Planning Ideas for a UK Vacation
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Need some planning ideas for a UK vacation? Me, too! Let’s chat. Share your tips and tricks for traveling with kids in the United Kingdom.
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The crew walking through Kensington Gardens, Fall 2014
Today it’s Q&A day! Where I give the Q, and you provide the A. 😉
I’m super excited that our family is going to be traveling through the United Kingdom this spring, and while I furiously scan the internet for the best places to visit, I also know that YOU are some of the best people to ask.
I did this years ago when we were planning our first Disneyland trip with kids and again before we took the kids to Europe the first time. How immensely helpful your suggestions have been! Our family has benefitted so much from your hard-earned wisdom. So, today, I’m turning the mic over to you as concerns UK vacation travel with children.
How would YOU plan a UK vacation?
Feel free to plan my family’s UK vacation. Hypothetically speaking, of course.
Who: Two parents, Six kids, ages 8 to 19
Our kids have spent a month abroad, with about 7 days in London and another three weeks in western France. They have a small idea of what to expect, but as you know London is not the sum total of the United Kingdom. They will be ages 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, and 19 when we go, though two of the boys will have birthdays while we are abroad.
Where: the United Kingdom, plus Ireland
The boundary lines are pretty wide open. We fly in and out of London and have the ability to hire a car.
When: 4 weeks in the Spring, before summer vacations begin worldwide
Since we homeschool, we can make our own calendar, but we needed to wait until our college son was done with his finals.
How: Budget travel
Let’s say you have about $25,000 to cover transportation and travel expenses for eight people. While the dollar has been stronger as of late, in comparison to the pound, we realize this is not a skies-the-limit kind of trip.
Feel free to leave me links, book recommendations, travel spots, things to pack, tips, etc.
York.Walk along the top of Hadrian’s wall..In London, the Museum of the City of London–arranged so you walk on a ramp thru history. Very fine.
You can’t walk on Hadrian’s Wall any more, haven’t been able to for years. You can walk alongside it though. If you’re going up to the Wall, then you must go to Vindolanda. It’s the best of the forts. Other things to see in Northumberland:
– Alnwick Castle (used in Harry Potter, amongst other films)
– Alnwick Gardens (especially the poison garden!)
– Warkworth Castle (Harry Hotspur’s place; smaller than Alnwick, but soooo castle-y); the village and beach are lovely too
– Cragside Hall (the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectric power, also has fab gardens)
– Wallington Hall (classic stately home, includes amazing display of old dolls houses, and lovely gardens)
– Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens (ruined castle, quarry garden and a grand stately home)
– Lindisfarne Island, Castle and Abbey (it’s fun going over the causeway – be careful to check the tide times!; the Abbey was the first place to be attacked by the Vikings)
– Seahouses (for a boat trip over to the Farne Islands to see the puffins)
– Lots of gorgeous beaches with miles of golden sands
– and Newcastle upon Tyne (amongst other things I recommend the New Castle, Seven Stories – the national kids book centre, Life Museum, Great North Museum, and Arbeia – Roman fort near the end of the Wall where they’ve rebuilt the gatehouse)
The rail journey up from London to Edinburgh (which goes through Newcastle) is very good.
More thoughts to follow… 🙂
Thank you!
Salisbury Cathedral, especially the Tower Tour there, is very cool. There is a copy of the Magna Carta there as well. If your kids have read Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke, they might enjoy the special activities they have that relate to the book.
Thanks for the tip on the book. We’ve been studying the middle ages this year, so I’m hoping some of it will stick.
Lots of fantastic ideas already 🙂 Being from the South of the UK, I’m going to suggest some places in the South – Winchester, the old capital of England, Stonehenge – I think you can touch the stones, but they are always changing that – I did when I was a child, but that is a very long time ago.
Then there is Cornwall and Devon – Poldark country (not sure if you watch that)
Wales, is beautiful too 🙂 and seeing all the signs in Welsh made my kids smile!
And Ireland – we spent loads of holidays in Ireland as kids – but the boat ride is very rocky and flights can be found much cheaper (showing my age!)
The one thing I would say, having driven from San Diego to San Francisco, is that even though the distances are shorter in the UK, it does feel longer.
I live in North London, and for us to drive to visit my dad on the coast (Portsmouth) can take 3 hours!! We also drive north to visit the in-laws near Birmingham, and that can be 2 hours. It’s not a huge amount of time, but it definitely feels longer than when we drive on the USA motorways.
Interesting about the drive. We’re both a little nervous about driving on the left and will be taking our time. LOL.
Last I read Stonehenge isn’t touchable. Some sites recommended Avebury instead. Thoughts on that?
Yes – you can only see Stonehenge from afar. Avebury is neat in that you can get right up to the stones, but you don’t get the big effect. They more look like random rocks around the town and outskirts!
Exactly what I wondered. If you had to choose one, which would you choose?
Tough to say! If seeing THE Stonehenge is important and will be a big wow factor, it’s definitely worth seeing. (Tip…if you just walk around the side you can get nearly as close as paying the fee and going in the official driveway.) If playing around the stones, seeing a quaint medieval town, and walking among sheep better fits your family, Avebury is the way to go.
Thank you! That is super helpful!
Read Susan Branch’s book A Fine Romance. It’s about her travels in England a few years ago. There is so much to see and the history, oh the history. How we so regret not having the means to see more of the country when we lived there for 3 years. That was 43 years ago. We drove up to Edinburgh from our home 40 miles north of London. It is doable in a day but I would recommend breaking it up. Some of the best adventures are off the beaten track. We stayed off the M1 and took the A1 up to Newcastle. Saw the ruins of Hadrian’s wall, Jedburgh Abbey, Castle Douglas. We fell in love with Edinburgh Castle. Oh how I wish I were going!
I wish the library carried that book. It’s so expensive!
Edinburgh Castle and the Tattoo are amazing! Scotland is gorgeous in general. An English football (soccer) match is always an experience like no other. I’ve never done high tea somewhere but now that I have a daughter it’s something I’d love to do. Madame Tussauds wax museum is so cool. It’s probably a little expensive but I remember going in high school and loving it. Sounds cliche but the double decker buses are great. You can go anywhere and hop on or off as you please, a great way to see any city.
Dublin is an amazing city to walk around in too. The Guniness brewery is so cool and has a beautiful view of the city from the top. Ireland really does have the most friendly people so going to the “local” (pub), chat up the people, they’ll get some great recommendations.
Our HOHO bus tour was great last time. Interesting about Mme. Tussaud. Will look into it. Thanks!
A couple more thoughts, if you are interested in stately homes, then arguably Chatsworth (nr Peak District) and Blenheim (nr Oxford) are the finest! If you want to see the best of the coast, what we call ‘the seaside’ then the counties of Devon and Cornwall would be my personal recommendations!
Thank you for the suggestions!
I live in the U.K. (about 80 miles from London) so feel free to ask any specific questions you may have. As a very quick first reply I would agree immediately with the two comments above. Only one experience of AirBnB but it was a very postivite one. Beautiful cottage in Yorkshire, which is a wonderful area to visit and of course is where you can find York as also mentioned. We had a brilliant week there a couple of years ago with another family (younger children than yours) and it is a beautiful city with loads to see. Other area to consider are Lake District, the Cotswolds (near to me), Edinburgh, Scottish Highlands and Stratford on Avon (Shakespeare’s birthplace). These are only a few to mention of so many places you could go. For good standard budget hotels Premier Inn are reasonable, consistent and in lots of UK locations.
I’ve got many of the places you mentioned on my list, though I had read that Stratford on Avon was overrated??? We’ve stayed in Premier Inn London and are going back this time around at least for the first few days. Thanks for the input! I may have more questions….
Stratford is a fairly small place, but if your family like theatre, it’s incredible. On a trip like this, I wouldn’t dedicate more than about 2 nights there, and accommodation can be limited. I’m from Brighton, which has plenty to do to keep all ages occupied, and is truly unique among British cities! Also PS, be aware the ROI (Dublin) only takes euros, whereas Northern Ireland (Belfast) uses pounds sterling. I hope you enjoy our fabulous country!
Thanks for the suggestions! We actually have a bunch of euros left from our trip to France, so we can hit the ground with cash in pocket. 😉
I have many fond memories of Stratford upon Avon – I loved it, but it has been almost 10 years since I was there. The other two places I loved dearly were Edinburgh and the Isle of Skye (you’d need a car there).
Take a train (or bus) from London to Oxford. Oxford is gorgeous and has a ton to offer. Your kids will love the Hardy Potter dining room’s original site, and the parks are amazing. The Eagle and Child is also iconic. In the summer you can stay at Christ Church for a decent price. Look into it. Then go through the Cotswolds if you have time. If possible, take a bus (there is no train) or rent a car and go to Hay-on-Wye, a town of only used books in Wales. Spend some time hiking the Lake District, it’s my favorite place on earth. You’re kids can get up close to sheep and see the cozy little knolls they make themselves in the hillside and the special step-up gates that you can take as you freely traipse through farmers fields. You’ll fall in love with the land of Beatrix Potter and Wordsworth. And go see their houses, especially Potters, if even just the outside. We might go in May or June. It’s on my bucket list to see the daffodils. Other spots in England people like are York, Brighton (incrediable cliffs), and there’s lots of King Aurther history and Shakespeare to be found if you research where to go for that and if you want to work that into your curriculum. Stonehenge didn’t do much for me, but it is iconic. Also, there’s some castle towns. And you can even see the mansion used in Pride and Prejudice if you like architecture. For Ireland, I don’t have as much experience, but I thought Dublin was crowded and touristy but there are lots of gorgeous churches and history. The Cliffs of Moher are amazing but the drive there was a bit nauseating on the bus, FYI. Go to a tiny small town pub where an old Irishman is playing live music. They’ll probably be very friendly and play all kinds of songs they’ll think your children will like. Kind of a fun experience. Enjoy every minute of your trip.
Great tips. Thanks! A town of all bookshops sounds so interesting. And yes, all the things you describe sound great. Except for the nauseating bus ride. 😉
For transportation, hiring a car can be very challenging with driving on the other side of the road, especially in crowded areas were they go fast. My husband and I ended up eye to eye with a bus in Edinburough, and that was not the only near death experience of the day (and he drives in major cities no problem: NY, LA, etc). Luckily it’s just a funny story now. I would say for day trips from London use the bus or train. And train travel up to Scotland and The Lake District is much easier (it’s so relaxing and beautiful). Where it gets trickier is more remote places like Wales and the Cotswolds, for example. Then you might be stuck waiting for the one bus that comes all day. We’ve had to resort to a cab in these scenarios and that is an expensive situation. Just be sure if you are getting a car you do tons of research. We even put the wrong fuel in our car and had to call someone named, The Fuel Doctor. It sounds like a dumb mistake — and it probably is — but people do it often enough apparently to have a person full-time employed to fix it. Again, though, something to laugh about now but maybe not so much in the moment.
Thank you for the feedback. My husband drives like a champ in LA and Paris, but the left side thing does have us wondering.
York! My boys, at 11, loved everything about the town. The wall around the outside, the Viking museum, the Abbey ruins, the food, the Minster… I highly recommend it!
It is on the list! Thanks for the confirmation!
The Association of Voluntary Guides tour is excellent (and free!) and has a tour in the evening, when everything else is closed. It’s a great way to see the city and learn some of the history.
Thank you!
York is wonderful! Dead easy to get the train up from London, and once you’re there you don’t need a car, unless you want to get out into the Yorkshire Dales and to the coast (if you do, I recommend Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay). Other good places to see in York are: the Castle Museum, York Museum, Jorvik (the Viking Museum Renata mentioned), the National Railway Museum, the Treasurer’s House (see if you can spot the Roman legionaries in the basement), Dick Turpin’s grave, and do a ghost walk. It’s very easy to spend a week or two just within the walls of York.
We loved York. We stayed there over Easter weekend. The hotel was so kid friendly and upon check in found Easter treats for our kids waiting in our rooms. We walked across the street to a restaurant for Easter dinner (reservations online) and it was amazing! Perhaps the best meal on our trip. We went back again before leaving York. Clifford’s tower has spectacular views. I believe I mentioned to you before about enjoying Windsor. Lovely day! We went to Stonehenge but I probably would not recommend it. We went very early thinking we could be there when it opened. The traffic was horrendous, the line for our reserved tickets made us late, and it was crowded. You can see Stonehenge from the road before reaching the welcome center. Some people pull over and look from a short distance rather than spending most of a day going on site.
I would look at airbnb for places to stay, it’s likely to be much cheaper than a hotel and you can cook for yourselves. We have stayed in great places in Ireland and the UK and you can have the whole place to yourselves.
I’m not too keen on the airbnb thing, but we’ve found several serviced apartments that should suit us. We did that in Paris last time and have done it here and it works very well. It’s similar to FRBO, but with staff on hand in case you need help, housekeeping, etc.