Stay in Paris, or DLP, or split stay?

[ljhayes]

We're doing a med cruise next summer and have decided to head to Paris after the cruise. We'll be taking the train from Barcelona on Sunday and probably flying out of Paris on Wednesday. So we'll have 3 nights but only 2 full days. We have two kids who will be 13 and 8 at the time. Husband and I have done Paris before, but we've never done DLP. Kids have never been to Paris. I think the kids will want to see the highlights of Paris, but I'm not sure we'll do any museums or anything. So my question is, are we better off staying in Paris and just traveling to DLP the day(s) we want to go, staying in DLP and traveling to Paris the day(s) we want to go, or trying to split stay? With only 3 nights the split stay seems like a lot of effort but if it's the best option, we'll do it.

 

[cheryl.UK]

Don't bother with split stay. We've done it both ways, stayed in Paris and gone to Disney for the day and the other way around. We much preferred staying at DLP and getting in the train to Paris. The trains run really late so it's not an issue. Last time we went we stayed at Sequoia, got a train into Paris at about 10, hopped on the metro to St Germain, walked over to Notre Dame, got on the boat to the Eiffel Tower, then set off walking over to the the Arc de Triumph and up the Champs Elysees. We got a taxi up to Montmartre and a taxi back to the station. It was a full on day but we loved it.

 

[ljhayes]

Don't bother with split stay. We've done it both ways, stayed in Paris and gone to Disney for the day and the other way around. We much preferred staying at DLP and getting in the train to Paris. The trains run really late so it's not an issue. Last time we went we stayed at Sequoia, got a train into Paris at about 10, hopped on the metro to St Germain, walked over to Notre Dame, got on the boat to the Eiffel Tower, then set off walking over to the the Arc de Triumph and up the Champs Elysees. We got a taxi up to Montmartre and a taxi back to the station. It was a full on day but we loved it.

Thank you! Since we'll be coming into Gare de Lyon from Barcelona, staying at DLP felt like the best option so I'm glad to hear you recommend it!

 

[Karin1984]

Yeah, definitely do not do a split stay. I would stay there where you plan more time or where you can get an easy connection to the airport.

 

[KristaZ]

Stay wherever you're going to spend more time. If you'll only do 1 day at DLP, stay in Paris, but if you'll only do 1 day in Paris, stay near DLP.

 

[RunnerMom71]

FWIW It's probably cheaper & very much faster to fly from Barcelona to Paris (Orly) vs taking the train

If you end your trip at DLP I would stay the night at Disneyland and then fly out of CDG. Easier to get to CDG from DLP vs downtown Paris

Personally I would want to spend more time in Paris than DLP but that's just me! So many amazing things to see & do.

 

[kathy884]

Haven't been before to DLP. We are doing a split stay, but have way more time than you in the Paris area (have multiple days of things we want to do in Paris and now are going to do two full days in the parks too). Also we decided to do a Disneyland Paris hotel to get the advantage of doing rope drop with early entry to the parks for both of our full park days. If we get a package, we can go into the parks the night before too, check in day, and check out day also which we wouldn't do because of flight times. The packages for three nights include four park days. We're flying to Paris from the US, are doing four nights in Paris, then three nights in Disneyland Paris with two full days in the Parks (maybe some time in the parks check in night too if I book a package), then flying to Belfast and doing three nights there before flying back to the US.

Originally when we were going to just do one day in DLP (one park hopper day). This was when my husband who doesn't care for theme parks was coming. He's really not very interested in the activities we're planning in Paris or Belfast either, and is pretty sure he's just going to sit this one out (stay home). Anyway, when I thought he'd be coming I was planning to stay in Paris the whole time and just do a day trip in (about a 45 minute to hour ride on a train each way depending on where you are staying) with DH staying in Paris and doing a food tour that day. Now it looks like it's just going to be my mid 20 son and me who are both big Disney fans (both leaving significant others home and doing a mother - son mini European trip, going to the three places DS is most interested in going to in Europe that he hasn't been to before). And me, I was an exchange student in Paris back when I was 16 and haven't been back since then, so think it will be super fun to go back even thought it's just for a few days this time around.

I agree with other posters. If it were me just doing one day in either Paris or Disneyland Paris I'd stay in one place and do a day trip to one or the other, staying where you want to spend the most time. I also agree that it's easier to get to CDG from Disneyland Paris than from Paris. We though to get to the airport are probably going to do private transfer rather than take the train, just to make it really easy for us (even thought the train is a super straight shot,).