Putting together a trip to London and Paris - 3 nights in each place.

I've never been to either - or Europe for that matter, so I guess I don't mind some touristy things.

Cool/nice hotels in good locations? Restaurants/bars? Must see museums/exhibits?

Casinos to play poker? Aviation Club in Paris?

Since I'm a newbie traveler, just want to avoid making any major mistake or overlook anything that a lot of people might on their first visit.

Both of thoses cities are not only absolutely huge, but some of the most expensive in Europe. 3 nights in each is definitely not enough from my experience having been to both, but it depends on what your goals are for the trip....

What is your reason for choosing these cities and what is the most important things for you on this trip? Experience the culture? See the major attractions? Get hammered and party? Play poker?

Definitely more on the culture/attractions side of things. I just do what I can do, I'll go back if I like them.

Food in London:
Atari-ya Sushi
Needoo Grill/Taayabs Curry
My Old Place Chinese

Places to visit:
Natural History Museum (free)
Monument (climb to the top for £3)
Trafalgar Sq/National Gallery (free)
Old Bailey law courts (free)
Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament (free)
London Eye (£15?)

Bars:
Camden has the hottest girls on a reasonable budget
There are good clubs in West London also but more expensive

Poker:
Not sure why you would bother but The Vic/The Empire

If you are flying from America then 3 days in each is going to be full on.

Recommendations

General
- Don't worry about poker

London
- Have to go to an English Pub - you won't have any problems finding a million of them
- West End is pretty cool
- Lots to see by wandering around the 'tourist' spots.
- If you like curry go to Brick Lane



Paris
- Walk the streets. The buildings are awesome and free to see (subway is easy to navigate)
- You have to do all the standard stuff e.g. see the Eiffel Tower, Louvre etc
- Eat french pastries in lieu of breakfast / lunch

There are a ton of options in London for poker players with varying bankrolls and they can combine quite well with other activities if you need a break/something to do late at night if you're on your own.

If you'd like to play £1-1, go to Aspers in Stratford. Situated by/at a huge shopping mall called Westfield. The card room is always super busy and very soft, though the rake is higher by comparison.

For £1-2 go to Hippodrome/Empire at Leicester Sq. Both are right next to each other and you'll have a ton of tables to choose from. Leicester Square obv a must visit if you're coming to London.

Anything > £1-3 go to the Vic on Edgware Road. Some really nice arab restaurants in the area with endless shisha/hookah spots if that's your thing.

Hope that helps.

- Main reason for including poker was I thought The Aviation Club (?) in Paris was considered a great poker room and I would mind seeing what the game is like in different countries although I definitely don't plan on any long sessions.

Right now I'll be staying at Andaz Liverpool Street hotel in London (40 Liverpool St.) Good spot?

In Paris, Champs-Elysees Friedland (177 rue du Faubourg Saint Honore) is the current plan.

How much English is spoken in Paris?

How much transporatation will I be needing to get around both places? Best to take buses/cabs/etc? (okay, I see fp says subways for Paris)

Travelling to London tomorrow with a friend, both in our early twenties.

Staying in the west end, so got any club recommendation for us in that area? Dining at STK on Friday night so anything close to that would be a big plus.

Thanks in advance

Plenty of English spoken especially in tourist areas IME.

Both cities have amazing metro systems. I had no probs getting around relying solely on them.

What kind of food are you after? Fine dining? Casual? Do you have a budget? rwillia789's suggestions are good budget (for london anyways) suggestions(though I'm not familiar with My Old Place). Make sure you get the lamb chops at tayyabs and remember to bring your own alcohol.

I was recently in Paris, so I did a bit of research and my food wish list was roughly (missing a few I'm sure):
David Toutain
Spring
Septime
Verjus
L'Jean Ami
l'chateaubriand (apparently some people advise skipping this on short trips as it can be quite hit and miss. I thought most of my dishes were amazing, but the main was a bit of a miss. We also showed up midweek for the second sitting sans reservation and had no problem getting a table)
Clamato (next to and by the same people as septime - get the razor clams)
Chez Hannah (as an alternative to the famous L’As du Fallafel and on the same street)
West Country Girl (crepes)

I also had a few of the 2 stars scoped out for a lunch that never materialised, the only one that I can recall being Ledoyen.

I would venture to say that for a 3 day, first time visit, you'd be better off being closer to the west end than liverpool street. That being said it's only like 15 min on the tube and the east end is well worth exploring.

Definitely more on the casual side of dining - maybe one nice dinner. Budget is not too tight. Probably not wanting to have to get too dressed up to go eat anywhere.

Explain the alcohol please - people bring own alcohol to restaurants in London?

Can you recommend a nice hotel on West End?

I've never been to London but I spent 5 days in Paris and one thing I would highly recommend is getting a day pass for one of the bus tours. Covered a lot of tourist things with that. Go to the top of the Eiffel tower. (there are 2 levels you can go to). I'm scared of heights but my friends forced me to the top and I'm glad I went up. It was really cool. After you get on the metro, keep your ticket. I got fined for throwing away my ticket (why do you need a ticket to get OFF the train?!). The Louvre was cool, but the Mona Lisa sucks, so don't get your hopes up. Not sure if you will want to spend a half day at Versailles seeing as you only have 3 days but it was really cool as well. Mostly, enjoy the architecture and the city itself. I was pretty amazed at how beautiful the entire city is.

If you like curry do not go to Brick Lane, go to where I suggested.

@wojomon you'll have to do your own research im afraid as im not experienced first hand in that area. generally £20 entry and you'll have a good edge with girls if youre vaguely interesting to talk to and not an arab prince

Tayyabs doesn't sell alcohol but allows you to bring your own at no charge (on a side note, apparently many London restaurants are open to you bringing your own wine, but they generally charge about £25 a bottle and is not something I've tested). I'll second the recommendation to avoid brick lane for food (though supposedly there are a couple of decent options on the street), but it might be worth wandering around the area on a sunday as there is a market and http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/brick-lane-market.php). Another east london activity to consider is http://www.streetfeastlondon.com/

Depending on what your version of casual is, you probably won't have to dress up to enjoy dinner. There are very few places these days that you're 'required' to dress up beyond smart casual, and even most of those places are relaxed about coming severely underdressed. So it's more a matter of how comfortable you feel.

For fine dining I'd recommend looking into Hedone and Bubbledogs kitchen table. Chiltern firehouse seems to be the hottest table in town right now.

For a more casual meal I think the place I'd most recommend right now is Antidote (newly reopened, with involvement from the chef-owner of hedone). They serve a different menu every day, 4 courses for £40 iirc.

A Few other places to consider: Bone Daddies/Tonkotsu, Cay Tre, Zucca, Clove Club, Kopapa, Da Polpo, Patty and Bun, Latium

This list is by no means comprehensive (and definitely not a top list as I'm sure I'm forgetting places and listing appropriate places that come to mind) and I can give you more details on a certain area.

A few central coffee shops to consider: Monmouth, Notes, Flat White

Also no list is complete without what is probably my favourite shop in all of London. Make sure to get some gelato at Gelupo (their restaraunt Bocca Di Lupo is very good as well).

edit: can't really help with hotel recs.

In London:
British museum
Natural history museum
View from the shard (if it's a clear day)

Not recommended:
Tower of London (queues aren't worth the wait)

spam

I've lived in London since October, here's what I'd recommend & not recommend :

Poker: Hippodrome & Empire, they're both on Leicester Square. There is also the Empire cinema next door as well as plenty of places to get standard food, as well as China Town being right there too. It's also on the Piccadilly line (dark blue) that links to Covent Garden (nice market) (1stop) and Piccadilly Circus (the place with the flashy signs) (1 stop). Then the next stop from Piccadilly is Hyde Park Corner where you can visit Hyde Park. Keep walking up through Hyde Park and you'll be at Oxford Street, the busiest shopping street in London. It's hell on a Saturday but pretty much has everything there. Be sure to look down some of the roads off Oxford Street and visit Soho (right near by) at night if you like for clubs/bars.

I'd recommend the Natural History Museum too (again, on the Piccadilly line a couple of stops from Hyde Park Corner). The National Gallery is another free Museum but it's a bit boring unless you're super into art, Trafalgar Square is pretty though and there are lots of pubs off that road. The Tate Modern is a little cooler of a gallery to go to. It's much newer and it's not just big halls with paintings hanging on the walls like the National Gallery (walkable from Embankment, or close to London Bridge tube stop (where you'll see all that touristy stuff)). The Science Museum is alright and right by the Natural History.

You could always see a show/gig in the West End or at the O2 or at the Hammersmith Apollo.


Camden Market and Portobello Road Market are cool.
Somerset House is pretty.
Shepard's Bush tube stop is good. You'll find the big shopping centre Westfield there (there is also a Westfield shopping centre in Stratford where there is an Aspers Casino, never been but been to an Aspers outside of London and it was alright, higher rake, fishy as fuq).

I love Embankment (Circle & District line & northern & bakerloo line). On a Saturday evening it's pretty buzzing. It's right on the Thames and you'll find some average to good street food. In the day it's decent. Big Ben and the tower of London are just over the Thames as well as the London Aquarium, Madam Tussauds (celeb waxwork place). The London Eye is right near by too though personally I think it's a bit boring.


Covers quite a bit..

Changed my plans some...just gonna spend 6 nights in london

I will be staying near Westminster/ buckingham palace area.

Will all the transport be in the tubes or will I be using buses as well? It seems I should get an Oyster card.

definitely get an oyster card, tube and bus are easy. tfl.gov.uk gives you all the routes you'll need

Most definitely all tube if you are closer to green park station in Buckingham palace area as it is only 1 to two stops away from Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. However, if you are closer to Victoria station in Westminster, I would say a mixture of bus and tube.

Google maps is your friend. Used it dozens of times last time I was there for working out the best way to wherever.

It looks like I'll be very close to the st james tube station fwiw. Can I get an Oyster card there?

How much cash do you need to carry around? Sounds go pretty much all off credit cards, so maybe I'll just keep like 100 pounds on me?

You can get them at any of the underground stations and some shops as well I believe. There's no reason to not get one as it will make your transport easier and cheaper and you can get a full refund of your deposit and any remaining balance when you leave. You can use your card pretty much everywhere, however some smaller shops may have minimum spends (typically £5 or £10) so having a bit of cash on you is good if you want to get a bottle of water or something. Tube is usually quicker, but taking the bus, especially as a visitor, can be nice as you see the ground that you pass.

6 days gives you plenty of time to see some of the 'other' things to see. Some things I would consider doing:

Take a public transport boat down to greenwich and then go to the meantime brewery for a tour. Eat dinner in bermondsey at either Zucca or Jose (book either far in advance).

If you catch some nice weather, starting from the west side, walk through little venice and then have a dim sum lunch at pearl liang (look up how to find it before you go as it can be confusing) or down some southern US food at the lockhart.

I would not miss St Paul's or Westminster Abbey. You might need to go very early to Westminster Abbey or risk waiting hours in line. I would allow a few hours or more for each and you should go up to the dome in St Paul's. I think the stairs close at 16:30 so plan accordingly. I'd consider a burger for lunch or dinner at Goodman City or a full meal at St. John when you do go to St Paul's.

The British Museum is also a must. An (long?) afternoon is probably sufficient, but if you're really into that kind of thing I imagine you could spend days in there.

I'd see if you can score some tickets to a performance at Shakespeare's Globe. They're probably sold out, but you might get lucky and find some returns or standing tickets.

The National Gallery is also really good. Have a coffee at Notes on the nearby St Martin's Lane. For lunch, if you go on a Thursday there is a market in Covent Garden square, otherwise consider: Kopapa, Da Polpo, Green man and french horn, or flesh and buns.

Take a day trip out to Hampton court palace. Not sure where to eat here, but I'd recommend avoiding their cafe. I think you can picnic in the garden though.

I'm not a huge fan fan of Camden market. I think it's overcrowded, touristy, and full of junk. The high street isn't much better. I'd say go to one of the east markets instead. IE http://www.broadwaymarket.co.uk/ Another option is to go to Borough market http://boroughmarket.org.uk/ . Both zucca and jose are nearby, but you can also go to wright brothers for fresh seafood and oysters (get the pint of prawns). Have a coffee at monmouth.

The London Eye isn't really worth it, though it's not unpleasant. For the money, I'd say you're better off going to the Shard, the heron, or one of the other towers with high floor bars and getting a couple of drinks instead. You could also eat at one of the restaurants in the same towers. All definitely include a premium for the view though and I would avoid sushi samba. My opinion of Duck and waffle is up in the air, but most people seem to like it (food is reasonably priced, but drinks are extortionate). I have no experience with the restaurants in the shard, but everything I read seems quite positive apart from the prices.

If you're into parks and outdoor spaces you could go to Hampstead Heath (though I would definitely visit Hyde Park and St James Park). Hampstead is quite a posh area and both the park and surrounding streets are nice to walk around. You could also visit Keats house. You do get a view of the city skyline from the park. I would recommend getting lunch at Paradise Hampstead(indian - amazing and cheap). Oddono's has good gelato as well, but Gelupo has a leg up on it.

As I mentioned before, get gelato at Gelupo and consider street feast as well.

Just as a side note, be aware that picking a random restaurant in places like Leicester square can be a bit 'risky' as a lot of them are tourist traps charging just as much for mediocre food as other places charge for good food. That said, most of the chain lunch places - Pret A Manger, Eat, Itsu, Abokado, etc are all pretty good and a great option for a quick lunch.

I don't know if I'd rate these suggestions in any particular order, and they're by no means exclusive, but I hope they give you some ideas outside of the 'main' stuff.

Good info mate.

I'll be heading to London soon, for two weeks, then onto Europe.

Do cabs(taxis) and most places accept Mastercard? ill be using a pre-paid currency card mostly, and probably carry like $1000 pounds.

Any tips where to stay in London? Should i pick a good motel that has a good location anywhere? Or doesn't matter because you can get across London easy?

looking for somewhere with good night-life and early 20s.

Yeah they do. I used a pre-paid mastercard when I was over there. It can be used just like a credit card. However, just be careful because unlike UK credit cards where you have to use a pin for purchases, yours will be signature only and sometimes when you shop at Tescos, Sainsburys etc the transaction will automatically go through without the need for a signature.