How does one compress an 11-day adventure across the UK in one blog post? I have no idea. So, I'm going to leisurely take you through the Castles and Kilts Tour my kids, my mom (who's also editor of Journeywoman.com) and I just returned from with some of my fave bits and pictures.
When Trafalgar Tours invited us to experience Great Britain with them, I was a little hesitant. I've always travelled alone - never in a large group. But who could resist magical adventures in England, Scotland and Wales with their family.
So, we waved good bye to my cute husband who held down the fort and jumped on a transatlantic British Airways flight.
There's no way around it. The flight there is long . We flew overnight. The kids crashed on our laps for a few hours while we occasionally nodded off. Basically we started our trip with no sleep.
We were met at the airport, and headed for our London base, Holiday Inn in Kings Cross. In the taxi, 7-year old Jessie asked, "Where are all the palm trees?" Wrong country sweetie pie.
Check-in to our first hotel (there were five altogether) was awesome. What I now understand about being part of a tour is you never have to register for a hotel, sign any paperwork or carry your suitcases the entire trip. It's all taken care of by your tour operator.
By the time we got into our room, we were exhausted. The tour officially began that night. So we crashed for two hours and then bravely jumped on to the Tube and headed to every kids' dream destination - Hamley's Toy Store - 5 floors of all kinds of playthings to tempt your wallet. We escaped with a few packages of DIY balloons.
How did we perform that magical feat of next to no whining for toys at one of the world’s biggest toy stores? Here's my secret!* We gave my daughter and my son each 25 pounds to spend for the ENTIRE TRIP. This meant they would have to think very carefully about how to spend their own money. Of course, they also had to do the mental math to figure out where their finances stood. *Sneaky Education alert.
Back at the hotel we met with the twenty five other international travellers we'd be touring with, with who came from Australia, South Africa, Calgary, California, and BC. Most importantly - there were eleven kids between the ages of seven to sixteen to hang out together.
And so launched our UK Tour!
Here are some highlights of our first couple of days in London:
Here's the bus that drove us all around the UK. Loved the convenience of being dropped off and picked up - no worries about transportation.
Our London tour guide Tony was incredibly knowledgeable. In fact, it takes two years of school and eleven exams to become an official London guide. Because this was a family tour, a lot of our London points of interest focused on cool Harry Potter locations and film tidbits.
Here's the famous Platform 9 3/4 where Harry took the magic train to go to Hogwarts. Although it looks real, it’s actually just a photo hung outside the Kings Cross Tube Station. The real location is under construction. But who cares, right? Looks real enough to me.
Tony took us to a special corner away from the maddening crowd of tourists so we could get up close to the Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace.
This little cottage which sits across from the Palace is actually the exterior of Hagrid's House in Harry Potter.
Here's where Kate Middleton and Prince William tied the knot.
In the stunning park across the road from Buckingham Palace my kids fed squirrels. I'm not kidding, this was a highlight of their entire vacation (rolls eyes).
This is one of many memorial plaques embedded into the pathways of the park across from Buckingham Palace dedicated to the late Princess Diana. Made me sad every time I passed one.
Next stop was the Tower of London to see the Royal Crown Jewels. This is where I plan to bring my children next when they misbehave.
The day ended with us leaving the group to see a gorgeous production of Wicked.
And that was the end of first day of touring! I'm tired just writing about it! Tomorrow, I'll continue our Castles and Kilts tour with more photos and tales.
But for now, what do you think? Is this something your family would enjoy?
Wanna read Part 2?
Wanna read Part 3?
"
Printer-friendly version