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UK Travel Planning
The UK Travel Planning Podcast is full of practical tips and advice to help you plan your dream trip to the UK whether you are visiting England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Travel expert Tracy Collins shares years of knowledge and experience of travelling to, and around, the UK to help you plan your UK itinerary.
Listen to special guest interviews full of travel inspiration and practical tips for popular and off the beaten path destinations. Learn more about the best ways to travel around the UK (including by train), about British culture and history and much more!
Tune in and let us help you plan your perfect UK itinerary with all the places and experiences you have been dreaming of. UK Travel Planning - helping YOU plan YOUR perfect UK vacation.
UK Travel Planning
Family Fun in England: Trip Highlights with Heather Welday
In episode 116 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast, Tracy welcomes back Heather Welday, who previously appeared in our 100th celebratory episode. Heather shares an in-depth report of her family’s June 2024 trip to England, packed with valuable insights and travel inspiration.
Heather, hailing from Southern California, travelled with her husband and two children, staying in an apartment just four doors from Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon. Discover Heather's favourite souvenir, which Tracy now plans to collect herself. Heather also discusses their itinerary, which included London, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Bath, and their choice to use public transportation throughout their trip.
Heather highlights the resources she found most helpful, including the UK Travel Planning Podcast and the Facebook group. She recounts her favourite experiences, like the Verger Tour at Westminster Abbey and being the first visitor at Stonehenge. She also shares their challenges, including travel disruptions and her husband falling ill.
Food enthusiasts will enjoy Heather's rave reviews of the meal deals from Marks & Spencer and her favorite pub meals. She also provides packing tips, emphasizing the importance of traveling light and being prepared for the UK’s unpredictable weather.
Heather wraps up with practical advice for first-time UK travellers, particularly the importance of booking tickets for popular attractions early.
⭐️ Guest - Heather Welday
📝 Show Notes - Episode 116
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Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, Tracey Collins. In this podcast, Tracey shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation. Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to episode 116 of the UK Travel Planner Podcast. This week I chat with guest Heather Welday, who appeared in our celebratory 100th episode a few months ago. In this episode, heather is here to share her trip report from her family trip to England in June 2024. As well as sharing a wealth of information and travel inspiration, spoiler alert. As well as sharing a wealth of information and travel inspiration spoiler alert. They stayed in an apartment four doors from where Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. But I particularly loved hearing Heather's favourite souvenir and now plan to start collecting that particular item myself to find out what that was. In the episode, I first asked Heather to introduce herself, where she lives in the world and who she traveled to the UK with.
Speaker 3:Hi. My name is Heather Welday. I am from Southern California, we live about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, and I traveled in June with my husband, Jason, and then our two children. Our daughter is 15 and our son is 13.
Speaker 2:And was this the first time that you visited the UK, heather?
Speaker 3:It was yes, but, as many other people will have already mentioned in their podcast or on the website, it was kind of a long time dream and I'm so happy that it finally was fulfilled. But it was one of those things I had thought about a long time and the kids were old enough now where it seemed like an appropriate time and I just thought let's do it. Also, I'm a librarian, so I obviously love books and history and all of that. But one of the book groups I'm in they were playing Regency Bingo on the map and so they were naming all of these places that you had to fill in and it just really sparked my imagination. I thought, huh, what is lower slaughter? I would love to know about that. Um, so, honestly, between those two things like it kind of came to a head and then, once I started doing research, I think I Googled first and found your website and then from there found the podcast and then found the Facebook group, so it just kind of snowballed once it became a real thing.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's brilliant. And so how long again were you over in the UK for? Was it 10 days?
Speaker 3:Um, it was, I'm trying to think. We left on June 8th and we came home on the 20th, so about 12 days ish.
Speaker 2:Then yeah, travel on either end, so yes, and um, would you like to give us a brief overview of your itinerary? What did you include? And that's always the hard thing, isn't it? When you sit down thinking, well, I've got this many days, what can I include? It's probably the hardest thing is what do I leave out, isn't it? But so? What did you decide that you wanted to include in your itinerary?
Speaker 3:So the original plan was to do like the whole shebang and then I quickly realized that was not realistic and so I narrowed it down to England and then kind of the southern half of England. I suppose we did a little triangle. So we started in London for about four and a half days. We went to Stratford-upon-Avon via Oxford, so we had a day tour in Oxford. We were in Stratford for a few days, then we went down to Bath and then from Bath we came back to London for another couple days. So we bookended it with London. But we did kind of a little triangle if you look at it on the map.
Speaker 2:So yeah, oh good, and then how did you? Once you decided those places, how did you decide how you were going to get around? So did you use public transport, Did you hire a car? What did you do?
Speaker 3:It was all public transportation. So we already knew in London, 100% don't have a car. I've heard it enough times, I read it enough times. Regarding being outside of the city, um, my husband is a pretty confident driver didn't want to drive. And I thought, if he doesn't want to drive, like, I'm certainly not going to try that myself. Um, so quickly it became, we're going to take the train, try to use the train system. Um, and he is a civil engineer but like a lot of those science-y type people I'll say science-y like in trains are really interesting to him and so, like that seemed like a good idea, it seemed like a great idea and so we thought, oh, they have a great train system. We'll, we'll give that a try. So I kind of started investigating that too, and clearly there were trains that went to all of those places. So it worked out for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, perfect. Yes, it is a pretty kind of easy kind of route to plan actually with the train, so that's good. So, what resources? Because obviously you already mentioned that you'd find the websites and the podcast and you joined the Facebook groups. That's brilliant. So, using, because we have a lot of resources. So which did you find particularly the most helpful, or did you find all of those were pretty good to help you put your plans together?
Speaker 3:They were all helpful, but I would say the podcast was the most helpful, I think.
Speaker 3:Partly just hearing different people's perspectives I think is helpful, but then you have such a variety of podcasts, so some of them are you know how you do something, or you know all these free things that you can do in London, or or to hear different families say what they enjoyed, things that I had never thought about before, maybe didn't even know existed, and then really I became an aficionado. So I, when I first found it, I kind of listened here and there and then I thought, oh man, I need to hear all of this. So I went back to the beginning and listened all the way through and then there were certain people I just kind of gravitated towards. Like I've heard Rob Bruns's, I've heard Catherine's a few times, like it sounds embarrassing, like I'm a stalker, but honestly it was just they were very easy to listen to but also to kind of get their perspective on things. So, um, so some of them I've heard more than once. Um, I've heard some of your tips and tricks more than once.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and I've heard that a few times that there's um, there's certain episodes of okay, this is just perfect for what I'm going to do, so I'm going to listen to that a few times and and when I do that with podcasts, there's some podcasts I'll listen to two or three times and I'm like, oh, I missed that first time around. So that's brilliant information to have. And I know you booked a consult with myself and Doug as well, so that was lovely because we got to meet you and go through your plans.
Speaker 3:No, that was really neat. It was helpful because I think, even if you're a planner, like I am, just to have somebody have fresh eyes on it, or people that have been there before, and really the thing that I was most concerned about was just that sense that you don't know what you don't know. So even if you've planned, like you know in the back of your mind, well, I haven't actually done it myself before. So what, what is this going to turn into? So I think that was helpful and just having like heard you for so many months and you kind of feel like you get to know a person and um, so that was really lovely just to have the conversation, I think and Doug was in on that one too for a bit, so you know to to make that connection I think was really wonderful. But honestly, if you're not a planner, if you feel unsure, I would recommend it. Um, and if you are a planner, then it doesn't hurt to have a second opinion. Honestly.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, no, it's true, cause it's sometimes you don't know what you don't know, and you know, even when I was planning on our trip to Japan last year, I was like I really could do with a consult with somebody, cause I've never been to Japan and I'm not. It's the little things that I wanted to check out. I kind of was. I was like I just want to find out about this or that or again things that you don't know. So, no, it was really cool to chat with you guys and help with your itinerary.
Speaker 3:So should we talk about kind of what your favorite experiences and places were that you visited? Oh goodness, yes. So there were a couple of things. One I really liked Stratford-upon-Avon, and I don't think I was expecting that to be my favorite, but really it just was a comfortable place to be. We will talk about accommodations later, probably, but I will tell you this we were four doors down from Shakespeare's birthplace, like his back garden, and we could see his garden from our door. So that was really neat.
Speaker 3:And the day that we happened to go there they do little vignettes of people doing reenacting Shakespeare. They have a couple of actors there. So my daughter got to see the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene and they had just read that in school. It was the last novel or play, but the last thing they read, so for her that was exciting. And then when they we came out after the tour, they were starting a new section there and they asked for a volunteer. So my son got to be Polonius yes, it's awesome, I have the video but in his best terrible British accent saying oh, I am slain, and then dramatically falling to the ground. It was okay. So I have things like that that I think are particular to my family.
Speaker 3:But the day that we went to Stonehenge we took a tour. For that we were the first people up there, so all of my pictures there aren't people in the background. It was wonderful. And then when we came, there were like back there were like 50 coach buses and I just knew like it would have been a completely different experience had we not got there first, honestly. But it was magical being there like with nobody else around. So those were two highlights.
Speaker 3:Um, when we were in London, we took the Verger tour at Westminster Abbey so we got to sit in the pews. He let us sit in the pews. That was so cool. I think my voice just rose a little there. I was so excited. Um, so it was, but I didn't expect that. I mean, I had heard, you know, they'll show you places that you can't see otherwise, which was really neat. But uh, he kind of stopped us, had everybody file in and you could see the other people like looking around, like what are they doing? This one lady like tried to go up and he was kind of like no that's um so um so little.
Speaker 3:It was little things like that. I think it was the small things, how the day that we went out with victoria we went to hidcote garden, which wasn't really um a thought. We wound up in the northern cotswolds because we were in Stratford-upon-Avon, so a lot of those things that you typically think of like still on the wall and all of that which I missed and I'm bummed about. But she planned a lovely day for us and those gardens, I'm just telling you like the wind rushing through the trees, like it could not have been more peaceful or beautiful. So what stands out in my mind mostly are kind of like the little vignettes, like that I think.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, that's lovely. Oh, and Hidket is gorgeous, isn't it? I don't care when I go there, I just want to wander around Hidket and just I just love it. That garden is fantastic the arts and crafts garden and Kivskate Crossroad. I don't know if you managed to get to see Kivskate, which is the, because that's got roses and that oh, my goodness, I could spend my whole I think it's a week just strolling around those two because they're very close together so they're lovely. So it was nice to know that you I know you went out with Victoria. That was actually kind of. My next question is is the tours that you did, who? Who did you do them with? How did they go? Because obviously I know you went out with, with, with with victoria, as I say from at cotswold teacup tours, who, um, we work within the cotswolds, so that's good, um, but who else did you go out with and how did they go?
Speaker 3:so we did a walking tour in oxford with uh footprint tours, um, and that wasn't. It was nice. I mean, I felt like the better part of that was their customer service. So the day that we went which we'll talk about later was the date my husband was starting to get sick, and then the next day he was very sick. But the day that we went I had emailed them about something else and mentioned luggage, where we needed to find a luggage place, which Doug had, like, said some things, and he's like oh, we have luggage, and they gave us a discount on holding our luggage and so we take the walking tour. It's a couple hours and the gal was real sweet. She was an alumni and alum, I guess, you'd say. And then when we came back I had told the kids when we were in Oxford they could buy a sweatshirt like a university sweatshirt, and so we go in to retrieve our luggage. And they had a little shop in there and to me I thought the sweatshirts look very reasonably priced. And so I was like well, we're here, we can get it. And he's like oh, you went on the tour, we'll give you a discount. It was just, they were so lovely. Start to finish from that. So I just had a positive experience with them.
Speaker 3:And then we took Victoria's tour and then when we were in Bath we did the free walking tour. That's a couple of hours. They meet outside of the Roman Baths and that's city sponsored, I think. So they had, I think, like five different tour guides because the group was quite large but they broke us up into about groups of 15. So that was really neat because we got to see most of the the highlights there, so to see the royal crescent and the circus and all those things, um, and then the day after bath we took the mad max tour. So that's when we saw stonehenge and avebury and laycock andombe, which is the most charming little village you'll ever lay your eyes on.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's so popular. Castle Coombe is so, so popular and that's in the. I've actually just done a podcast episode with Lisa from Go Cotswolds, who's based in Stratford, and we're just saying it's that a lot of people ask to go down to Castle Coombe when they're north in Cwolds and it's it's actually quite a long way, so it's actually the better way of doing it is to to do Castlecombe when you're based in Bath, because it's it's much closer yes, and I it was one of those.
Speaker 3:I had heard about it before.
Speaker 3:I don't think that I was like, oh, we definitely have to go, but it was part of the tour they offered and really I was doing the tour.
Speaker 3:Um, uh, tanya was the one who had mentioned it on her podcast and I wasn't sure how else we would fit stonehenge in there and I thought, well, we'll do it, it's affordable and it took off from bath and honestly, super close to our accommodation, and so it was just an easy day for us and so we were able to, like I said, be the first ones into stonehenge, which was really cool, and then see Avebury and the driver stopped along the way so we could see the chalk horse on the hill and we talked about that a little bit.
Speaker 3:Um, and then my daughter liked Laycock because of the different movie connections. So she's really a person, what her favorite places were, all things that she could kind of make a connection to. My son is more like he. He likes the museum and will read every placard if you allow him to. So I have two different kiddos that way, but she really enjoyed Laycock, largely because of that, because she could really, you know, see, oh, look, there was the pub where Dumbledore and Harry went and all of that. So that was pretty neat to her yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's nice. I leacock's definitely worth visiting. Actually it's a. It's a lovely, not only just abby, but just the village itself is fantastic. Um, so I'm gonna, because you mentioned that your husband got sick, so I and I know that part of your trip didn't didn't work out, um, as you'd hoped for. So I think let's kind of talk about guess what, guess what went wrong on the trip, because it wasn't all kind of roses around the door. You did have some issues when you were over there, so your husband got sick, so what happened?
Speaker 3:Well, to begin with, I was sick a few days before the trip and I actually was quite concerned that I would have to send them on ahead of me. But my fever broke and I thought I'm just going to take the cold medicine and hop on the plane. And so I did. So be that as it may, I'm sure people might look the scans at that, but it was the choice I made. I was like I don't have a fever, I'm going to do it. So, um, and the other thing that had happened right off the bat that was a challenge was when I had booked our plane tickets. I went through Virgin Atlantic because I heard great things about them and, coming back, we had a fantastic time with them. But I wanted a direct flight and through their website, the only way to get the direct flight at the time I wanted, for the price that I could afford, I had to use their Delta partner. So I thought, okay, well, I'm just going to make that choice.
Speaker 3:Well, a couple months after we booked those tickets, I was getting some emails from them. They had to change our flight from a direct flight to indirect, like we had to fly up to Seattle and then over. And the craziest part about that was we were going to get to Heathrow at the exact same time down to the minute as the direct flight would have been. It was the weirdest thing, but it meant we had to shift our time back to leave from LAX to get up to Seattle. It was oh so, and they changed it one more time after that.
Speaker 3:So we already knew, going in, like okay, that's A little squirrely, but whatever. So when we go to check in the day before, it wouldn't allow us to. And then we thought, oh no, so we need to go to the airport early. So then, of course, now we're leaving even earlier than we originally planned and we get there, and it took them over an hour to straighten it out. They could see that we had purchased tickets, they could see the seats that we were in, but there was some glitch in the computer system that they cannot print us boarding cards, and so Delta's on the phone and they were trying to make it happen. But we had bought through Virgin Atlantic. So they send us over to Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic's like no, it's a Delta problem. And I mean it was. Yeah, I could tell my husband was getting a little testy there and I was like oh goodness this like, yeah, not a good start.
Speaker 2:A bit stressful start right Start off the bat, wasn't it oh?
Speaker 3:No, and I'm, like you know, have cold medicine running through me and I was just oh yeah. So already I kind of felt like slightly unprepared because really, like the packing, I was packing like groggy and all of that and knowing that we were up against this. So but we finally managed to get there after hour, hour and a half of them going back and forth with this. So it took us some time. So we get on the flight and it was an overnight flight which worked out pretty well. And then on the descent my daughter got airsick, which has never, ever happened before. So right away then we're like my daughter got airsick, which has never, ever happened before. So right away then we're like, okay, now we've got to get everything cleaned up. And then, as people are kind of shuffling off, we're in the restroom, which, thankfully, I had made everyone take a full change of clothes in their backpack.
Speaker 2:So always a good idea, always a good idea.
Speaker 3:But that meant that she used one of her very minimal outfits, because we'll talk about packing a little bit, but I guess, um, so it just it just felt so heavy at the outset. So then it felt like anytime there was like a small disappointment, it just felt really big. Um, the other thing that happened, that was, uh, kind of a challenge. Um, well, we had a few wifi and tech issues. Like my phone was having some issues, so we only put like the full wifi, like the international package, on my husband's phone, which was okay, other than I had been the person planning the trip, so like I had all the apps and things like that. So then to be like, okay, you need to download this one, or can I see your phone? It just that was a little wonky, but, um, but the day that we left Stratford upon Avon and went to Bath was a Sunday, and I already knew that travel on a Sunday via train is a challenge, and I had been checking ahead of time.
Speaker 3:There were no strikes on or anything like that, so I thought it's going to take three, three and a half hours. We will be fine, though, except they had some sort of employee thing going on. They didn't have enough people and they canceled three trains. So what should have been a three, three and a half hour journey was a seven hour journey. So we lost half a day in Bath, and so so, even though that day we were in Bath, we cramped in so much like we never got to see Pulteney Bridge or some of those things which I kind of felt like, had we had that other half a day, we would have done something with it, Even if we laid low and did the hop on, hop off bus which it looked like they had a great one there.
Speaker 2:It's always a thing that Doug talks about so often and I know sometimes it's really hard when you've got night and to not have that Sunday travel when you've got short days. But Sunday it's always such a risky day because of if there's no staff then they'll have to cancel trains and for some people, like it can be absolutely fine. But it's one of those days that if something's going to go wrong it can go. Obviously it did impact and say you lost part of your time at bath, but thank god that you got there, thank goodness that you got there. But seven hours is not great, especially when you've got kids as well and you hadn't been feeling. And was your husband still not feeling great at that point, or had he kind of got over his illness?
Speaker 3:it was the tail end of it. So the day before, on Saturday about noon, we went out and he was able to do some stuff. But I mean, you know it takes you a few days and, um, we had left the VRBO and walked to the train station. So we were there a little early but right away there was no staff. So we had to find a little coffee shop and had our tea and coffee and all of that, um, but they didn't have a train for the first one and they were sending a bus instead. So which I was like, okay, it'll be fine.
Speaker 3:Like I mean a train bus. It'll go us to the first stop and we'll hop on the train, but they didn't send a coach, they sent more like a city bus. So when everyone got crammed on there with their luggage, like you were holding it in your lap, there was this group of college students. I don't know what they were, but a couple of those girls had huge suitcases that were just. I know it was uncomfortable for them, it was uncomfortable for us.
Speaker 3:So it was just one of those things like part of you is like, okay, well, this is an adventure, but the other part of you is like, seriously, we're doing this right now. So a lot of it is your attitude. I know a lot of it is your attitude, but, like I said, then, if you have like a smaller disappointment, then you just feel like it just feels that much bigger. So, um, so those were kind of the big ones.
Speaker 3:Um, a huge mistake that I made personally was I had been investigating real cards and I didn't buy it before we came. I started to that night before, which I wasn't feeling good, but I got mostly through the transaction and then the transaction failed and so then I thought, well, it's fine, we don't need the trains till we're a few days in London, I'll buy it then, and I had put it off until the night before. And then it looked like it was going to complete the transaction, but it said something about 72 hours and then I thought, wait, can we not use these for 72 hours? I don't know. So we wound up just paying for our tickets, but I know that cost us money and that was a mistake on my part by waiting for that. So I guess, don't wait would be the lesson learned there.
Speaker 2:Was it a rail card that you were after or a Brit Rail pass that you were buying, Heather?
Speaker 3:The Brit was it? Was it, um? Was it a rail card that you were after, or brit rail pass that you were buying heather um the brit rail? But there's one, um, I'm trying to think what it's called.
Speaker 2:It's one that like the farthest reach is like strapford and bath, so it's like the southern. Yeah, yeah yes, I don't know what it's called, but I don't know which one you mean. Yeah, it doesn't. It's like it does that triangle so covers that area.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah so it looked like it was affordable and had I been wiser and done it earlier, it probably would have worked out smashingly. But that was a live and learn.
Speaker 2:Like you, I paid for procrastination on that, so yeah, yeah, but also you got sick as well, so don't don't beat yourself up. You got sick and you know I'd do the same. I'll leave a few things to like the last few days before, but I'll sort that sort of that and you don't know, you're gonna get sick. So it's one of those things. So, accommodation let's talk about accommodation that you stayed in. So what were the, what were the standouts for you? Which would you kind of say to people yeah, this is, this is a fantastic place, and the one in Stratford sounds like really cool that was the best one, not only because of location, although location, I mean, we really couldn't have been any better.
Speaker 3:Like I said, you could see the wrought iron gate of his back garden and, if you've been there before, but for your listeners kind of right beside it is a little alley that connects the streets behind up to Henley street, and so all we had to do is walk up the alley and we were on Henley street. So that was awesome. Um, but it had been. It was a two bedroom flat, a ground floor flat, and it had been refurbished. So the bathrooms were nice, the kitchen was nice and we really did take advantage of it. Um, we went to Marks and Spencer's and bought meal deals for dinner a couple of days, which we'll talk about meal deals, goodness gracious, we lived off those things, but particularly in Stratford, because we had the kitchen. We took advantage of that. So it was nice to take a breather. That was where we landed when Jason was sick, so he missed the day with Victoria, but at least he could like rest. It was quiet I mean, you're not dealing with a hotel or anything like that so that was really good. But it was clean, it was comfortable, it was. I mean, there was everything about it was just lovely. So I really liked that one. That was the standout we had in Bath. We had a basement apartment and it was just. If you can imagine Sally Lund's in your mind, there's the street. It was like the next building down from that, so close to everything. And that was another one where, like, it was all about location. The flat was nice. It wasn't as nice as the Stratford one, but it was still a two bedroom. It met our needs for that, but just the location on that, because I mean, literally you're right around the corner from everything. So it was awesome.
Speaker 3:And then when we were in London, we stayed in a travel lodge. So what's interesting about it was the first time we were there. For like the four nights we had a family room and it was much bigger and more comfortable than I expected it to be. Honestly, it looked refurbished. And when we went back we were on a different floor and the room was so tiny and didn't look redone but it was still labeled a family room and I thought like if I had went there the first time I wouldn't have known any different. But thank goodness, like the bigger portion, we were in the comfortable room, but it was shocking. I thought, like it's the same, like it's supposed to be a family room. We paid the same amount of money for it, but it's clearly a different accommodation.
Speaker 2:So was it the same travel lodge in the same location in London? Yes, Ah, so did you ask them if you could move to the room you had previously? I would have been going downstairs and going mm-mm.
Speaker 3:We didn't. But thinking back on it I'm like man, I kind of wish we would have done that now. But we kind of liked that location. We were not that far from St Pancras and King's cross station, so it was less than a 10 minute walk. It was like between seven and nine minutes to get back and forth from there and then they have like the tube access there and so honestly, it was uh, you know it's a lived in neighborhood, so it wasn't high end, but for what we needed it to be and where it was like, honestly it worked great for us. And I think the other thing too is like for for us.
Speaker 3:Um, one of the things I had mentioned in a post is like London in particular moves so fast, like I don't know why I was not mentally prepared for that, or maybe I heard it, but I mean it is like you've got to hustle, and so that surprised me a lot. So if you ask something that surprised me, that probably surprised me the most. But there was a point to that story. Oh, that particular part of London, though, like was doable for us, like when we went to Westminster. I think that like, especially like I kind of was like okay, we're going to the most touristy spot. I know how it's going to be. The rest of my family, I think it kind of like shook them a little bit, and so had we been closer to maybe some of the action, so to speak, I think that would have been a little too much. So so where, where was good for us?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I get that, because sometimes it's nice to have that bit of breather, especially when you've been, you know, exploring London for the day. It's just to give yourself some of that little bit quieter. So, no, I totally get that. And talking about food, and obviously the nice thing about when you had your apartment is that you could make your own food. So the fact you've mentioned, I cannot wait. I can't tell you how I cannot wait to get to Marks and Spencer's. Wait, I can't tell you how I cannot wait to get to Marks and Spencers. It's, it's the joy when I get back to the UK wandering around and looking at the variety. Sheer variety, it's sandwiches, because they don't do sandwiches in Australia in the supermarkets. The sheer variety of sandwiches, um, the fantastic meal deals. I've just shared a whole lot of pictures in the Facebook group and they always get go viral in there because everybody's like, oh, this is amazing. So tell me about the meal deals, what did you enjoy?
Speaker 3:it was so um, we discovered them, I think, on our first full day, which I need to keep a lookout for we had visited, uh, the British Museum and then on our way back to the hotel we had found like like an Instagram bakery and just had a pastry. But we saw the Sainsbury local on the way back and so we wound up getting our first meal deal there. And my daughter it makes me laugh, but they give you so many varieties of what you can choose for your three items she had sushi like three or four times and it just kind of made me laugh that she's eating like convenience store sushi, but she really liked it and so we had sandwiches and wraps and salad and then at home we eat like a lot of fruit, like my husband eats a lot of fruit. It's a long story, but it was so nice to have like fresh fruit that was washed and cut and ready to go One day. I think when we were in Westminster, the kids had donuts as their side dish. I thought that was kind and cut and ready to go One day. I think when we were at Westminster, the kids had donuts as their side dish. I thought that was kind of funny but that you could have like a candy bar if you wanted, or whatever it happened to be Like. I don't even think we had crisps until the end, because there were so many varieties of things to choose from.
Speaker 3:And then when we were in Stratford-upon-Avon they had like the full size Marks and Spencers. So they had a Tesco Express there which I went into. But I wanted to see what Marks and Spencers was like. But the first night we bought a meal deal at dinner. It was 12 pounds. You got two steaks, a side of mashed potatoes and then we would call it gravy but like a steak sauce type of thing, for 12 pounds. I couldn't believe it. And then the next night we did one that was pizza and then we had like mozzarella sticks and chicken wings or something with it, and that was less than 12, if I remember correctly. So just the fact that those sandwich meal deals most of them were like three pounds, 50. And then the dinner to not be more than 12 was I was in shock. And then the nice thing about large Marks and Spencers was they had other things. They like had clothes before you got back to the grocery store.
Speaker 2:Yes, they do.
Speaker 3:My pants were a little loose, I wound up buying a belt there. So there's a picture of my husband and I in front of the Shakespeare statue and you can see my M&S bag and there's a belt in that bag.
Speaker 2:I always go to, honestly, the food bit is my first bit, but I also look at the clothes. And just to also just to shout out for Marks and Spencer's underwear, which is a strange thing we've mentioned, but honestly, I only ever buy my underwear from Marks and Spencer's in the UK, so it's really good stuff. Um, and yeah, I mean Marks and Spencer's are not paying me for this, such as mention. I just absolutely, and my mom also loves Marks and Spencer's, so, uh, we know we absolutely love it. So did you eat out at all or did you kind of majority of the time kind of go for the meal deals and kind of self-cater?
Speaker 3:um, so mostly it was meal deals. Usually we would do a meal deal once a day and typically it was lunch, although we did have the two dinners there, and I think one time we were in London and just the way the day had worked, I think maybe the day we went to Harry Potter studios on the way back we did like a meal deal, but it was like a sandwich kind, but for dinner. Um, so the day that we arrived was a Sunday afternoon and I had booked at um King's cross station. They have a pub there, um parcel yard, and it's a Fuller's pub. It took me a while to realize that Fuller's must be a brand name and each of the pubs have a different name to them. Um, so I had made a reservation, which was nice because we got our Sunday roast. So that was.
Speaker 3:I was very glad, um, but if you're going to ask about like our favorite things, um, in Bath there was a pub called Westgate pub which has been around since 1677. And that was probably my favorite meal. Jason had steak and ale pie and then the most amazing green peas and then I had the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had. It was so good and it had like a side salad, like an arugula kind of salad, so I ate his peas and he ate my salad. But the peas were perfect with that macaroni and cheese. But it was so nice because I feel like a lot of times if you have macaroni and cheese that it breaks down and it's oily and you feel kind of gross. But it was not. It was so smooth Like I ate it, and felt just fine. I was like it's delicious and I feel, okay, that's pretty good.
Speaker 3:Um, that was a really nice one. Um, the hotel we like, as as part of the hotel we like, paid for the breakfast because the kids ate free. So it wasn't like spectacular, it was hotel food. But, um, it was one we didn't have to think about in the morning and they had all the makings of a full english and then, um, pastries and things like that. Um, when we went to harry potter studios, the kids got butterbeer, so I got to try butterbeer of course um.
Speaker 2:I was gonna ask you did you enjoy Harry Potter Studios? It's so good we did.
Speaker 3:We were there six hours, so I know it's like how, like three to six, I mean we had a break in the middle at the back lot, but um, yeah, it was a full day for us there. And then in the Cotswolds and in Bath we we had fish and chips twice. And then in Laycock, just at the little shop there, we had pasties, and my daughter and I had the cheese and onion one. I think that's what it was. They were so good, so I'd say the oatmeal and that pasty were like probably two of my favorite things.
Speaker 3:And then when we made our way to Borough Market, which honestly, completely overwhelmed us, so we didn't wind up eating there. But we did find those strawberries on Instagram and I will give a plug it was the best strawberry I ever had in my life. We bought two. We bought one with chocolate and one without, and so I tried the non-chocolate one first and it was everything you imagine a strawberry should be like the texture, the flavor. I don't know how they grow these things, but it was everything you imagine a strawberry should be like the texture, the flavor, I don't know how they grow these things, but it was amazing.
Speaker 2:Well, I'll have to try them. I've been to borough market so many times and I look at the long, the long line and I go no, I'm not gonna stand in that line to get strawberries, but I'll try them next time for sure I'll be back over. Um, I'll probably be in, probably by the time this podcast episode comes out. Actually I'll. I'll be in London, so hopefully I'll have had a chance to try some of those strawberries. That'd be good. So let's talk about packing. Um, so you didn't. You didn't pack your pack lightly, cause that's a good idea when you're traveling on the trains. We always say that, um, the more you take, the more stressed you get.
Speaker 3:Well, I've been joking, we packed. I just I wish we would each have had one more outfit, Um, so we each had 19 inch suitcases, which is pretty small, Um, there are cases that we've had since the kids were old enough to kind of roll their own, so they're old, Um, but the newer one that I had bought for a trip last year was going to be like slightly too big because of the wheels, and so then I thought so, even though on our tickets we technically could have checked a bag, I didn't want to, which didn't work because that crazy Delta flight we talked about they made us check out the gate anyway. So it was, yeah, it was a cool thing. But what I did was I made each of us pack a full outfit in our backpack, which worked out really well for us, Like, as I said, with my daughter kind of having an issue on landing, so at least she was taken care of. But essentially what we each had, we each had three pairs of pants, um, five shirts, two pairs of PJs, um undies, and then each of my other family members wore a sweatshirt. I kind of had a lighter one, but I usually wear like a little cardigan over my t-shirt. So they pack up real small. So I had a couple of those, um, and then the rain jacket. So, honestly, it worked out well as far as what we could fit in the suitcase. So honestly, it worked out well as far as what we could fit in the suitcase.
Speaker 3:I had chosen the five t-shirts because I knew we would have laundry in the middle. But that was another hiccup because the Stratford one didn't have a dryer, it was only a washer. But I had bought a laundry line. I thought ahead I recommend that another little tip and I thought if they have a washer they have to have a drying rack, which they did. But the problem was when we were there it was kind of like often on rain and you never knew when it was going to start. So I had the kitchen looked like an old fashioned 1800s laundry with it spread out and it just it took a while for things to dry.
Speaker 3:So before we left, one of the things I bought at Marks and Spencer's were like Ziploc baggies and then I made us all the outfits I could out of what we had to see what we would need, so that when we went to bath I was only washing the necessities. So that's why I think, like one more outfit would have been helpful. But I'm thankful that you know, when you're dragging your suitcase down the cobblestones of Oxford and it starts raining, that you know, when you're dragging your suitcase down the cobblestones of Oxford and it starts raining, that you know. That was all we had to worry about, that and the backpack. So it it really was traveling light. I think that was helpful and a couple of those trains that were really packed. Um, we were standing in the luggage compartment and so to be able to stand there with the suitcase, I was just thankful. It wasn't more than that.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it's always. It's always a fine balance for the UK because if you're traveling by train to take as minimum as possible because I just know personally, the more I have, the more stress I get but also the difficulty and this comes up so often as well like trying to get things dry in the UK, so often you'll get a washer dryer combined with a dryer isn't particularly great. So often you'll get a washer dryer combined with a dryer isn't particularly great. And I know when I lived in the UK I used to just dry everything on the radiators If it was on. In winter you struggle, which is fine.
Speaker 2:In winter you can get stuff dry that way, but in the summer, if it's not warm, it's not that easy to get things dry quickly. So that's definitely something and I always carry. I've got a little portable washing line as well. When I was in India I used that all the time. It was great. I stuck that up because it was warm so I could get things dry really quickly. So that's an absolutely great tip there. So, heather, did you buy any? I know you had minimum amount of luggage, which meant I guess that squeezing any souvenirs in may have been difficult, but I know you did buy some really interesting souvenirs, so so tell us what you ended up collecting when you were over there.
Speaker 3:I will although I will caveat this to say I did have a packable duffel, so we had expansion room going back. So, um, so aside, good good planning books that my kids uh bought, uh, because we're big readers. And uh, my souvenir of choice was Christmas ornaments, because I collect Christmas ornaments in general, but when we go someplace I usually get something. So I think I got three different of those. But what turned out to be the hit of the trip was we started collecting the little rubber ducks.
Speaker 3:So I don't know if you've seen them before dressed up as different characters, but our first one was at the Winston Churchill Churchill war rooms in the gift shop. My daughter found Churchill, so he was our first, and then so, as we went around at Shakespeare's birthplace we have a Shakespeare duck. Now Jane Austen center and bath we have Jane Austen. And then we rounded it out our last day after tower of london, we went to tower bridge and so we now have a duck in front of tower bridge. It's kind of positioned either side of him. So we have a little collection of ducks on one of our bookshelves oh, that's so cool.
Speaker 2:I love that. Well, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna start collecting them when I go back. That's just such a cool thing. I had looked at them in the past and, uh, now you mentioned it, I'm like, oh, you know, and there's a henry the eighth one. Oh, I definitely know there's a henry as well. Yeah, because I've seen that. So I'm going to get those ducks. I think that's and that's just cool, cool thing to collect.
Speaker 2:And, um, if you can take a photo of the little robber ducks in a row, that would be really cool. We could put a photo in the show notes to show everybody what they look like, because they are really cool. Yes, glad to do it. Um, but I guess we're going to wrap up now because we've been talking for ages. It's great, it's been lovely having a chat with you. Um, so what would be? Because you know what I always ask at the end of a podcast, because you're a regular podcast listener and everybody if you're listening, you know exactly what I'm going to ask, heather, um, what would be your tip for anyone planning a visit to the UK for the first time?
Speaker 3:um, oh, I've got so many things running through my head. Um, well, I've got two. A general one just for all. Travel is kind of know your family's travel style and go with that, because you know I've heard other people say you know they just will go until they drop and I might be willing to do that, my family's not, and so you kind of have to go with it. You know, some of the things that I kind of had to let go of, like I knew ahead of time we couldn't do certain things, like we couldn't do Windsor, hever Castle. I think the bigger things I was disappointed with were like things in London that we didn't make it to, but I just like I wasn't going to crack the whip and make them go any faster fit in anymore. Um, so just know your travel style and be fine with it.
Speaker 3:But I think a practical tip especially in London but it worked on our tour too is, for the most popular attractions, book your ticket first thing at opening. Because at Westminster we were the first time slot and there was already a queue going and we were like number 15. So I was able to get that Verger tour. So when I walked in I asked right away and I could get the Verger tour for us.
Speaker 3:When we went to Tower of London on our last day, we went straight to the Crown Jewels, as we were told, and the queue was probably only 20 feet to the door and by the time we left, just a couple hours later, it snaked to, you know, all the way practically over to another building. It was insane. So, like I said, stonehenge, first ones out there, beautiful pictures. So if I just had one very practical tip, it would be like look early for the most important things, like the very first opening time slot, if you can. Other things like Churchill War Rooms we were able to get into. I had tickets ahead of time but later in the day, just if we had had to stand in the line for it, it wouldn't have been the end of the world, but those very popular ones, I mean, it's just a different experience if you're not in there without the masses oh yeah, no, absolutely.
Speaker 2:They get so popular and so busy and especially those kind of top 10 kind of places it's. It's really, if you want to go and see them, um, book them, because there's nothing worse when you've gone all the way over to London to see something and, uh, you go and there's no tickets because you haven't booked it. Or you spend three hours in a line when you really could be doing other things in those three hours. That's another thing. I kind of say do you want to spend your time in a line on holiday? Because it's not much fun? And absolutely, the Tower of London, those crown jewels, honestly get in there and get straight to them, because you will be amazed at how, how quick that queue builds up. It can be crazy, but it was great to chat to you and catch up with you all about your trip yes, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3:It was so fun. I mean, just um, I was just looking at the calendar and it was almost exactly a year ago that I started listening. It was like right at the beginning of August, and so which we're recording this on July 31st, so tomorrow will be just about one year. So to be able to chat to you after having been a virtual friend for so many years, but even the consultation in April and all of that, so just super grateful, thankful for your work. I'm sure many people would echo that, like we're super appreciative of all you do, but I'm thankful that you had me on and that even just the time we got to chat super fun.
Speaker 2:So thank you thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK travel planning podcast. As always, show notes can be found at uktravelplanningcom. If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favorite podcast app? We love to hear from you and you never know. You may receive a shout out in a future episode, but, as always, that just leaves me to say until next week. Happy, uk travel planning.