Table of Contents
- Trip Length: 6 days, including two travel days.
- Advanced Planning: Many months
- Cost: $310 for four people: 2 adults & 2 kids (3yrs & 9yrs old)
In September of 2023, we traveled from Madrid, Spain to London, England. This was our second trip to London, so we made it a point to see some of the many places we had not seen on our quicker trip the year prior.
Since we live abroad, away from family, we take every opportunity to meet up with them, if they travel to Europe…so wherever they may go, we try to go there. That was the case with this trip. My grandma was coming from the United States to London for a three week group tour. A portion of her trip was going to be in London and Plymouth, among other cities. We met up with her for the part of her trip that was the most convenient for us to fly into England. Since it was after school had started, this meant it was going to be a segment of time that was over a weekend.
In order to make things as simple as possible, we stayed in the same hotel during our two different stages of being in London. Let me back-up a bit. The plan was to join her in London, and then go to the next city she was going to, and then to come BACK to London before we went back home. Without elaborating further, we flew to London, visited alone and with her, then took a train to Plymouth, met up again with her there during her free time, then once again took a train back to London, where we stayed in the same hotel, went sightseeing/exploring, and then flew back home.
Day 1: Travel Day & London
We arrived in London on a Thursday, which gave us plenty of daylight hours to do some sight seeing. Our first order of business was to get from the airport to the city to meet my grandma, who was there traveling with friends as part of a group tour.
Her schedule was preset, ours was flexible, so we met up with her whenever she was free.
We had a delicious bite of brunch at Ibo Cafe, right by Kensington Gardens.
We were there while they were doing some advertising work for Google, so we are actually in this 360 picture.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/KQrv8CJied7ERLAA9?g_st=ic
After brunch, we took my grandma and her friends for their first visit to and ride on The Tube. The Tube is the name for London’s Metro. You can see in the photo below where it gets its nickname from.
Afterwards, it was getting late, so we went our separate ways..them to their hotel and us to ours. Our next meetup would be in Plymouth within the following two days.
When we travel to the UK, we like to stay at Premier Inn. They have rooms available with 4 twin sized beds, and they are affordable. Breakfast is also included in their room rate, and it’s buffet style with a good variety, including traditional (American) foods. On this trip we stayed at Premier Inn Kensington Earl’s Court.
Day 2: Tower Bridge, London Tower
Day 2 was on a Friday, so we went to London Tower and Tower Bridge. We use the metro, buses, or walking whenever we travel. In London, you can pay for both the metro and the buses by scanning your credit or debit card or by using contactless payment, so it’s not really necessary to plan in advance with buying a city pass for transportation.
The Tower of London is an absolutely amazing place to explore. It has a lot of historical significance (read the Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain) and is a World Heritage Site, so it’s definitely something you want to set aside a few hours to prioritize doing. We missed it on our first trip, so we had to make sure to see it on the second. Now that I’ve been, I would have definitely made it a big priority for trip number 1!
I highly recommend using the audio guides at any and all museums that you visit. They are excellent for both kids and adults and really add a lot to the experience. My kids and I both retain a lot more information in the long term whenever we use the audio options. Some museums have better technology than others, but I still find them a valuable tool.
They have cultivated an amazing wildflower garden in what used to be the moat. It’s pretty to walk around and imagine what this place used to be, as it has changed a lot of the decades, from a moat to a place for soldiers to train during World War 1, to now a wildflower garden.
Here is a view from the wildflower moat of Tower Bridge.
It’s a nice place to take a break from the chaos and noise of travel, and let the kids run around and explore, while respecting the plants and insects found there.
Day 3-4: Travel Day via Train & Plymouth Sightseeing
On day 3, a Saturday, we left London and traveled via train to Plymouth, UK from the Paddington Station, which is an iconic station in London. Obviously the book and show about Paddington Bear have made it a household name. We traveled to Plymouth for two reasons:
- My grandma had the town on her group tour itinerary
- I had it on my “want to go to” list because of it’s historical significance with the United States of America. This is the town the pilgrims left from on the Mayflower.
After we arrived, we used the bus to get from the train station to our hotel, which was once again a Premier Inn. As I said before, I find the hotel brand to be a good bang for your buck- they have family “sized” rooms, ie 4 beds. I am not insinuating that the rooms are large, but they do have four separate sleeping areas for four people, and that works for us. Hotels in the UK are notoriously small, so this is a significant benefit to this hotel. They also have a nice breakfast. I particularly liked that they have umbrellas for rent from this machine they had, in case you didn’t pack one for your travels.
They also had this machine to buy things in case you have something else you forgot. These machines have been a common sight throughout our european travels over the last 3 years. There is a vending machine for everything over here.
At Plymouth we went to the port to see where the Mayflower set sail, and met a local there. He thought it was entertaining that we and many other Americans come there just to see this plaque and port. We also had some fish ‘n chips at a local restaurant near the port. Always get fish ‘n chips when you go to England!
It was a rainy day, which is fairly common in the UK, so make sure you bring a light rain jacket and maybe even an umbrella.
From Plymouth to Newfoundland:
From Plymouth to New Plymouth “to lay the foundation of the New England States”
From Plymouth to New Zealand
A rainy street in Plymouth. I just love these streets because they look like they are straight out of a book or a movie!
There are signs that will lead you to the Mayflower Steps.
Plymouth was one of the most bombed cities in England during WWII. This is literally a shell of a bombed church. If you look closely, you can see the roof on the lower building is totally missing and it is hollow inside.
Besides the Mayflower stuff, there’s not too much to see in Plymouth. It’s definitely a day trip, for historical purposes, especially if you are from the United States, but you don’t need more than a day there. They do have this cool sundial, which was fun to see and a great little learning opportunity for the World Schoolers out there :), although it doesn’t work well when it’s cloudy and rainy, which it often is here…how ironic.
We also went to Crispy’s and had this delicious cookie dough treat.
We found a really fun museum called The Box, which was a fun history museum, that also included some art exhibits. I absolutely love taking my kids to different types of musuems and exhibits. I believe it’s an important benefit of traveling to learn how to behave in certain environments. For example, manners in an art museum look different from those expected in a history museum, a science museum, etc.
While there, my grandma treated our children to a small gift from the gift shop, which my oldest son used to make me a necklace when we got home. Talk about an awesome full circle moment! He found the anchor and small cross on the ground in various places, then cut a piece of gemstone and glued it to the cross, completing it with yarn for the necklace:
Day 5: Travel Day Return to London from Plymouth
The day before we were set to leave London via plane to go home, we returned back to the city via train. This gave us time to have a sort of slower day and get some rest, before the airplane travel day the next day. Although we do try to utilize our time efficiently and usually manage to do a lot of things within that time, we always prioritize rest during our trips. There is no use in running yourself ragged..it’s not enjoyable for anyone. We returned to the exact same hotel, but were assigned a different room. This helped to keep things simple for us upon our return to the city.
On this last day in London, we went to the FREE Natural History Museum.
Always make sure you get tickets in advance, even if it’s just minutes in advance, just go online and get them online. They are free, but you still need to fill out a form, etc to get the admission slip. You can use a the ticket digitally. This will usually give you fast access. For some reason, not everyone knows this, so when we got there there was a long time for people with online tickets, and a line for those without. At first, we went to the line for no tickets, but then I got on my phone and bought the tickets right there in line, and was able to skip to the front! It’s so easy, and now I always double check the lines when I get to museums, to make sure I can’t utilize this little hack.
They have a really cool dinosaur museum, which is great for kids. You can also get a picture taken there, which I know is a touristy thing, but we did it anyway because 1) we are tourist and 2) entry was free, so I didn’t feel bad paying for this! The kids had fun taking the pictures too, and pretending they were being attacked by a dinosaur.
Review and Recap
We *always* enjoy our trips to England. We have been to quite a few cities now, but have many many more to see. This was our second trip to London, so we were able to hit up some sites that we hadn’t seen on the first trip, which was even quicker than this one.
The city is a bit gloomy in regards to weather, since the sun doesn’t shine a lot there, which I find difficult to deal with, but it’s okay for short stays. There is always something to do, places to shop, etc. The public transportation is really easy to use, although the city is very crowded and busy….& I don’t find the people there to be the most polite. (oops, I said it!).
We of course would return again, but probably only once more, since we have seen just about all we would like to see in the city by now. It’s a great city to visit, with something for all ages, so be inspired to look for a great deal and go enjoy a few days in historic London….& throw in a day trip or two while you’re at it!!
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