---London Day Tours:
1) Windsor Castle - We did this day trip on our own. It is
extremely easy to take a surface train from Waterloo Station direct to Windsor/Eton. The train ride is about 50 minutes. The small train station in Windsor/Eton is literally a few hundred yards from Windsor Castle and the small town of Windsor. Exit the train station and walk around the hill to the left to gain entrance to the castle. IMO, it is much better to do this day trip on your own, instead of using a tour operator. You will not be tied to the bus schedule of seeing the sights. Of course, Windsor Castle is the home of the Queen.
2) Hampton Court Palace - We did this trip on our own, on the afternoon of Day 3 after the Tower of London morning tour provided by
ABD. We hired a taxi to take us from Tower of London to Waterloo Station. It is very easy to take a surface train from Waterloo Station to Hampton Court. The train ride is about 35 minutes. There is short direct walk from the train station (5 minutes) to Hampton Court Palace. HCP was built by Thomas Wolsey and appropriated by Henry VIII (seeing how it was better than the King's palace).
3) Cotswolds / Blenheim Palace - We booked this day trip with the Evan Evans Tour Company. The Ren. Chancery Court Hotel is one of the hotels that they will do pick-ups in the morning. The pickup bus drops you at the Victoria Bus Station, which is the departure point for the tour. They take you through three small towns in the Cotswolds. In one of the Cotswolds towns you stop to eat lunch. The countryside is very scenic (stone houses with thatch roofs). If you've seen pictures of the Cotswolds and are enchanted by them, you will enjoy this tour. Blenheim Palace was much larger than we were expecting. It is the home of the Duke of Marlborough (Churchill's family). The palace and grounds are quite impressive. This is a full day tour with a hotel pickup at 7:40 am and you will return between 6:00 - 7:30 pm. The bus does NOT return you to your hotel. They will give you a choice of several popular areas of London to be dropped at and you will need to make your way back to your hotel on your own.
4) Leeds Castle / Canterbury / Dover - We booked this day trip with the Evan Evans Tour Company. We were sucked in by the allure of seeing all of these sights in one day. Lots of bus time, not so much tour time. Leeds Castle was smaller that we were expecting. In general, it was ok, nothing special. Canterbury exceeded our expectations. The cathedral is much larger than it appears from the outside. There are many little shops that surround the cathedral. Dover is a quick stop and take a picture. You can say you've seen the White Cliffs of Dover. This is a full day tour with a hotel pickup at 7:40 am and you will return between 6:00 - 7:30 pm. The bus does NOT return you to your hotel.
---London City Sights:
1) British Museum - This is fairly close to the Ren. Chancery Court Hotel, within walking distance. I would rate this a definite must see. We did this on Day 2 of the ABD Tour, after the English Tea Luncheon at Harrod's. We hopped on the Tube (Knightsbridge to Russell Square, 10 minutes) to get close and then walked to the museum. We were able to spend a couple of hours in the museum before heading back for the ABD dinner and theatre show.
2) Tate Modern Museum - It is located directly across the Thames river from St. Paul's Cathedral, via the foot bridge. We did not find it terribly interesting.
---Paris City Tours:
1) Musée d'Orsay - If you like Impressionist art, this is a must do. You will find art from: Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh, Renoir, Whistler, Seurat. Everything you saw in your art appreciation elective class in college is at the Musée d'Orsay. The museum sits in a former train station very close to the Louvre. We stopped and had lunch in the museum café.
2) Montmartre / Basilique du Sacré Coeur - The Montmartre area is one of the old sections of Paris and is the large hill in the northeast section of Paris that you can see. The streets and buildings appear very much like they would have in the 1800's. This is the area where many of the famous artists lived and it still has that "artsy" feel to it. There is a funicular that will carry you to the top of the hill area, or you can climb the steps, or ride the little train bus.
3) Nighttime Cruise of the River Seine - This is a must do. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find time. We did this on the first evening in Paris after the dinnner in the hotel. We took the Metro to the Bir Hakeim station and walked to Eiffel Tower and took one of the boat tours that leave nearby. It was very scenic to see all of the major landmarks (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, etc.) lit up at night while cruising up and down the river.
---Paris Day Tours:
1) Chateau de Fontainebleau - The chateau is about 35 miles from Paris and due to the greater distance it did not suffer the sacking that Versailles did during the Bastille Revolution. Much of the furniture still remains. It is not as well known as Versaille and the crowds are small. Getting there is a little more work: Metro & RER to Gare de Lyon, surface train from Gare de Lyon to Avon and then a bus. The Avon train station is about 2 miles from the Chateau and hence the need for the bus.
Let me know if you have questions