Before the trip
Janet and I have always been big planners for our vacations. Even before kids, we would have every day carefully packed with activities. We want to ensure that if we never visit a second time, we’ve seen everything we would ever want to.
For our first trip abroad with 2 kids, we had to be extra planned. I did not want to end up looking for somewhere to stay on short notice, or be left without transportation. So when our AirBnB for London ended up as one step-short of a scam, and AirBnB doing nothing to support us beyond acknowledging that the host had violated their terms of service (but no, they could not get us a refund) I felt both intensely frustrated, while also grateful we found out before we arrived at the doorstep. We booked a nice reliable Holiday Inn, and enjoyed smooth accommodations the rest of the trip.
Day 1
We woke up before 5am, put the kids in our minivan, and parked at the economy lot at Dulles. It took us most of the 2 hours buffer to get through a shuttle to the terminal, through security, through Dulles’ labyrinth of halls and subways to reach the gate, and make it through the line to get some snacks from Annie’s Pretzels. Through it all, the kids stayed in good spirits. As long as someone pushes them in the stroller, they stay pretty content.
Once on the plane, Sophia was thrilled to look out the window and point at the planes saying “Plane! Big one!” Clara started digging through the flight entertainment system. Once we got ready to take off, Clara wanted to hold my hand to feel safe.
The kids endured well through the flight. We didn’t have any earbuds that fit Clara’s ear so I spent a lot of time with her in my lap, putting the headphones back in when they fell out as she watched Wall-E a few times.
We were slow to get through the terminal with potty stops and a stroller to push. After making it through customs, I channeled my inner pack mule to heft the volume of accessories needed when kids come along, and we got a Taxi to our hotel. The London Taxis are approximately SUV sized, but with one row of seats in the back and space for luggage in the middle. Clara loved riding in it. Taxis made Clara’s top 4 list of favorite things in the UK: Double-decker buses, the “tube,” taxis, and hotels :).
Day 2
Our London hotel came with breakfast. Our kids love eggs and sausage so they had some each morning.
For our first experience, we took the Tube to Parliament. Clara hated the Tube the first time. It’s loud, crowded, and pretty scary for a 4-year-old. She did survive the ordeal and we stepped out of the station looking right at the tower that has Big Ben. We took the short walk to Parliament and started our audio guide tour.
The girls liked making noises in some of the echo-prone corridors. We tried to quiet them, but the curators didn’t mind and assured us that everyone was just listening to their audio guides anyway. I enjoyed learning more about how the two houses of parliament worked. To an outsider, they hold onto lots of traditions best categorized as “odd.” For example, an Officer from the House of Lords called the “Black Rod” comes to the House of Commons at the state opening of parliament to call them to hear the Queen’s speech. The House of Commons then slams the door in Black Rod’s face to symbolize their independence. It’s interesting, and although I know it’s symbolically important, it has a feel of “it was so much fun the first time, let’s keep doing it!”
After Parliament, we booked tickets to go through the Churchill war room. While we waited for our time to enter, we got ice cream with a flake and ate it in the park. Clara and Sophia loved chasing the pigeons and picking the daisies and dandelions.
Janet and I really enjoyed the Churchill War Rooms. Sophia fell asleep in the stroller, but Clara noticed a few things that caught her attention. She knew right away that a back silhouette of Churchill had a cigar in his mouth, and that smoking is bad. She also noticed all the mannequins doing things like holding phones. When we reached the transformer control room, for some reason it finally hit her that we were underground.
We wandered the area a bit, navigating an alternate route to our hotel to get around a parade going through the main streets. Eventually we made it back to our hotel and went a block north for a pizza dinner at Sophia’s Pizza. It turns out it belonged to a different Sophia than our 2-year-old, so we received neither discounts nor equity in the business. Fortunately, the food was excellent.
Day 3
We started our third day with another ride on the tube to Buckingham palace to see the changing of the guard. Clara still didn’t enjoy it, but she handled it better.
We arrived early and held a good spot on the side of the courtyard. After some waiting and watching the couple of guards stand in place and periodically march back and forth, we heard the distant music of the incoming band to herald the handover. I didn’t research the change deeply so I didn’t know to expect the ceremony to largely consist of a marching band concert. They played largely classical tunes, but apparently it’s not uncommon for them to play more popular hits, star wars themes, etc.
After the ceremony, we went north to an Afternoon Tea at the Podium restaurant. Unfortunately, we had a big breakfast so Clara wasn’t particularly hungry for the heaps of elegant sweets placed before her. Fortunately, Dad still enjoyed the treats, and we brought enough with us to snack on throughout the day. The experience also came with a very soft teddy bear that Sophia quickly fell in love with.
Next we walked out to the Victoria & Albert museum. Among the many treasures there, I most enjoyed the plasters they display of incredible sculptures, as well as the full Trajan’s Column (cut in 2 pieces so it would fit in the high-rise ceiling). The girls got fairly restless in this museum – they didn’t even take much interest in an organ shaped like a tiger eating a man (Tippo’s Tiger).
The girls warmed up at our next stop at the Hyde Park playground. Clara and Sophia got stuck at the top of a slide platform early on, but after calming down they had a great time on the see-saw and smaller slides. Eventually Clara built up the courage to climb across a net to get to the big slide platform again and went down confidently over and over.
Eventually we returned to the hotel and found out that we were in-town for Wimbledon. Dad started putting on the matches each evening to ensure the family had a full British experience.
Day 4
Another hotel breakfast followed by a tube ride took us to the Tower of London. Clara and Sophia really enjoy birds so I thought they would get a kick out of the official Ravens. They held Clara’s interest for a short time, but she allowed us to move on. We got right in line to see the Crown Jewels.
The display for the Crown Jewels includes quite a few artifacts and treasures of the monarchy. Clara and Sophia both loved seeing the many shiny objects, from jeweled swords, scepters and maces, to necklaces, rings, and of-course the crowns. Clara enjoyed getting close looks at just about everything.
After the jewels we walked along the ramparts. It included a stop in a tower that used to hold exotic animals. Clara and Sophia loved playing and chasing each other into a fake cage.
We then went through the armory. Clara and Sophia had only a mild interest in the horses, swords, and guns on display. However, once we arrived at the top of the armory we found a kid-friendly room. Clara found a game that had her build a castle to withstand enemies. She really enjoyed a simulated cannon firing operated by pushing a sequence of buttons. She even tried her hand operating a bow & arrow and dressing the king in armor.
After the tower we took advantage of our travel to the east side of London to stop by St. Paul’s Cathedral. Clara got interested in a little activity on the audio guides they provided us while Janet and I listened to the history and took pictures. I could sometimes get Clara briefly interested in the Mosaics as well. I found it a particularly beautiful church.
After seeing Horatio Nelson’s tomb in the Cathedral, we continued down our path. We went through Drury lane (made famous by the Muffin Man). Then had a delicious dinner of Indian food. Clara and Sophia both love Indian food; they’ll primarily eat the rice and bread, but they often eat chicken dishes as well.
We topped it off with some ice cream then walked back to the hotel. As we went through Russell Square park we saw a 4th of July celebration. We couldn’t tell if we were looking at a group of expats celebrating the homeland or British folk toasting the day that eventually made the North American colonies not their problem anymore, so we just passed it by and went back to the hotel.
Day 5
We started our day with an attempt to see Westminster Abbey, but they had special hours that day preventing us from entering on-time. Instead, we walked up to the National Gallery. As per usual with art galleries, I both enjoyed it, and wish I knew more about art so I could tell why the important ones are important. The Monet’s and Van Gogh’s have a clear distinctive style I can latch onto. And the “Cognoscenti in a Room hung with Pictures” was an obvious flex (a painting of a room full of other’s masterpieces).
As much as Clara loves drawing, she isn’t yet interested in seeing what other people have drawn. They took interest in a few pieces, but we couldn’t linger too long before they got impatient. I did convince them to smile in front of a picture of a horse.
We did make it into Westminster Abbey next. The final resting place of Oliver Cromwell caught my eye. The burial place of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Handel, and other prolific writers provided the main draw.
The end of the tour also graced us with the tomb of Winston Churchill. Before we left, we also saw the Coronation Chair. I had the girls say “Coronation chair” for the picture, which they did with vigor to the delight of other patrons.
After an ice cream stop we went to Hamley’s at Regent street for what may be the girl’s favorite stop in London. It had 5 floors packed with toys, including lots of Peppa Pig. Sophia got excited over and over seeing different Peppa Pig themed stuffed animals. She hugged and organized many of them.
We let Sophia get Peppa and George stuffed toys, as well as a Peppa pig car and book for her souvenirs. Clara chose a car set that included a double-decker bus, black taxi, and a tube. From this moment on, Clara decided she liked the tube.
We spent a fair amount of time exploring the toy store before getting dinner and returning to the hotel.
Day 6
Our first stop on Day 6 brought us to the British Museum. This meant seeing the Rosetta Stone, an Easter Island statue, many Egyptian artifacts (including of Ramses II who would have been the Pharaoh during Moses), parts of the Greek Parthenon, the Cyrus Cylinder, Babylonian artifacts, and lots more. I could have spent a whole day in this museum alone.
Among the many priceless treasures, Clara and Sophia did spot something they had to see: an apple. As we went to exit the museum there was a modern exhibit of all the pills people allegedly take in their lifetime. Included in the exhibit was an apple (I suppose to encourage healthy food instead or something; I’m not sure why). As we passed it on our way out, the girls called out from the stroller to go back so they could see the apple. Just an ordinary apple, probably wax or plastic. We looked at it for a while before we had to go. I suppose we’re all most interested in things we recognize or understand.
For our next stop we went to King’s Cross station for a picture by platform 9 3/4’s. They have a little photo-op set up to look like a cart going through the wall. I suppose the real wizards had to create a new portal now that tourists keep a conspicuous eye on that area 24/7. We also bought some butter-beer and exploding bon-bons from the Harry Potter store next to the platform.
Next we went to the British Library. Their main highlight is the Magna Carta, but they also display original copies of Mozart, compilations of Shakespeare, sketches by da Vinci, the oldest compilation of the New Testament, and more. It’s a relatively small display in the library, but packed with high-profile items. I think it struck me differently since many of the artifacts we see in museum have a primarily artistic or symbolic function. The items in the British Library capture key turning points in knowledge, politics, and faith in ways that the art primarily follows.
We wrapped up the day with ride on a double-decker bus (at Clara’s request) to visit Princess Diana’s memorial gardens and have an extended play at the Princess Diana playground. Walking through Kensington Gardens the kids found lots of ducks and other birds to feed. Clara has built up enough patience and confidence to lure the birds close enough that she can sometimes pet them before they run away.
Once at the playground the kids had a blast on a play pirate ship and working in the sand and water setup. We stayed several hours and the kids could have stayed longer but we needed to get back and eat.
Unfortunately, some of this time was spent on the phone with Enterprise (the car rental company). I was double-checking that they were all set with the rental car I had booked with them 2 months earlier. Long (very long) story short, they did not – nor were they ever going to – have a car for us. They booked us on their system, took my money, and were basically leaving it to chance on whether a car would happen to be available that day, and it was looking clear like there were going to be none. I went to bed without this entirely resolved.
Day 7
With more frantic calling in the morning, I found what I sincerely believe to be the only rental car big enough for us in London or surrounding cities. I believe this because I called every car rental company I knew of or could find on the internet and had them search not just London, but cities within a day’s Uber. I got lucky with Sixt who had just received a brand new SUV that day. It was much more expensive than I was hoping for, but after sprinting to the rental office once I confirmed availability on the phone, we had a car. I have a lot more I could say, but I’m going to leave it that I am going to avoid Enterprise whenever possible.
After driving to the hotel (on the left side of busy London streets), we loaded up and started our journey to the Southampton area. It took ~4 hours to make it due to traffic, but the kids endure car rides very well. We unpacked at our hotel, then went out for a dinner of fish, chips, mushy peas, and a burger. We returned to the hotel, played with the kid’s new toys, and went to sleep.
Day 8
Finally – Peppa Pig World! After a full English Breakfast, we took a short drive to Peppa Pig World. Within a larger theme park called Paulton’s Park, it had enough to fill the dreams of Clara and Sophia. We waited at the gate for it to open, picking flowers from the well-kept grass, then hurried to the first rides once available.
Clara had been recently telling us that she no longer liked Peppa Pig. Once she saw the life-sized figures and fun rides, she quickly warmed up to it. We started our tour on Mrs. Rabbit’s helicopter ride – a Ferris Wheel with helicopter-shaped seating areas and Peppa Pig sounds. Then we rode on Daddy Pig’s car ride. before going on a spinner-ride shaped like hot air balloons.
Still full of energy, we visited a little house with an animatronic Peppa Pig family acting out a scene before doing a little boat ride and viewing the park from the elevated view of the Queen’s carriage. At this point we were ready for sustenance, so we got ice cream!
With full bellies, we stood in line to meet Peppa and George. Sophia wasn’t immediately sure how to respond to meeting her heroes. It didn’t take long before she gave them her classic Sophia hug: leaning her head into the loved one without any lifting of arms. After a few high-fives, we got in line for a ride Clara had been nervous about: the Windy Castle.
The Windy Castle is essentially a Ferris Wheel, but has two Triple-seat units on opposite sides of a tall tower so that one group can have their ride while another group loads on & off. It goes high, and each seating area can spin (Little-Teacup style), so it can look scary to kids. Once Clara got on, she loved it. So much, that after trying out the remaining rides, she re-rode Windy Castle over and over until the park closed.
But first, we did have to try the other rides, including a water raft ride, a dinosaur ride, and then a roller coaster and car-driving ride outside of the Peppa Pig World part of the park. Sophia took a nap while Clara did the roller coaster, and later explored the indoor discovery area with Mom while Daddy and Clara stayed on the Windy Castle for more than an hour.
We returned to the hotel and had a pizza dinner while the girls also played in bushes and on an oversized chair. Then we went to sleep to get ready for the next day.
Day 9
We drove from our hotel and stopped at Stonehenge. I had always heard about it being out of the way so never expected I would get to visit. Fortunately, it’s right between Peppa Pig World and Bath, so we took advantage of the chance to see this ancient Wonder of the World.
At the visitor center, Clara asked a lot of questions about bones on display and the person they belonged to while we read about the history of the site. We tried pulling on a big rock sized similar to the ones at the ancient site before exploring some replica huts and busing up to the site itself.
The ring of stones towered taller than I anticipated. They stand at the top of a hill kept green enough for beautiful pictures. The girls liked the stones, but they especially liked picking more dandelions and daisies, just like everywhere we went.
The line for the bus to return stretched more than 200 people long, so we decided to walk back and had a lovely stroll back to the car when the road sloped down, and a mostly-lovely stroll when going uphill.
After that we drove the rest of the way to Bath. We had trouble making it to the hotel since many of the main roads were blocked off for a parade. After circling around a few times we found a long-term parking lot on the edge of the city and carried our luggage 10 minutes through town to our hotel.
We ventured out for some food and ended up at Five Guys. On the way, we also saw a museum at Jane Austen’s house (though we didn’t have a chance to tour the museum itself).
Day 10
The city of Bath gets its name for the Roman Baths built there. I believe it’s one of the largest well-preserved Roman bath house anywhere. They’ve done a fair amount of reconstruction as well, adding sculptures of great figures throughout history to its terrace.
Images of the most significant artifact are scattered throughout the city – a temple pediment of a Gorgon’s head. Gorgon’s are female monsters with snakes for hair, Medusa being the most famous. The image appears male, so scholars still debate whether it’s really supposed to be a Gorgon, or a water god hanging with snakes, or something else entirely.
Beyond the Gorgon, the whole Bath complex took well over 90 minutes to see with a variety of other artifacts and full historical rooms to explore. Sophia eventually fell asleep in our arms (to the chagrin of our lower backs) as we finished exploring the Baths.
Next to the exit of the Baths we found a sign marking the spot where Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein”. So we took a picture.
For lunch, we stopped by a bakery to try a Cornish Pastry. We asked the folks at the counter for recommendations, to which she asked us if we wanted “something traditional or something good.” After a chuckle we opted for one of each, but frankly, even the “good” one wasn’t great. We found a little park by the river with a Gorgon head.
After a brief tour through some of the famous architectural spots in the city, we visited Bath Abbey for its Gothic architecture. It also boasts as the place where the first “King of All England” was crowned in 973.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at a park listening to church and pushing the kids on swings & slides. We followed that up with a Sunday Roast and sticky toffee pudding.
Day 11
After walking our luggage to our car, we began our drive to the Cotswold area. We stopped first at Castle Comb for a beautiful, quiet walk to a picturesque bridge. The village was beautifully tranquil in the morning – only a few other visitors wandered the streets. One resident had some bread and pastries left for sale on their porch, but we didn’t have any cash with us throughout the whole trip, so we skipped the home-made goodies.
After wrapping up our walk, we went to Stow-on-the-Wold. We grabbed a lunch then visited St. Edward’s church where the girls played on the grass, picked dandelions, and we took a picture of the large gnarled trees framing the back door. The trees look straight out of a fantasy movie, guarding the entrance to a wizard or fairy. We didn’t know it, but it was the last picture we got with Sophia’s original stuffed chick.
We drove to Bourton-on-the-water – the town where we would stay for the next several days. Similar to Bath, we had to park on the edge of the town, but it took less than 10 minutes to walk to our AirBnB above a restaurant in the middle of town.
The kids had fallen asleep so we put them in the stroller to make the walk. Somewhere between the car and the hotel, Sophia’s stuffed chick fell and went missing. We looked up and down the busy walkway but never found it. We felt sad to lose it, but fortunately it evidently flew to a chick-cleaning factory and made its way into a snuggly plastic bag and shipped itself to us in a nice Amazon box a few weeks after we got home.
Our AirBnB sat right next to a stream (the water that “Bourton” is on) filled with birds and dogs. We went out to watch the birds and Sophia waded through it with Janet. The water was really cold so Clara and Dad stayed out.
We also walked around feeding birds after another family gave us extra bird food. Clara managed to get pigeons to eat out of her hand and to sometimes pet them. A few crows came by to try to get food, but Clara felt very defensive of the pigeons so she chased the bad crows away.
Day 12
After a nice breakfast provided by our AirBnB, we drove out to a local farm park. We primarily hoped to see and hold baby chicks they always have available. Unfortunately, they said they weren’t allowing people to handle the chicks since it was too hot. Apparently “too hot” is low- to mid-70’s Fahrenheit. Although disappointed, Clara and Sophia still enjoyed watching the chicks (and sneaking little pats when they could).
We visited many other animals throughout the park. We took advantage of goat feeding, though one goat pulled away explosively and splashed Janet with milk. Then we saw chickens, bunnies, geese, and the normal assortment of farm animals.
In addition to the birds, Clara really liked a pedal-powered go-kart area. She rode it in circles for over an hour (which seemed to help her become better prepared for riding a regular pedal bike later that year). She also liked the huge inflatable jumping pillow and had Dad bounce her up and down.
After a return visit to the chicks, we went back to our hotel for dinner and sleep.
Day 13
For our last day at Bourton-on-the-water we went to Birdland! A zoo practically custom-built for Clara and Sophia to feed their bird addiction. They lingered longest looking at penguins, but enjoyed looking at the big-eyed owls and a variety of colorful birds. Clara also liked the sparrows and pigeons outside of the cages.
On our way out we picked up a stuffed parrot for Clara’s last souvenir (even-ing the souvenir spend between her and Sophia). This meant that for the rest of the trip, we heard the parrot say “awwk, I’m a clever parrot” and “boo!”
Our intention for the day was to make it to York, but on the way we also stopped at Blenheim palace. Winston Churchill was born and raised at that palace. After seeing multiple palaces and castles in London and France, including Versailles, I feel comfortable saying that Blenheim has the best grounds of them all.
We only saw the grounds since we didn’t have time for a tour in the palace itself. We first took a little train to the edge of the grounds where we went through a butterfly enclosure. Then we made our way as a family through a pretty involved hedgerow maze.
After enjoying the edge of the grounds we walked back to the main palace to circle around it. There we saw some of the best waterworks and hedge designs of the palaces we’ve been to, overlooked by several stories of marble columns.
We returned to the car and drove several hours up to York (the older one that makes New York new). After checking in to our hotel we went to a nearby Indian restaurant. Throughout the trip, Indian food was consistently the best food.
Day 14
We started our day in York with some very good pastries for breakfast before going across the old ramparts. The girls enjoyed the scenery, but their favorite was finding little outposts with enough room to run in circles with their squeaky shoes.
Then we went to the York Minster. Outside the Minster sits a statue of Constantine the Great, marking the place where the army hailed him Emperor for the first time after the death of his father. This is the same Constantine that converted to Christianity and made it the state religion of Rome.
Inside the York Minster we enjoyed the gothic architecture and windows. The girls enjoyed floor tiles with keys painted on them, which were most prominent in a domed Chapter House. We also went through a museum with a fairly good historical overview not just of the Minster but of British history, including a few hands-on activities for the kids (like making an arch bridge).
Next we went to the Castle Museum where we went through a variety of exhibits. The girls most enjoyed the toy museum; not for the toys behind glass, but for a play area with a dollhouse, a gear set, and pillows. The Museum is most known for its indoor recreation of a Victorian street so we experienced the look and feel of their shops, school, prison house, and carriage.
For our last tourist stop of the day we walked to the “Shambles,” a famous street with lots of shops and food. More than one store had a heavy Harry Potter vibe.
We ended our day with a repeat visit to an Indian restaurant near our hotel. It was one of our favorite restaurants of the trip.
Day 15
After a quick pastry run for breakfast, we got in the car and drove several hours to get back to London. We had enough time to visit Windsor castle. It’s the oldest and largest occupied castle around, so there was plenty to see.
After a tricky time finding a parking garage, we bought our tickets and went onto the grounds. We went through St. George’s chapel first. At this point, the girls were getting a bit antsy, so I don’t remember a whole lot of what I saw or what the audio tour said, but I do remember it being full of people, and supported by the types of columns that spread like fireworks on the ceiling.
We had to get in line to go through the main part of the castle, so we decided to get some ice cream first. Then we went through the state rooms (skipping Queen Mary’s Dollhouse due to the extraordinary long line). The most memorable was the Waterloo chamber – a large room with portraits of those who helped bring down Napoleon. Although a clear homage to those who earned victory over Bonaparte, it also says quite a lot about how strong Napoleon was that one of the nicest chambers was dedicated to the many it took to defeat him.
Before leaving the state rooms we bought a set of spoons commemorating Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. We were lucky to be in the country the year they celebrated her 70th year as monarch, which only weeks later would turn out to be her last.
As we stepped out of the gift shop, we happened by a courtyard just as they were starting a guard change. Several soldiers marched up in a line and went and swapped places with standing guards. The girls loved it, and seemed energized by the chance to watch the exchange with less of a crowd than Buckingham Palace.
We enjoyed a dinner near the palace, then drove to a hotel next to the airport so we would be well situated for our return trip.
Day 16
Before we could fly home, I had to return the rental car. They wouldn’t allow me to return it to the airport, so I drove it back to the rental car place near our first hotel. After dropping it off I worked my way through Kings Cross station to find the right tube to take, followed by a final double-decker bus ride to make it back to the hotel.
We packed up (now with the addition of two car seats to carry) and took a taxi to the airport. The kids once again loved being on the flight and behaved fairly well for it. It was late when we landed but managed to barrel all of our luggage and stroller onto an airport shuttle to our car. We drove on the right side of the rode the whole way home.
