Touring Paris - Should I take an extra day and take the Train from London

[LongIsland-Cruiser]

Hi all, 

 

Any information from previous cruisers is appreciated.

 

I am taking the NCL Prima on a 15 day cruise in April 24, starting in NYC and ending in Southampton UK.  I am using NCL option to buy airfare back to NYC.

 

I know that NCL bills Le Havre France as PARIS and Southampton UK as LONDON.  I also know that those are only technically true with around 3 to 4 hours of travel.  

 

We are terminating in Southampton at 6 am, which gives me plenty of time to travel to London and see the sights.  We were thinking about asking NCL to book our airline the next day and just stay in a hotel so we could see as much of London as possible.  However, we are disappointed about seeing Paris.  We will be in port in Le Havre for about 15 hours...so even with a 2 to 3 hour trip both ways into Paris, we would be able to spend a few hours there and see the city...but it just seems a shame to not have more time for the City of Lights.   I might not get to see Paris again in my life, I want to spend as much time as I can.

 

Could someone that has made a similar trip before tell me about the logistics of two options I have been brainstorming about below?

 

OPTION 1

 

Take the trip from Le Havre into Paris.  Enjoy the (hopefully) 9 hours or so I will get there.  I will incur no extra costs other than what I spend travelling around the city and the train/excursion to take me back and forth.  Continue onto London and get a hotel there, spend all day touring, fly out the next day.

 

OPTION 2

 

Spend the time in Le Havre.  Enjoy the historic town.  Don't rush, venture out and really enjoy the French country side.   Then, when the ship drops me off in Southhampton at 6 am, take the train to London. Drop my bag off at the hotel and tour London.  Then wake up early the next day and take the train into Paris and enjoy a full day exploring the city, and fly back to New York from Paris.

 

 

I could always spend the day in London, and take a late train to Paris and stay in a hotel there, giving myself an early start on exploring that city, but I don't know what I would do with my bags all day. We travel very light, but would still have at least one rolling bag following us around in London without an English hotel to drop it off at.

 

 

Has anyone any advice for me?  I'll take all suggestions.  I am only going off what I have read online.  Perhaps the train from London to Paris is a nightmare?  Flying out of Paris is much more difficult than flying out of London?  I know I won't abandon the cruise in Le Havre and skip the London leg to give myself more freedom, because they severely punish you for that.  

 

Curious if anyone has done any of the options above?  Thanks in advance.  

 

[edinburgher]

8 hours ago, LongIsland-Cruiser said:

Spend the time in Le Havre.  Enjoy the historic town.  Don't rush, venture out and really enjoy the French country side.   Then, when the ship drops me off in Southhampton at 6 am, take the train to London. Drop my bag off at the hotel and tour London.  Then wake up early the next day and take the train into Paris and enjoy a full day exploring the city, and fly back to New York from Paris.

Your option #2 would be a bit of a waste of time IMHO.  le Havre is not by any stretch of the imagination "historic" having been mostly rebuilt after being almost flattened in WW11 and has little to recommend it. I would drop the idea of that option immediately (and think others would agree) but suggest a few different options  ( below)

 

It is  a good  jumping off point for many popular sites/sights in Normandy.  Many cruise pax head to pretty and historic  Honfleur which is nearby, but you have additional time and could consider other options such as touring some of the WW11  Normandy landings beaches or heading to Rouen (one hour by train) or even Monet's Garden at Giverny.  There is also the Alabaster Coast to explore.   You could read about Normandy online and read past threads to see what others did with their long day in lwe Havre.

 

You could also consider travelling to London from Southampton, booking an overnight hotel, dropping off your bags, then heading directly to Paris on the Eurostar.  Your return to London could be worked around the Eurostar timetable which you could check for evening departures from Paris.. 

[CruiserBruce]

I would visit the WWII sites from Le Havre. I would go Paris before or after you do your cruise, and for at least 2 days/3nights. Maybe do (time and budget permitting, of course) 2 days/3 nights in London before, and the same in Paris afterwards.

[Hlitner]

We also see little reason to waste any of your valuable time in Le Havre.  But you might want to do a little research about the Eurostar Train between London and Paris.  This is a very popular train and you generally need to book reservations well in advance to get your desired train.   While the train is fast (about 2 1/2 hours) there are some hassles.  UK is not part of the EU or a Schengen country so you are going to spend extra time with immigration/passport checks.  

 

I sometimes think many do not "get it" about large cities (i.e. London and Paris).  We have truly spent months in Paris and still have not seen it all.  London is similar.  Also keep in mind that if you are thinking about going to places such as the Eiffel Tower, Tower of London (we love this place), etc. you will need plenty of time and may need to deal with long queues.  

 

My advice (the OP did ask for advice) is to somehow find a way to extend your trip and get a few days in both Paris and London.  Assuming that is not possible, we would view your Option 1 as the best of your two options.  That being said, we would prefer spending a night in Paris (over London) since Paris is one of DW's favorite cities and is where we would both prefer to be for dinner :).

 

Hank

[mskaufman]

Is spending the day in Honfleur an option?

[MeHeartCruising]

Since the OP has stated they are going to use NCLs air option, that only gives them the ability to extend 2 nights after the end of the cruise.  My advice is to spend that time in London and see what you can.  Trying to cram in a Paris visit is not a valuable part of your time.   Save Paris for another trip.  Or cancel the NCL airfare and book your own flights (which will likely be more expensive) but will allow you to add several more days on to the end of the trip so you can get over to Paris. 

[klfrodo]

I can only give my experience.

This past fall we did a cruise out of Southampton. We flew into London and spent a week in a nice little flat in Westminster right next to St. James Park.

For my wife and I, Paris has never been on our bucket list. But, being from the US, and Paris being a 2 hour train ride away, we felt it would be foolish not to at least do a drive by. That's what we did.

We got up early one morning, took the tube up to St. Pancras, jumped on the Eurostar and when to Paris for about 36 hours. I was able to purchase my Metro tickets for the Paris subway on the train in the cafe. Jumped on the metro, checked into the hotel, then hit a few of the touristy attractions.

Had a great overall visit. Probably will never go to Paris again but have some great pics and some great memories.

[LongIsland-Cruiser]

Thanks everyone for the advice!

[mpk]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:06 PM, klfrodo said:

I can only give my experience.

This past fall we did a cruise out of Southampton. We flew into London and spent a week in a nice little flat in Westminster right next to St. James Park.

For my wife and I, Paris has never been on our bucket list. But, being from the US, and Paris being a 2 hour train ride away, we felt it would be foolish not to at least do a drive by. That's what we did.

We got up early one morning, took the tube up to St. Pancras, jumped on the Eurostar and when to Paris for about 36 hours. I was able to purchase my Metro tickets for the Paris subway on the train in the cafe. Jumped on the metro, checked into the hotel, then hit a few of the touristy attractions.

Had a great overall visit. Probably will never go to Paris again but have some great pics and some great memories.

 

I have thought about doing this to avoid the high Heathrow fees for the return flight 🙂

Edited March 29 by mpk

[D&N]

If the flights from Paris are suitable then I can't really see much difference between Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle. In the UK/EU flight prices should include all applicable taxes so it should be easy to compare fares.

I spent at least a week per year in London when I was a child, and many more as an adult. Our first visit to Paris was ten days. And we went back many times for shorter stays.

To me three nights in either city is simply a shopping trip. Both need several weeks to experience properly.

I realise that many visitors have limited time available but a few days might just give you a hint of the atmosphere in a few parts of these cities.