London vs. Paris

Visiting:

Both London and Paris are the most exciting places to visit. London wins here because of the language, entertainment(broadway) etc. London is the number one tourist destination for Americans and Canadians.

Living:

However, it is a completely different picture if you want to live in London. Cost of living is very high in London compared to Paris. In London, we need to pay rent every week. London's cost of living is 4 times higher than Paris.

London , the key point to this city is that it has a language that is universal whereas French is not. English people are friendlier in comparison to the French .

Very well written .Once i was in French village on a bus tour and had to wait 30 minutes before a shop owner understood i was asking for a pack of biscuits .

For entertainment London is Great 2 thumbs up because in London you can enjoy yourself 24/7 but Paris in my opinion for entertainment is dead

Dude your comparisons are pretty bias and you didn't really touch on really important points as transportation and services!

In terms of transportation, London comes on top overall (I'd say since 2000) as the tube has been undergoing plenty of upgrades and the stations are really clean. Paris has pretty dirty stations, but many of them are very arty (Art Noveau). But Paris has an advantage of having metro stations everywhere (so your never far from one) and the delays are fewer than London.

As for the language factor, many in Paris speak English, even if they don't like it. You can pretty much communicate in English and go about your business fine, and if your more open you can easily start learning some basic French (which is very easy really).

Paris has a very vibrant entertainment scene, but it's pretty Parisian, unlike London entertainment which is pretty universal. And London stays up longer while in Paris after a certain time the city goes dormant.

But Paris architecture trumps London's by MILES. In every Arrondessement you have such an amazing neighborhood feel, something which you never get in 'central london'. And this takes me to my final point.

London and Paris are designed in COMPLETELY different ways. London is a city whose center is a financial, social, cultural and economic hub but no one live in the center, everyone goes back to the suburbs (zones 2-6) and more to live. The suburbs are nice, but they don't have that urban feel to them. Paris is full of Parisians, in all of its 20 Arrs, so you meet normal people who live in Paris and go to their butcher and their cheese guy and all those amazing things. In London you just don't get people living, they are all working. Londoners managed to turn their center into a merely work and tourist place and they all went to the suburbs (including me), so ultimately comparisons between the cities will not work I think.

Ok you said that Paris have aechitectural trumps what London don't have why you don't just take the look at the Surburbs surranding the central Paris I found them quite frighten. Don't just visit the ouristic routes of Paris Where you can't found a white french men around because it is highly habituated with arabs and blacks or Chinatown they say that paris has one of the Europes biggest Chinatown you ca found

Paris is the most beautiful city in the World and London ranks number 10 only. According to Forbes.com France is the most visited country in the world.

* Eiffel - most visited paid monument in the world.

* Louvre - most visited museum in the world.

* Château de Versailles is far away miles beautiful than Buckinghan Palace.

* Champs de L’Elysee - most beautiful avenue in the world.

* GTV - fastest train in the world.

* Bugatti Veyron - most expensive car in the world.

* French Fashion Designers are worldwide known like Chanel, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Pierre Cardin, Jean Paul Gaultier, Herm's, Christian Lacroix, YSL and many more while English fashion designer is only known for Burberry..

And here are the best places to visit Paris:

Monuments, Churches, Areas Museums, Arc de Triomphe, Conciergerie, Eiffel Tower, Hôtel des Invalides, Opera Garnier, Palais de Chaillot, Palais de Justice, Pantheon, Sainte Louis des Invalides, La Madeleine, Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Sacre Coeur, Saint Germain-des-Pres, Saint Sulpice, Champs Elysées, Île de la Cite, Île de Sainte Louis, Invalides, Latin Quarter, Marais, Montmartre, Saint Germain des Prés, Louvre, Museé Carnavalet, Museé d'Orsay, Museé du Quai, Branly Muse, Eugene Delacroix, Museé du Moyen Age, Museé Marmottan, Monet Museé, Orangerie, Museé Picasso, Museé Rodin, Pompidou Center,

Other Sights:

Places (Squares), Shopping, Daytrips, Cruising the Seine, Hotel de Ville, Jardins du Luxembourg, Jardins des Tuileries, Les Halles, Moulin Rouge, Parc du Champ de Mars, Père Lachaise, Pont Neuf, Sorbonne, About The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Place de la Bastille, Place de la Concorde, Place de la Madeleine, Place des Vosges, Place du Tertre, Place Vendome.

@Afuah - Your post is more on France vs UK. You seem to forget that the Bugatti Veyron is German, not French, as it is owned by VW. I could argue that London is better due to it being a global financial centre and having a much larger population however this has nothing to do with tourism.

Paris is outstanding for its architecture - Eiffel Tower, Invalides, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur and Louvre are some examples.

London offers both a traditional and modern atmosphere with the London Eye right next to the Houses of Parliament (big ben). It also offers huge sporting and entertainment venues such as Wembley Stadium, O2 Arena, Royal Albert Hall etc.

Bugatti Veyron headquarter is Alsace, France so it own by the French...

London attractions are boring and ugly while Paris attractions are extremely beautiful and eciting... Paris is beautifully structured.. i can not see London is beautiful even it is the financial capital of the world.... France is very rich also finace is not important...

The most beautiful cities in the world : In order by Forbes.com Official Lists: 1.Paris, France 2.Vancouver, Canada 3.Sydney, Australia 4.Florence, Italy 5.Venice, Italy 6.Cape Town, South Africa 7.San Francisco, USA 8.Chicago, USA 9.New York City, USA 10.London, England 11.Cambridge, England 12.Tokyo, Japan PARIS is the winner - the real number one....the most beautiful city in the world.

Please do not mention that London eye. It is very common even in Paris there is a Big ferris wheel...Only english people are saying London is beautiful but i disagree it is beautiful since i proved that Paris is far beautiful than London... london is like a town ....Even Rome or New York is beautiful than london....

A month ago I've visited both places. London is expensive as ****. Not sure how they live like this there. Compared to New york, London is around 3-4 times expensive. Paris is expensive too, but not like London. At least we can see great places in Paris, what is in London? Big nothing tower? Bye bye London, I am not going to London again.

"It is the British versus the fashionistas in a battle to win the maximum admirers!" - hey...what was that?

"It is because of this reason that London is amongst the top tourist destination as everyone finds it easier to communicate."... Ok, i like the "EVERYONE"... Ce n'est pas notre faute si tu ne parles pas franças!

I'm from Peru, I find that London is so cool it makes you almost forget how expensive it is, also the people are very friendly compared to other big cities...

But Paris vs London, it's like comparing Albany(New York) vs New York City !!!

Paris to me is the most beautiful city in the world, and thrust me I've been around

Has anybody noticed how everyone who says paris is better says " Paris is far beautiful than London" - define beautiful. Maybe more beautiful in your eyes, even going so far as to say Forbes is ranking cities by beauty as though it's possible - what are the criteria? "London attractions are boring and ugly" and "Big nothing tower" come on most of the people here who prefer paris say vague things like "paris is the most beautiful city" and abuse LONDON while those who support LONDON merely state what they like about LONDON. I certainly do not want people like Britney to go to LONDON! "Only english people are saying London is beautiful but i disagree it is beautiful since i proved that Paris is far beautiful than London... london is like a town ....Even Rome or New York is beautiful than london...." I am sure you're a troll or something

sure you don't want me to take you seriously.

I think London is a mix of beautiful architecture and has deferent cultures and is the leading financial centre in the world. It has everything so let paris be more beautiful it hasn't got anything else - it's just... beautiful (don't say i agree)

Paris is the best, I've been to both the cities, but Paris is simply beautiful.

London, being 4 times bigger than Paris, obviously has so much more to offer the visitor. Someone mentioned the beautiful architecture in Paris. Well, a little over a century ago Houseman demolished 75% of Paris to build his dream of a uniformed open beautiful city. London, on the other hand is an architectural dream. Nowhere else on earth will one find a medieval pub next to a gothic cathedral next to a Gergian mansion opposite an art deco apartment block next to a Victorian library next to a Norman church opposite a state of the art skyscraper. An all singing and dancing open-air living museum of history and life. Lets also remember how, when London, New York and Paris were bidding for the rights to stage the 2012 Olympics Paris quickly withdrew its claims of being the most cosmipolitan city after looking at London's statistics. New York, whose original bid claimed was the most multi-cultural melting pot in the world with over 200 different languages spoken in it's streets each day....never mentioned it again when they found out that something like 350 languages are spoken in the streets of London each day. See you all at the London Olympics in 2012.

Paris is a beautiful city, but, truth is, London has the edge over Paris for many reasons. Main reason being London's diversity. In terms of Diversity of the Population, Paris doesn't even come close. With Over One Third of Londoners born abroad, and just over half being what could be classed as "ethnic" or at least "partly ethnic". Recent statistics estimate that over 3/4 of native Londoners have Irish ancestry. London has : - Most Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalis & Sri Lankans outside their respective countries. - Europe's largest Chinese & Filipino Communities - Europe's 2nd Largest Vietnamese Community (Well Done Paris for getting at least one) - Most South Africans, Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Kenyans, Ghanaians, Mauritians, Tanzanians & Ugandans outside respective countries - Europe's largest South American population outside Spain - Europe's largest Caribbean Community - Europe's largest American & Canadian Communities - Most Polish outside Poland (Used to be Chicago) - Most Lithuanians, Latvians, Czechs, Slovaks & Cypriots outside respective countries - By far most Irish outside Ireland - Paris has a slightly larger Portuguese community, but the Portuguese population in Paris is now ageing and shrinking, whilst the Portuguese in London is increasing like never before. Same goes for Spaniards & Italians. In terms of Architecture, London can boast Gothic Cathedrals, Greek-Inspired Theatres, Victorian Houses, all side-by-side with Art-Deco Apartments, Modern Skyscrapers and shabby Brick Masterpieces. Lets not even get started on Financial Status. Or Business Hub (Over 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies have their HQ in London). Or the fact that London is the most visited city in the World - because it offers something for everyone. Now for the killer - there are 22,000 Brits in Paris, compared to 200,000 French in London. BTW - I am not even a "Native Londoner" myself. I am Half Portuguese, plus one quarter Italian, and one quarter (ahem) French.

Yes, but Paris has more blacks and arabs than London, making it more diverse. I should know... I am a London born Ghanian. Sorry, but Paris has much more black or brown faces in it. In London, you only see blacks in the '' hood '' In Paris, they are everywhere. I spent a weekend at the plush Hotel Plaza athenee and saw groups of arabs, senegalese and whites greeting each other in the lounge. You will never see that at the Dorchester in London. There are more blacks in France than the UK. They are part of France and proud of their culture, that is not the case in London. BTW, there are Ghanian, Nigerian and other Africans here. Hands down, Paris wins.

The women in Paris are divine and the men............oh la la la la. People in Paris look and live well. The french live longer than the brits. No one here was pork fat - unlike the UK. There are now tons of Asians in Paris.

Black, white or Brown, people from Paris are just 10x better looking, sexier and better dressed than washed up people from London.

Paris wins, and this is coming from a North London girl. Paris wins In every way, shape or form. London has nothing that Paris has, but Paris has everything that London does not, like Chic women and Chic men. They do not do chavs and beer belly, cockney speaking, pie and mash eating men out in Paris. Paris girls do not walk around with juicy couture, ugg boots, orange tans, pushing babies around. They have no Katie Price or The only way is essex style ' women ' out here.

"London, being 4 times bigger than Paris, obviously has so much more to offer the visitor."

So Sao Paulo, Brazil "obviously" has even more to offer the visitor.

PARISIEN Can't speak English FRANCE= CHINA OF EUROPE !!!!! dirty and unkind people

French is the most romantic language in the word... London Zone 2 to Zone 6 are ugly that why it is only rank no.10 of the most beautiful cities in the world.... Paris is the most beautiful city in the world... LOndon is very dirty also from Zon2 to Zone 6...

The biggerness of London became ugly.. There were no attractions outside zone 1...... Paris is mega city also so it is not small. ..UK ranks only number 6 of the most visited countries while France is the most visited country in the world...therefore... The winner is always Paris .... And London can not win over Paris and that's the reality between Paris and London... Paris always wins over London....

Gosh the arrogance of some people on here astounds me. I also notice how people who seem to have a preference for Paris, seem to like to call us Londoners "washed up" how dare you. Thanks for making such sweeping generalizations, but then again, after hearing about how impolite parisians are, and experiencing it first hand on here ALONE, maybe that is right!

The fact that you say that Paris has everything that London doesn't, while Paris may have a lot of art, you can't deny London has a lot of that as well, as someone gave an example above. You can choose to eat whatever dish you want, be it chinese, mexican or indian or italian to name a few, and yeah, we have areas mixed with art and modern, so what? A lot of modern building can be quite beautiful, but we also have a lot of old buildings. There are places you can go to, plenty of them, where the scenery is gorgeous, so don;t you tell me that London is ugly, if anything that attitude you have is ugly.

To say you only get chic men and women in Paris is a total lie, the mere fact that you think everyone walks around in french designer clothes is laughable. And while I agree that fake tans and such are less than attractive, you cannot say that there are no attractive people in London, that not only is ignorant, but also, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

@Gemma, London has full of art stolen from other countries. Not sure how you can be proud of the stolen stuff...

Every country has their national museums loaded with plunder!

It seems only English think London is beautiful.

I've been to both London and Paris. I would say my trip to London is easily forgotten while I'll always remember Paris. I think beauty is very subjective and both cities have wonderful architecture and sceneries. But my feelings Paris is Romantic rather than beautiful. Well you can return to the Eiffel Tower everyday just for a stroll sit on the park etc looking at the couples kissing - something you'll never find if you visit Picaddily Square or the Big Ben.

I lived in both cities and even if I love them both, I prefer Paris. Let me explain why.

Both cities are of the same size in terms of population, contrary to what I see in some commentaries. They are the biggest cities in Europe, and they have the biggest economies as well so I think it makes sense to compare them.

Advantages London has over Paris:

- A more relaxed attitude with a lot of parks, people generally more friendly.

- A very busy entertainment life (theatres, musicals, etc...).

Advantages Paris has over London:

- Its people.

I think this advantage sums up all the others: Parisians seem to have an instant understanding of what is cool or not. They know how to dress much better than Londoners usually do, they know what songs to listen, what movies to watch, etc...

It's hard to explain why but I think it's because of the different sociology of the two cities.

Both are very diverse cities but the UK is a class society, France is not. So I think ideas, trends are circulating much more easily in a city like Paris.

If you actually live in Paris and start making friends with Parisians, you'll see that it's much more stimulating to live there than in London.

I haven't spoken of the beauty of both cities. They're both beautiful but Paris is more impressive, more refined. Just have a walk along the Seine river, compare it with the Thames (which I love). It's hard to argue.

Last point, if anything, the language should be considered as an advantage for Paris. English is so influential in the world today, it's nice to see some cities can have such a creativity and a cultural life without any need of English... Learn it, you'll understand.

I now live in Sydney and I am a bit nostalgic when thinking about Paris. Not about London...