Great way to see lots of places

This was a great trip. You could pretty much personalize it however you wanted. If you wanted to stay with the group and do all the tours you could but if you never wanted to see anyone in your group you could do everything on your own. We did a combination and it worked out great. We did a few preplanned tours and did a lot on our own. We werent afraid to go out on our own so we were able to see a lot more than just the group activities. Are looking forward to doing another trip In the next year. I will say it was a mostly retired group (we are in our 40s) but that wasn't an issue at all. Couldn't have asked for a better group or tour guide.

London and Paris City Stay

This was not your typical tour. It is definitely designed to provide the framework for staying in a city - company arranges for flights, hotels, transportation from airport and between London and Paris. It also provided a 2+ hour bus tour of each of the cities as well as a knowledgable tour guide who was available in the hotel for questions or advice. There were also excursions available for additional charges. Other than that it was up to the traveler to plan their days as to what they wanted to see and how to navigate the city. We understood this before hand and had done our homework so we came with a definite plan in hand as to what we wanted to see and how to get there. Had we not understood this I think we would have been disappointed. I don't know if we actually saved any money by not arranging for the hotels and flights on our own - possibly. Go Ahead provided somewhat of a safety net but in retrospect I think we could have done this on our own. Both London and Paris are very "tourist - friendly". Our tour guide was helpful and friendly but we felt that we chose to be pretty independent. Also, we were a little disappointed in the hotels as they were both pretty far from the center of the cities. It worked out okay in the long run but we questioned if we could have made a better arrangement if we only had two rooms to find rather than enough rooms for a whole bus full. If I plan to visit one or two cities again - and we do plan on doing that - I think we will initially see what we can arrange ourselves via the internet and other sources before turning to a tour company. We have traveled with Go Ahead before on a more typical tour - Budapest/Vienna/Prague - and on that basis I would recommend the company to others. As for this tour, I said that I wouldn't recommend it to a friend but that would very much depend on what the friend was looking for in a tour, how comfortable they were with traveling abroad, how ambitious they were, how interested they were in doing the details, etc.

London & Paris City Stay (9 days)

Overall, the tour was very good--tour guide was very knowledgeable & helpful. We felt that we were able to see the major highlights of both cities in the 7 days allowed for touring. One negative comment-- the tour advertisements did not describe adequately the degree of difficulty for walking up steep hills, stairs in subways and museums. Many older folks take these tours, and need to know this information before committing to a reservation. The only other negative review would be the guides for some tours, although interesting, took too much time with historical info, and did not allow enough time to tour the entire site (i.e at Tower of London, we did not have time to visit St. Georges Chapel).

Tour of London and Paris

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of London and Paris. The accomadations was very good and the hotel personnel were always polite and helpful in both places. Our Tour guide for the entire trip was excellent. He was very well informed about the places to see, how to get to them and gave us much information about places in both cities. The tour guides for individual tours such as the trip to Windsor Castle, Versailles and the overall bus tours of each city were also very good. The only down side that we found, and this was not anything that GOAHEAD had to do with, was there was a lot of strenous walking- especially on the tube and metro. Great trip!!!! We would go again.

Excellent Tour Guide

The tour was very well organized and our tour director was excellent. My only criticism would be that the hotels chosen were outside the city center and in London, one had to take a bus and usually two tubes rides to go to any of the sights. There was nothing within walking distance. On the other hand, the hotels were excellent and I suspect they were chosen because Americans want space and expectations. Most of the activities are directed towards first time travelers. However, I did a lot of research before the trip and was able to go on my own most of the time with the assistance of our excellent guide.

Best Graduation Present Ever

Paul Mattesini made all the difference! His knowledge of local EVERYTHING and it's history was surpassed only by his humor. I think my son wants to become a tour guide now!

Amazing Christmas vacation

My daughter and I enjoyed our London/Paris trip. We traveled during the Christmas holiday which changed some of the planned activities due to closures and low attendance. However, we enjoyed the London sightseeing tour and the London Dungeon, plus we went and saw a musical "Billy Elliot", which we loved. Loved the cathedrals and the london eye (amazing at night)! Had an amazing Christmas tour in Candenbury. Paris was my daughters (who is 16) favorite. She loved the Louvre and the overall experience in Paris. Really enjoyed the Dinner and Cruise of City Lights. The eiffle tour is amazing to see. Especially at night.

London and Paris City Stay - Planner's Favorite

I'm a planner and I always have a back up plan. I researched what I wanted to see, when it was open, admission fees, and transportation. I had been to London and Paris before and felt comfortable navigating my way through both cities. I would not recomment a city stay for a first time traveler. A city stay is the best type of trip for a person who likes to experience and explore a city at their own pace. Take a guided tour for your initial visit and then book a city stay and enjoy the adventure of exploring on your own!

ok trip

i've been to london and paris before. next trip i will take more bus and less walking tours.

Airport Transfer did not happen

The airport transfer from Gatwich Airport (London, England) did not happen. After 12 hours in the air, there was a "No Show" with the transportation service that was to bring us to our hotel in London from Gatwick Airport. We had to locate a bus service, wait an additional hour for the departure to London and also pay additional taxi fares to get to our hotel. We were reimbursed the entire fees, but the stress and additional wait times was exhausting. The response from the tour guide assigned to the tour was "SORRY".