Looking for information
My husband and I , along with another couple are doing the Seine river with London and a Paris Sept 12, 2023. We are arriving a few days early and want to see as much as possible. We are trying to pre plan and book tours, dinners and entertainment. If anyone can tell me if St Paul’s is a stop to go inside and see it or just a camera stop on the tour I would appreciate it. Also if anyone knows what time you visit Churchill’s War room it would help with planning free time and dinner that day.
Moving on to Paris, do you visit the Louve at all on this tour.
Please help if you can.
Maryann
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Comments
Maryann53,
Scroll over to the right then select "Seine River"...then select "Cruising the Seine..." You will find a wealth of information specific to this trip. I am taking this tour this spring and have been given some excellent tips from fellow travelers. The visit to Churchill's War Room is "after hours" (at least for our specific tour). A visit to St. Paul's is included. In Paris a choice of museum visits is offered. I can not say with confidence that the Louvre is an option.
I took this tour in 2022, St. Paul's is a stop where you go inside. Churchill's war room is later in the afternoon. Going a couple of days early like you are I booked a tour to Bath, to visit the Roman baths and another to Stonehenge, both worth the trip, if you are staying at the Savoy, there are a lot of theatres and eating places in the area.
We visited the Louvre after hours when it was empty of everyone except our group, it was an incredible visit.
I’m in hope that all you who are going on this trip in 2023 will report back…with pretrip ideas, restaurants etc especially in London. We have a group going in August 2024 and adding predays in London. It’s interesting that there are very few dates offered in 2024 compared to 2023. Tauck told our TA that the bookings for 2023 were fewer than expected so they are using the ship for other itineraries in 2024. 12 dates in 2023, 6 in 2024…one sailing a month from April to October!
Hi, Nancy.
I will certainly post an overview of my experiences. Just yesterday I e-mailed the Savoy to reserve a table for two for high tea; the tea and sandwiches for me and the sweet desserts for my husband. Promising that he could eat all the sweets was the only way I could convince him to partake in the experience!
We seem to take the same tours, just at different times. May our paths cross some day!
took this trip last June. One of the couples we met had dinner at Gordon Ramsay's Savoy Grill next to the hotel. Had beef wellington, lobster thermidor, dessert and a nice bottle of wine. Had a wonderful dining experience. Cost was appromx. 500 USD
About 2024. Paris is hosting the summer Olympic Games. Hotels, flights , etc may not be available. This could be why there are fewer river cruises.
If you are in London early and enjoy horticulture a trip to Kew Gardens is beautiful. A short trip on the tube. If you don’t enjoy gardens, then don’t. Not much else there. If you enjoy military history, The Imperial War Museum is fabulous; stronger on WWI than WWII. If you are foodies and good on your feet, Eating Europe offers a tour of the East End that is much fun. They also have a tour of the Borough Market. We’ve not done that one but since it’s confined to the market I’m guessing much less walking. Speaking of Borough Market, if you are there and hungry you’ve many choices, and it’s fun to stroll and munch (but can get crowded). But the best pasta lunch ever is at Padella, on the outer side of the market. But it means queuing (although now they have a virtual waiting list; no reservations). The menu changes daily and sometimes several times daily. For pre-theater West End dining we enjoy Cafe Murano. Very casual, good food, and they get you out on time. Not as good as the original Murano. For afternoon tea we enjoyed Fortnum and Mason. Some look their noses down at it as it is a department store, but, whatever. It was fun and we were able to buy a few treats for the folks at home (and us).
Folsomdoc - Thanks for the great information. I already have the market on our list of things not to miss. I just researched Fortnum and Mason. It seems tea is served on the fourth floor as well as what appears to be a lovely atrium area. Did you dine in the atrium?
When we visited it was in the tea salon, 4th floor.
Thanks again!
If you're spending several days in London, it makes sense to order a Visitor Oyster Card from Transport for London. It's good on all the public buses, underground, commuter rail and the river bus ferries. While you can buy an Oyster card when you get there, the Visitor card is only available in advance. It has a daily cap, so that after a few rides, the rest of the day is free. Information can be found here:
https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card
Wildcat03,
Did you eat dinner after the Churchill war rooms after hours or was the tour too late?
Maryann
The forum at its best…lots of good suggestions, information. Copying and filing it away!
Maryann53after the visit to the war room upon arrival back at the Savoy we walked up to the Covent Garden[which is only a couple of blocks away] and had dinner at a pub. Can not remember the name. Wife wanted fish and chips which was very good. It had over 20 beers on tap. If u have never been stayed at the Savoy, ask for a table in the garden room when u have breakfast. Food was delicious.
We will be on this trip in August this year. We are staying four nights at the Savoy one at our own expense. We are really looking forward to it and thank you for the suggestion for breakfast in the garden room.
Wildcat, is the Garden Room the big round dining area with the big dome in the center? I think that's called the Thames Foyer now. There is also the River Room by Gordon Ramsey. Both serve breakfast and both have their menus on the Savoy website. When we did the tour it was before these changes and you could sit in either but I believe the menu was the same. It was all delicious. We tried to get a river view table a couple of times but the tables weren't set for just 2.
Claudia. Yes,the river room is a more enjoyable place to have a meal. The menu is the same. We requested the River Room but u must get in the correct queue.
The hardest part at the Savoy is that it's all ala carte and I don't like wasting food. Trying to get how much I wanted and not more was a trick I never managed to pull off. They're very generous and it was all good.