Planning A UK Adventure With Kids: Tips, Highlights + Hidden Gems

Lori-Ann and Nick Mancini transform their daughters' Irish dance opportunity into an unforgettable 20-day family adventure across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England, blending cultural experiences with memorable exploration.

• Flying direct from Orlando to Dublin before driving through Ireland and Northern Ireland
• Discovering the surprising beauty of Northern Ireland, including Tollymore Forest, Giant's Causeway and Silent Valley
• Flying to Edinburgh and experiencing Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh Castle and a local black cab tour
• Exploring York's medieval streets, ancient walls and impressive Minster
• Visiting London highlights, including the Changing of the Guard, Tower of London and West End theatre
• Enjoying the Roman Baths in Bath and a special birthday tea in the Cotswolds
• Using BritRail passes for easy first-class train travel throughout Britain
• Staying in a mix of accommodations from quirky apartments to family-friendly hotels
• Finding unexpected food highlights, including the Georgian Tea Room in Edinburgh
• Balancing scheduled tours with free exploration time for teens and tweens
• Packing for variable weather conditions from cold rain to summer heat
• Learning to navigate train systems and making the most of long summer daylight hours

⭐️ Guest - Lori-Ann and Nick Mancini
📝 Show Notes - Episode 166 

🎧 Listen to next

• Episode #156 - Trip Report with Deb Harsen
• Episode #152 - Trip Report with Kristen Gonzalez
• Episode #149 - Trip Report with Nathan Pickle

Support the show

⭐️ Need help planning your UK trip? Choose the option that works best for you:

• Video Reviews (available anytime) — send us your itinerary for detailed feedback.
• 1:1 Consultations - live Zoom session with Doug & Tracy.

🎤 Leave us a voice message via SpeakPipe

➡️ Sponsor our show by clicking here
➡️ Leave us a tip by clicking here

Work With Us - Contact [e-mail] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.

Thank you ❤️

Disclaimer: Some outbound links financially benefit the podcast through affiliate programs. Using our links is a small way to support the show at no additional cost. I only endorse products, programs, and services I use and would recommend to close friends and family. Thank you for the support!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In episode 166 of the UK Travel Plan podcast, you'll
hear how Laurie-Anne and Nickfrom Florida turned a cultural
trip for their daughters into a20-day adventure through Ireland
and the UK, with castles,trains, scenic drives and
memorable moments across England, scotland and Northern Ireland.
This episode is full ofreal-life travel inspiration and
practical advice for planningyour own UK trip.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
Your host is the founder of theUK Travel Planning website,
Tracey Collins.
In this podcast, 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.

(00:45):
Join us as we explore the UKfrom cosmopolitan cities to
quaint villages, from historiccastles to beautiful islands,
and from the picturesquecountryside to seaside towns.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hi and welcome to this week's episode of the UK
Travel Planner Podcast.
This week, I'm joined byLorianne and Nick Mancini from
Sarasota, florida, who recentlyspent 20 unforgettable days
travelling across Ireland andthe UK with their daughters.
What started as a culturalopportunity through Irish dance
became a family adventure filledwith scenic drives to Northern

(01:24):
Ireland, train journeys acrossEngland and Scotland and
memorable stops in places likeEdinburgh, york, london, bath,
the Cotswolds and Windsor.
Laurie-anne shares how theyplanned the trip using a mix of
Facebook group support, podcastepisodes, our other resources
and a one-to-one consultation,plus how they made the
experience enjoyable andmeaningful for teens and tweens.

(01:46):
They talk about their favouritedestinations, standout moments,
guided tours, accommodationchoices and tips that help them
make the most of their time.
If you're planning a multi-stoptrip with family or just
looking for down-to-earthinspiration for your UK and
Ireland travels, this episode ispacked with ideas and helpful
insight.
I started by asking Lorianneand Nick to introduce themselves

(02:06):
and where they come from in theUS.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
It's Lorianne and Nick.
We live in Nokomis, florida,which is just south of Sarasota,
and we've been down here a fewyears and this was our first
trip to the UK.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
We've been down here a few years and this was our
first trip to the UK.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
Brilliant, and how long did you go for and who did
you travel with, Lorianne, so wetraveled with our three
children 12-year-old twins and a17-year-old and the reason for
the trip was the twins I don'tknow if I'm jumping ahead here,
but they do Irish dance and sotheir teacher was born and spent

(02:48):
her first part of her childhoodin Northern Ireland, in
Annalong, where she's from, andso she and her mom have been
here for 30 years and mom washomesick.
So she said well, I'm going totake mom back and I want to ask
the dancers, the studio kids, ifanybody wants to go, we'll just
make a cultural tour and we'lldo a couple of competitions

(03:08):
while we're there.
They're called Fesh Shana.
We did a Fesh over there, whichis an Irish dance competition,
and she was our tour guide forthe first let's see from the
second through the ninth.
So for the first seven days,well, we were in Dublin for two
days and then seven days she wasour tour guide in Northern

(03:29):
Ireland and you know we talkedabout hey, if we're going to go
to all the trouble to fly overthere, why don't we just see if
we can stay a little bit longer?
So we added a few days and westayed a total of 20 days.
We spent, I think, 10 or 11 ofthose in the UK and then you
know a couple extra days inRepublic of Ireland who we

(03:52):
tacked on and it was fun becauseobviously I did it.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
I did a consult with you guys so I got to chat with
you all about your plans beforeyou went.
So it was really excited,actually, because I was
following your trip when youwere over there as well, seeing
what you were doing.
I know you emailed a few times,so it was brilliant, but would
you like to give us a quickoverview of your itinerary for
everyone listening?

Speaker 4 (04:15):
Yeah.
So the overview was we got adirect flight from Orlando to
Dublin.
It was a lovely flight, ratherinexpensive.
I was pretty pleased with thedeal we got and that was our
dance teacher helped us find agood flight.
She had all the tips and tricksfor that.
So we landed in Dublin in themorning.

(04:35):
You do night flights out ofhere.
We left about 8 pm and arrivedI don't know 9.30 pm local, I
think I mean 8 am.
I don't know 9.30 pm local, Ithink I mean am.
And so we arrived.
It was real easy getting out ofthe Dublin airport and we went
straight to our lodging.
They let us drop our bags andin fact I think I paid a little

(04:56):
bit extra and we just went aheadand did early check-in.
You know it was worth it.
And then we just went out onfoot and that's kind of what we
did for the next two days inDublin.
We did a lot of touring on foot.
There was a lot going on.
It was kind of hard to get rideshares.
There was a big match thatnight, so we just went on foot.
It's a very walkable town.
It was lovely.
So it was the 31st and thefirst 31st of May, 1st of June,

(05:20):
and then the second.
The morning of the second, wewent to the airport to pick up a
car and we drove and we arestill married.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
I was going to say how did that go?

Speaker 4 (05:32):
It's terrifying.
It was terrifying but it was somuch fun.
I mean, we'll be betterprepared.
And Trippiamo you recommendTrippiamo.
It was a help.
It was a help.
So we drove around Ireland andwe all survived.
And then we were in NorthernIreland until the 7th and then
on the 7th the afternoon wedrove out and explored a little

(05:56):
bit in the Republic of Ireland Idon't know how much you want me
to get into that.
We spent a night near KnockShrine.
We spent a night near NockShrine and then the next day we
went down to Doolin and we tooka tour by boat under the cliffs
of Moher and then we had dinnerand live music at one of the
pubs right there by the pier,where you catch the boat and it

(06:21):
was wonderful and in fact Icould pull it up.
I can't remember right offhand.
And then we spent the night inGalway and then the next morning
we drove all the way backacross Ireland to Dublin and we
took a.
Was that the Ryanair flight?
It was Ryanair.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
We took.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
Ryanair to Edinburgh and we landed in Edinburgh in
the evening just in time to getdinner at I don't know how to
pronounce this Makars MashMakars.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
yeah, makars Mash Bar , makars Mash Bar.

Speaker 4 (06:50):
It was awesome and, yeah, a couple of days in
Edinburgh, and then we took amorning, late morning train to
York and we spent that day andthen really was it the next
night that we no, we had a fullday and then another day and we
left the night of the 12th andthen we checked in very late to

(07:17):
our hotel in London and then wehad the whole next day, so we
were able to do Changing of theGuards.
We got there on a Friday.
We kind of tinkered with ourschedule so we could get that
Changing of the Guards tour andthat was important to me.
So we got there the nightbefore, got up early and saw
that on the Friday and ithappened to be the day they were
celebrating the King's birthday.

(07:38):
So there was a lot going on andwe had some adventures a little
bit related to that.
That was cool.
And then a couple days inLondon, couple days in Bath,
couple days in Oxford with aside trip to the Cotswolds and a
little side trip to Windsor onour way back to Heathrow and
then back to Dublin and a nighttime flight, and then the next

(08:00):
morning we came back to Orlandothat's the world.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
You covered quite a lot in in the time you were over
there, didn't you?

Speaker 4 (08:07):
you did, yeah, we were moving, moving, moving but
I mean it was you know we hadsome relaxing times.
We didn't book every singletour.
You know we we really pickedwhat we would do and what we
wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
You know yeah, and you had a few nights in in every
place.
It's not like you kind of.
I think it's really hard whenyou do one night, one night.
One night, one night.
I think that that can getpretty tiring.

Speaker 4 (08:28):
Yeah, I can't imagine doing that, especially with the
whole family.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
No, don't blame me.
So how did it go about planningyour itinerary, Lorianne?

Speaker 4 (08:41):
I mean, I literally the first thing I did was just
did a Google search and early inmy search you all came up and I
, you know, I looked at a fewsites but I really liked your
site, you know, kind of betterthan the others.
And, um, yeah, I liked how itwas organized, I liked the tone,
it was very readable, very, itfelt very approachable, easy to
understand, because I need thatbig print, I need that, and um

(09:05):
then, and then the Facebookgroup was just wonderful.
You know, that was such a nicegroup and talking through the
plans early on.
And then I think I did yourchecklist packet pretty early in
the process, which was superhelpful.
Then the train group asked somequestions they're super helpful
and then got the train groupasked some questions they're
super helpful and then got thetrain guide also very helpful.

(09:27):
And then really it was a fewmore weeks when the itinerary
was taking shape before wescheduled the consult because we
wanted to have something totalk about, you know,
specifically yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
No, we got it.
Yeah, it was a good consult.
I enjoyed it.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
We we yeah yeah, it was.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
It's always good.
We love doing the consults, sothere's so much fun to do, um,
all right, so you, you've kindof talked us through, um, your
whole itinerary, what you did,but now I kind of I'm going to
put you both on the spot,because I've got Nick here as
well as.
So I want to ask you what wereyour favorite experiences and
destinations and I know thatmight that might be difficult,
but one of the ones that,because we're talking a couple

(10:02):
like what, you've been back sixweeks or so, but one of the ones
that, because we're talking acouple like what, you've been
back six weeks or so.
So what would be the ones thatyou still are going?
Oh, my goodness, we had such anamazing time.
Nick, do you want to start withthat?

Speaker 3 (10:13):
Well, it was interesting.
We were talking about itearlier, and I think one of the
comments that I would make isyou know, we didn't really have
any experiences that I wouldn'twant to repeat, or very few.
Almost every place we went wasa good experience.
There were some that weprobably enjoyed even more than

(10:33):
others, but really it wasamazing the whole time.
I think I was struck by justhow much there is to see in
Northern Ireland.
It's just beautiful, amazing,gorgeous.
It was neat.
From the place where we stayedon a clear day you could look

(10:55):
across and you could see theIsle of man.
That was pretty neat.
We spent some time outdoors andwe did some hiking and things
like that up there, which wasreally nice.
We did get to the Giant'sCauseway and some other areas.
That was really something thatI would recommend to anyone.
And then in Edinburgh we got tosee the Scottish National

(11:18):
Museum, which was really amazing.
We didn't have as much timethere as probably we would have
liked to, so we just had to kindof pick and choose what to see,
but that was certainly amazingin the evening, which was kind

(11:41):
of interesting.
It's sort of an experience initself, but we again didn't have
time to hit everything.
So we had to pick and chooseand I think the main, the
biggest thing to me, was theRaphael's cartoons.
We get to see those.
Yeah, they are pretty amazing,so I'll let you do some
highlights too.
Northern.

Speaker 4 (12:01):
Ireland.
I think that was the greatestrevelation to us.
We had no idea just how amazing, beautiful it would be.
I mean it was really.
And the kids one of theirfavorite memories is hiking
around Tollymore Forest.
It's absolutely.
I don't know if you've everbeen there.
They do some filming for Gameof Thrones.
There was a local tour of youknow people from the area that

(12:21):
were there for their Game ofThrones tour and their you know
robes and stuff and.
But you know people from thearea that were there for their
Game of Thrones tour and theiryou know robes and stuff and.
But you know that was kind ofoff.
They were in another part.
We were really in the woods andin the creek and climbing the
rocks and it was magical.
I mean I think I sent you somepictures.
Just it's the one that lookslike the ancient old growth

(12:42):
forest Cause, that's what it is.
I mean it's, it's just.
And then they have thesearchitectural folly the follies
they built these follies thatlook really organic and and just
, I mean, it was just stunning.
The walk um the day we went upto Giant's Causeway.
We tried to get to theCarrick-a-Reed Bridge.
We missed crossing the bridgeitself, but we still.

(13:03):
The hike down was a highlightfor me.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
I don't know if you've ever done that hike well,
I'm possibly going to be innorthern ireland next month
actually, so I shall.
I I've we've dug spit innorthern ireland more than I
have.
I managed to go.
Last year was actually my firstvisit to northern ireland.
Uh, last year, um, and we lovedit, we absolutely loved it.
So, um, chances are we will ifwe get over to the UK, we'll be

(13:26):
over in Northern Ireland nextmonth, so I shall be writing
these on my list.

Speaker 4 (13:30):
Gloria, yeah, yeah, anytime like email me I'll give
you some more.
You know little more detailedthings, but it was just stunning
.
Silent Valley was reallyinteresting too.
There's a.
Silent Valley was reallyinteresting too.
There's a quite a local historythere with the, the men that
dug the reservoir for the water.

(13:51):
There's a memorial to them andthen there's kind of been some
stories with the, where thewater's going now, and you know
it's definitely a hot topiclocal area Interesting, and when
you were in Scotland andEngland, what were your kind of
main highlights, laurianne?
My Holyrood.

(14:12):
I mean I had no idea how muchHolyrood would affect me.
I've fallen in love with thelife and times of Mary Queen of
Scots.
I bought a little biography inthe shop and I just am so
captivated with her and herstory and, um, I, I, I just it's

(14:34):
a very haunting place, I meanin the good sense.
You know it's, it's reallylovely.
I didn't expect any.
I don't know what I expected.
Um, we got a much better senseof history.
You know you learn this stuffin school, but it really, really
did come to life over there forus and Hollybrood and Edinburgh

(14:56):
Castle was pretty Edinburgh.
Castle was amazing, and ournighttime drive and I say
nighttime but it was light asday until you know almost 10 pm
With Steve, I think it was Steveof day until you know, almost
10 PM, um, with Steve, I thinkit was Steve of Black Cab,
edinburgh, black Cab Tours.
Yep, it was so nice because wegot to see little neighborhoods
that I mean I would, if we goback, I would want to explore
more, maybe even stay in some ofthem, and we got to see these

(15:19):
beautiful vistas that we wouldhave never made it to in the
time we had, and he was justsuch a great host and so easy to
talk to.
That was lovely.
And then York I mean I could goon and on.
You'll have to.

Speaker 3 (15:35):
Yeah, we saw York Minster, which was, of course,
very impressive, and we also dida good deal of the walk around
the walls of the city, which wasa neat thing, for the kids
especially.
We stayed in a very strangeplace in New York which we
really enjoyed, but it wasinteresting, it's probably not.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
Maybe not for everybody.
I give some caveats, but it wascool.

Speaker 3 (16:01):
It was one of the kids' favorite memories.
It was the house of tremblingmadness.

Speaker 4 (16:06):
Well it was trembling madness apartments, the 70s
funky one.
Do you know the one?
Yeah, yeah it was the staircaseup and down.
That's the one I hesitate, butit was great for the kids.
You know they loved it.
Oh, I bet they did.
I bet they did, I mean york's.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
just I mean I love york.
I mean I don't.
I don't think you can go toYork without loving it.
I don't know.
It's just an amazing city toexplore.
It's easy to walk around,there's so much to see and do at
Holyrood and York is justsomewhere that is.
It literally is just everywherethat you walk in York.
You feel like you're walking inthe steps of you know people

(16:49):
from hundreds of years ago.
You know you walk down theshambles and you know you are
walking in the footsteps ofpeople from hundreds of years
ago and it's fabulous.

Speaker 3 (16:58):
Yeah, we looked across the courtyard from where
we stayed and it was literallythere was aan house there from,
uh, you know, probably the 11th,well, 12th century and, uh, you
know, it was built into, likethe wall was just built around
it, at the building, across thething.
So it was uh, but you could see, you know, the structure of the

(17:18):
house.
There was a little plaquetalking about it and everything.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
So it was just amazing I know it's incredible
to think about all the peoplewho've lived in that over the
years.
Yeah, we did.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
We thought about that , and then we were really in
under the shadow of the minstertoo, which was really cool.
It was just right there.
And then I do have to say theydid.
Instead of a breakfast theyleft a basket.
We asked it was so affordable.
I think it was like 13 poundsmaybe or something, or something
, I don't know.
Maybe it was more than that, Ican't remember exactly.

(17:47):
But it was a basket of the mostdelicious ingredients for us to
make our own breakfast and itwas wonderful.
So, amazing, so cool yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
I'm sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
No, no, I was going to ask you about London and the
Cotswolds.
We're kind of working our waydown there for the highlights of
each area.
So I guess after that you wentdown, you spent some time in
London, bath, cotswolds.
So talk about what you lovedabout those.
I mean London.
There's so many things you cantalk about, and I'm so glad you
mentioned the V&A Nick, becauseeverybody knows that's my go to

(18:24):
I.
I could live there.
The cast courts are my go-to.
I can sit there for hours andjust love them.
So tell me about what thehighlights were when you went
down to the southern part ofEngland.

Speaker 4 (18:40):
Honestly, our tour?
I wouldn't have thought so, butour tour guide for the Changing
of the guard, you know, youthink oh, it's so touristy or
whatever, but this guy was atrip.
I mean, he was just so fun andwe really got up close, maybe
more than we even probablyshould have, but he was just so
funny and we really got to.

(19:01):
I mean we were really rightthere and I didn't realize how
spread out, so we were hoofingit.
You know, we had one locationand then another.
I think there were fourdifferent locations.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, yeah, you have to kind of run between them all,
don't you?
It's like a bit of a dasharound to catch it all, and we
had great views for all of them.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
And then the coolest thing was, you know, we were
there for our girls to do theirIrish dance and the day we were
there, by the actual residencewhere they do the little
changing there in front of theresidence, the band that marched
up.
It was the Irish Guard and itwas the best bagpipes I've ever
heard in my life.
It was just incredible.
So I do have a video of that.

(19:39):
That was a real highlight.
Oh, lovely.
Oh, so good.
And then after that we werestarving so we ran into old star
it's just a pub, you know, kindof in an old, you know area
there, and all these you knowreally well-dressed people in um
, you know military garb, andthen also ladies with the

(20:02):
beautiful dresses and hats camein and they had been at the the
um celebration.
It's kind of name that I can't.
There's something with thecolor.
Oh, tripping of the color.
Yes, the tripping of the color.
They were had been there forthat, and they came in and we
ended up sharing a table with aretired beef eater and his
friend that they had hadn't seeneach other in 25 years, and the

(20:25):
wives, and we all kind of gotacquainted with each other and
that was really fun.
That's really cool and you can'tplan for that.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
That's what's really natural, that's what happens.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
It's like hey, oh and then the Tower of London, yeah,
the.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
Tower of London was really great.
That was something I had wantedto see and we went for the key
ceremony.
But what was really remarkablewas just that it got us in to
see the crown jewels early andyou know we thought, oh, the
crown jewels will be fine, wejust go in you see them and
whatever.
But it just just the how itgoes on and on and all of the

(20:59):
you know information about howthey're used and which
ceremonies they're carried in.
It was very interesting.
And then we actually walked tothe top of St Paul's, so that
was our kind of grand view ofthe city from high up.

(21:22):
We didn't do the eye, but Ithink we were kind of happy
about going to St Paul's becauseit just felt like an organic
experience and a way to see thecity that wasn't sort of you
know, kind of constructed justfor a tourist kind of thing or
whatever, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:43):
I'm just going to mention as well about the,
because you went for the openingceremony and which is always
really cool to see.
But you're absolutely right,one of the privileges of doing
that is that you get in to seethe Crown Jewels and and and
I've done that to a number oftimes now and you know, when you
go in to see the Crown Jewelsthere's a travelator that you
have to stand on, so it kind ofmoves around and I've been, I've

(22:06):
been known to go around thatabout five times because you can
do that when you're earlyenough in the morning because, I
mean, some of those jewels arejust like draw dropping, aren't
they?

Speaker 4 (22:17):
they are and then I, you could kind of see inside the
personality of the wearer, likeQueen Victoria's.
The way she had hers done was.
You know, that was something Iwould have never known if I
hadn't gone to that.
You know, it's really specialto see how she did that you know
that's really good.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
Did you um?
Did you do any tours in London?

Speaker 4 (22:40):
uh, that one, uh, the changing the guard and we did.
Was that the only one?
I think that was the only onein London.
Yeah, I think that was the onlyscheduled one.

Speaker 3 (22:51):
We went to see.
We took the girls to see Wicked, which was yeah, very good.
That was one of their favoritethings.

Speaker 1 (22:59):
Yeah, I took my daughter to see that actually a
few years ago now.
Yeah, it was really good.
It's excellent.
The shows in London are justthere's so many to choose from
as well.
It's brilliant, so that'sreally good.
Now you went on to Bath andthen on to the Cotswolds.
So what were the?
What did you think of theCotswolds and what do you think
of Bath?

Speaker 4 (23:20):
So we had to deal with a little bit of illness.
So my oldest daughter hadcaught a cold.
She missed a day and a half inYork and by the time we got to
Bath I was dead.
I didn't realize it untilhalfway through the day.
So I got to see the Roman Baths, which is probably my favorite

(23:41):
museum at anywhere I've everbeen to.
It was completely immersive.
It completely takes you toanother time.
You are completely in Romantimes and it was just an
incredible experience and Ithink, especially for my oldest.
When she was in middle school,we were homeschooling for three

(24:03):
years and she was able to takecollege classes in Latin and she
ended up becoming good friendswith a Latin scholar and they've
stayed in touch.
So she actually had a lot ofcontext for that tour.
You know what I mean and it itmeant a lot to her and it meant
a lot to us to be there with her.
You know, it was just, it wasjust amazing.

(24:23):
She and her professor got backin touch after that tour.
She said man, I gotta tell youI saw this great tour.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Oh, that's lovely and the minster.

Speaker 4 (24:34):
You know I loved that .
And then at that point I bowedout and they, they did some cool
stuff yeah, we went in.

Speaker 3 (24:40):
Uh, we we actually took a so lovely walk in bath
and we didn't know what we wereseeing.
We hadn't taken a guide with usbut as it turned out, we hit a
lot of the places that were kindof highlighted at later when we
went to the Jane Austen Museum,that there were things that um
had been you know kind of herplaces she frequented and we did

(25:04):
.
One of the things we got to seewas the Guildhall Market, which
was really fun.
The girls really enjoyed thatand it's like an open-air kind
of.
Well, it's not open-air, it'sin a building, but it's kind of
in the round.
So you go around and there areall these little shops, local
artisans and so forth, and youcan find both food and leather

(25:28):
goods and they really enjoyed.
There was a costume jewelrystore where they really enjoyed
shopping.
And then we did go on to theJane Austen Museum and my oldest
daughter has read Jane Austennovels pretty extensively so she
really, really, really is a bighighlight for her.

(25:48):
And yeah, we had some lovelyfood in Bath.
There was a Medsee restaurantwe went to.
That was really pretty good.
And then let's see, you askedabout the Cotswolds.

Speaker 1 (26:03):
The Cotswolds yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:04):
More interesting.
It's kind of spread out, so wedid spend a fair amount of time
in the car between places.
But Victoria, who was our tourguide there, did a really nice
job, kind of planning activitiesaround what we had said we were
interested in and in particular, we had, uh, so it was our

(26:25):
twins birthday, so, um, she haddone a tea that she prepared all
of the thing from scratch andthen, uh, we went and had tea at
the lavender at the lavenderfarm, uh, which was lovely
because the smell of lavendersin the air, oh, and it was very,

(26:46):
very nice, oh, that'd be

Speaker 4 (26:47):
lovely, so sweet she had.
You know what did?

Speaker 1 (26:51):
she call it bunting buddhist garland you know in the
car for the girls like, oh,made it really special, you know
oh, that's so lovely andthey'll never forget that it's
going to be so because it's sodifferent.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (27:05):
Up on a hill.
There's a little wooded trailthere that you can hike to, and
we were there on a clear day sowe really could see very far it
was.
It was a big hike.
The lavender we did buy somelittle lavender products too,
lovely, lovely, and we got no inthe world and the door to moria
, which is for big tolkienpeople.

(27:25):
So that was very, very cool, uhyes, I, I always have to.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
We stay in stowe quite often.
So whenever it doesn't matterhow many times I go to stowe, I
was going to have my photo takenI don't know how many photos of
the years in front of the door,and sometimes it's really funny
.
Sometimes you'll go andthere'll be like queues of
people and then and then other,even in winter, even in the
middle of winter, you can go,and then there's other times
you'll go and there'll be nobodythere, and I love it when I get
there and there's just.

(27:52):
There's just us and then you'relike please, please, nobody else
come, because we can just liketake in the whole atmosphere.
But yeah, I love Stowe's and alovely place to stay.
And then you did you actuallythen stay in Oxford itself?

Speaker 4 (28:05):
that was our um base camp, if you will.
So when we left Bath latemorning and then we had, uh, we
got to Bath and then I'm sorry,got to Oxford, um, and then they
went and did the alumni tour inthe afternoon I couldn't make
it, unfortunately and then theydid the alumni tour in the
afternoon I couldn't make it,unfortunately and then they did

(28:25):
the punting on the river withthe tour.
That was fun for them, and thenby the next morning I was kind
of ready to get back out there.
So we had the breakfast and weloved our lodging there, the
head of the river, and so wecould just take all our meals
there.
It's attached to a restaurantand it's pretty good food and,
um, warm welcome, prettycomfortable rooms I mean it was.

(28:45):
It was a nice, nice space campreally yeah, I mean, if we more
time, if we had to do over, Iwouldn't mind staying in the
cotswolds and taking more timethere, maybe going up to the
lake district, but we'll justhave to go back we'll just have

(29:08):
to go back.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Yeah, but you got, you guys were there in june, so
it's starting to.
I mean saying that it's alwaysbusy.
I was the last time I stayed inthe cotswolds, for it was
actually in january last year Ithink, and it was still.
It was fairly busy then it's.
It's just such a popular placefor british people and obviously
it's a very popular place fortourists.
It's not too far from London.
It's kind of thatquintessential English, that
village town, you know, thosekind of imagine, what you

(29:30):
imagine, of that kind of, youknow, cottage with the roses
around the door, and that's whatyou get in the Cotswolds.
So it's, you know, is that kindof quintessential English
experience that that people kindof crave.
But but even us Brits love it.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
So yeah, that was quite a revelation to me too,
that we you know, I didn't, youknow you don't want to be an
obnoxious tourist, and you knowwe were doing things right
alongside a lot of UK residents,you know, and that it's like,
okay, no, this is really trulycool.
We're not just you know.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
No, no, absolutely.
I mean, it was my mom's 80thbirthday two years ago and I
took her for afternoon tea inthe Cotswolds and then we went
to Kiftsgate and Hidcote Gardensbecause they're my favorite
gardens so far in the UK.
There are so many gardens toexplore, but so I just so that's
.
You know, my mum took her therefor a trip, so you know it's

(30:22):
just such a popular place to go.
Now I'm going to kind of pivota little bit and talk a little
bit about how you got around andI know you talked about car,
you talked about train andobviously on foot.
So what sort of how muchcombination of those?
So mainly, I guess in Irelandyou're doing a lot of driving,
and then when you were inScotland and England, was it a
combination of train and drivingor did you mainly take the?

Speaker 3 (30:43):
train.
We took the train everywhere.

Speaker 4 (30:48):
The car was just Ireland and we were very happy
to bring that car in.
And all the public transport, alittle bit of black cabs, took a
couple of black cabs in Londonjust because and we did a lot on
foot.
And then trains, we had boughtthe.
After crunching the numbers, wedecided to try the Brit Rail

(31:09):
pass and I think it came outanyway.
I have more to say about that.
If you want me to geek outabout that a little bit, I will.
We actually we went for firstclass tickets because when I
added up the meals you know, Ithought well, maybe we can
actually replace some of theevening dinners, you know,

(31:31):
eating on the train because wetravel a lot at night and so I'm
glad we did that.
And then we packed fairly latebut we had enough that.
It was nice knowing we wouldn'thave to worry about that.
In first class, you know, wecould just get on there and
pretty easily get our, our bagssituated.
That was kind of stressing meout.
So I was, I was willing to togo the first class route and get

(31:55):
a little more peace of mind.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
Oh it's, it's really comfortable.
If I can travel first class andI'm going by train in the UK.
Go first class, I'm not gonna,I'm not gonna fib, I will do
absolutely.
And um, yeah, and I like thefact that you you know you often
will get food as well um, andalso with the Brit Rail Pass, I
think I mean Doug's justactually done a um, he's done an
article on the website aboutthe Brit Rail Pass, um, and how

(32:17):
to use it, and I think hopefully, if we're back in the UK next
month, we'll do some videos aswell showing how you use it.
I think hopefully, if we'reback in the UK next month, we'll
do some videos as well showinghow you use it.
I think the advantage of it itjust gives you the.
It is.
We look at it and go, it'squite pricey, but it's the
flexibility it gives you.
That is, you know, that'spretty priceless in some
situations where you know things, if you miss a train or what,

(32:37):
it doesn't really matter,because you can get the next one
.

Speaker 4 (32:49):
You've got that flexibility, so it does gives
you less stress.
I think that that was that wasworth it to me.
You know, and honestly, theroutes we were taking, at some
of the times a day it wasn't abad deal, you know, really, um.
And then I think, especially ifyou're going to take some of
the bigger overnight rides, thatwould really really be worth it
.
You know, but we didn't.
We didn't get to do this thistime, so we'll just have to go
back next time that you guys gothere.

Speaker 1 (33:08):
So we talked a little bit about um, the accommodation
that you stayed in, um, so doyou want to?
Kind of, because we can, we canactually link to them in the
show notes.
So I guess, if you want to haveany shout outs to any
particular, ones.

Speaker 4 (33:21):
I do.
I do Just real quick.
I wanted to go back to theinvitation.
We wanted to be sure to do someunderground oh Try London with
the girls and we did and theyloved it.
It was a great experience.
It went very, very well.
So Good, that's good.
That was good, good experiencefor them.

(33:42):
Uh, but yeah, so our first.
Do you want to hear aboutdublin?
I don't know.
We had a great uh yeah, go on.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
We often get a lot of people when they're planning a
trip to the uk that they'reeither going to start in dublin
or go over to dublin.
Yeah, so yeah, why not?

Speaker 4 (33:58):
so do you want me?
So?
Um, we stayed at Ariel House inBallsbridge.
I don't know if you're familiarwith it.
It was just fantastic.
The food was lovely, thewelcome was warm and they have
like a living room area that hasyou know games and tea.
And at night they have cake out.

(34:19):
You know, and it was just, itwas just wonderful.
It was a great place to land,very walkable.
It's in Balls Bridgeneighborhood so we were able to
really walk everywhere fromthere pretty easily.
Just so comfortable and nice.
I couldn't think of a betterplace to to have landed and as a
family and be comfortable, andyou know we would definitely

(34:41):
stay there again.
That was great.

Speaker 3 (34:47):
Well, certainly the so Trembling Mountainous
Apartments were a veryinteresting place to stay.
If you go on the second floor,you should be very athletic,
because the ladders are, or justbe a kid.

Speaker 4 (34:59):
I think it's more for kids.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
I mean, I really don't think it's meant for
adults.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
There's not stairs, it's a ladder.

Speaker 4 (35:05):
It's really a ladder.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
Yeah, no, I think I'll give that a skip.

Speaker 3 (35:10):
But it has just this beautiful like 70s op art feel
and everything is, like you know, kind of period appropriate and
it's really fun.
The Head of the River was oneof our favorites in Oxford.
Um, just all around it was justlovely.
It, you know, had kind of a Idon't know Oxford boathouse kind
of feel or whatever.

Speaker 4 (35:32):
And um, it's beautiful too.
It's right on the river.

Speaker 3 (35:34):
So if you dine outside it's a great place.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
I've eaten there.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
Oh yeah, the food we really liked, yeah.
And then let's see Otheraccommodations.
We did stay in a few kind ofmore kind of big hotels.
We did a couple corporatechains.

Speaker 4 (35:57):
You know, it just ended up.
We did that in Edinburgh and itwas fine.
You know, let's see.
And then in bath also, westayed at uh where did you stay?

Speaker 1 (36:08):
in london, which location did you just?

Speaker 4 (36:11):
in place so I did want to tell families about that
or anybody that needs.
You know, like 80 umaccommodation for various, you
know, mobility issues orwhatever.
It was the Marriott residencein Kensington Residence in
Marriott Kensington is what itwas.
So it ended up being a littlebit more than we were initially

(36:34):
quoted.
So that's the caveat, but itwas a really great situation for
a family in that it was thesame space as a rental would
have been.
It was truly two rooms, twobaths, plus a kitchen.
It was like an apartment, butit was in a hotel, but then you
could go downstairs, there was24 hour concierge and there was

(36:56):
the big breakfast buffet everymorning, you know.
So it it was pretty nice and itwas a maybe a less than 10
minute walk to um Earl's court.
Earl's court, yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
So it was.
It's good to be close to a tubestop, cause I well I know for
myself, by the end of a daywalking around London I've the
last thing I want is to have toofar to get back to my hotel.
That's's me.
So yeah, having a short walk isis always a good option yeah,
so it was nice.

Speaker 4 (37:26):
I mean it was.
It was definitely not thelowest price option, but you get
a lot.

Speaker 1 (37:32):
I mean it's not gonna say it's london, london's not
cheap.
It doesn't matter how it reallyisn't.
And you know you kind of haveto budget.
You kind of know if you'regonna, we know for ourselves, if
we've got the uk, that it'slondon is going to cost us more.
Edinburgh generally will costus more.

Speaker 4 (37:46):
So you kind of know yeah, yeah, exactly but what I
loved about that watching um.
So we had booked and cancelleda couple of apartments because
they just, I mean, they were soeconomical.
But then, when I startedthinking about having to clean
up on our way out, you know,clean the kitchen and do the
breakfast myself for everybodyand also get our bags and get to

(38:06):
the train, I just thought youknow what I don't want to do,
that I want a hotel.
Well, it's a holiday for you aswell, isn't it?

Speaker 1 (38:12):
This is sometimes what I think, and I get that
because we all stay inapartments, we all stay in
Airbnbs.
But I like to mix it up becauseyou know what?
It's also a vacation for me ifI get the chance.

Speaker 4 (38:26):
So I, I, you know, doug does a lot of that to be
fair.
But I'm like, yeah, for sure.
I mean yeah, and it was a longtrip.
I mean I couldn't wear myselfout you know no, exactly.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
So what about?
Um, we'll talk about two, twotopics, uh, kind of briefly,
because I do want to talk to youabout traveling with teens and
tweens, because I think that'san interesting topic as well to
definitely talk about.
But we'll just quickly coveryour favorite foods.
And did you buy anything fun,meaningful souvenirs that you're
going to remember forever?
So I don't know if you want tostart Nick with food.

(38:58):
Was there any food memoriesthat you're going to go?
Oh, I'd really like to eat thatagain uh, yeah, there were.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
There were a few um really liked, um, so when we we
had a, uh, um, sunday roast inlondon and, um, what was the
name of the restaurant?
Again, gold shades, old shades,that's right, yeah, and um,
that was very good, um, and anduh, um, they had, you know, it
was roast beef and yorkshirepudding, like all the things you

(39:26):
you know that should be there.

Speaker 4 (39:28):
It was beautiful too.
The building was beautiful, doyou know?

Speaker 1 (39:31):
that one.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
No, I haven't eaten there.
No.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
I'll add that to my list for next month.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
Yeah, so that was fun .
And we I tried prawns and or no, they're not prawns, what are
they called?

Speaker 1 (39:50):
Scampi.

Speaker 3 (39:50):
Yeah, yeah, it was scampi that's it, yes, which
wasn't what I thought it wouldbe, um, but it was good.
Um, it's scampi is uh.
So for those of us in us wethink of like shrimp that's sort
of sauteed in butter and winesauce and usually served with
spaghetti or something.
That's not at all what this isno.
No, definitely not these werebits of monkfish that are

(40:13):
deep-fried or something.

Speaker 1 (40:15):
I think they're langoustine tails.
I don't know something likethat.
I should know because I love it.
It's one of my favorite foods.
I'm funny when it comes to fish, because I often say I don't
like fish at all and then I geta question about it.
But I do like some fish, butgenerally, as a blanket rule, I
say I don't.
But then scampi is one of myfavorites.
So I do.
I absolutely love that.
Did you try the sticky toffeepudding, nick?

(40:36):
Because I know that's afavorite.

Speaker 3 (40:38):
Yes, we did, we did have that and it was amazing.
Yes, that was quite good, wedid manage.
So people always ask us thisbecause this is the object of
curiosity for anyone that goesto Scotland, if they ate haggis
or not.
And we did end up eating somehaggis.
It was in our tea at theGeorgian Tea Room, which you had

(41:02):
recommended to us, and we didvery much enjoy, and they had
little sausage rolls that hadhaggis, uh mixed in and, uh,
very good, very, very good goodI'm glad you did that.

Speaker 4 (41:13):
That was, uh, the kids favorite and my favorite
too, that tea at the georgiantea room.

Speaker 1 (41:18):
That was just fantastic it's, you know.
You know I do afternoon teasall the time because I have to.
It's kind of market research,right.
But and can I talk about this?
Because I'm already planning,if I get over, which ones I'm
going to do.
But you know what?
The Georgian Tea Rooms arestill the one we talk about.
We loved it there.
We just thought the staff werefabulous there.

(41:39):
The food was lovely, justlovely it's just beautiful.

Speaker 4 (41:46):
I mean, it's a real luxury experience, you know, but
it's, it's very approachableand they make you feel they
don't.
They're not snooty at all andthey could be.
I mean, it looks like that kindof place, you know, but they're
not.
They're totally welcoming andthe tea was actually just
delicious and they let youchange out your tea a couple

(42:06):
times If you want to try.
I tried a couple of differentkinds in the food and they let
you change out your tea a coupletimes if you want to try.
I tried a couple differentkinds in the food and then my
filter for every.
I have different favorites fromthe rest of the family because
I'm gluten free and some placesdo that better than others, and
the Georgian Tea Room did afantastic job with gluten free.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
Oh, that's good.

Speaker 4 (42:22):
And so did Makar's.
I can't say that right.

Speaker 3 (42:27):
Makar's Mash Bar.

Speaker 4 (42:34):
Makar macars I can't say that right.
Macars, smash, macars, macarsyeah, that was.
That was amazing.
Their gluten-free stuff wasjust some of the best I've ever
had anywhere.
Oh, lots of dessert thingswhich I never get.
You know, that was so great andthe dinner it was just
fantastic.

Speaker 1 (42:44):
Oh, that's brilliant.
Did you go to sally luns whenyou were in bath?
I always have to ask, becausethat's my favorite lemon curd on
a Sally Lund's bun no, nexttime.

Speaker 4 (42:54):
We did get a Bath bun , but I don't know, if it was
Sally Lund's, it was the onewhere you could just kind of
walk in and get one to go in alittle.
It's a different one.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
It's been Bath.
Yeah, it's been bad.
You'll have, yeah, it's a bathone.
You'll have to go to um.
Next time you go, you'll haveto go to sally lund's.
I just they're like lemon curdon a sally lund's bun, it's like
it's like a brioche bun, butit's.
But it's also in the mostamazing building.
So, yeah, and you can godownstairs because there's a.
You can actually go downstairsto how what it was like when
sally lund set it up and you cansee the height of the pavement,

(43:27):
like how it's grown over theyears, like in the last four or
500 years, how like the pavementlevel has just grown.
It's amazing.
And there's the original likeovens down there.
So, yeah, next time, next time,we'll add that onto your list.
Now, what about things?
Yeah, what about things.

Speaker 4 (43:43):
The Abbey Deli or the Abbey Deli?
Oh yes, the Abbey Deli was nicetoo.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
Oh, yes, that's also good.
What about things Did you buy?

Speaker 3 (43:51):
anything fun when you were over.

Speaker 4 (43:52):
Well, so our daughter bought some costume jewelry at
the Gorgeous the Guildhall Lookslike a Renaissance fair, you
know, like this big emeraldthing with the big necklace and
then the big dramatic earrings.
She's already got an event, shecan wear all that too.

Speaker 3 (44:13):
And then we, we bought some books, you know, at
different places, but we weren'treally there.
So much for shopping.

Speaker 4 (44:22):
I would say, you know , we didn't know if we'd had a
little more time in London.
I did want to get to.
How was that tea shop where youcan send everything home for 25
?

Speaker 1 (44:32):
pounds.
Yeah, Fortnum and Mason.

Speaker 4 (44:34):
Yes, that was one of the things I really wanted to do
that.
We just ran out of time.

Speaker 1 (44:39):
So again next time you can get some tea, tea and
biscuits and send them home.

Speaker 4 (44:46):
I want to get it.
Well, I want a teapot for mynight tea, but that's a whole
other thing.
But no, that biography of MaryQueen of Scots.
I'm telling you it was justthis slim little book but it's
just fantastic.
That was great.
We got some things in Ireland.
Book of Kells tour we got somethings.

(45:07):
And you of Kells tour, we gotsome things.
And you know the Nock Shrine.
And then the Nock Shrine, andthen the girls oh they got there
when we were in Ireland, beforewe even got to London.
The twins got these really coolmatching Wicked T-shirts really
pretty pink and green and theywore those to the show.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
Oh, that's really cool.

Speaker 4 (45:31):
Yeah, we were pretty, I think.
Yeah, we didn't go all out, butwe got really special things
yeah, that's really nice.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
I do that um right, so you traveled with um your
teens and tweens, so so let'stalk about how did that go and
what sort of advice you have forfamilies planning a trip to the
UK.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
So I think something that worked out well was we had
some time kind of built in tojust walk and look around and
things like that, and thatseemed to be something they
enjoyed.
You know, where they didn't, itwasn't all.
I mean, we definitelyemphasized a lot of historic
sites, and you know that they,where they didn't, it wasn't all
.
I mean, we definitelyemphasized a lot of historic
sites and you know things likethat.

(46:12):
And but you know, wanted tomake it something that they
could kind of feel like they,you know, didn't have all their
time, like they were in school,you know.
So, and then the other thingwas that we did give them some
chances to help pick things forus to do, which worked out
really well.
Like they picked, when we werein Dublin they picked a optical

(46:37):
illusion museum that they wantedto see, and so we went and saw
that and you know it was fun andthey really enjoyed it.
They talked about it as ahighlight.
That's good.

Speaker 4 (46:49):
Let them pick some things and then you just prepare
them for the length of theflights and um made them, you
know, understand that they weregoing to have to carry their own
stuff, you know, for 30, 40minutes at a stretch sometimes.
So they, they packed well andthey carried their own stuff.
Um, you know, that was cool,but they didn't want to do a lot

(47:09):
of guided tours.
You know, if Nick and I ever goback, just the two of us we'll
do all the guided tours, youknow.
But they liked a little bit ofthat.
They did like the ones we did,but they really just like
walking and exploring.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
Just experiencing, I guess, just experiencing it, and
especially for a first visit,just kind of, I guess it's that
thing when you're that age, whenyou're kind of a teenager, it's
so different to what you know,so it's just absorbing all of
that.
It takes some energy anyway,because it's all so different.

Speaker 4 (47:43):
Yeah, but it really was, I mean, a cultural
experience for them.
You know, they really did takeit all in, you know, and they
got some context for history too.
You know, because we talk aboutthis stuff, we read this stuff,
but it really you really,really feel the weight of it too
and you really start to putthings in order.

(48:06):
Like you've heard these, youknow individual stories of
people but you really start toget a sense of the flow of
events and the people.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
Yeah, because you can see where they lived.
That's always the thing is.
You can see where they lived.
You can see what the war like.
Queen Victoria If you go toKensington Palace, you can go
and see Queen Victoria's toysfrom when she was.
I love that.
I'm like it's just amazing,like look at her doll's house
and her dolls that she playedwith.
You know like yeah, it's, it'smind-blowing.
And obviously in the UK you cango back a long time, a long,

(48:39):
long, long time, and see things.
So, uh, yeah, it is fabulous.
And do the girls have anyparticular kind of favorites?
You think that they would sayor those are the things that we
really loved.

Speaker 4 (48:52):
The tea, the Georgian tea house, that was a real
highlight.
Um, the Cotswolds tour, the dayand bath, the guild hall and
the, just the walkingdiscovering.
I mean they saw all thehighlights but they found them
on their own, you know.
And that, um, tollymore forestwas just magical for them.
I mean they saw all thehighlights but they found them
on their own.
Yeah, you know, and theTollymore Forest was just
magical for them.
I mean it really was, andthat's in Northern Ireland.

Speaker 1 (49:14):
Well, I'm going to have to do that now.
You do realize that, don't you?
Lorianne, that's going to be onmy list if I go over.

Speaker 4 (49:28):
But if you're into hiking and nature, I mean like
we get out in there, you knowwe're big hikers and so they
were really down in the creekand on the rocks and, um, it was
beautiful.

Speaker 1 (49:32):
Well, I have to say I'm not a hiker I'm actually
famous for not being a hiker butI did.
I did a hike in new zealand twoyears ago, which it just was
amazing the hookah valley trailand I just was like, okay, this
is what hiking's all about.
So you never know, I might tryit.
I actually have to buy myselfsome hiking books because I'll
be in Antarctica in November andthey've said I need hiking
boots for that and I do want todo a little bit hiking on

(49:54):
Antarctica, so maybe I'll getsome practice in in Northern.

Speaker 4 (49:57):
Ireland, but it's highly more the good news for
you.
Maybe, if you go end up there,before you buy the boots, there
is a paved part that you canstay on, and I actually stayed
on that.
I wasn't in a mood to go downinto the creek and, um, you know
, I was taking pictures, I hadmy iPhone, yeah, so I stayed up
and it's it's pretty accessibleokay that's good and on the

(50:20):
rocks you could get away withjust sneakers okay, oh, that's
good, okay, so you know, at theend of every episode, we wrap up
with the same question.

Speaker 1 (50:33):
So I'm going to ask you guys the question that I
always end with, which is whatwould be your top tip for
anybody?

Speaker 4 (50:37):
planning a visit to the UK for the first time.
I liked that we had the longdays.
If you are on a tight timeframe, boy, we got to pack a lot in
because we had daylight till 10PM almost.
So I would think about that.
I would think about the time ofyear and then realize that if
you're going in late may, earlyjune, uh, northern ireland and

(50:57):
edinburgh are still thinkingabout doing winter to you like
you're going to get some winter.
We had, we had some winterweather really in uh, in june,
early june.
It was pretty crazy.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
It's that thing.
You know that I always say theonly predictable thing about the
UK weather is that it'sunpredictable and you just don't
know what you're going to get.

Speaker 4 (51:18):
You don't.
So we had so I'm talkingFahrenheit right low 40s with,
you know, sideways rain and cold, cold, cold wind, and then by
the last half of the trip theywere having a heat wave in with
sideways rain and cold, cold,cold wind, and then by the last
half of the trip they werehaving a heat wave in the
Cotswolds.
So I mean you really do have topack for at least three seasons
, so just do your layers.
I liked having a scarf and Ihad a knitted cap and I was glad

(51:44):
I had them.
Definitely I would look attrain travel instead of cars,
because the roads are busy.
I know you all say that a lot,but it really is a good idea.
The trains.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Doug will be happy to hear you say that.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
Yeah, I do trains, and then I thought a little kind
of thing that worked for us.
We traveled a couple times inthe evenings after everything
was closed anyway, and so I feellike we kind of maximized our
time by taking a couple ofevening trains instead of
morning trains.

(52:17):
We really got more touring time.
That's good.

Speaker 1 (52:20):
That's good.
Anything else, anything fromyou, nick, anything that you can
think of think of.

Speaker 3 (52:28):
Well, the only other thing I would suggest, in
addition to what Loriannebrought up, was just learn how
the trains work before you getthere, because it's not
intuitive.

Speaker 4 (52:37):
Doug has a train guide.

Speaker 3 (52:38):
That was helpful for me, doug's train guide was
helpful because you know thingslike they haven't assigned which
bin the train's going to leaveout of until right before it
leaves.
So there's like a mad scrambleof people to try to get to the
right track like we would neverhave known about that is that at
waverly no it was the next yeah, that can happen

Speaker 1 (53:01):
that can happen in a few places in london that you
can kind of yeah, you kind of go.
Oh, I know when I go because mymom lives, um near birmingham,
so if I, if I leave from marinalbone, sometimes it's a case of
like waiting, waiting for thatplatform announcement to come so
that you can do a dash throughto get to get a seat.
That's the main thing.
But, um, yeah, so well, doug'sgot, obviously he's got his

(53:22):
train book, which you guys had,which is great, and he's also
doing a lot more videos now.
So he's on youtube.
So far he's put I think we'vegot a video about the different
trains from london to edinburgh.
He's done one on the edinburghtram actually, which is really
useful for anybody getting fromfrom the airport in edinburgh
into edinburgh city center, andhe's done a third one.
He's done one on the caledoniansleeper as well, and he's got

(53:44):
loads more plans for um videosbecause he knows we've got the
book, which does really well.
He also does train consults aswell, actually.
So if anybody out therethinking about doing a train
itinerary, he can help you withthat um.
So, yeah, we are developing alot more of that because we know
that the train travel can besomething that people can find a
little bit like intimidating,especially if you live somewhere

(54:05):
that you don't have access tothat sort of public transport
yeah, and you want to kind ofsee where your car is going to
be.

Speaker 4 (54:14):
So one, one point first class was at the back of
the train and then at one pointit was at the front of the train
and the time it was at the backwe almost missed getting on,
because that was also where theydidn't let us know where the
gate was or the platform wastill the very last minute.
We had to run all the way tothe end of this train.
It's that was our but it doeswork.

Speaker 3 (54:35):
I mean, it sounds like it's terrible, but it's.
It's a wonderful way to get.
Oh, it's great, just once youlearn some of the no, no, it's a
.

Speaker 1 (54:41):
It's a good way to get around, it's our favorite
way to get around.
Sometimes you have to take, youhave to take the car because
you can't get everywhere bytrain.
But Doug, honestly, would justsit on a train every day, all
day.
That would be his dream life.
That would be for sure.
Anyway, it's been so lovelyspeaking to you guys and
catching up with you about yourtrip, because we met a couple of
months ago for the consult andI know Lorianne and I we've been

(55:03):
emailing a bit since then, justkeeping up with things.
We've been emailing a bit sincethen, just keeping up with
things.
So it's been fabulous to chatwith you.
And thanks very much, nick, forcoming on, because I know
you've been very busy at theminute with work.
So I do appreciate that you'vecome on to share your trip.
So thanks very much, guys.

Speaker 4 (55:18):
Thanks, so much Thanks for having us.
It's been fun, thank you.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
Thanks so much to Lorianne and Nick for sharing
their incredible familyadventure through Ireland and
the UK, from dance competitionsand castles to scenic train
journeys and afternoon tea.
It was such a joy to hear abouthow I made this trip special
for the whole family.
If you found this episodehelpful or inspiring, we'd love
your support.
You can help us keep thepodcast going from as little as
three US dollars a month, andthe link is in the show notes.

(55:44):
And don't forget, we'd love tohear from you.
If you have a travel tip, aquestion or a story to share,
head to speakpipe again in theshow notes and leave us a voice
message.
You might even be featured in afuture episode, but for this
week, thanks again for listeningand, from Doug and me, happy UK
travel planning.
Thank you for tuning in to thisweek's episode of the UK travel

(56:05):
planning podcast.
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

(56:26):
.
Happy UK travel planning.