England/Ireland/Scotland -- help me plan a vacation

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking about a trip to England, Ireland and/or Scotland this summer with kids aged 9, 6, and 4. If anyone has any suggestions for a realistic itinerary, best bets, good hotels to stay at, and whether we should rent a car (really tough with 5, I know) or try to take trains, etc., I'd appreciate it. I'm thinking things like castles, ponies, jigs, Harry Potter, rather than the British Museum and the West End. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Where r u flying from?

[Anonymous]

With a family of 5 I would try to rent a flat from a place like vrbo/homeaway. We did that in London. We had a great experience.

The islands are small (relatively speaking), but the roads are small and windy, so to go from the south of England to Scotland can take you 8+ hrs on the road. In-country flights are not that expensive in the UK, so you might want to look at flying to Scotland from London. There are cheaper airlines (like southwest) - Ryaniar, and another I can't remember now.

How are you guys at driving on the other side? I've been to the UK probably about 6x now, and I still won't drive on the other side. But then again, my DH is from there so it makes the decision easy for me.

Why wouldn't you do some of the museums? My kids are 5 and 8, and they liked the British Museum (natural history) and the Tower of London (there's a really cool dragon made of weapons - a must see).

If your 4 and 6 yr old likes Peppa Pig, there's a Peppa Pig world right next to another amusement park for older kids - it's in the same park actually. Actually, my 8 yr old liked some of Peppa Pig World, too.

Trains are actually pretty good, but they also can take a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With a family of 5 I would try to rent a flat from a place like vrbo/homeaway. We did that in London. We had a great experience.

The islands are small (relatively speaking), but the roads are small and windy, so to go from the south of England to Scotland can take you 8+ hrs on the road. In-country flights are not that expensive in the UK, so you might want to look at flying to Scotland from London. There are cheaper airlines (like southwest) - Ryaniar, and another I can't remember now.

How are you guys at driving on the other side? I've been to the UK probably about 6x now, and I still won't drive on the other side. But then again, my DH is from there so it makes the decision easy for me.

Why wouldn't you do some of the museums? My kids are 5 and 8, and they liked the British Museum (natural history) and the Tower of London (there's a really cool dragon made of weapons - a must see).

If your 4 and 6 yr old likes Peppa Pig, there's a Peppa Pig world right next to another amusement park for older kids - it's in the same park actually. Actually, my 8 yr old liked some of Peppa Pig World, too.

Trains are actually pretty good, but they also can take a while.

Agree with this. We also rented through AirBnB in London last summer and it worked really well. My kids LOVED London and we had a great trip. We walked everywhere and they loved the history (they are 9 and 7). We only did London this trip, but my husband and I have done both London and Ireland before. London to Dublin and drove around the southern part of Ireland. This was several years ago, but I remember the driving as being quite stressful for me - especially around the Ring of Kerry where there were many tour buses and hedgerows!

[Anonymous]

I'm not necessarily opposed to museums, but I think they'll get bored quickly. We do the natural history at the Smithsonian, and one kid likes it, the other doesn't really. Any other suggestions for London? I really would think of just doing Ireland and/or Scotland, except for the Harry Potter fiends -- I've heard the Harry Potter tour is fun.

[Anonymous]

We were able to easily rent a minvan when we had a group of 6 driving around England, so that shouldn't be a problem if you decide to go that route.

I have strong positive memories of the following in England when I was a kid:
--Welsh castle ruins (bonus, you can stop and take a picture at that town with the crazy long name)
--Tintern Abbey
--Tower of London
--Madame Tussaud's (cheesy I know, and that was before they opened other locations)
--Hadrian's Wall
--Windsor Castle

Other things that I've done as an adult that I think kids would love are:
--Edinburgh Zoo, especially there penguin parade
--Cornwall esp Tintagel Ruins
--Stonehenge
--London Eye

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not necessarily opposed to museums, but I think they'll get bored quickly. We do the natural history at the Smithsonian, and one kid likes it, the other doesn't really. Any other suggestions for London? I really would think of just doing Ireland and/or Scotland, except for the Harry Potter fiends -- I've heard the Harry Potter tour is fun.

I am the above PP who went last summer, and I have one kid who loves museums and one who could give or take them. We were in London for a week and we did the British Museum (my 7 year old was bored), The Tower of London (both liked it because it is a lot of running around as well as historical stuff), and The London Transport Museum (both liked this as well). But London is so much more than museums! We did a TON of walking when we were there - went to Regents Park and Hyde Park, took the boat ride to Greenwich and went up to the Prime Meridian, saw the Changing of the Guard, walked by St. James Palace, went to Trafalgar Square, saw Westminster Abbey (didn't go in because it was way too crowded), stopped in lots of pubs to sit and eat and have a beer. We also took the Tube a ton which my kids loved. I was also shocked by how much they walked each day - they don't like to walk much at home, but in London with lots to see, they didn't complain. It really was a great trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not necessarily opposed to museums, but I think they'll get bored quickly. We do the natural history at the Smithsonian, and one kid likes it, the other doesn't really. Any other suggestions for London? I really would think of just doing Ireland and/or Scotland, except for the Harry Potter fiends -- I've heard the Harry Potter tour is fun.

There's the Winston Churchill museum, which I heard is great. I think they have a kids program, too. We are going to do that when we go there again. I'm thinking London would be more fun for kids than Scotland. You could also go down to the coastal areas of England. Also, Blackpool, although touristy and can be tacky, might be fun for the kids.

We also went to the Tank Museum down in the south coast when they were having a big to-do. My DC (8) got to drive a mini-tank - I kid you not, it was a real mini tank, driving over hay bales and such; and a mock tank battle. I don't know if they have that every year or not.

[Anonymous]

When are you going and for how long?

You could fly to Glasgow, do the Highlands/Islands, Edinburgh,Hadrian's Wall and then down to York.

You could live without a car. train can be expensive but takes you most places you want to go, if you are happy just doing somewhere like Oban. If you want to travel all round the highlands you would need a car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not necessarily opposed to museums, but I think they'll get bored quickly. We do the natural history at the Smithsonian, and one kid likes it, the other doesn't really. Any other suggestions for London? I really would think of just doing Ireland and/or Scotland, except for the Harry Potter fiends -- I've heard the Harry Potter tour is fun.

I am the above PP who went last summer, and I have one kid who loves museums and one who could give or take them. We were in London for a week and we did the British Museum (my 7 year old was bored), The Tower of London (both liked it because it is a lot of running around as well as historical stuff), and The London Transport Museum (both liked this as well). But London is so much more than museums! We did a TON of walking when we were there - went to Regents Park and Hyde Park, took the boat ride to Greenwich and went up to the Prime Meridian, saw the Changing of the Guard, walked by St. James Palace, went to Trafalgar Square, saw Westminster Abbey (didn't go in because it was way too crowded), stopped in lots of pubs to sit and eat and have a beer. We also took the Tube a ton which my kids loved. I was also shocked by how much they walked each day - they don't like to walk much at home, but in London with lots to see, they didn't complain. It really was a great trip.

I'm the other PP. Me, too.. and it was hot when we were there in the summer. But like your's, the kids didn't seem to complain as much. Here, we walk .5 mi. to the park and my 5 yr old complains she's tired.

[Anonymous]

My younger kids were more impressed with a pair of squirrels in a tree as they were with the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London, etc. and I think for many kids the history and museum aspects of the UK gets a bit lost.

I think my recommendation would be to go and visit like you were living there. Get an apartment is a great recommendation, and then get out and about in the neighborhoods and see things 'like a local'. Spend some time in a museum, for sure, but also spend some time in a park playing on the swings or at a local grocery market trying some new food that you cook at home. Maybe take in a football game if the timing is right, or do some other local event that isn't part of the normal tourist books. Don't overstuff the trip with too much as there is plenty to see just walking around.

Scotland by plane is an option, but remember travel time starts from leaving the front door to getting to the hotel/apartment at the other end, and as such you might find other transport options (rail / car) that are as easy. The advantage of a car is that you can stop at different places along the way and see other interesting bits. Visit Oxford or Cambridge. Maybe, if the timing is right, enter the Pooh Stick races (from the books). http://www.pooh-sticks.com

I'd also second the comments on walking. You will do quite a bit even without trying. Our kids didn't complain much as they walk quite a bit here, but we did pack some good shoes for walking which helped.

[Anonymous]

For this suggestion, I'm assuming a 2 week trip. I would do Scotland (Edinburgh > Inverness > Glasgow). Then hop the ferry in Stranraer over to Belfast.

Once there I'd tour Belfast, making sure to do a black taxi tour to see the murals. Then up to the North Coast (Carrick a Rede Rope bridge, Dunluce Castle, Giants Causeway). Portrush is touristy, but my kids (8,5,3) loved the amusements there. Then to Derry. Again, make sure to see the murals, and the Old Derry wall.

From there, depends on how much time you'd have left. Galway is one of my favorite places in Ireland. But you might not have a enough time.

Our family of 5 rents a small minivan or one of the larger cars. Think its usually a Vauxhall or similar.

Flights within UK and between UK and Ireland are cheap. If you can pick up your car in Scotland and drop off in Ireland or N. Ireland, you can fly back to your original starting city to fly home. That will save you time compared to driving/ferrying back.

FWIW, friend and I did a very similar trip, except we skipped the North Coast and opted to go from Derry down to Galway and then Kerry before heading up to Dublin and caught the ferry back to the UK from there. Probably covered more miles than what I'm proposing and it was very doable in 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

OP Wales is child-friendly. Also your kids might enjoy a steam train ride: http://www.railwaytouring.net/uk_day_trips

[Anonymous]

OP: Stay in London for a few days and take day trips from there. Packing evey day gets to be a pain. Then, take train to Edinburgh. Kids will love the castle there. Again, day trips from there.

[Anonymous]

Love, love, LOVE Scotland. There are tons of things to do in Edinburgh: Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood, shopping. If you or any of the kids are up for it, do the Mary King's Close tour. Super cool and creepy (but maybe too scary for the young ones). When my DH and DC and I went, I did that tour myself.

The Highlands are fantastic. Gorgeous. We stayed in Inverness and did day trips, including Culloden battlefield.

Cheesy as it was, we also stayed in Dramnadrochit and did the Loch Ness thing. It was fun for all. We stayed on a working farm and love it. Had our best meal near there.

The Scots are very friendly and warm. I thought we'd struggle with food but all liked it. Would go back in a second!