Reasons to Visit London and Paris For Your Vacation

Europe is truly a magnificent destination where you can find people speaking different languages and having different cultures within a short distance of each other. You can take a train from Strasbourg, France and in about 15 minutes be in Kehl, Germany. If you wanted, you could walk from France to Germany.

Despite their differences, Europe has an amazing shared history, which has led to it being what it is today. Ravaged and largely destroyed by two world wars, Europeans created an economic interdependence so that they would be forced to talk to each other rather than go to war.

Europeans see their differences, but arriving from America, their similarities are more apparent. London and Paris are very similar cities in a lot of respects. Both are a massive, sprawling metropolis. Both have world-class museums and art galleries. Both have an extensive subway system (the Tube in London, and le Metro in Paris). Both have world famous rivers, which have river cruises on them. Both have gridlocked road systems, meaning that the subway really is the best way to get around. And both have commuters frantically trying to get to or from work.

But they also have differences. Language is the most obvious one. In London you won't find many people who speak French. And in Paris, you won't find many people who speak English.

But an amazing thing happens whenever I have been in a country where I needed a phrasebook. As soon as I start to try and say something in the local language, people fall over themselves trying to be helpful. Sometimes they will reply in English, sometimes they will find somebody who speaks English, sometimes they will help you pronounce correctly what you are trying to say - and sometimes they will answer you by finding the phrases in the phrasebook for you.

Some more differences are that London is known for it's nightlife, whilst Paris is very much a daytime city. Londoners drink tea, whilst in Paris it is coffee. In Paris they drive on the right, and in London they drive on the left. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, and London has Big Ben. And they use different money from each other.

But if you have never been to Europe before, London and Paris are a wonderful introduction - so similar, yet so different.

And London and Paris are now connected by a train that travels underneath the sea between England and France, The Channel (in English) or La Manche (in French). It takes only about two and a half hours to get from London to Paris, of which twenty minutes is travelling under the sea!

If you visit Europe for your vacation, be sure to take in these two cities. You'll never forget them.