# Trip to London & Paris!



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

Hello everyone!

I'm from Toronto, Canada and this march break I'm going on a school trip to London and Paris and I would like to hear from everyone on where to go out at night and extra things to do on our free time! The trip is less than 120 days away and I can't wait!!!

We're flying to Paris from Toronto and spending 5 days there...we then are taking the chunnel train to London and speding 4 days there..I believe our hotel in Paris is in the Latin Quarter..Is there any nightlife and places to go out at night there? If not where are the closest places?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you and I hope to keep this thread alive until my trip! Everyone is welcome to contribute and I will be posting more inquiries as the days go on!

Thanks, 
Ale.


----------



## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

ale26 said:


> I believe our hotel in Paris is in the French Quarter


Paris is in France so pretty much all of the city is the French Quarter  Do you mean the Latin Quarter?

This might be better in the Travel and Geography section where i'm sure you'll get lots of good suggestions.

Both cities have hundreds of options for things to do, maybe if you give a few more details about the type of stuff you are into people can give you more specific ideas


----------



## Cristovão471 (May 9, 2006)

lol French quarter.


----------



## cle (Jul 6, 2007)

Depends what you're into.

Paris has heaps of nightlife, but it's often not as obvious as London's. Try looking on Gridskipper, they have quite good thematic maps for both cities.

Paris - I'd say hang out around the Canal St Martin/Oberkampf/Bastille area for bars, unless you're super rich or gay (Champs Elysees and Marais resepectively).

London - Soho, Kings Cross, Camden, Islington, Shoreditch, Hoxton, Notting Hill all have nightlife but totally depends what you're after. Pubs everywhere in Central London so if you're under 21 or 19 or whatever, you'll find swathes of fellow North Americans thinking their Christmases have come at once, supping Guinness and Boddingtons.


----------



## tigerboy (Jun 7, 2006)

Gosh !!! Where to begin? Gridskipper good. Guides good but just follow your nose and ask questions. The locals are friendlier than painted in the NA media.

As with everything it depends what you are into. If you can be a bit more precise you might get more precise info but one thing for sure whatever you are into Paris and london has it.


----------



## Jaeger (May 11, 2006)

The present low dollar may make it an expensive trip.

Two great cities though.

There are lots of guides to the London and Paris nightlife on the web. kay:


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

Jaeger said:


> The present low dollar may make it an expensive trip.
> 
> Two great cities though.
> 
> There are lots of guides to the London and Paris nightlife on the web. kay:


Did you read my post...Im From TORONTO which is in the country of CANADA, ever heard of it? It's not in America...The Canadian Dollar is currently much higher than the American one and is growing rapidly..

I love how everyone thinks Canada and America have the same currency..such ignorance


----------



## krudmonk (Jun 14, 2007)

How did you come to pick such obscure cities?


----------



## Jaeger (May 11, 2006)

ale26 said:


> Did you read my post...Im From TORONTO which is in the country of CANADA, ever heard of it? It's not in America...The Canadian Dollar is currently much higher than the American one and is growing rapidly..
> 
> I love how everyone thinks Canada and America have the same currency..such ignorance


I must have misread the post, I am tired and it is late and I do that Canada has it's own currency.


----------



## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

Are you over 18? If it's a school trip, will it be easy for you to get out and drink at night?


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

krudmonk said:


> How did you come to pick such obscure cities?


It's a school trip..


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

Justme said:


> Are you over 18? If it's a school trip, will it be easy for you to get out and drink at night?


NO im not 18 but it's easy to go out and get drunk at night lol:cheers:


----------



## Cristovão471 (May 9, 2006)

^^Yeah sure.

How old are you really?
If your young there is little chance that your guardians will let you roam the city by yourselves in a foreign country. That's a big responsibility for a school trip.


----------



## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

In France, you can't buy alcoolo before 16.


----------



## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Minato ku said:


> In France, you can't buy alcoolo before 16.


Is that true? When I worked in France I used to sell cans of beer to 10 year olds, was I breaking the law?


----------



## atariboy15 (Sep 11, 2002)

ale26 said:


> Did you read my post...Im From TORONTO which is in the country of CANADA, ever heard of it? It's not in America...The Canadian Dollar is currently much higher than the American one and is growing rapidly..
> 
> I love how everyone thinks Canada and America have the same currency..such ignorance


The Canadian dollar is worth $1.06 US dollars, or €1.37630. Hardly worth MUCH more than the US dollar, and still enough of a loss to the Euro to make things cost more. SUCH IGNORANCE! lol :nuts:


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

chris_underscore47 said:


> ^^Yeah sure.
> 
> How old are you really?
> If your young there is little chance that your guardians will let you roam the city by yourselves in a foreign country. That's a big responsibility for a school trip.


I'm 17 and so are most of the students coming on the trip...they are allowing us to have free time to walk around the cities during the day and when we have free time...that's not a problem.

At night is a differnet story, but we will obviously sneek out and go to clubs and such...what's the age in Paris and London for Clubs/drinking?


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

O and another thing...what's the weather like in London and Paris in March ??


----------



## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

^^ grey, cold, rainy.


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

Minato ku said:


> ^^ grey, cold, rainy.


are you fucking serious


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

how cold does it get..like whats the temperature usually ?


----------



## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

^^ I forgot that you are Canadian, The temperature are ~10° even more.


----------



## Zenith (Oct 23, 2003)

ale26 said:


> I'm 17 and so are most of the students coming on the trip...they are allowing us to have free time to walk around the cities during the day and when we have free time...that's not a problem.
> 
> At night is a differnet story, but we will obviously sneek out and go to clubs and such...what's the age in Paris and London for Clubs/drinking?


Well In London, personally I would go out, find some pleasant young fillies and shag like a whippet till day breaks. 18 is the legal age to get wankered, and 16 is the legal age to roger girls and boys if the need arises.

Good luck to you sir....


----------



## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

ale26 said:


> are you fucking serious


It could be grey, 10C and rainy, it could be 20C and bright sunshine, you could even get snow, that time of year can be very changeable from day to day.


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

ale26 said:


> I'm 17 and so are most of the students coming on the trip...they are allowing us to have free time to walk around the cities during the day and when we have free time...that's not a problem.
> 
> At night is a differnet story, but we will obviously sneek out and go to clubs and such...what's the age in Paris and London for Clubs/drinking?


The bigger restrictions you got to watch out for is clothing. Rule of thumb in London, the crap clubs dont allow trainers (which is a rare rule within London but prolific outside), the good clubs are anthing goes. 
What I would advise is dress as funky as possible, like MTV just asked you on, (tho' steer well away from the hiphop look), and SMILE in the queue. The more accessories the better.
Clubs are generally 18 or over, as is drinking in public (in private legal age is 5).

I would also PLAN, which place you want to go. There are 10,000 bars and pubs in London and 500,000 clubbers a night, but if you want these clubs you need to know where youre going as you cant just find them on any street, and they cater to different clientele if you do come across one, and believe me there are some very shite ones. Also big groups can find it hard to get in, especially if theyre all male too eg 6 blokes.

Entrance fees range from £6-£10 on weekdays to £15-£20 weekends. Be prepared for the more expensive end of the range.

Alot of 18-19 year olds head for *nu-rave* nights, check them out on the web. They are also very much the place to go at the mo for your age group. I would get a list and progress down that list if things **** up.

If you cant be bothered, head for the East End. *Brick Lane* and *Old Street*, though to be honest its VERY funky and twenty something. Ask around.
There are alot of teenagers and tourists in the West End around Leicester Sq, but its genuinely shite and no Londoner would ever dream of heading there.

My one reccommendation for you would be *'Cafe 1001'* on Brick Lane, in the *Old Truman Brewery Yard* on the weekend when its jumping (and not dead). Basically as it runs as a cafe aswell as a vast DJ Bar, you will see a queue of people trying to get into it whether or not youre just buying an apple from the counter or heading to do some serious raving. In other words theres an easy door policy (anyone can claim to be buying an apple right?), other than the standard search.

If youre in a big group you can split up, and come out again without losing your money if the next lot dont make it. Even if unsuccessful dont be afraid to ask people for a good place in the area, that can be a very easy plan to follow.

Cafe 1001 is very cool, anything goes, oh and its FREE. But it does close early about 2am, at which point you can move on to the other bars/clubs on the same street. Aldgate East tube.


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

To round off:

*1.Dress as funky as possible,* be smiley and relaxed in the queue. Make sure your friends know to dress / do the same.
*2. Be prepared to spend serious money.
3. Cafe 1001, Brick Lane.* Aldgate East tube.
*4. ASK PEOPLE *(even the dodgy looking ones).

At the end of the night remember the tube shuts down about midnight, at which point the heavily crowded nightbuses take over. Each bus stop should have a list of the areas you want to go to (eg Holborn, Piccadilly, Bloomsbury) and the corresponding bustop nearby you should instead be waiting at (eg E for Holborn,F for Piccadilly, H for Bloomsbury). A local map should point out these bus stops.

Alternatively taxis cost alot, minicabs can be just expensive, if not more unless you arrange a good price before you get in (eg how much can you do for Bloomsbury?).

I swear i should be a travel book.


----------



## cle (Jul 6, 2007)

Yep. I think France is 16 to buy drink, not much concern with wine/beer with food and 18 for clubs.

UK is near enough 18 for everything, some exclusions for wine/beer with food but usually accompanied by parents/adults and I can't imagine your teachers will sign it off!


----------



## glyen123 (Nov 13, 2007)

London is fantastic if you want to go out at night and have a few drinks, the atmposphere is excellent and there are hundreds lots of good clobs and thousands of pubs and bars.london is not small so depends where abouts in london you are staying

the weather in march??? it depends, this year it was wet and grey, however i have known march to be quite sunny and pleasant, you need to remember that we are at the end of winter still so it can be hit and miss, it wont be 25 degrees though!!!


----------



## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

Paris metro stop at 2 a.m the saturday night (It is more correct to say sunday.  ).


----------



## NothingBetterToDo (Sep 11, 2002)

ale26 said:


> how cold does it get..like whats the temperature usually ?


In London - as others have said....it could be anything. 

Grey, Dull and Rainy. 
Bright, Sunny, Icy Cold. 
Bright, Sunny, Pleasantly warm 
Snow (small chance) 

This year we had a stunning February - very warm with T-Shirt weather on some days - then in March it went downhill and lead to a terrible summer. 

Just make sure you pack clothes you can wear in layers....very heavy jackets probably won't be needed though.


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!!

The subway closes at midnight? why so early? In Toronto it usually closes later


----------



## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

In Paris
1 a.m or 2 a.m the saturday. (In some special day, some lines don't close)
The saturday the last subway is always busy.

Paris and London have a great night bus system.


----------



## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

ale26 said:


> are you fucking serious


Mostly yes...
:dunno:


----------



## NothingBetterToDo (Sep 11, 2002)

ale26 said:


> Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!!
> 
> The subway closes at midnight? why so early? In Toronto it usually closes later


You can usually catch the last train up til around 12:30am....and i believe it will be extended to 1am at the weekends (if it hasn't already been)

But it has to close early to allow maintainance work to be carried out - its the oldest system in the world, so needs lots of upkeep. 

However, if you are staying close to the west end, i doubt you will need to use the Tube to get home....everywhere is pretty much within walking distance, at worst you will need to catch a Night Bus (there are _loads_)


----------



## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

^^ As I know Paris night bus are crowded.


----------



## mediadave (Apr 19, 2006)

Won't it be pretty much impossible to get into a london night club without valid ID? If you look young - and as a 17 year old you will - then you'll get asked for ID.


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

We're not going to night clubs in London...Paris most likely...we should be able to get in..and plus we all have fake ID that are valid when swiped


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

and P.S It's 86 days today!!!!!!...it's going to come so quick cuz Christmas break is in 8 days and we have 2 weeks off...then we're already in january..then all we have is jan and feb and we leave!!!


----------



## Federicoft (Sep 26, 2005)

ale26 said:


> Did you read my post...Im From TORONTO which is in the country of CANADA, ever heard of it? It's not in America...The Canadian Dollar is currently much higher than the American one and is growing rapidly..


:lol:
I think that CAD is currently lower than USD.


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

federicoft said:


> :lol:
> I think that CAD is currently lower than USD.


:lol:actually...its on par right now...if you don't know english it's basially the same, nothing to laugh:bash:


----------



## Federicoft (Sep 26, 2005)

ale26 said:


> :lol:actually...its on par right now...if you don't know english it's basially the same, nothing to laugh:bash:


So the guy claiming it's low compared to euro was right wasn't he?


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

ale26 said:


> We're not going to night clubs in London...Paris most likely...we should be able to get in..and plus we all have fake ID that are valid when swiped


If you got fake ID, London is your oyster.


----------



## ale26 (Sep 9, 2005)

Just to let you all know I leave in 53 days!!!

Can't Wait !!!!

AleE..


----------

