present.

Can you suggest any really good tours? It can be for London or Paris. Something sight-see-y. I'm planning to spend around $100 probably.

Or, if you have a better idea than a tour, I'll take that too

Thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

We've used London Walks before, for several walking tours. They were quite good.

 

[TinkerBelled]

Hi My best friend and her boyfriend are going to London and Paris this summer. I'd really love to pay for a tour for them. She'll be my maid of honor for our wedding in May, so I thought this would be a really special present.

Can you suggest any really good tours? It can be for London or Paris. Something sight-see-y. I'm planning to spend around $100 probably.

Or, if you have a better idea than a tour, I'll take that too

Thanks!

You could always do a night cruise on the Seine in Paris. I wouldn't do dinner, as I'm there are a million better places to eat in Paris (and the boats that have decent food are super pricey--at least twice your budget for a couple), but maybe one with drinks? The London version of the same is something like this:
http://www.citycruises.com/city-cruises-experiences-rivernights-river-lights.aspx

I say this as someone who hates walking tours, especially in big cities in the summertime--so I'm afraid I'm little use in that regard. The crowds are always incredibly thick, and getting through places with a group can be hellish. I love walking around both Paris and London, but I like to do it by myself, with a guide book if needed. That said, a behind-the-scenes tour at a notable landmark can be very fun. Is there anything that she's particularly excited about seeing? Many if not all of them have special tours involved.

 

[UConnFan]

You could always do a night cruise on the Seine in Paris. I wouldn't do dinner, as I'm there are a million better places to eat in Paris (and the boats that have decent food are super pricey--at least twice your budget for a couple), but maybe one with drinks? The London version of the same is something like this:
http://www.citycruises.com/city-cruises-experiences-rivernights-river-lights.aspx

I say this as someone who hates walking tours, especially in big cities in the summertime--so I'm afraid I'm little use in that regard. The crowds are always incredibly thick, and getting through places with a group can be hellish. I love walking around both Paris and London, but I like to do it by myself, with a guide book if needed. That said, a behind-the-scenes tour at a notable landmark can be very fun. Is there anything that she's particularly excited about seeing? Many if not all of them have special tours involved.

I hadn't thought about the crowds for walking tours. They hate crowds, so that probably isn't the best bet. The boat tour sounds like a good idea, I'll have to look into those. Thanks!

How about one of those double decker bus tours. I've never been (hopefully Summer 2014!), so I don't have much of an idea of what's available. I'm going to subtly ask her what she is most excited about.

ETA: She just told me she's excited about wine, food, and the catacombs in Paris. I'll have to look into that. Do you think it's possible to pay for a meal somewhere? I wouldn't even know how to go about doing that? Plus, I'm not sure where they want to eat. Also, can anyone recommend a good map of London and one of Paris?

 

[TinkerBelled]

I hadn't thought about the crowds for walking tours. They hate crowds, so that probably isn't the best bet. The boat tour sounds like a good idea, I'll have to look into those. Thanks!

How about one of those double decker bus tours. I've never been (hopefully Summer 2014!), so I don't have much of an idea of what's available. I'm going to subtly ask her what she is most excited about.

ETA: She just told me she's excited about wine, food, and the catacombs in Paris. I'll have to look into that. Do you think it's possible to pay for a meal somewhere? I wouldn't even know how to go about doing that? Plus, I'm not sure where they want to eat. Also, can anyone recommend a good map of London and one of Paris?

Well there you go--you can get tickets for a group tour of the catacombs--skips the line, has lots of details. This might take some collaboration with her boyfriend to make sure that you're picking an available date. Google around--there are a few tour companies to choose from. Fat Bike Tours does one (they're quite well known as a company); so does Aeon Tours, which I don't know.

The Streetwise maps are the best--easy, clear, and laminated. You can get one for Paris and one for London. I'm sure they have plenty of guidebooks, but I always recommend the Time Out Guides, especially for London.

Getting dinner reservations can be tricky, but if you'd rather do that, you could always get currency for the city you pick (so either pounds or euros) and give it to her with a note. I have plenty of restaurant recommendations if you're interested--as I'm sure lots of people here do.

Finally, I'll say that one of the most magical things I've done in London in the touristy vibe is to see a show at the Globe. It sounds cheesy as all get-out, but the quality of the productions is top-notch. If she's at all into Shakespeare, I absolutely recommend it.

 

[eliza61]

Also, is there an activity they are found of? My girlfriend and I took a cooking class in Paris that was soooo much fun. I think it was called cookin with class. we took the french dessert class. Yummy and fun.

I also did a photography tour that was awesome. It was just myself and two other students. we were all beginners to the DSLR world and our guide was awesome.

 

[Domo]

Perhaps some form of ghost walk?

 

[YachtClubWoman]

The London Walking Tours are great. I did the one of the Olympic Park while they were finishing for the games.

I also did the on off bus in Paris and that was great to get around. London has similar tours.

http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/london/custompage.aspx?id=london_sightseeing_tour&gclid=

http://www.carsrouges.com/

 

[mickeyboat]

We did a double-decker bus tour in Paris at night. We had already visited many of the sights during the day, and it was great to get to see how beautiful they were at night, too. It was a lovely evening, so we sat up top. It was one of my favorite memories of Paris.

 

[BrownEyedGrl]

Not sure if they are Harry Potter fans but I did the studio tour in London this past January and it was absolutely spectacular.

 

[NoSoup4U]

Also, is there an activity they are found of? My girlfriend and I took a cooking class in Paris that was soooo much fun. I think it was called cookin with class. we took the french dessert class. Yummy and fun.

I love this suggestion. Also what about a day trip in the champagne region? We did this in july and went with RAW France tours. She is awesome! Look it up on tripadvisor. We went to her vineyard, tasted some champagne, labelled our own free bottle of champagne, plus she sent us on a boat cruise for a couple of hours, had lunch etc. It was awesome!

 

[horseshowmom]

Not sure if they are Harry Potter fans but I did the studio tour in London this past January and it was absolutely spectacular.

That's what I was going to say too! One of these days I'm going ot make it over for that myself.

 

[Stephanie218]

Also what about a day trip in the champagne region?

I was going to suggest this too, until I saw the budget for the present was $100. I think our tour last summer was $500 for the day. Entirely worth it, but definitely pricey. I know the company we went with also does wine tastings in Paris, if that's something they'd be interested in - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...Chateau_Wine_Tasting-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

I also heard great things about the Fat Bike Tours, but we didn't have time to do one in Paris or London.