September 16, 2025 • 48 mins
In this episode, guest host Karen interviews Tracy about her favourite London experiences, from afternoon teas and hidden gems to festive traditions and foodie highlights.
Highlights include:
• The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London, a historic after-hours ritual
• Afternoon teas with a twist such as Peter Pan at The Shard or the classic Ritz indulgence
• Greenwich’s Painted Hall and the National Portrait Gallery’s world-class art
• Foodie experiences including Devour’s pub tour and the “sushi-bar for cheese” in Seven Dials
• Family favourites like Hamleys and the Natural History Museum
• Seasonal sparkle with Christmas lights, festive markets and decorated shopfronts
• Easy day trips from London, such as Portsmouth’s Mary Rose and historic dockyard
✨ Insider tip: Popular experiences book up quickly. Reserve ahead, especially for afternoon teas and special tours.
📝 Show Notes - Episode 167
🎧 Listen to next
- Episode #161 – Top 12 Mistakes First-Time Visitors Make in London and How to Avoid Them
- Episode #138 – Exploring London’s Iconic Sights with Discover Real London’s Black Cab Tours
- Episode #105 – Top 10 London Experiences
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
London isn't just about places, it's about
experiences.
So in this episode I'm sharingmy absolute favourites afternoon
tea with a twist, magicalfestive traditions, food tours,
cosy pubs and thoseunforgettable London moments
that keep me coming back formore.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
Your host is the founder of theUK Travel Planning website,
tracey Collins.
Each week, tracey sharesdestination guides, travel tips
and itinerary ideas, as well asinterviews with a variety of
guests who share their knowledgeand experience of UK travel to
help you plan your perfect UKvacation.
Join us as we explore the UKfrom cosmopolitan cities to
(00:38):
quaint villages, from historiccastles to beautiful islands,
and from the picturesquecountryside to seaside towns.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hi and welcome to this week's edition of the UK
Travel Planner podcast, and thisis a follow-up to my episode
two weeks ago where I talkedabout my favourite places in
London, and this time I'mtalking about my favourite
experiences.
So I hope you enjoyed thatepisode and we're going to try
not to repeat too many in thisone for my experiences and once
again we have Karen here, sothanks, Karen, for joining us to
(01:14):
ask me all the questions aboutLondon.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Hi Tracey, it's always good fun to be back on
here again and I'm going to bepicking your brains all about
your favourite Londonexperiences now.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, and thanks to, in the different, the two
Facebook groups, because we'vegot the UK one and the London
one for um posing some of thesequestions.
When I put it in there saidwhat do you want to know about?
And they're like, well, tell us, you know what?
What do you love doing when yougo?
Not seeing so much, but whatalso do you like doing?
Um, because again, there's lotsto do in London, um, so we're
going to talk about experiences,move away from places and talk
(01:43):
about the actual things to do,eat and enjoy that make London
so special.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Which are all the best things to do in London.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Afternoon teas and things like that.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So we're going to start off by talking about
cultural tours and unique toursthat you might enjoy doing.
What is your favourite artgallery in London?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah, so we've added this in because you were going
to ask me about the museum, butI did talk about that last time,
so we're going to avoid talkingabout the.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
V&A again.
We've heard that lots of times.
We want somewhere different.
We're going to talk aboutNational Portrait Gallery.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
So um the National Portrait Gallery was reopened um
I think it was last year, soJune last year, and I was there
the day after it reopened.
I think it was last year, soJune last year, and I was there
the day after it reopened.
I think it was last year, theyear before, I can't remember.
It all melts into one, the timeI spent.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I know, I know and it was somewhere.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
June and I went and had a look around and I was just
blown away.
It's just so amazing, the PortRico it just is.
It's fabulous.
It it's just somewhere to goand wander around.
The architecture is lovelyitself.
I particularly like the photos.
There's lots of um, there's aselection of photos of famous
people and just just amazingphotos taken, uh, which is in
(02:55):
one section and that's a bit.
I kind of stick some of minebecause I really enjoyed it, um,
but it's just a really lovelymuseum to wander around.
It's actually actually roundthe corner from the National
Gallery itself, which is alsoworth going to see.
But for me, the NationalPortrait Gallery is just amazing
.
It's my favourite and alsoactually just a little shout out
(03:15):
here for the Queen's House inGreenwich, because they also
have a selection of interestingpaintings to see as well,
particularly of Henry VIII, whatI remember.
So go and check those out ifyou're going down to Greenwich.
But yeah, big shout-outNational Portrait Gallery,
that's definitely somewhere thatI enjoy going to On your list.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Okay, what's your favourite sort of extra tour,
like your special?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Oh, again, everybody's going to know what
I'm going to say for this one,but I love the Ceremony of the
Keys.
I've been very lucky to havebeen invited a few times now by
walks to go and enjoy the VIPCeremony of the Keys at Tower of
London.
It's just the most uniqueatmosphere.
You go there after it's closed,so there's just you and your
small group there With theYirman Water.
You get to have a look aroundthe Tower of London.
(04:01):
You don't actually go in aroundthe tower and you don't
actually go in.
I've been on one of the tourswhere we actually went into the
chapel, which was fabulousbecause it was like 14 of us, I
think, in the chapel and he wasanswering loads of questions and
telling us loads of stuff thatI did not know.
So, yeah, absolutely, ceremonyof the Keys is amazing.
If you can swing it to do theVIP one with walks, I would
(04:21):
highly recommend it.
If, if not, we have gotinformation about how you can
get tickets on the website.
I've got a whole article aboutthe ceremony of the keys.
I'm a bit obsessed with itbecause it's so historic and
it's something I didn't evenwasn't even aware of.
Your name, though, gets writtenin a book because you'd be
there, and this has been goingon for every night for hundreds
of years, the same ceremony.
You're not allowed to takephotos of it, you're not allowed
(04:43):
to take video of it, um, so youhave to go and see it.
It's the only way that you'regoing to actually take part in
this that sounds good.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Now what's your favorite hidden gem in london?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
okay, now I don't know, I don't know if I want to
call it a hidden gem, but it'sdefinitely a gem.
And again, I guess it's ingreenwich, so not everybody
heads over to greenwich, eventhough you, you absolutely
should.
And that's the Painted Ceilingand the Naval Hall.
And again, this is somewherethat I go back to again and
again, and again, because it isjust stunning.
It is so beautiful.
Have you been?
(05:14):
No, no all right.
No, I thought, yeah, you need togo again, I'll show you.
I'm going to show Karen somephotos of this afterwards
because she hasn't been.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
my list keeps getting longer and longer, the more
that I talk to you though yeah,honestly, it is beautiful and
you'll just, you can, you canactually lie back.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
They've got like um seats, like flat seats, so you
can kind of lie back because youneed to log up to really enjoy
it.
So you can, you can kind of lieback and really get the full
kind of just amazing beauty ofit, because it is amazing, and
just enjoy greenwich when you'rethere.
So, absolutely go to greenwich,absolutely go and see the
painted ceiling at the navalnaval hall.
(05:51):
Yes, don't just go, and I know,see, I can see people.
I'm going to go to greenwichand I'm going to go and stand on
the meridian line and I'm goingto go up to the to the
observatory.
Yes, do that, 100, do that.
But also definitely stop offand see the painted ceiling at
the naval hall.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
You will not regret it I need to add greenwich as a
whole to my list, because I'venot been there before, so it's
definitely going to be somewherethat I will make the effort to
go to.
Now, what's your favorite daytrip from london?
So if you're based in london,you can easily get out and
explore this one.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
There's somebody asked me this and I'm like you
know, actually we've done twoentire episodes about this,
about, uh, the best day tripsfrom london by train, and
there's just so many you can goanywhere.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, you can get places quite quickly because
you've got direct trains, yeahwell, yeah, you can go to.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
You go to paris.
I've done paris for the dayfrom london.
So the the amount of places youcan go to is just there's.
There are so many to choosefrom and actually trying to
choose one obviously I talkedabout hampton court is a is very
easy.
I talked about that in the lastepisode when I was talking
about places.
Um and windsor is also a very,very, very easy day trip from
(07:01):
london.
In fact half day you can do umto windsor.
It's not that far on the train.
Again, we've got an articleabout that.
But I'm going to do a shout outactually for Portsmouth, going
down to the naval dockyard atPortsmouth, historic naval
dockyard down there, and weactually have got a podcast
episode all about that, becauseyou can go and see the Mary Rose
, which was Henry VIII'sflagship, which was sunk.
(07:23):
It didn't last very long, itkind of went at harbour, sunk
and so it's just, it's amazing.
So they dragged it up and theyhave.
It's the best museum I havebeen to in the world for
showcasing anything like this.
Now I have been to um Stockholmto see the, the boat there
(07:44):
which I should know the name of,and it's gone up my head and
that is also fabulous to see.
But the Mary Rose, it's just sointeractive.
If you've got kids and have gotany interest in like this,
wanting to learn about history,take them, because it is
brilliant Again.
Portsmouth easy day trip.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I was going to say easy to get there from the train
as well, because my husband'sfrom the.
Portsmouth easy day trip.
I was gonna say easy to getthere from the train as well,
because my um, my husband's fromthe Portsmouth kind of area, so
I know that quite well.
Um, and also you can get theSpinnaker Tower while you're
there.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
You can you can yeah, so yes, and get a great view,
so I would yeah.
So there's so many, andobviously you know Bath, oxford,
cambridge, canterbury, brighton, um, you know, the list goes on
and on and on.
Did I mention bath?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
already.
I mean you like, and it dependson what you want from
winchester yes, winchester, ohyeah there's just so many places
.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
so actually listen to our podcast episodes about the
two different places, and we aregoing to be again adding to our
youtube with different videosabout how to get to these
different places from london bytrain.
Uh, soon as well.
So you can kind of.
So it's not hard and if youwant to, you can always do it on
tour.
A lot of these places you canaccess on tour as well.
But, yeah, I mean yes, lots ofplaces to choose from Depends on
(08:54):
your interests.
If you're not sure, get intouch, leave us on in the
Facebook group, let us knowthese are my interests.
What do you recommend as a daytrip?
Because we can help you withthat.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
We can give you advice and Tracy would have done
all of them, yes, multipletimes.
Yes.
So what's your favorite foodtour?
This is an important one.
I know food tours are importantto you.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yes, I love food tours and you know again, this
is one I've talked about and Idon't want to go on and on and
on on the podcast about the samestuff.
I go on and on and on on thepodcast about the same stuff,
but I guess if I really enjoy itit's going to come up and
that's the Taste Tales andTraditional Ales Devour Food
Tour, which takes you aroundsome of the old, historic pubs
in the city of London and,amazing, you learn so much.
(09:35):
Not only do you get to try thefood and drink, which is
fantastic, but you learn aboutthe history of these pubs as
well.
You can see where CharlesDickens sat and had a drink.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
What kind of foods do you have on this tour?
I'm really intrigued.
Is it sort of slightly strangequirky foods, or is it?
Speaker 1 (09:50):
No, it's kind of traditional, I guess, the sort
of things you like sausage, roll, scotch egg, that sort of thing
.
So yeah, I'm trying to think ofsome of the other foods we have
, but that sort all kind oftraditional kind of british
(10:12):
snacky kind of foods, um, thatyou have.
So, yeah, really good pork pies.
Another one we had, um.
So I think the food and thedrink is all kind of all part of
learning as well about historyof the those pubs and who drank
there and who met there and yeah, very I would highly recommend
it.
It's a tour that I I've done acouple of times and the first
time I did that to I talked tomy friend Terry and she's still
talking about it.
She tells all her friends aboutthis tour because she loved it
and she's from London.
She's from London and didn'tknow about all of these pubs and
(10:36):
the history of all these pubs.
So you know, this is evenpeople from London who learn
about this stuff.
So I'd highly recommend thatone.
And obviously they've got a.
They've got the ultimate foodtour, which is borough market,
which I also enjoy, and it goesto leaden hall market as well,
now included in that tour.
So if you want to try foodtours.
Um, I have actually a wholearticle on the london travel
planner website with a list ofdifferent food tours, depending
(10:59):
on what you're interested in,like if you're into cheese or if
you're into gin, or if you know.
There's lots of different foodtours as well that can focus on
that.
Um, so yeah, so take a, take alook at that.
I'm always happy to do a foodtour.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
To be honest, it doesn't matter where I am.
It doesn't take any persuadingdoes it so okay.
So now we're going to talkabout different seasons, so
what's your favorite time of theyear to visit London?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Christmas.
Everybody knows I'm going tosay Christmas, yeah, except it's
also crazy Freezing cold, I'mbusy, oh, I'm cold, but it's so
busy, so busy.
Yeah, I was there lastChristmas.
That's the only downside.
Okay, it's because, like,everybody wants to go and
experience the Christmas lightsand you know, british people go,
people who live outside ofLondon go into London to see the
(11:40):
Christmas lights because theyare spectacular, they're lovely,
the shops are so beautifullydecorated.
It's got a wonderful atmosphere.
Covent Garden at Christmas is solovely and I'm talking about
not Christmas Day and Boxing Day, because it's a whole different
thing.
Things are quite quiet.
So I think people think they'regoing to go to London on
Christmas Day and everything'sgoing to be open.
It isn't so.
I'm just going to say that now.
But that kind of build up tochristmas season is just
(12:05):
fantastic.
It is a lovely, lovely time ofyear to visit.
Wrap up, warmly, put in a scarf, your gloved hat and just go
and have some mulled wine andyou'll see people selling
chestnuts and yeah, it's, it is.
It's a fabulous time of year tovisit and also pantomimes as
well.
Go and see a pantomime in thetheater.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
You know I was trying to explain to my kids who've
grown up in Australia what apantomime was all about, because
they had no idea what it wasall about.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
How do I describe it?
I don't know how to.
It's like well, it's fun.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
That's the best way to describe it.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
It's a huge tradition in the UK and when my daughter
was small, every Boxing Day we'dgo to pantomime.
And he goes oh no, you didn't.
Oh, yes, we did.
If you're going to see apantomime, I know, you'll know
exactly what I mean when I saythat.
But yeah, I think December issuch a lovely time to be in
London.
Yeah, it really is.
(12:57):
I'd love to snow.
It didn't snow last year and Iknow I think it was the year
before, was it?
When I wasn't there and I don'tmean my friend from sailing
scale in the studio.
She sent me all these beautiful.
It was beginning of Decemberand they had loads of snow.
I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I was like, oh, you're lucky, because it just
looks even more beautiful underthe snow yeah, and I think to us
both of us living in Australianow, having come from the UK
it's.
It feels Christmassy when it'scold and yes, whereas here.
I mean I I love christmas here.
I do love the sunshine and theheat, but it is it's definitely
got a different experience to itwhen you go back for a nice
(13:33):
cold, cozy kind of christmaswith your log fires and the pubs
and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
So yeah, absolutely you're right, because, um,
because I kind of grew up inbetween the southern hemisphere
and the northern hemisphere, soso I had a mixture of both.
I would have either Christmasesin the heat, in the beach, and
then Christmases where it wascold, around the log fire and
the you know frosty or snow, andI prefer the cold.
I do prefer, I do.
(13:58):
Yeah, if I could choose, everyyear, I'd spend that 10 days
somewhere.
It doesn't have to be in the UK.
Actually, it could be inSwitzerland.
I've spent Christmas inSwitzerland, in a lovely chalet
in the Swiss Alps, so I don'tmind really as long as it's cold
and cute and cozy.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah, no, switzerland's on my son's list.
Actually, we were driving toschool this morning and we were
talking about our upcoming UKtrip, because we're going back
in September for a few weeks,and he was saying can we go to
Switzerland while we're there?
Speaker 1 (14:26):
all right, he's obviously just seen it on the
internet and started doing someresearch about places to go, so
I'm going to tell you, actuallyI went from London actually from
north of London from when wewere living to my mum's house in
Switzerland in a day by train.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Wow yeah, so that is doable too absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Um, maybe you should tell him he can do it.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Yeah, and we'll come back and talk about it on your
global travel planning podcastas well, absolutely cool.
So what's your favorite shop atchristmas?
Obviously we talked a bit abouthow busy london is and
obviously christmas shopping inlondon would be pretty, pretty
chaotic.
What's your favorite shop for?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
christmas.
Yeah, favorite shop atchristmas is gotta it's gotta be
Fortnum and Mason.
Um, even though it does getcrazy, crazy, crazy busy and I'm
gonna because it it does andyou can't get moved.
In fact, I think last year, thethe last time I went to visit
Fortnum and Mason, I just Ididn't stay in there very long
(15:20):
because it was so it was a bittoo crowded for me.
Um, even on the kind of walkingup the stairs going up to, like,
the second floor, there's a lotof christmas decorations and
stuff, because I love thechristmas shops, so a lot of the
shops as well as beingdecorated.
But they'll start like having achristmas section where you can
go and buy christmasdecorations and things like that
.
So in fortnum mason last yearwell, last year, and it goes on
(15:41):
to january as well you can goand buy all the christmas
decorations and it was just itwas, it was lovely and also you
can stand um, and they have likea central bit in fortnum and
mason and they have a differentevery year.
They have something different.
Um, come on up and down withsome music so you can you can
enjoy that as well take videosof that um, and obviously it's
just a pretty.
(16:01):
It's just just a lovely shopanyway, but at Christmas it does
get crazy.
It really is like the hampers,the decorations, it really it's
like a Christmas film set.
It's like something out ofHollywood.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know when you think about these Christmas
movies.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
It really looks like that.
Yeah, and also, apparently Ihave not done this, but I think
it's £25.
I'm going to say that to ship,it doesn't matter how much you
buy from Fortnum Mason, you canship it back to the United
States, or?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
anywhere, I guess.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
But I know I've heard from some of our listeners that
I think it's £25, maybe it'sUS$25, and you can ship whatever
you want from, I believe fromFortnum Mason.
So go and do some shopping andsend your stuff back home.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Well, I was like you collect fridge magnets.
I like collecting an ornament,like a Christmas ornament, from
different places we go, so thatsounds really good for
collecting that unique bit ofChristmas decorations.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Can I just also give a shout out to Liberty as well,
because Liberty's is amazing,and last year that was my second
favorite shop to go and wanderaround.
Liberty's is amazing anyway,because the fabric is just
gorgeous so I can just walkaround having a look at their.
Oh just, the material isbeautiful, um, but they had a
fabulous christmas shop as well,and it's just.
It's such a lovely historicbuilding that is set in as well.
(17:17):
Um, so definitely go toliberties and go and check out
their christmas shop as well.
It's not that far from fortnumand mason, so have, have a walk
around there and, and yeah, shopto your heart's content so we
talked a bit about christmaslights just there, while we're
getting in the festive season.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
What is your favorite way to see the christmas lights
in london?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
um, well, I actually kind of walk.
I did it, but I did it becauseif you're walking around, you
get to see some places that youcan't get to by like bus or by
car or um, you know, it's justbecause it is so crowded.
And I've done a few of thebusters, and the busters are
good I'm not going to putanybody off them, they are good
but they are quite slow.
Um so, but you do get uniqueview because you're obviously
(18:02):
higher up.
So then, especially someonelike oxford Street, when you
come down, you get a great viewof the angels.
Um, but you've got to bepatient because it does take
quite a while and you Londontraffic yes, busy Christmas time
, yeah, so it can take.
It can take quite a while, um,but I don't want to put you off
because it's also a great way todo it.
But, honestly, getting off, justgetting a bus or getting a tube
and figuring out where theChristmas lights are and I have
(18:24):
got an article on the websiteabout where the different
Christmas lights are and on ourLondon map as well, so you can
map In fact, what I might tryand get on that is where the
different lights are and map aroute as well so that you can
follow it.
If you decide to do itindependently, alternatively,
what you can do is, if you wantto do it privately, with
(18:45):
Discover Real London.
They do have a black cab tourthat you can go, and black cabs
can go places that buses andnormal cars can't, so they can
take you to see all the bestlights and, honestly, that's
probably a really good way to doit as well, if you can afford
it, because they'll take and youcan hop out, go and admire the
lights, hop back in the cab andthey'll take you to the next
place to look at the lights.
Um, I found last year that theywere quite spread out.
So I spread it out over a fewvisits into the centre of London
(19:09):
because I was tired, it was alot of walking and I was like
okay.
And I was taking a lot of videosand photos.
I did the bus trip as well, soyou've got different options,
but a place like Common Gardenyou've got to be on foot anyway,
because there's no, it's.
Enjoy the christmas lights.
(19:30):
Don't.
Don't not figure out where theyare.
Find out where they are andplan a route and go and see them
, because they are very, veryspecial in london.
They are beautiful, beautifullights, and I mean doug and I
did a whole tour, uh, quite alot of european cities last
december and I still thinklondon had like the best
decorations.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It's pretty special definitely so let's talk now
about food and drink again.
Um, your favorite topic.
This is a topic I see coming upquite a lot in your facebook
group as well about what is your, what's the best afternoon tea?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
right.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
So I'm gonna say I'm still testing, right we need to
both go back and test all of theafternoon teas and then we can
review this.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yeah, so if you have an afternoon tea in london and
you'd like to invite me to comeand test it, please do me.
Please get in touch, um,because there are a lot and I
also have to be careful that Ican't I can't have too many
because I will put on weight, soI'll try to do a few every time
I'm in London, um, but I thinkDoug and I still hark back to
our Peter Pan afternoon tea,which we did at the shard,
(20:33):
because it was just.
I got dressed up, because I hada nice dress on, because I just
had a photo shoot and we justit was lovely.
It's a great view from theshard, um, and it was a, it was.
It was a themed afternoon tea.
So you've got a choice.
In london you can do a themedafternoon tea which like peter
pan or alice in wonderland.
For example, there's charlieand chocolate factory.
There's lots of differentthemed teas and I love them as
(20:56):
well.
I think they're really cool.
And there's also traditionalafternoon tea.
So if you can like somethinglike Fortnum and Mason or the
Ritz, they're traditionalafternoon teas.
So if you want that kind oftraditional English afternoon
tea, then choose that one.
If you want a themed afternoontea, then you have plenty of
options.
Um, we just enjoyed the peterpan one.
(21:17):
It was really quirky, it wasreally.
It was really fun.
We had great views of londonwhile we're enjoying our
afternoon tea.
Um, I'm always up for tryinglots of different afternoon teas
.
There are just so many choicesin london that I don't think
it's possible that I could tryall of them, though I would give
it a really good go.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
So can you tell us a little bit about what was
involved in the Peter Panafternoon tea?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Well, it's kind of the usual.
You know you get yoursandwiches, so you have your
savoury and your sweet, and youalso have a scone.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
So where did the Peter Pan thing come in though?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Well, it was a boat, so it was a boat, a Peter Pan
boat, and there was smoke comeout of the boat and everything
was like the sandwiches and thedesserts had Peter Pan theme, so
you had to open like a chest toget, you know, some of the
sandwiches I think sandwiches Ican't remember now and there was
like a little tinkerbell on oneof the cakes.
(22:09):
It was just all kind of thattheme and it was very theatrical
, very cool, a lot, really fun.
Um, tasty as well, because whatyou don't want to do is have an
afternoon tea and the food'snot very good because it's all
about the food exactly exactly.
You want the theme to be good,to be themed, but you want the
food to be good, so I think thatwas probably probably my
favorite one.
I did alice in wonderland, oneactually, which I was invited to
(22:31):
very kindly by one of ourlisteners in London last year,
which was also.
It was just so cool how theyinterpret everything.
And there was one drink whereyou poured something else in and
it changed color and yeah, yeahit was really good fun.
So, and there's lots of, there'sjust so many themed ones that I
want to try and then the changeas well, so over seasons they
(22:53):
can change the different themes,um.
So, yeah, just, we've got anarticle.
Have a look on the article, um,at the different, you know, the
different themed ones and thedifferent traditional ones.
I would just say that bookahead though, because afternoon
teas do get booked up, um,because they're popular.
Now, if you're British andlisten to this and go and well,
british people don't haveafternoon teas, because I've had
(23:14):
this somebody say to me, I'mlike, yes, we do, yes, we do, we
love afternoon teas.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I'm actually having afternoon tea in lincolnshire
when I go back to a nice hotel.
We've got that booked andorganized already.
So yeah, we do.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
We do afternoon teas.
It's a it's a treat thing.
It's something I would take,like for my mom's 80th I I took
her for afternoon tea in theCotswolds.
So yes, we do love afternoontea and it's still my dream.
My mum is going to be she willhate me saying this, but she's
going to be 83 coming up nextyear and I really would love to
take her to the Ritz forafternoon tea.
(23:45):
It's been on my kind of wishlist for her for a long, long
time.
I have not been to the Britsfor afternoon tea.
It's like I guess it's thepinnacle for Brits, isn't it, of
posh afternoon tea, verydressed up, very dressed up.
So that's on my kind of massivewish list, but I'm happy to try
any afternoon tea in London orin fact the UK, or in fact the
(24:07):
world.
Or any food, really Just anyfood tour, any afternoon tea,
yeah, those things.
The only thing I have to sayI'm not a massive scone fan.
Yeah, I'm not scone.
I'm from the north.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
It's a scone, I'm from the north too, but a bit
less north than tracy.
You can tell by her accent doyou say scone or scone?
Speaker 1 (24:24):
I say scone I say, scone, you're a southern.
I'm sorry that has officiallymade you a southerner?
You can't, it's a scone, noone.
No, no, no.
Well, anyway, I'm not a massive.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I'm going to skirt that I love a good scone?
Speaker 1 (24:38):
No, not a scone.
I'm really not a scone fan.
I love a cheese scone, though.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Oh no, no, Because you don't like cheese, don't?
Speaker 1 (24:44):
put cheddar in my cheese.
Yeah, so I like cheese scone,some fantastic scones and some
not so fantastic scones, and Iguess that's how you judge an
afternoon tea.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
so I'm probably not the best person, because I'm not
also important to say, I think,is in england when you have a
cream tea, you get reallydelicious clotted cream with
your scone, whereas in othercountries you get kind of
different whipped cream anddifferent things with your
scones, but clotted cream yeah,which is banned in lots of
countries.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
You can't get clotted cream, and, yeah, it's banned
in america, you can't get it.
And there's other places thatyou cannot get clotted cream
yeah, um, you can't, but youcan't get it in other places.
So I'll just say cream tea isdifferent from an afternoon tea.
So cream tea, scone, yeah,scone.
Jam cream, yeah, tea, but thatalso can be incorporated into an
afternoon.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Yes, it can be.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yes with the cream, but yeah so.
But you can go to a place, youcould go to a cafe and just have
a cream tea and not have theafternoon tea as in with the
sandwiches and stuff, becausethat's a bit bit of a bigger
deal because you're going to getmore food.
I have to say, generally Ican't eat all the food on an
afternoon tea, just can't um.
And also I'm just gonna say aswell that it's not high tea,
(25:53):
just for the Australians outthere who are listening because
I get this all the time thatthey're going for high tea.
High tea is not afternoon tea,because that's what they mean
and I know in Australia theycall it something.
You call it high tea.
High tea in the UK is somethingdifferent.
It's actually a meal I have notheard of it.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Did you know that?
I just thought they were thesame thing no, no, when you're
british.
And I didn't know, I justthought high tea and afternoon
tea were the same thing, not thesame.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
No, what's high tea?
High tea is basically asit-down meal, as in a, a hot
meal.
Yeah, not afternoon tea, whichis a cup of tea, your scone,
your sandwiches in your, youknow little fantasy.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Now we're going to get into a whole different
language thing because, like,being from up north, you call
your dinner tea up north, yeah,or supper, yeah, like when I
grew up.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah, it was like there was breakfast, lunch and
tea and supper.
Oh okay, yeah, um, where's it?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
yeah, but again, that's a whole episode that's a
whole episode of language, wholeepisode about different things.
We need to bring a southerneron as well to just kind of
balance it out, because I'm kindof middle of the country.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
You're north of the country and yeah, I was gonna
say, let's just get thisstraight.
I'm from the north.
Well, I'm from the north too.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
You're not, you're not, I am I'm from south
yorkshire, from sheffield, whichis north is, but not as north
as tracy but she still saysscones, so anyway but I say bath
and and glass, right, okay,I'll let you northern
pronunciations.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Right.
Well, we can talk about thisall day.
Well, this is definitelyanother episode.
Should we get back to food?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Yes, I told you we can talk a long time about all
this stuff, right?
What's your favorite cafe inLondon?
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Oh, definitely, cafe at the Crypt, which is on
Trafalgar Square.
It's St Martin's-in-the-FieldChurch, again, I guess a bit of
a hidden one, not necessarilyhidden one, not necessarily
people know about it, but I'vebeen talking about it for a long
time, so I guess people do now.
Um, yeah, I go.
So the ideal thing for me is togo to trafalgar square, go to
the national portrait galleryand then pop over to cafe in the
crypt, which is what it is.
(27:42):
it's a cafe in a crypt, so yougo downstairs and yes so there's
um flagstones or graves, um,which sounds a bit weird, but
actually it's in the food theydo really really good food and
reasonable prices.
Um so, if you're in that area,last year I did the one day um
in london tour with walks withmelissa, my friend who did.
(28:03):
She was solo in london lastyear and I joined her for that
um that that tour, and you havea break in the middle of the day
and she didn't know about.
So that's where we went forlunch and had a lovely lunch and
she was like well, this isamazing.
Um, so, cafe in the crypt, stmartin's in the field, trafalgar
square, absolutely 100, and ofcourse, the other one other cafe
is the vna.
Cafe is also a must do.
If you're the vna, do not missthat cafe yeah, now next one.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
My husband's going to be interested in this one.
What is your favorite place toget a scotch egg?
And you might need to explainto people do they have scotch
eggs in the US?
I don't know whether they havescotch eggs.
I don't think so, or is it a?
Speaker 1 (28:38):
very British thing.
I think one is very British Infact.
Well, it was actually inventedat the place I'm going to talk
about.
So a scotch egg basically is anegg, cooked egg, encased in
sausage meat which is thendipped in breadcrumbs and then
it's fried and it's absolutelydelicious.
I'm pulling a face here.
(29:00):
I love Scotch eggs and theplace to have a Scotch egg 100%
is at Fortnum Mason.
Now, fortnum Mason invented theScotch egg, and they were
invented, I guess, at that time,because people and I wish I
could remember all the detailsif you go and have a scotch egg,
um, and it's the the like ascreamy parlor place on the
(29:21):
first floor at Fortnum and Mason, that's where you get your
scotch egg and it comes with thebest pickle lily in the world
you and your pickles.
But it is, it's amazing, and sothe guy was telling me last year
that it was invented it at fordnumber mason.
And I guess because, um, atthat point people would bring in
the coaches into london and hadthe you know, horse-drawn
coaches and they would pull upand they needed something that
(29:44):
they could eat, as they werekind of, I guess, taking the
carriage along and so they wouldhave a snack and they invented
this because they're inbreadcrumbs, so they can be
eaten, not messy, and you've gotthe sausage meat and then
you've got the egg in the center.
So either have it withpiccadilly or have it with brown
hp sauce here I'm northernbrown sauce do you work?
Speaker 2 (30:02):
would you have a brown sauce?
I don't eat scotch eggs orbrown sauce, so maybe, maybe I'm
not really northern after.
No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
I don't think you are I don't think you are, so if
you're listening to this andyou're confused about this
discussion, it's because there'sa the whole north south divide
in the uk is a big thing.
I'm from the north, so hence myaccent.
I'm not posh.
I don't say things like bath orscone.
I say bath, scone, that sort ofword.
So it's a different way that wetalk.
But anyway, so, yes, so I wouldhighly recommend.
(30:30):
I know your husband likesscotch eggs so next time heotch
eggs.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
He likes Cornish pasties as well.
I'm sure we'll add that toanother list in the future.
For your best place to get aCornish pasty it's obviously got
to be Cornwall, but is thereanywhere in London to get a
Cornish pasty?
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Oh, that's a good question actually I don't know
If you know where to get a good.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Cornish pasty market on one of the tours.
Actually that was really good,um, but yeah, let me know, let
me know.
I want to know right now sundayroast is classic, classic thing
to go and get in a pub inlondon.
Have you got a favorite spot togo and get one?
Speaker 1 (31:05):
you know this is a.
This comes up all the time inthe facebook group and I have to
say I have tried some that havebeen more disappointing than
good, and I think we have veryhigh standards about what we
expect from a Sunday roast and Ithink a lot of them can become
touristy.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
I was just going to say, and also we grew up with
family roasts, which makes itvery hard for, I think, for a
pub to compare with, like yourmum's Sunday roast dinner.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Or my grandmother's Yorkshire puddings were the best
in the world and so, yes,absolutely so.
I think this is something againthat I need to do more research
on.
I know we've had quite a fewpeople who've recommended pubs
that they've had a good Sundayroast in, and I've added them to
(31:49):
the London map and I do keeptrack of that sort of thing
because obviously, much as I'dlike to, I can't try all the
food in London.
Um, but I will try and makemore of an effort next time in
London to make sure that I havea sundae roast.
I have done it in the past, butI'm not going to give a shout
out to where I had sundae roastbecause we're disappointed, um,
in some of the pubs.
But, yeah, I've heard some goodthings about some of the chains,
(32:11):
particularly Black Clock thatcomes up all the time saying
that it's very, very good.
They have a good roast there,so very generous portions from
what he has.
So, yes, so that's one that Iwill try when I get back, and
there's quite a few differentBlacklock Sunday roast venues
throughout London so you can trythose.
So hands up on that one.
It is a very difficult one,it's very subjective and I know
(32:33):
it's a bit like fish and chipswhich I'm not going to get into
in this episode because I knowI'm going to be asked about fish
and chips, and I don't.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
But fish and chips are better from the north, they
are better from the north and Iactually don't particularly like
fish.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
So that is also controversial, so I'm not keen.
So maybe I could talk about thebest chips but not the best
fish and chips, um, but yeah, sothat.
So that one, I think um, again,just have a look at the map and
again in the facebook group askthat, because again standards
(33:06):
change, chefs change, so thingsthat might be good this minute
aren't so good, you know, in sixmonths time.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
So so I'd check on that one yeah, and if you've got
a favorite pub, even if it'snot for Sunday roast, for just
going for a drink or meal.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Oh, to be honest, I guess, again the pubs there's so
many, there's so many to choosefrom, and again a lot of them
kind of I've been to and thentried a different one and tried
a different one, tried adifferent one.
I don't have a local in Londonsoon, so I guess that a lot of
people who live in london aregoing to have their local that
they're going to you, say indifferent places all the time.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
So you you will have different locals depending on
where you're staying yeah,exactly so try different ones.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
To be honest, if you want to try pubs, do that.
Do that.
Taste tales and traditionalales, food and pubter with with
devour, because that way you'llget to see even some of the pubs
that I didn't know about, terrydidn't know about that are so
historic, um, that you willlearn about the history of them
as well.
So you're not just having apint or, you know, having a
drink there, you actually learnabout the history of the pub
(34:04):
because there's just there's somany amazing pubs to to go and
have a drink at and just learnthe history of it and figure out
you know who actually drankthere in the past is always
there.
That's my game up like yeahright.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
So what is your favorite food overall in london?
Your overall food experience?
Speaker 1 (34:23):
well, I know I was talking about the raclette at
cabercase and borough market,but I'm also going to talk about
one that we always mention whenwe do um consults about london,
because we do do itineraryconsults, and one that I always
recommend is the cheese bar atthe Seven Dials near Covent
Garden.
Honestly, that is.
We go every single time.
I've taken all my friends thereand it's basically like a sushi
(34:46):
bar for cheese.
Now, you don't like cheese sothis isn't an ideal place for
you, karen, but not only that.
They pair the cheeses with themost amazing different choices
of um, whether it might besometimes, sometimes they're
sweet, sometimes they're savory,um accompaniments, and I always
order a glass of port and itcomes with pickles, you know,
(35:10):
comes with pickles, um, and you,basically you just choose the
different prices depending onthe color of the bowl that it's
in.
You just they'll give you umcrackers for free, um, and you
just take off, there's a, giveyou a sheet with different, the
different cheeses, the differentprices.
A bit of history about cheese,but a history of, like, what
were different, what they'reactually paired with um, and you
(35:30):
know, I, I sit in my glass ofport and just just eat my body
weight and cheese it sounds likemy husband's ideal trip
actually, yeah, so go to thecheese bar the seven dials if
you like cheese seriously, youneed to add this into your
itinerary okay, let's go backaround to talk about shopping
experiences now.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
What's your favorite?
Speaker 1 (35:50):
gift shop right.
Any of the museum gift shopsabsolutely yeah, absolutely head
to the museum gift shops.
The vna one is fantastic, thebritish museum one is fantastic.
To be honest, all of them arereally good all of the museums
to take back as well the perfect, perfect, perfect place to go
and buy your presents for peopleand souvenirs for yourself.
(36:12):
Honestly, I always spend, I like, enjoy the museums, but I also
love the time in the gift shopas well and you can get some
fantastic things.
I guess probably the one.
I would say that well, all ofthem are really good, but the
V&A also has got a fantasticgift shop, but any of them.
Honestly, you can get somefantastic, brilliant presents
(36:34):
there and brilliant things foryourself.
So, yeah, museum gift shops100%.
Wherever you are, whether inLondon or not, actually the gift
shops are always fantastic.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah, no for sure.
And where's your favouritebookshop?
Do you have one of those inLondon?
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Oh, you know, I used to work just off Oxford Street
and I used to spend a lot oftime wandering around the
bookstores on Charncross Road.
But actually I'm going tomention a cute one that
everybody wants to go to andthat is the travel bookshop in
Notting Hill.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yes, it's there.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
It's actually an actual bookshop.
Yeah, you can go in thebookshop.
So you know if you're doing theNotting Hill itinerary, you're
walking around, you know weshare that on the map and you
can just take your photos.
You can go to the Blue Door andyou can go into the bookshop
and have a look at.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
You know the travel books and yeah, hope that you're
going to meet Hugh Grant.
That's fun and yeah, hope thatyou're going to meet Hugh Grant.
That's when I watched it,actually on the plane.
Last time I went back to the UKbecause I hadn't seen it for
many, many years, so I watchedit again that's a lovely movie.
I do love it.
It's great, um so, in terms ofplaces to stay in London, you
stay all over the place.
Do you have a favorite hotel?
Speaker 1 (37:41):
you know what actually I thought about this
one actually and I don't,because we get asked this again
a lot and, to be honest, we'vestayed.
We try to stay in a differentlocation every time we come back
to London and we also trydifferent variations on cost.
So we try to do more budget tothe expensive, so obviously the
expensive one.
We can't do as many nights asI'd love to, or you know any of
(38:04):
those five-star hotels.
Again, if you want to inviteDoug and I to stay, please feel
free, um, cause we'd love toshare your hotel with our
audience.
But equally, um, I've stayed insome of like.
I stayed in Holborn at the Zedhotel when I was there on my own
cause that's more budgetfriendly and that was fine.
Um, it was a nice hotel.
I've I've stayed in lots ofdifferent hotels in London, um,
(38:30):
because we want to try the areasout, because we recommend to
people.
So we kind of need to go andcheck out and try it out and,
you know, decide whether, yeah,this is somewhere that we happen
to recommend this area because.
And so I think the next areathat I want to stay in because I
haven't is around Paddington,because I keep hearing about
that area around Paddington.
I actually haven't stayed inthat area, but no favorite hotel
.
I don't have a favorite hotelyet, but happy to you know, try
(38:52):
some out so I can give somerecommendations.
But yeah, we do have a guide towhere to stay in London which
talks about all the differentareas and who to suit, and also
they've got different.
You know costings of differenthotels.
London is not cheap to stay in,I'm not going to lie.
It's inexpensive.
You need to kind of budget forthe accommodation in London.
(39:13):
But we do have in there, youknow, anything from five-star
down to your morebudget-friendly hotels in there.
I also have a list for kind ofbest mid-range hotels, best
hotels for families, best hotelsfor for large groups.
So those are all on the uk andlondon travel planning websites.
So do check those out.
But I think start with ourguide to the different areas and
(39:35):
who's in suit and then startlooking at the hotel after that.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I think that that's a good way to do it yeah, there's
a lot to navigate when it comesto planning a london trip,
because there's so manydifferent places.
It's such a big area and, yeah,trying to narrow down where to
stay.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
Yeah, the one that we .
The one thing we say and Iagain, I guess people can argue
with me on this one but is wesay stay in the centre of London
.
Just, I don't, you know, unlessyou want to be traveling
backwards and forwards on publictransport all the time, then
stay fairly close to that zoneone, or in zone one, and a lot
of it's more for the end of theday, to be honest, because at
(40:10):
the end of the day you're tired.
You've walked a lot and for me,um, I'm nearly 60 I don't want
to be spending um half an hour40 minutes getting back to my
accommodation and then having awalk.
That's me.
So that's how I think about it.
So you know, I'd prefer to staysomewhere a bit more central.
Might be a little bit moreexpensive, but I kind of balance
(40:30):
it with, you know, my enjoymentfactor.
I'm on holiday, I want to enjoyit.
I don't want to be spending mywhole time on the tube or a bus
getting backwards and forwards.
So that's the way I look at ityeah, no good way to look at it.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Have you got any favorite sort of childhood spots
or spots that are great forfamilies who are travelling with
kids?
Speaker 1 (40:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, the first time I went toLondon, I think, was about 1975.
And I was chatting to Carol,actually, who sent me an email,
who'd recently been to London.
She was actually studying inLondon at that time, anyway, so
shout out to Carol, but I wastalking about it and actually I
was about eight at the time.
I'm giving away my age here,aren't I?
(41:10):
Anyway, I was about eight atthe time and, um, I went down
with my dad and I can rememberthat time because at that point,
the BT Tower, which it was thetallest building in London,
which is ridiculous because it'sso tiny now when you look at
the, you won't even see the BTTower, if I'm talking about you,
probably um, because it's justbeen dwarfed by everything else,
and so that was a magical trip.
So I have some things associatedwith that trip, and one is a
(41:31):
trip to Hamleys.
So my dad took myself and mybrother to Hamleys, which is the
big toy store on Regent Street,and we were allowed to buy one
thing and I loved it, and Istill go back to Hamleys and
love Hamleys.
Yeah, that was so cool.
So go to Hamleys and loveHamleys.
Um, yeah, that was so cool.
So go to Hamleys, take yourkids to Hamleys.
It's very, very cool there, um,and at Christmas, it's just,
(41:51):
it's really special at Christmasas well um, and the other place
, our favorite childhood spot,and again somewhere.
I took my daughter over andover again and every British
child has been to is the NaturalHistory Museum.
It's amazing, yeah, it isfantastic.
Uh, now it's free.
And also, I will say, because Ido get sometimes people say,
well, you know, the museums inthe states are very good music.
Yes, I'm sure that.
But yeah, they're free.
(42:11):
In london they're free, um, andthe natural history museum is
fabulous.
It's just somewhere that,honestly, every british person,
if you ask where did they go,which museum did they go to as a
child, they will have gone tothe natural history museum it's
fantastic and it's so huge youcan spend easily spend a full
day there, or even go back twodays in a row and still be
looking around it well, my aimlast trip was last year.
(42:33):
I was, I went to the vna, ofcourse, and then I went to the
science museum and my aim was tothen fit the natural history
museum in that day.
Not a chance, I just couldn't,and really you have to give
yourself a whole day.
I will also say um, doug and,and I wanted to go to the
Natural History Museum a coupleof years ago when we were there
at Christmas so it was probablyDecember 22nd, something like
(42:53):
that it was a rainy day inLondon, everybody was off.
We didn't book a slot, so it'snot on the hand for me for not
doing that and we got there andthe queues were huge.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
So it is free, but you do still need to go online
and book your ticket, don't you?
Speaker 1 (43:08):
Yeah, if you're going on a busy time like that.
If you're going and it's notschool holidays or weekend or
you know raining, you'll be fine, but we went earlier.
On the end it was not a problem.
But at that particular time, afew days before Christmas,
because everybody's off inLondon as well going to take the
kids to the Natural HistoryMuseum, oh, I remember wandering
around there once and seeingAlan Davis, the comedian, yeah,
(43:29):
who I really like.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Yes, actually you do randomly see sort of famous
people and it's quite excitingwhen you're walking around, yeah
, and it was great.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
I was like, wow, my goodness, like yeah, I was a bit
starstruck because I reallylike Alan Davis.
So yeah, that was really coolto visit.
So do include the museums.
And one last thing I alsoremember I'm going to say this
as well is that my dad took usto a place to eat off piccadilly
circus and I remember seeingthe billboards and I've not seen
anything like that thebillboards at piccadilly circus.
(43:56):
It was night time, it was dark,and we took us to this um place
for um dinner.
We went down some steps and wehad dinner.
I can't remember what the maincourse was, but I'll never
forget it was the first timethat I had Black Forest Ghetto
1970s Came on a trolley.
So yeah, that was it.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
It's those iconic memories.
Isn't it, though, that you havefrom trips like that?
Speaker 1 (44:22):
Yeah.
So if you're taking your kidsto London, those are the things
they're going to remember,honestly.
So, yeah, it was a lovely tripand I lost my dad when I was in
my 20s, unfortunately, so it'slovely to think back on that.
But, yeah, take your kids tothe Natural History Museum, take
them to Hamleys.
Yeah, take them to CommonGarden and you know, lots of the
parks are great to run around.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Have you got somewhere in London you'd love
to take your kids?
Oh, I don't.
We did kind of a boat trip andwe did all the sites and all the
main tours and just outside ofLondon, obviously going to Harry
Potter studios, which is notkind of the iconic architecture
and other things, but that wasan amazing day, oh it's a great
many things to do and but, yeah,our favorite, I think, was the
Natural History Museum.
It was just a standout place togo.
We loved it.
Okay, so, tracy, what's yourfavourite way to get around
London?
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Well, I'm glad you asked that, karen, because it's
absolutely by boat, because youget such a different view of
London.
It's just, you know, you do.
You're on the river, you seeunderneath the bridges, you see,
you know all the sights fromthe river itself and go all the
way down to Greenwich.
Shout out to Greenwich again.
Great trip, absolutely great.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
I know you did that last time with the kids yeah, we
had such a good time and youget such a great view from the
water of all the iconic places,so it's amazing, perfect well
that kind of.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
That wraps up my London favorites.
Yeah, I know I can't believethis is my third episode, can?
Speaker 2 (45:42):
we just end with one last thing.
What would be your tip if youhad to recommend one experience
in London for people to do?
What would be the one that youwould choose?
Speaker 1 (45:53):
You know it's going to be the VIP tour of the
Ceremony of the Keys.
Yeah, if you can swing that, Iwould do that one if that's on.
So, yeah, so, anyway, I thinkthat wraps up this episode.
Wow, I can't believe that's twoepisodes's.
Uh, two episodes talking aboutLondon.
I can talk about London.
We could carry on and on and on,I think.
So, favorite places, favoriteexperiences Um, let me know if
(46:15):
I've missed out something thatyou really like, and I'm sure I
have, because, again, these arethese are just personal to me.
Um, leave us a message onSpeakpipe, let us, let us know.
I'm going to be sharing thesein the Facebook group as well
and on Instagram, because I'minterested to know exactly what
your favorites are.
Or, if you're heading to London, what are the things that have
(46:36):
made it onto your itinerary.
Which reminds me, if you needany help with your itinerary
planning, doug and I doitinerary consults so you can
have a one-on-one consult withus and we'll help you plan.
Or you can do an itineraryreview, where we do by video,
and you can send us youritinerary and we'll kind of
critique it and answer anyquestions.
So those are both available onthe website.
You can book those.
You can get links to all thedifferent places I talked about
and experiences that I talkedabout in the show notes, as
(46:56):
always at uktravelplanningcom,forward slash, episode 167.
But that leaves me to say thankyou, karen, so much for joining
us and let's leave it as wealways do until next week happy
uk travel planning.
Thank you for tuning in to thisweek's episode of the uk travel
planning podcast.
(47:17):
As always, show notes can befound at uktravelplanningcom.
If you've enjoyed the show, whynot leave us feedback via text
or a review on your favouritepodcast app?
We love to hear from you andyou never know, you may receive
a shout out in a future episode.
But, as always, that justleaves me to say until next week
.
Happy UK travel planning.
London isn't just about places, it's about
experiences.
So in this episode I'm sharingmy absolute favourites afternoon
tea with a twist, magicalfestive traditions, food tours,
cosy pubs and thoseunforgettable London moments
that keep me coming back formore.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
Your host is the founder of theUK Travel Planning website,
tracey Collins.
Each week, tracey sharesdestination guides, travel tips
and itinerary ideas, as well asinterviews with a variety of
guests who share their knowledgeand experience of UK travel to
help you plan your perfect UKvacation.
Join us as we explore the UKfrom cosmopolitan cities to
(00:38):
quaint villages, from historiccastles to beautiful islands,
and from the picturesquecountryside to seaside towns.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hi and welcome to this week's edition of the UK
Travel Planner podcast, and thisis a follow-up to my episode
two weeks ago where I talkedabout my favourite places in
London, and this time I'mtalking about my favourite
experiences.
So I hope you enjoyed thatepisode and we're going to try
not to repeat too many in thisone for my experiences and once
again we have Karen here, sothanks, Karen, for joining us to
(01:14):
ask me all the questions aboutLondon.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Hi Tracey, it's always good fun to be back on
here again and I'm going to bepicking your brains all about
your favourite Londonexperiences now.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yeah, and thanks to, in the different, the two
Facebook groups, because we'vegot the UK one and the London
one for um posing some of thesequestions.
When I put it in there saidwhat do you want to know about?
And they're like, well, tell us, you know what?
What do you love doing when yougo?
Not seeing so much, but whatalso do you like doing?
Um, because again, there's lotsto do in London, um, so we're
going to talk about experiences,move away from places and talk
(01:43):
about the actual things to do,eat and enjoy that make London
so special.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Which are all the best things to do in London.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Afternoon teas and things like that.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So we're going to start off by talking about
cultural tours and unique toursthat you might enjoy doing.
What is your favourite artgallery in London?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah, so we've added this in because you were going
to ask me about the museum, butI did talk about that last time,
so we're going to avoid talkingabout the.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
V&A again.
We've heard that lots of times.
We want somewhere different.
We're going to talk aboutNational Portrait Gallery.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
So um the National Portrait Gallery was reopened um
I think it was last year, soJune last year, and I was there
the day after it reopened.
I think it was last year, soJune last year, and I was there
the day after it reopened.
I think it was last year, theyear before, I can't remember.
It all melts into one, the timeI spent.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I know, I know and it was somewhere.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
June and I went and had a look around and I was just
blown away.
It's just so amazing, the PortRico it just is.
It's fabulous.
It it's just somewhere to goand wander around.
The architecture is lovelyitself.
I particularly like the photos.
There's lots of um, there's aselection of photos of famous
people and just just amazingphotos taken, uh, which is in
(02:55):
one section and that's a bit.
I kind of stick some of minebecause I really enjoyed it, um,
but it's just a really lovelymuseum to wander around.
It's actually actually roundthe corner from the National
Gallery itself, which is alsoworth going to see.
But for me, the NationalPortrait Gallery is just amazing
.
It's my favourite and alsoactually just a little shout out
(03:15):
here for the Queen's House inGreenwich, because they also
have a selection of interestingpaintings to see as well,
particularly of Henry VIII, whatI remember.
So go and check those out ifyou're going down to Greenwich.
But yeah, big shout-outNational Portrait Gallery,
that's definitely somewhere thatI enjoy going to On your list.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Okay, what's your favourite sort of extra tour,
like your special?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Oh, again, everybody's going to know what
I'm going to say for this one,but I love the Ceremony of the
Keys.
I've been very lucky to havebeen invited a few times now by
walks to go and enjoy the VIPCeremony of the Keys at Tower of
London.
It's just the most uniqueatmosphere.
You go there after it's closed,so there's just you and your
small group there With theYirman Water.
You get to have a look aroundthe Tower of London.
(04:01):
You don't actually go in aroundthe tower and you don't
actually go in.
I've been on one of the tourswhere we actually went into the
chapel, which was fabulousbecause it was like 14 of us, I
think, in the chapel and he wasanswering loads of questions and
telling us loads of stuff thatI did not know.
So, yeah, absolutely, ceremonyof the Keys is amazing.
If you can swing it to do theVIP one with walks, I would
(04:21):
highly recommend it.
If, if not, we have gotinformation about how you can
get tickets on the website.
I've got a whole article aboutthe ceremony of the keys.
I'm a bit obsessed with itbecause it's so historic and
it's something I didn't evenwasn't even aware of.
Your name, though, gets writtenin a book because you'd be
there, and this has been goingon for every night for hundreds
of years, the same ceremony.
You're not allowed to takephotos of it, you're not allowed
(04:43):
to take video of it, um, so youhave to go and see it.
It's the only way that you'regoing to actually take part in
this that sounds good.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Now what's your favorite hidden gem in london?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
okay, now I don't know, I don't know if I want to
call it a hidden gem, but it'sdefinitely a gem.
And again, I guess it's ingreenwich, so not everybody
heads over to greenwich, eventhough you, you absolutely
should.
And that's the Painted Ceilingand the Naval Hall.
And again, this is somewherethat I go back to again and
again, and again, because it isjust stunning.
It is so beautiful.
Have you been?
(05:14):
No, no all right.
No, I thought, yeah, you need togo again, I'll show you.
I'm going to show Karen somephotos of this afterwards
because she hasn't been.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
my list keeps getting longer and longer, the more
that I talk to you though yeah,honestly, it is beautiful and
you'll just, you can, you canactually lie back.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
They've got like um seats, like flat seats, so you
can kind of lie back because youneed to log up to really enjoy
it.
So you can, you can kind of lieback and really get the full
kind of just amazing beauty ofit, because it is amazing, and
just enjoy greenwich when you'rethere.
So, absolutely go to greenwich,absolutely go and see the
painted ceiling at the navalnaval hall.
(05:51):
Yes, don't just go, and I know,see, I can see people.
I'm going to go to greenwichand I'm going to go and stand on
the meridian line and I'm goingto go up to the to the
observatory.
Yes, do that, 100, do that.
But also definitely stop offand see the painted ceiling at
the naval hall.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
You will not regret it I need to add greenwich as a
whole to my list, because I'venot been there before, so it's
definitely going to be somewherethat I will make the effort to
go to.
Now, what's your favorite daytrip from london?
So if you're based in london,you can easily get out and
explore this one.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
There's somebody asked me this and I'm like you
know, actually we've done twoentire episodes about this,
about, uh, the best day tripsfrom london by train, and
there's just so many you can goanywhere.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, you can get places quite quickly because
you've got direct trains, yeahwell, yeah, you can go to.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
You go to paris.
I've done paris for the dayfrom london.
So the the amount of places youcan go to is just there's.
There are so many to choosefrom and actually trying to
choose one obviously I talkedabout hampton court is a is very
easy.
I talked about that in the lastepisode when I was talking
about places.
Um and windsor is also a very,very, very easy day trip from
(07:01):
london.
In fact half day you can do umto windsor.
It's not that far on the train.
Again, we've got an articleabout that.
But I'm going to do a shout outactually for Portsmouth, going
down to the naval dockyard atPortsmouth, historic naval
dockyard down there, and weactually have got a podcast
episode all about that, becauseyou can go and see the Mary Rose
, which was Henry VIII'sflagship, which was sunk.
(07:23):
It didn't last very long, itkind of went at harbour, sunk
and so it's just, it's amazing.
So they dragged it up and theyhave.
It's the best museum I havebeen to in the world for
showcasing anything like this.
Now I have been to um Stockholmto see the, the boat there
(07:44):
which I should know the name of,and it's gone up my head and
that is also fabulous to see.
But the Mary Rose, it's just sointeractive.
If you've got kids and have gotany interest in like this,
wanting to learn about history,take them, because it is
brilliant Again.
Portsmouth easy day trip.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I was going to say easy to get there from the train
as well, because my husband'sfrom the.
Portsmouth easy day trip.
I was gonna say easy to getthere from the train as well,
because my um, my husband's fromthe Portsmouth kind of area, so
I know that quite well.
Um, and also you can get theSpinnaker Tower while you're
there.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
You can you can yeah, so yes, and get a great view,
so I would yeah.
So there's so many, andobviously you know Bath, oxford,
cambridge, canterbury, brighton, um, you know, the list goes on
and on and on.
Did I mention bath?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
already.
I mean you like, and it dependson what you want from
winchester yes, winchester, ohyeah there's just so many places
.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
so actually listen to our podcast episodes about the
two different places, and we aregoing to be again adding to our
youtube with different videosabout how to get to these
different places from london bytrain.
Uh, soon as well.
So you can kind of.
So it's not hard and if youwant to, you can always do it on
tour.
A lot of these places you canaccess on tour as well.
But, yeah, I mean yes, lots ofplaces to choose from Depends on
(08:54):
your interests.
If you're not sure, get intouch, leave us on in the
Facebook group, let us knowthese are my interests.
What do you recommend as a daytrip?
Because we can help you withthat.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
We can give you advice and Tracy would have done
all of them, yes, multipletimes.
Yes.
So what's your favorite foodtour?
This is an important one.
I know food tours are importantto you.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yes, I love food tours and you know again, this
is one I've talked about and Idon't want to go on and on and
on on the podcast about the samestuff.
I go on and on and on on thepodcast about the same stuff,
but I guess if I really enjoy itit's going to come up and
that's the Taste Tales andTraditional Ales Devour Food
Tour, which takes you aroundsome of the old, historic pubs
in the city of London and,amazing, you learn so much.
(09:35):
Not only do you get to try thefood and drink, which is
fantastic, but you learn aboutthe history of these pubs as
well.
You can see where CharlesDickens sat and had a drink.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
What kind of foods do you have on this tour?
I'm really intrigued.
Is it sort of slightly strangequirky foods, or is it?
Speaker 1 (09:50):
No, it's kind of traditional, I guess, the sort
of things you like sausage, roll, scotch egg, that sort of thing
.
So yeah, I'm trying to think ofsome of the other foods we have
, but that sort all kind oftraditional kind of british
(10:12):
snacky kind of foods, um, thatyou have.
So, yeah, really good pork pies.
Another one we had, um.
So I think the food and thedrink is all kind of all part of
learning as well about historyof the those pubs and who drank
there and who met there and yeah, very I would highly recommend
it.
It's a tour that I I've done acouple of times and the first
time I did that to I talked tomy friend Terry and she's still
talking about it.
She tells all her friends aboutthis tour because she loved it
and she's from London.
She's from London and didn'tknow about all of these pubs and
(10:36):
the history of all these pubs.
So you know, this is evenpeople from London who learn
about this stuff.
So I'd highly recommend thatone.
And obviously they've got a.
They've got the ultimate foodtour, which is borough market,
which I also enjoy, and it goesto leaden hall market as well,
now included in that tour.
So if you want to try foodtours.
Um, I have actually a wholearticle on the london travel
planner website with a list ofdifferent food tours, depending
(10:59):
on what you're interested in,like if you're into cheese or if
you're into gin, or if you know.
There's lots of different foodtours as well that can focus on
that.
Um, so yeah, so take a, take alook at that.
I'm always happy to do a foodtour.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
To be honest, it doesn't matter where I am.
It doesn't take any persuadingdoes it so okay.
So now we're going to talkabout different seasons, so
what's your favorite time of theyear to visit London?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Christmas.
Everybody knows I'm going tosay Christmas, yeah, except it's
also crazy Freezing cold, I'mbusy, oh, I'm cold, but it's so
busy, so busy.
Yeah, I was there lastChristmas.
That's the only downside.
Okay, it's because, like,everybody wants to go and
experience the Christmas lightsand you know, british people go,
people who live outside ofLondon go into London to see the
(11:40):
Christmas lights because theyare spectacular, they're lovely,
the shops are so beautifullydecorated.
It's got a wonderful atmosphere.
Covent Garden at Christmas is solovely and I'm talking about
not Christmas Day and Boxing Day, because it's a whole different
thing.
Things are quite quiet.
So I think people think they'regoing to go to London on
Christmas Day and everything'sgoing to be open.
It isn't so.
I'm just going to say that now.
But that kind of build up tochristmas season is just
(12:05):
fantastic.
It is a lovely, lovely time ofyear to visit.
Wrap up, warmly, put in a scarf, your gloved hat and just go
and have some mulled wine andyou'll see people selling
chestnuts and yeah, it's, it is.
It's a fabulous time of year tovisit and also pantomimes as
well.
Go and see a pantomime in thetheater.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
You know I was trying to explain to my kids who've
grown up in Australia what apantomime was all about, because
they had no idea what it wasall about.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
How do I describe it?
I don't know how to.
It's like well, it's fun.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
That's the best way to describe it.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
It's a huge tradition in the UK and when my daughter
was small, every Boxing Day we'dgo to pantomime.
And he goes oh no, you didn't.
Oh, yes, we did.
If you're going to see apantomime, I know, you'll know
exactly what I mean when I saythat.
But yeah, I think December issuch a lovely time to be in
London.
Yeah, it really is.
(12:57):
I'd love to snow.
It didn't snow last year and Iknow I think it was the year
before, was it?
When I wasn't there and I don'tmean my friend from sailing
scale in the studio.
She sent me all these beautiful.
It was beginning of Decemberand they had loads of snow.
I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I was like, oh, you're lucky, because it just
looks even more beautiful underthe snow yeah, and I think to us
both of us living in Australianow, having come from the UK
it's.
It feels Christmassy when it'scold and yes, whereas here.
I mean I I love christmas here.
I do love the sunshine and theheat, but it is it's definitely
got a different experience to itwhen you go back for a nice
(13:33):
cold, cozy kind of christmaswith your log fires and the pubs
and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
So yeah, absolutely you're right, because, um,
because I kind of grew up inbetween the southern hemisphere
and the northern hemisphere, soso I had a mixture of both.
I would have either Christmasesin the heat, in the beach, and
then Christmases where it wascold, around the log fire and
the you know frosty or snow, andI prefer the cold.
I do prefer, I do.
(13:58):
Yeah, if I could choose, everyyear, I'd spend that 10 days
somewhere.
It doesn't have to be in the UK.
Actually, it could be inSwitzerland.
I've spent Christmas inSwitzerland, in a lovely chalet
in the Swiss Alps, so I don'tmind really as long as it's cold
and cute and cozy.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah, no, switzerland's on my son's list.
Actually, we were driving toschool this morning and we were
talking about our upcoming UKtrip, because we're going back
in September for a few weeks,and he was saying can we go to
Switzerland while we're there?
Speaker 1 (14:26):
all right, he's obviously just seen it on the
internet and started doing someresearch about places to go, so
I'm going to tell you, actuallyI went from London actually from
north of London from when wewere living to my mum's house in
Switzerland in a day by train.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Wow yeah, so that is doable too absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Um, maybe you should tell him he can do it.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Yeah, and we'll come back and talk about it on your
global travel planning podcastas well, absolutely cool.
So what's your favorite shop atchristmas?
Obviously we talked a bit abouthow busy london is and
obviously christmas shopping inlondon would be pretty, pretty
chaotic.
What's your favorite shop for?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
christmas.
Yeah, favorite shop atchristmas is gotta it's gotta be
Fortnum and Mason.
Um, even though it does getcrazy, crazy, crazy busy and I'm
gonna because it it does andyou can't get moved.
In fact, I think last year, thethe last time I went to visit
Fortnum and Mason, I just Ididn't stay in there very long
(15:20):
because it was so it was a bittoo crowded for me.
Um, even on the kind of walkingup the stairs going up to, like,
the second floor, there's a lotof christmas decorations and
stuff, because I love thechristmas shops, so a lot of the
shops as well as beingdecorated.
But they'll start like having achristmas section where you can
go and buy christmasdecorations and things like that
.
So in fortnum mason last yearwell, last year, and it goes on
(15:41):
to january as well you can goand buy all the christmas
decorations and it was just itwas, it was lovely and also you
can stand um, and they have likea central bit in fortnum and
mason and they have a differentevery year.
They have something different.
Um, come on up and down withsome music so you can you can
enjoy that as well take videosof that um, and obviously it's
just a pretty.
(16:01):
It's just just a lovely shopanyway, but at Christmas it does
get crazy.
It really is like the hampers,the decorations, it really it's
like a Christmas film set.
It's like something out ofHollywood.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know when you think about these Christmas
movies.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
It really looks like that.
Yeah, and also, apparently Ihave not done this, but I think
it's £25.
I'm going to say that to ship,it doesn't matter how much you
buy from Fortnum Mason, you canship it back to the United
States, or?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
anywhere, I guess.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
But I know I've heard from some of our listeners that
I think it's £25, maybe it'sUS$25, and you can ship whatever
you want from, I believe fromFortnum Mason.
So go and do some shopping andsend your stuff back home.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Well, I was like you collect fridge magnets.
I like collecting an ornament,like a Christmas ornament, from
different places we go, so thatsounds really good for
collecting that unique bit ofChristmas decorations.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Can I just also give a shout out to Liberty as well,
because Liberty's is amazing,and last year that was my second
favorite shop to go and wanderaround.
Liberty's is amazing anyway,because the fabric is just
gorgeous so I can just walkaround having a look at their.
Oh just, the material isbeautiful, um, but they had a
fabulous christmas shop as well,and it's just.
It's such a lovely historicbuilding that is set in as well.
(17:17):
Um, so definitely go toliberties and go and check out
their christmas shop as well.
It's not that far from fortnumand mason, so have, have a walk
around there and, and yeah, shopto your heart's content so we
talked a bit about christmaslights just there, while we're
getting in the festive season.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
What is your favorite way to see the christmas lights
in london?
Speaker 1 (17:40):
um, well, I actually kind of walk.
I did it, but I did it becauseif you're walking around, you
get to see some places that youcan't get to by like bus or by
car or um, you know, it's justbecause it is so crowded.
And I've done a few of thebusters, and the busters are
good I'm not going to putanybody off them, they are good
but they are quite slow.
Um so, but you do get uniqueview because you're obviously
(18:02):
higher up.
So then, especially someonelike oxford Street, when you
come down, you get a great viewof the angels.
Um, but you've got to bepatient because it does take
quite a while and you Londontraffic yes, busy Christmas time
, yeah, so it can take.
It can take quite a while, um,but I don't want to put you off
because it's also a great way todo it.
But, honestly, getting off, justgetting a bus or getting a tube
and figuring out where theChristmas lights are and I have
(18:24):
got an article on the websiteabout where the different
Christmas lights are and on ourLondon map as well, so you can
map In fact, what I might tryand get on that is where the
different lights are and map aroute as well so that you can
follow it.
If you decide to do itindependently, alternatively,
what you can do is, if you wantto do it privately, with
(18:45):
Discover Real London.
They do have a black cab tourthat you can go, and black cabs
can go places that buses andnormal cars can't, so they can
take you to see all the bestlights and, honestly, that's
probably a really good way to doit as well, if you can afford
it, because they'll take and youcan hop out, go and admire the
lights, hop back in the cab andthey'll take you to the next
place to look at the lights.
Um, I found last year that theywere quite spread out.
So I spread it out over a fewvisits into the centre of London
(19:09):
because I was tired, it was alot of walking and I was like
okay.
And I was taking a lot of videosand photos.
I did the bus trip as well, soyou've got different options,
but a place like Common Gardenyou've got to be on foot anyway,
because there's no, it's.
Enjoy the christmas lights.
(19:30):
Don't.
Don't not figure out where theyare.
Find out where they are andplan a route and go and see them
, because they are very, veryspecial in london.
They are beautiful, beautifullights, and I mean doug and I
did a whole tour, uh, quite alot of european cities last
december and I still thinklondon had like the best
decorations.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It's pretty special definitely so let's talk now
about food and drink again.
Um, your favorite topic.
This is a topic I see coming upquite a lot in your facebook
group as well about what is your, what's the best afternoon tea?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
right.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
So I'm gonna say I'm still testing, right we need to
both go back and test all of theafternoon teas and then we can
review this.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yeah, so if you have an afternoon tea in london and
you'd like to invite me to comeand test it, please do me.
Please get in touch, um,because there are a lot and I
also have to be careful that Ican't I can't have too many
because I will put on weight, soI'll try to do a few every time
I'm in London, um, but I thinkDoug and I still hark back to
our Peter Pan afternoon tea,which we did at the shard,
(20:33):
because it was just.
I got dressed up, because I hada nice dress on, because I just
had a photo shoot and we justit was lovely.
It's a great view from theshard, um, and it was a, it was.
It was a themed afternoon tea.
So you've got a choice.
In london you can do a themedafternoon tea which like peter
pan or alice in wonderland.
For example, there's charlieand chocolate factory.
There's lots of differentthemed teas and I love them as
(20:56):
well.
I think they're really cool.
And there's also traditionalafternoon tea.
So if you can like somethinglike Fortnum and Mason or the
Ritz, they're traditionalafternoon teas.
So if you want that kind oftraditional English afternoon
tea, then choose that one.
If you want a themed afternoontea, then you have plenty of
options.
Um, we just enjoyed the peterpan one.
(21:17):
It was really quirky, it wasreally.
It was really fun.
We had great views of londonwhile we're enjoying our
afternoon tea.
Um, I'm always up for tryinglots of different afternoon teas
.
There are just so many choicesin london that I don't think
it's possible that I could tryall of them, though I would give
it a really good go.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
So can you tell us a little bit about what was
involved in the Peter Panafternoon tea?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Well, it's kind of the usual.
You know you get yoursandwiches, so you have your
savoury and your sweet, and youalso have a scone.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
So where did the Peter Pan thing come in though?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Well, it was a boat, so it was a boat, a Peter Pan
boat, and there was smoke comeout of the boat and everything
was like the sandwiches and thedesserts had Peter Pan theme, so
you had to open like a chest toget, you know, some of the
sandwiches I think sandwiches Ican't remember now and there was
like a little tinkerbell on oneof the cakes.
(22:09):
It was just all kind of thattheme and it was very theatrical
, very cool, a lot, really fun.
Um, tasty as well, because whatyou don't want to do is have an
afternoon tea and the food'snot very good because it's all
about the food exactly exactly.
You want the theme to be good,to be themed, but you want the
food to be good, so I think thatwas probably probably my
favorite one.
I did alice in wonderland, oneactually, which I was invited to
(22:31):
very kindly by one of ourlisteners in London last year,
which was also.
It was just so cool how theyinterpret everything.
And there was one drink whereyou poured something else in and
it changed color and yeah, yeahit was really good fun.
So, and there's lots of, there'sjust so many themed ones that I
want to try and then the changeas well, so over seasons they
(22:53):
can change the different themes,um.
So, yeah, just, we've got anarticle.
Have a look on the article, um,at the different, you know, the
different themed ones and thedifferent traditional ones.
I would just say that bookahead though, because afternoon
teas do get booked up, um,because they're popular.
Now, if you're British andlisten to this and go and well,
british people don't haveafternoon teas, because I've had
(23:14):
this somebody say to me, I'mlike, yes, we do, yes, we do, we
love afternoon teas.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I'm actually having afternoon tea in lincolnshire
when I go back to a nice hotel.
We've got that booked andorganized already.
So yeah, we do.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
We do afternoon teas.
It's a it's a treat thing.
It's something I would take,like for my mom's 80th I I took
her for afternoon tea in theCotswolds.
So yes, we do love afternoontea and it's still my dream.
My mum is going to be she willhate me saying this, but she's
going to be 83 coming up nextyear and I really would love to
take her to the Ritz forafternoon tea.
(23:45):
It's been on my kind of wishlist for her for a long, long
time.
I have not been to the Britsfor afternoon tea.
It's like I guess it's thepinnacle for Brits, isn't it, of
posh afternoon tea, verydressed up, very dressed up.
So that's on my kind of massivewish list, but I'm happy to try
any afternoon tea in London orin fact the UK, or in fact the
(24:07):
world.
Or any food, really Just anyfood tour, any afternoon tea,
yeah, those things.
The only thing I have to sayI'm not a massive scone fan.
Yeah, I'm not scone.
I'm from the north.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
It's a scone, I'm from the north too, but a bit
less north than tracy.
You can tell by her accent doyou say scone or scone?
Speaker 1 (24:24):
I say scone I say, scone, you're a southern.
I'm sorry that has officiallymade you a southerner?
You can't, it's a scone, noone.
No, no, no.
Well, anyway, I'm not a massive.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I'm going to skirt that I love a good scone?
Speaker 1 (24:38):
No, not a scone.
I'm really not a scone fan.
I love a cheese scone, though.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Oh no, no, Because you don't like cheese, don't?
Speaker 1 (24:44):
put cheddar in my cheese.
Yeah, so I like cheese scone,some fantastic scones and some
not so fantastic scones, and Iguess that's how you judge an
afternoon tea.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
so I'm probably not the best person, because I'm not
also important to say, I think,is in england when you have a
cream tea, you get reallydelicious clotted cream with
your scone, whereas in othercountries you get kind of
different whipped cream anddifferent things with your
scones, but clotted cream yeah,which is banned in lots of
countries.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
You can't get clotted cream, and, yeah, it's banned
in america, you can't get it.
And there's other places thatyou cannot get clotted cream
yeah, um, you can't, but youcan't get it in other places.
So I'll just say cream tea isdifferent from an afternoon tea.
So cream tea, scone, yeah,scone.
Jam cream, yeah, tea, but thatalso can be incorporated into an
afternoon.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Yes, it can be.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yes with the cream, but yeah so.
But you can go to a place, youcould go to a cafe and just have
a cream tea and not have theafternoon tea as in with the
sandwiches and stuff, becausethat's a bit bit of a bigger
deal because you're going to getmore food.
I have to say, generally Ican't eat all the food on an
afternoon tea, just can't um.
And also I'm just gonna say aswell that it's not high tea,
(25:53):
just for the Australians outthere who are listening because
I get this all the time thatthey're going for high tea.
High tea is not afternoon tea,because that's what they mean
and I know in Australia theycall it something.
You call it high tea.
High tea in the UK is somethingdifferent.
It's actually a meal I have notheard of it.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Did you know that?
I just thought they were thesame thing no, no, when you're
british.
And I didn't know, I justthought high tea and afternoon
tea were the same thing, not thesame.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
No, what's high tea?
High tea is basically asit-down meal, as in a, a hot
meal.
Yeah, not afternoon tea, whichis a cup of tea, your scone,
your sandwiches in your, youknow little fantasy.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Now we're going to get into a whole different
language thing because, like,being from up north, you call
your dinner tea up north, yeah,or supper, yeah, like when I
grew up.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah, it was like there was breakfast, lunch and
tea and supper.
Oh okay, yeah, um, where's it?
Speaker 2 (26:41):
yeah, but again, that's a whole episode that's a
whole episode of language, wholeepisode about different things.
We need to bring a southerneron as well to just kind of
balance it out, because I'm kindof middle of the country.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
You're north of the country and yeah, I was gonna
say, let's just get thisstraight.
I'm from the north.
Well, I'm from the north too.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
You're not, you're not, I am I'm from south
yorkshire, from sheffield, whichis north is, but not as north
as tracy but she still saysscones, so anyway but I say bath
and and glass, right, okay,I'll let you northern
pronunciations.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Right.
Well, we can talk about thisall day.
Well, this is definitelyanother episode.
Should we get back to food?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Yes, I told you we can talk a long time about all
this stuff, right?
What's your favorite cafe inLondon?
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Oh, definitely, cafe at the Crypt, which is on
Trafalgar Square.
It's St Martin's-in-the-FieldChurch, again, I guess a bit of
a hidden one, not necessarilyhidden one, not necessarily
people know about it, but I'vebeen talking about it for a long
time, so I guess people do now.
Um, yeah, I go.
So the ideal thing for me is togo to trafalgar square, go to
the national portrait galleryand then pop over to cafe in the
crypt, which is what it is.
(27:42):
it's a cafe in a crypt, so yougo downstairs and yes so there's
um flagstones or graves, um,which sounds a bit weird, but
actually it's in the food theydo really really good food and
reasonable prices.
Um so, if you're in that area,last year I did the one day um
in london tour with walks withmelissa, my friend who did.
(28:03):
She was solo in london lastyear and I joined her for that
um that that tour, and you havea break in the middle of the day
and she didn't know about.
So that's where we went forlunch and had a lovely lunch and
she was like well, this isamazing.
Um, so, cafe in the crypt, stmartin's in the field, trafalgar
square, absolutely 100, and ofcourse, the other one other cafe
is the vna.
Cafe is also a must do.
If you're the vna, do not missthat cafe yeah, now next one.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
My husband's going to be interested in this one.
What is your favorite place toget a scotch egg?
And you might need to explainto people do they have scotch
eggs in the US?
I don't know whether they havescotch eggs.
I don't think so, or is it a?
Speaker 1 (28:38):
very British thing.
I think one is very British Infact.
Well, it was actually inventedat the place I'm going to talk
about.
So a scotch egg basically is anegg, cooked egg, encased in
sausage meat which is thendipped in breadcrumbs and then
it's fried and it's absolutelydelicious.
I'm pulling a face here.
(29:00):
I love Scotch eggs and theplace to have a Scotch egg 100%
is at Fortnum Mason.
Now, fortnum Mason invented theScotch egg, and they were
invented, I guess, at that time,because people and I wish I
could remember all the detailsif you go and have a scotch egg,
um, and it's the the like ascreamy parlor place on the
(29:21):
first floor at Fortnum and Mason, that's where you get your
scotch egg and it comes with thebest pickle lily in the world
you and your pickles.
But it is, it's amazing, and sothe guy was telling me last year
that it was invented it at fordnumber mason.
And I guess because, um, atthat point people would bring in
the coaches into london and hadthe you know, horse-drawn
coaches and they would pull upand they needed something that
(29:44):
they could eat, as they werekind of, I guess, taking the
carriage along and so they wouldhave a snack and they invented
this because they're inbreadcrumbs, so they can be
eaten, not messy, and you've gotthe sausage meat and then
you've got the egg in the center.
So either have it withpiccadilly or have it with brown
hp sauce here I'm northernbrown sauce do you work?
Speaker 2 (30:02):
would you have a brown sauce?
I don't eat scotch eggs orbrown sauce, so maybe, maybe I'm
not really northern after.
No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
I don't think you are I don't think you are, so if
you're listening to this andyou're confused about this
discussion, it's because there'sa the whole north south divide
in the uk is a big thing.
I'm from the north, so hence myaccent.
I'm not posh.
I don't say things like bath orscone.
I say bath, scone, that sort ofword.
So it's a different way that wetalk.
But anyway, so, yes, so I wouldhighly recommend.
(30:30):
I know your husband likesscotch eggs so next time heotch
eggs.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
He likes Cornish pasties as well.
I'm sure we'll add that toanother list in the future.
For your best place to get aCornish pasty it's obviously got
to be Cornwall, but is thereanywhere in London to get a
Cornish pasty?
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Oh, that's a good question actually I don't know
If you know where to get a good.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Cornish pasty market on one of the tours.
Actually that was really good,um, but yeah, let me know, let
me know.
I want to know right now sundayroast is classic, classic thing
to go and get in a pub inlondon.
Have you got a favorite spot togo and get one?
Speaker 1 (31:05):
you know this is a.
This comes up all the time inthe facebook group and I have to
say I have tried some that havebeen more disappointing than
good, and I think we have veryhigh standards about what we
expect from a Sunday roast and Ithink a lot of them can become
touristy.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
I was just going to say, and also we grew up with
family roasts, which makes itvery hard for, I think, for a
pub to compare with, like yourmum's Sunday roast dinner.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Or my grandmother's Yorkshire puddings were the best
in the world and so, yes,absolutely so.
I think this is something againthat I need to do more research
on.
I know we've had quite a fewpeople who've recommended pubs
that they've had a good Sundayroast in, and I've added them to
(31:49):
the London map and I do keeptrack of that sort of thing
because obviously, much as I'dlike to, I can't try all the
food in London.
Um, but I will try and makemore of an effort next time in
London to make sure that I havea sundae roast.
I have done it in the past, butI'm not going to give a shout
out to where I had sundae roastbecause we're disappointed, um,
in some of the pubs.
But, yeah, I've heard some goodthings about some of the chains,
(32:11):
particularly Black Clock thatcomes up all the time saying
that it's very, very good.
They have a good roast there,so very generous portions from
what he has.
So, yes, so that's one that Iwill try when I get back, and
there's quite a few differentBlacklock Sunday roast venues
throughout London so you can trythose.
So hands up on that one.
It is a very difficult one,it's very subjective and I know
(32:33):
it's a bit like fish and chipswhich I'm not going to get into
in this episode because I knowI'm going to be asked about fish
and chips, and I don't.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
But fish and chips are better from the north, they
are better from the north and Iactually don't particularly like
fish.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
So that is also controversial, so I'm not keen.
So maybe I could talk about thebest chips but not the best
fish and chips, um, but yeah, sothat.
So that one, I think um, again,just have a look at the map and
again in the facebook group askthat, because again standards
(33:06):
change, chefs change, so thingsthat might be good this minute
aren't so good, you know, in sixmonths time.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
So so I'd check on that one yeah, and if you've got
a favorite pub, even if it'snot for Sunday roast, for just
going for a drink or meal.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Oh, to be honest, I guess, again the pubs there's so
many, there's so many to choosefrom, and again a lot of them
kind of I've been to and thentried a different one and tried
a different one, tried adifferent one.
I don't have a local in Londonsoon, so I guess that a lot of
people who live in london aregoing to have their local that
they're going to you, say indifferent places all the time.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
So you you will have different locals depending on
where you're staying yeah,exactly so try different ones.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
To be honest, if you want to try pubs, do that.
Do that.
Taste tales and traditionalales, food and pubter with with
devour, because that way you'llget to see even some of the pubs
that I didn't know about, terrydidn't know about that are so
historic, um, that you willlearn about the history of them
as well.
So you're not just having apint or, you know, having a
drink there, you actually learnabout the history of the pub
(34:04):
because there's just there's somany amazing pubs to to go and
have a drink at and just learnthe history of it and figure out
you know who actually drankthere in the past is always
there.
That's my game up like yeahright.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
So what is your favorite food overall in london?
Your overall food experience?
Speaker 1 (34:23):
well, I know I was talking about the raclette at
cabercase and borough market,but I'm also going to talk about
one that we always mention whenwe do um consults about london,
because we do do itineraryconsults, and one that I always
recommend is the cheese bar atthe Seven Dials near Covent
Garden.
Honestly, that is.
We go every single time.
I've taken all my friends thereand it's basically like a sushi
(34:46):
bar for cheese.
Now, you don't like cheese sothis isn't an ideal place for
you, karen, but not only that.
They pair the cheeses with themost amazing different choices
of um, whether it might besometimes, sometimes they're
sweet, sometimes they're savory,um accompaniments, and I always
order a glass of port and itcomes with pickles, you know,
(35:10):
comes with pickles, um, and you,basically you just choose the
different prices depending onthe color of the bowl that it's
in.
You just they'll give you umcrackers for free, um, and you
just take off, there's a, giveyou a sheet with different, the
different cheeses, the differentprices.
A bit of history about cheese,but a history of, like, what
were different, what they'reactually paired with um, and you
(35:30):
know, I, I sit in my glass ofport and just just eat my body
weight and cheese it sounds likemy husband's ideal trip
actually, yeah, so go to thecheese bar the seven dials if
you like cheese seriously, youneed to add this into your
itinerary okay, let's go backaround to talk about shopping
experiences now.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
What's your favorite?
Speaker 1 (35:50):
gift shop right.
Any of the museum gift shopsabsolutely yeah, absolutely head
to the museum gift shops.
The vna one is fantastic, thebritish museum one is fantastic.
To be honest, all of them arereally good all of the museums
to take back as well the perfect, perfect, perfect place to go
and buy your presents for peopleand souvenirs for yourself.
(36:12):
Honestly, I always spend, I like, enjoy the museums, but I also
love the time in the gift shopas well and you can get some
fantastic things.
I guess probably the one.
I would say that well, all ofthem are really good, but the
V&A also has got a fantasticgift shop, but any of them.
Honestly, you can get somefantastic, brilliant presents
(36:34):
there and brilliant things foryourself.
So, yeah, museum gift shops100%.
Wherever you are, whether inLondon or not, actually the gift
shops are always fantastic.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah, no for sure.
And where's your favouritebookshop?
Do you have one of those inLondon?
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Oh, you know, I used to work just off Oxford Street
and I used to spend a lot oftime wandering around the
bookstores on Charncross Road.
But actually I'm going tomention a cute one that
everybody wants to go to andthat is the travel bookshop in
Notting Hill.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yes, it's there.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
It's actually an actual bookshop.
Yeah, you can go in thebookshop.
So you know if you're doing theNotting Hill itinerary, you're
walking around, you know weshare that on the map and you
can just take your photos.
You can go to the Blue Door andyou can go into the bookshop
and have a look at.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
You know the travel books and yeah, hope that you're
going to meet Hugh Grant.
That's fun and yeah, hope thatyou're going to meet Hugh Grant.
That's when I watched it,actually on the plane.
Last time I went back to the UKbecause I hadn't seen it for
many, many years, so I watchedit again that's a lovely movie.
I do love it.
It's great, um so, in terms ofplaces to stay in London, you
stay all over the place.
Do you have a favorite hotel?
Speaker 1 (37:41):
you know what actually I thought about this
one actually and I don't,because we get asked this again
a lot and, to be honest, we'vestayed.
We try to stay in a differentlocation every time we come back
to London and we also trydifferent variations on cost.
So we try to do more budget tothe expensive, so obviously the
expensive one.
We can't do as many nights asI'd love to, or you know any of
(38:04):
those five-star hotels.
Again, if you want to inviteDoug and I to stay, please feel
free, um, cause we'd love toshare your hotel with our
audience.
But equally, um, I've stayed insome of like.
I stayed in Holborn at the Zedhotel when I was there on my own
cause that's more budgetfriendly and that was fine.
Um, it was a nice hotel.
I've I've stayed in lots ofdifferent hotels in London, um,
(38:30):
because we want to try the areasout, because we recommend to
people.
So we kind of need to go andcheck out and try it out and,
you know, decide whether, yeah,this is somewhere that we happen
to recommend this area because.
And so I think the next areathat I want to stay in because I
haven't is around Paddington,because I keep hearing about
that area around Paddington.
I actually haven't stayed inthat area, but no favorite hotel
.
I don't have a favorite hotelyet, but happy to you know, try
(38:52):
some out so I can give somerecommendations.
But yeah, we do have a guide towhere to stay in London which
talks about all the differentareas and who to suit, and also
they've got different.
You know costings of differenthotels.
London is not cheap to stay in,I'm not going to lie.
It's inexpensive.
You need to kind of budget forthe accommodation in London.
(39:13):
But we do have in there, youknow, anything from five-star
down to your morebudget-friendly hotels in there.
I also have a list for kind ofbest mid-range hotels, best
hotels for families, best hotelsfor for large groups.
So those are all on the uk andlondon travel planning websites.
So do check those out.
But I think start with ourguide to the different areas and
(39:35):
who's in suit and then startlooking at the hotel after that.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I think that that's a good way to do it yeah, there's
a lot to navigate when it comesto planning a london trip,
because there's so manydifferent places.
It's such a big area and, yeah,trying to narrow down where to
stay.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
Yeah, the one that we .
The one thing we say and Iagain, I guess people can argue
with me on this one but is wesay stay in the centre of London
.
Just, I don't, you know, unlessyou want to be traveling
backwards and forwards on publictransport all the time, then
stay fairly close to that zoneone, or in zone one, and a lot
of it's more for the end of theday, to be honest, because at
(40:10):
the end of the day you're tired.
You've walked a lot and for me,um, I'm nearly 60 I don't want
to be spending um half an hour40 minutes getting back to my
accommodation and then having awalk.
That's me.
So that's how I think about it.
So you know, I'd prefer to staysomewhere a bit more central.
Might be a little bit moreexpensive, but I kind of balance
(40:30):
it with, you know, my enjoymentfactor.
I'm on holiday, I want to enjoyit.
I don't want to be spending mywhole time on the tube or a bus
getting backwards and forwards.
So that's the way I look at ityeah, no good way to look at it.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Have you got any favorite sort of childhood spots
or spots that are great forfamilies who are travelling with
kids?
Speaker 1 (40:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, the first time I went toLondon, I think, was about 1975.
And I was chatting to Carol,actually, who sent me an email,
who'd recently been to London.
She was actually studying inLondon at that time, anyway, so
shout out to Carol, but I wastalking about it and actually I
was about eight at the time.
I'm giving away my age here,aren't I?
(41:10):
Anyway, I was about eight atthe time and, um, I went down
with my dad and I can rememberthat time because at that point,
the BT Tower, which it was thetallest building in London,
which is ridiculous because it'sso tiny now when you look at
the, you won't even see the BTTower, if I'm talking about you,
probably um, because it's justbeen dwarfed by everything else,
and so that was a magical trip.
So I have some things associatedwith that trip, and one is a
(41:31):
trip to Hamleys.
So my dad took myself and mybrother to Hamleys, which is the
big toy store on Regent Street,and we were allowed to buy one
thing and I loved it, and Istill go back to Hamleys and
love Hamleys.
Yeah, that was so cool.
So go to Hamleys and loveHamleys.
Um, yeah, that was so cool.
So go to Hamleys, take yourkids to Hamleys.
It's very, very cool there, um,and at Christmas, it's just,
(41:51):
it's really special at Christmasas well um, and the other place
, our favorite childhood spot,and again somewhere.
I took my daughter over andover again and every British
child has been to is the NaturalHistory Museum.
It's amazing, yeah, it isfantastic.
Uh, now it's free.
And also, I will say, because Ido get sometimes people say,
well, you know, the museums inthe states are very good music.
Yes, I'm sure that.
But yeah, they're free.
(42:11):
In london they're free, um, andthe natural history museum is
fabulous.
It's just somewhere that,honestly, every british person,
if you ask where did they go,which museum did they go to as a
child, they will have gone tothe natural history museum it's
fantastic and it's so huge youcan spend easily spend a full
day there, or even go back twodays in a row and still be
looking around it well, my aimlast trip was last year.
(42:33):
I was, I went to the vna, ofcourse, and then I went to the
science museum and my aim was tothen fit the natural history
museum in that day.
Not a chance, I just couldn't,and really you have to give
yourself a whole day.
I will also say um, doug and,and I wanted to go to the
Natural History Museum a coupleof years ago when we were there
at Christmas so it was probablyDecember 22nd, something like
(42:53):
that it was a rainy day inLondon, everybody was off.
We didn't book a slot, so it'snot on the hand for me for not
doing that and we got there andthe queues were huge.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
So it is free, but you do still need to go online
and book your ticket, don't you?
Speaker 1 (43:08):
Yeah, if you're going on a busy time like that.
If you're going and it's notschool holidays or weekend or
you know raining, you'll be fine, but we went earlier.
On the end it was not a problem.
But at that particular time, afew days before Christmas,
because everybody's off inLondon as well going to take the
kids to the Natural HistoryMuseum, oh, I remember wandering
around there once and seeingAlan Davis, the comedian, yeah,
(43:29):
who I really like.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Yes, actually you do randomly see sort of famous
people and it's quite excitingwhen you're walking around, yeah
, and it was great.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
I was like, wow, my goodness, like yeah, I was a bit
starstruck because I reallylike Alan Davis.
So yeah, that was really coolto visit.
So do include the museums.
And one last thing I alsoremember I'm going to say this
as well is that my dad took usto a place to eat off piccadilly
circus and I remember seeingthe billboards and I've not seen
anything like that thebillboards at piccadilly circus.
(43:56):
It was night time, it was dark,and we took us to this um place
for um dinner.
We went down some steps and wehad dinner.
I can't remember what the maincourse was, but I'll never
forget it was the first timethat I had Black Forest Ghetto
1970s Came on a trolley.
So yeah, that was it.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
It's those iconic memories.
Isn't it, though, that you havefrom trips like that?
Speaker 1 (44:22):
Yeah.
So if you're taking your kidsto London, those are the things
they're going to remember,honestly.
So, yeah, it was a lovely tripand I lost my dad when I was in
my 20s, unfortunately, so it'slovely to think back on that.
But, yeah, take your kids tothe Natural History Museum, take
them to Hamleys.
Yeah, take them to CommonGarden and you know, lots of the
parks are great to run around.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Have you got somewhere in London you'd love
to take your kids?
Oh, I don't.
We did kind of a boat trip andwe did all the sites and all the
main tours and just outside ofLondon, obviously going to Harry
Potter studios, which is notkind of the iconic architecture
and other things, but that wasan amazing day, oh it's a great
many things to do and but, yeah,our favorite, I think, was the
Natural History Museum.
It was just a standout place togo.
We loved it.
Okay, so, tracy, what's yourfavourite way to get around
London?
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Well, I'm glad you asked that, karen, because it's
absolutely by boat, because youget such a different view of
London.
It's just, you know, you do.
You're on the river, you seeunderneath the bridges, you see,
you know all the sights fromthe river itself and go all the
way down to Greenwich.
Shout out to Greenwich again.
Great trip, absolutely great.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
I know you did that last time with the kids yeah, we
had such a good time and youget such a great view from the
water of all the iconic places,so it's amazing, perfect well
that kind of.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
That wraps up my London favorites.
Yeah, I know I can't believethis is my third episode, can?
Speaker 2 (45:42):
we just end with one last thing.
What would be your tip if youhad to recommend one experience
in London for people to do?
What would be the one that youwould choose?
Speaker 1 (45:53):
You know it's going to be the VIP tour of the
Ceremony of the Keys.
Yeah, if you can swing that, Iwould do that one if that's on.
So, yeah, so, anyway, I thinkthat wraps up this episode.
Wow, I can't believe that's twoepisodes's.
Uh, two episodes talking aboutLondon.
I can talk about London.
We could carry on and on and on,I think.
So, favorite places, favoriteexperiences Um, let me know if
(46:15):
I've missed out something thatyou really like, and I'm sure I
have, because, again, these arethese are just personal to me.
Um, leave us a message onSpeakpipe, let us, let us know.
I'm going to be sharing thesein the Facebook group as well
and on Instagram, because I'minterested to know exactly what
your favorites are.
Or, if you're heading to London, what are the things that have
(46:36):
made it onto your itinerary.
Which reminds me, if you needany help with your itinerary
planning, doug and I doitinerary consults so you can
have a one-on-one consult withus and we'll help you plan.
Or you can do an itineraryreview, where we do by video,
and you can send us youritinerary and we'll kind of
critique it and answer anyquestions.
So those are both available onthe website.
You can book those.
You can get links to all thedifferent places I talked about
and experiences that I talkedabout in the show notes, as
(46:56):
always at uktravelplanningcom,forward slash, episode 167.
But that leaves me to say thankyou, karen, so much for joining
us and let's leave it as wealways do until next week happy
uk travel planning.
Thank you for tuning in to thisweek's episode of the uk travel
planning podcast.
(47:17):
As always, show notes can befound at uktravelplanningcom.
If you've enjoyed the show, whynot leave us feedback via text
or a review on your favouritepodcast app?
We love to hear from you andyou never know, you may receive
a shout out in a future episode.
But, as always, that justleaves me to say until next week
.
Happy UK travel planning.
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