UK Travel Planning

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

• Tracy Collins • Episode 166

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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 

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Speaker 1:

In episode 166 of the UK Travel Plan podcast, you'll hear how Laurie-Anne and Nick from Florida turned a cultural trip for their daughters into a 20-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 of real-life travel inspiration and practical advice for planning your own UK trip.

Speaker 2:

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 1:

Hi and welcome to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planner Podcast. This week, I'm joined by Lorianne and Nick Mancini from Sarasota, florida, who recently spent 20 unforgettable days travelling across Ireland and the UK with their daughters. What started as a cultural opportunity through Irish dance became a family adventure filled with scenic drives to Northern Ireland, train journeys across England and Scotland and memorable stops in places like Edinburgh, york, london, bath, the Cotswolds and Windsor. Laurie-anne shares how they planned the trip using a mix of Facebook group support, podcast episodes, our other resources and a one-to-one consultation, plus how they made the experience enjoyable and meaningful for teens and tweens. They talk about their favourite destinations, standout moments, guided tours, accommodation choices and tips that help them make the most of their time. If you're planning a multi-stop trip with family or just looking for down-to-earth inspiration for your UK and Ireland travels, this episode is packed with ideas and helpful insight. I started by asking Lorianne and Nick to introduce themselves and where they come from in the US.

Speaker 3:

It's Lorianne and Nick. We live in Nokomis, florida, which is just south of Sarasota, and we've been down here a few years and this was our first trip to the UK.

Speaker 1:

We've been down here a few years and this was our first trip to the UK.

Speaker 4:

Brilliant, and how long did you go for and who did you travel with, Lorianne, so we traveled with our three children 12-year-old twins and a 17-year-old and the reason for the trip was the twins I don't know if I'm jumping ahead here, but they do Irish dance and so their teacher was born and spent her first part of her childhood in Northern Ireland, in Annalong, where she's from, and so she and her mom have been here for 30 years and mom was homesick. So she said well, I'm going to take mom back and I want to ask the dancers, the studio kids, if anybody wants to go, we'll just make a cultural tour and we'll do a couple of competitions while we're there. They're called Fesh Shana. We did a Fesh over there, which is an Irish dance competition, and she was our tour guide for the first let's see from the second through the ninth.

Speaker 4:

So for the first seven days, well, we were in Dublin for two days and then seven days she was our tour guide in Northern Ireland and you know we talked about hey, if we're going to go to all the trouble to fly over there, why don't we just see if we can stay a little bit longer? So we added a few days and we stayed a total of 20 days. We spent, I think, 10 or 11 of those in the UK and then you know a couple extra days in Republic of Ireland who we tacked on and it was fun because obviously I did it.

Speaker 1:

I did a consult with you guys so I got to chat with you all about your plans before you went. So it was really excited, actually, because I was following your trip when you were 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 quick overview of your itinerary for everyone listening?

Speaker 4:

Yeah. So the overview was we got a direct flight from Orlando to Dublin. It was a lovely flight, rather inexpensive. I was pretty pleased with the deal we got and that was our dance teacher helped us find a good flight. She had all the tips and tricks for that. So we landed in Dublin in the morning. You do night flights out of here. We left about 8 pm and arrived I don't know 9.30 pm local, I think I mean 8 am. I don't know 9.30 pm local, I think I mean am. And so we arrived.

Speaker 4:

It was real easy getting out of the Dublin airport and we went straight to our lodging. They let us drop our bags and in fact I think I paid a little bit extra and we just went ahead and did early check-in. You know it was worth it. And then we just went out on foot and that's kind of what we did for the next two days in Dublin. We did a lot of touring on foot. There was a lot going on. It was kind of hard to get ride shares. There was a big match that night, so we just went on foot. It's a very walkable town. It was lovely. So it was the 31st and the first 31st of May, 1st of June, and then the second. The morning of the second, we went to the airport to pick up a car and we drove and we are still married.

Speaker 1:

I was going to say how did that go?

Speaker 4:

It's terrifying. It was terrifying but it was so much fun. I mean, we'll be better prepared. And Trippiamo you recommend Trippiamo. It was a help. It was a help. So we drove around Ireland and we all survived. And then we were in Northern Ireland until the 7th and then on the 7th the afternoon we drove out and explored a little bit in the Republic of Ireland I don't know how much you want me to get into that. We spent a night near Knock Shrine. We spent a night near Nock Shrine and then the next day we went down to Doolin and we took a tour by boat under the cliffs of Moher and then we had dinner and live music at one of the pubs right there by the pier, where you catch the boat and it was wonderful and in fact I could pull it up.

Speaker 4:

I can't remember right offhand. And then we spent the night in Galway and then the next morning we drove all the way back across Ireland to Dublin and we took a. Was that the Ryanair flight? It was Ryanair.

Speaker 3:

We took.

Speaker 4:

Ryanair to Edinburgh and we landed in Edinburgh in the evening just in time to get dinner at I don't know how to pronounce this Makars Mash Makars.

Speaker 1:

yeah, makars Mash Bar, makars Mash Bar.

Speaker 4:

It was awesome and, yeah, a couple of days in Edinburgh, and then we took a morning, late morning train to York and we spent that day and then really was it the next night that we no, we had a full day and then another day and we left the night of the 12th and then we checked in very late to our hotel in London and then we had the whole next day, so we were able to do Changing of the Guards.

Speaker 4:

We got there on a Friday. We kind of tinkered with our schedule so we could get that Changing of the Guards tour and that was important to me. So we got there the night before, got up early and saw that on the Friday and it happened to be the day they were celebrating the King's birthday. So there was a lot going on and we had some adventures a little bit related to that. That was cool. And then a couple days in London, couple days in Bath, couple days in Oxford with a side trip to the Cotswolds and a little side trip to Windsor on our way back to Heathrow and then back to Dublin and a night time flight, and then the next morning we came back to Orlando that's the world.

Speaker 1:

You covered quite a lot in in the time you were over there, didn't you?

Speaker 4:

you did, yeah, we were moving, moving, moving but I mean it was you know we had some relaxing times. We didn't book every single tour. You know we we really picked what we would do and what we wouldn't.

Speaker 1:

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 when you do one night, one night. One night, one night. I think that that can get pretty tiring.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, I can't imagine doing that, especially with the whole family.

Speaker 1:

No, don't blame me. So how did it go about planning your itinerary, Lorianne?

Speaker 4:

I mean, I literally the first thing I did was just did a Google search and early in my search you all came up and I, you know, I looked at a few sites but I really liked your site, you know, kind of better than the others. And, um, yeah, I liked how it was organized, I liked the tone, it was very readable, very, it felt very approachable, easy to understand, because I need that big print, I need that, and um then, and then the Facebook group was just wonderful. You know, that was such a nice group and talking through the plans early on. And then I think I did your checklist packet pretty early in the process, which was super helpful. Then the train group asked some questions they're super helpful and then got the train group asked some questions they're super helpful and then got the train guide also very helpful. And then really it was a few more weeks when the itinerary was taking shape before we scheduled the consult because we wanted to have something to talk about, you know, specifically yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

No, we got it. Yeah, it was a good consult. I enjoyed it.

Speaker 2:

We we yeah yeah, it was.

Speaker 1:

It's always good. We love doing the consults, so there's so much fun to do, um, all right, so you, you've kind of 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 were your favorite experiences and destinations and I know that might that might be difficult, but one of the ones that, because we're talking a couple like what, you've been back six weeks or so, but one of the ones that, because we're talking a couple like what, you've been back six weeks or so. So what would be the ones that you still are going? Oh, my goodness, we had such an amazing time. Nick, do you want to start with that?

Speaker 3:

Well, it was interesting. We were talking about it earlier, and I think one of the comments that I would make is you know, we didn't really have any experiences that I wouldn't want to repeat, or very few. Almost every place we went was a good experience. There were some that we probably enjoyed even more than others, but really it was amazing the whole time. I think I was struck by just how much there is to see in Northern Ireland. It's just beautiful, amazing, gorgeous. It was neat. From the place where we stayed on a clear day you could look across and you could see the Isle of man. That was pretty neat.

Speaker 3:

We spent some time outdoors and we did some hiking and things like that up there, which was really nice. We did get to the Giant's Causeway and some other areas. That was really something that I would recommend to anyone. And then in Edinburgh we got to see the Scottish National Museum, which was really amazing. We didn't have as much time there as probably we would have liked to, so we just had to kind of pick and choose what to see, but that was certainly amazing in the evening, which was kind of interesting. It's sort of an experience in itself, but we again didn't have time to hit everything. So we had to pick and choose and I think the main, the biggest thing to me, was the Raphael's cartoons. We get to see those.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, they are pretty amazing, so I'll let you do some highlights too. Northern.

Speaker 4:

Ireland. I think that was the greatest revelation to us. We had no idea just how amazing, beautiful it would be. I mean it was really. And the kids one of their favorite memories is hiking around Tollymore Forest. It's absolutely. I don't know if you've ever been there. They do some filming for Game of Thrones. There was a local tour of you know people from the area that were there for their Game of Thrones tour and their you know robes and stuff and. But you know people from the area that were there for their Game of Thrones tour and their you know robes and stuff and. But you know that was kind of off. They were in another part. We were really in the woods and in the creek and climbing the rocks and it was magical. I mean I think I sent you some pictures. Just it's the one that looks like the ancient old growth forest Cause, that's what it is. I mean it's, it's just.

Speaker 4:

And then they have these architectural folly the follies they built these follies that look really organic and and just, I mean, it was just stunning. The walk um the day we went up to Giant's Causeway. We tried to get to the Carrick-a-Reed Bridge. We missed crossing the bridge itself, but we still. The hike down was a highlight for me.

Speaker 1:

I don't know if you've ever done that hike well, I'm possibly going to be in northern ireland next month actually, so I shall. I I've we've dug spit in northern ireland more than I have. I managed to go. Last year was actually my first visit to northern ireland. Uh, last year, um, and we loved it, we absolutely loved it. So, um, chances are we will if we get over to the UK, we'll be over in Northern Ireland next month, so I shall be writing these on my list.

Speaker 4:

Gloria, yeah, yeah, anytime like email me I'll give you some more. You know little more detailed things, but it was just stunning. Silent Valley was really interesting too. There's a. Silent Valley was really interesting too. There's a quite a local history there with the, the men that dug the reservoir for the water. There's a memorial to them and then there's kind of been some stories with the, where the water's going now, and you know it's definitely a hot topic local area Interesting, and when you were in Scotland and England, what were your kind of main highlights, laurianne?

Speaker 4:

My Holyrood. I mean I had no idea how much Holyrood would affect me. I've fallen in love with the life and times of Mary Queen of Scots. I bought a little biography in the shop and I just am so captivated with her and her story and, um, I, I, I just it's a very haunting place, I mean in the good sense. You know it's, it's really lovely. I didn't expect any. I don't know what I expected. Um, we got a much better sense of history. You know you learn this stuff in school, but it really, really did come to life over there for us and Hollybrood and Edinburgh Castle was pretty Edinburgh.

Speaker 4:

Castle was amazing, and our nighttime drive and I say nighttime but it was light as day until you know almost 10 pm With Steve, I think it was Steve of day until you know, almost 10 PM, um, with Steve, I think it was Steve of Black Cab, edinburgh, black Cab Tours. Yep, it was so nice because we got to see little neighborhoods that I mean I would, if we go back, I would want to explore more, maybe even stay in some of them, and we got to see these beautiful vistas that we would have never made it to in the time we had, and he was just such a great host and so easy to talk to. That was lovely. And then York I mean I could go on and on. You'll have to.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we saw York Minster, which was, of course, very impressive, and we also did a good deal of the walk around the walls of the city, which was a neat thing, for the kids especially. We stayed in a very strange place in New York which we really enjoyed, but it was interesting, it's probably not.

Speaker 4:

Maybe not for everybody. I give some caveats, but it was cool.

Speaker 3:

It was one of the kids' favorite memories. It was the house of trembling madness.

Speaker 4:

Well it was trembling madness apartments, the 70s funky one. Do you know the one? Yeah, yeah it was the staircase up and down. That's the one I hesitate, but it 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:

just I mean I love york. I mean I don't. I don't think you can go to York without loving it. I don't know. It's just an amazing city to explore. It's easy to walk around, there's so much to see and do at Holyrood and York is just somewhere that is. It literally is just everywhere that you walk in York. You feel like you're walking in the steps of you know people from hundreds of years ago. You know you walk down the shambles and you know you are walking in the footsteps of people from hundreds of years ago and it's fabulous.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we looked across the courtyard from where we stayed and it was literally there was aan house there from, uh, you know, probably the 11th, well, 12th century and, uh, you know, it was built into, like the wall was just built around it, at the building, across the thing. So it was uh, but you could see, you know, the structure of the house. There was a little plaque talking about it and everything.

Speaker 1:

So it was just amazing I know it's incredible to think about all the people who've lived in that over the years. Yeah, we did.

Speaker 4:

We thought about that, and then we were really in under the shadow of the minster too, which was really cool. It was just right there. And then I do have to say they did. Instead of a breakfast they left a basket. We asked it was so affordable. I think it was like 13 pounds maybe or something, or something, I don't know. Maybe it was more than that, I can't remember exactly. But it was a basket of the most delicious ingredients for us to make our own breakfast and it was wonderful. So, amazing, so cool yeah.

Speaker 3:

I'm sorry, go ahead.

Speaker 1:

No, no, I was going to ask you about London and the Cotswolds. We're kind of working our way down there for the highlights of each area. So I guess after that you went down, you spent some time in London, bath, cotswolds. So talk about what you loved about those. I mean London. There's so many things you can talk about, and I'm so glad you mentioned the V&A Nick, because everybody knows that's my go to I. I could live there. The cast courts are my go-to. I can sit there for hours and just love them. So tell me about what the highlights were when you went down to the southern part of England.

Speaker 4:

Honestly, our tour? I wouldn't have thought so, but our tour guide for the Changing of the guard, you know, you think oh, it's so touristy or whatever, but this guy was a trip. I mean, he was just so fun and we really got up close, maybe more than we even probably should have, but he was just so funny and we really got to. I mean we were really right there and I didn't realize how spread out, so we were hoofing it. You know, we had one location and then another. I think there were four different locations.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, you have to kind of run between them all, don't you? It's like a bit of a dash around to catch it all, and we had great views for all of them.

Speaker 4:

And then the coolest thing was, you know, we were there for our girls to do their Irish dance and the day we were there, by the actual residence where they do the little changing there in front of the residence, the band that marched up. It was the Irish Guard and it was the best bagpipes I've ever heard in my life. It was just incredible. So I do have a video of that. That was a real highlight. Oh, lovely.

Speaker 4:

Oh, so good. And then after that we were starving so we ran into old star it's just a pub, you know, kind of in an old, you know area there, and all these you know really well-dressed people in um, you know military garb, and then also ladies with the beautiful dresses and hats came in and they had been at the the um celebration. It's kind of name that I can't. There's something with the color. Oh, tripping of the color. Yes, the tripping of the color. They were had been there for that, and they came in and we ended up sharing a table with a retired beef eater and his friend that they had hadn't seen each other in 25 years, and the wives, and we all kind of got acquainted with each other and that was really fun.

Speaker 4:

That's really cool and you can't plan for that.

Speaker 1:

That's what's really natural, that's what happens.

Speaker 4:

It's like hey, oh and then the Tower of London, yeah, the.

Speaker 3:

Tower of London was really great. That was something I had wanted to see and we went for the key ceremony. But what was really remarkable was just that it got us in to see the crown jewels early and you know we thought, oh, the crown jewels will be fine, we just go in you see them and whatever. But it just just the how it goes on and on and all of the you know information about how they're used and which ceremonies they're carried in. It was very interesting. And then we actually walked to the top of St Paul's, so that was our kind of grand view of the city from high up. We didn't do the eye, but I think we were kind of happy about going to St Paul's because it just felt like an organic experience and a way to see the city that wasn't sort of you know, kind of constructed just for a tourist kind of thing or whatever, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I'm just going to mention as well about the, because you went for the opening ceremony 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 see the Crown Jewels and and and I've done that to a number of times now and you know, when you go in to see the Crown Jewels there's a travelator that you have to stand on, so it kind of moves around and I've been, I've been known to go around that about five times because you can do that when you're early enough in the morning because, I mean, some of those jewels are just like draw dropping, aren't they?

Speaker 4:

they are and then I, you could kind of see inside the personality of the wearer, like Queen Victoria's. The way she had hers done was. You know, that was something I would have never known if I hadn't gone to that. You know, it's really special to see how she did that you know that's really good.

Speaker 1:

Did you um? Did you do any tours in London?

Speaker 4:

uh, that one, uh, the changing the guard and we did. Was that the only one? I think that was the only one in London. Yeah, I think that was the only scheduled one.

Speaker 3:

We went to see. We took the girls to see Wicked, which was yeah, very good. That was one of their favorite things.

Speaker 1:

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 just there's so many to choose from as well. It's brilliant, so that's really good. Now you went on to Bath and then on to the Cotswolds. So what were the? What did you think of the Cotswolds and what do you think of Bath?

Speaker 4:

So we had to deal with a little bit of illness. So my oldest daughter had caught a cold. She missed a day and a half in York and by the time we got to Bath I was dead. I didn't realize it until halfway through the day. So I got to see the Roman Baths, which is probably my favorite museum at anywhere I've ever been to. It was completely immersive. It completely takes you to another time. You are completely in Roman times and it was just an incredible experience and I think, especially for my oldest.

Speaker 4:

When she was in middle school, we were homeschooling for three years and she was able to take college classes in Latin and she ended up becoming good friends with a Latin scholar and they've stayed in touch. So she actually had a lot of context for that tour. You know what I mean and it it meant a lot to her and it meant a lot to us to be there with her. You know, it was just, it was just amazing. She and her professor got back in touch after that tour. She said man, I gotta tell you I saw this great tour.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's lovely and the minster.

Speaker 4:

You know I loved that. And then at that point I bowed out and they, they did some cool stuff yeah, we went in.

Speaker 3:

Uh, we we actually took a so lovely walk in bath and we didn't know what we were seeing. We hadn't taken a guide with us but as it turned out, we hit a lot of the places that were kind of highlighted at later when we went to the Jane Austen Museum, that there were things that um had been you know kind of her places she frequented and we did. One of the things we got to see was the Guildhall Market, which was really fun. The girls really enjoyed that and it's like an open-air kind of. Well, it's not open-air, it's in a building, but it's kind of in the round.

Speaker 3:

So you go around and there are all these little shops, local artisans and so forth, and you can find both food and leather goods and they really enjoyed. There was a costume jewelry store where they really enjoyed shopping. And then we did go on to the Jane Austen Museum and my oldest daughter has read Jane Austen novels pretty extensively so she really, really, really is a big highlight for her. And yeah, we had some lovely food in Bath. There was a Medsee restaurant we went to. That was really pretty good. And then let's see, you asked about the Cotswolds.

Speaker 1:

The Cotswolds yeah.

Speaker 3:

More interesting. It's kind of spread out, so we did spend a fair amount of time in the car between places. But Victoria, who was our tour guide there, did a really nice job, kind of planning activities around what we had said we were interested in and in particular, we had, uh, so it was our twins birthday, so, um, she had done a tea that she prepared all of the thing from scratch and then, uh, we went and had tea at the lavender at the lavender farm, uh, which was lovely because the smell of lavenders in the air, oh, and it was very, very nice, oh, that'd be

Speaker 4:

lovely, so sweet she had. You know what did?

Speaker 1:

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 and they'll never forget that it's going to be so because it's so different. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4:

Up on a hill. There's a little wooded trail there that you can hike to, and we were there on a clear day so we really could see very far it was. It was a big hike. The lavender we did buy some little lavender products too, lovely, lovely, and we got no in the world and the door to moria, which is for big tolkien people. So that was very, very cool, uh yes, I, I always have to.

Speaker 1:

We stay in stowe quite often. So whenever it doesn't matter how many times I go to stowe, I was going to have my photo taken I don't know how many photos of the years in front of the door, and sometimes it's really funny. Sometimes you'll go and there'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 nobody there, and I love it when I get there and there's just.

Speaker 1:

There's just us and then you're like please, please, nobody else come, because we can just like take in the whole atmosphere. But yeah, I love Stowe's and a lovely place to stay. And then you did you actually then stay in Oxford itself?

Speaker 4:

that was our um base camp, if you will. So when we left Bath late morning 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 in the afternoon I couldn't make it, unfortunately and then they did the alumni tour in the afternoon I couldn't make it, unfortunately and then they did the punting on the river with the tour. That was fun for them, and then by the next morning I was kind of ready to get back out there. So we had the breakfast and we loved our lodging there, the head of the river, and so we could just take all our meals there. It's attached to a restaurant and it's pretty good food and, um, warm welcome, pretty comfortable rooms I mean it was.

Speaker 4:

It was a nice, nice space camp really yeah, I mean, if we more time, if we had to do over, I wouldn't mind staying in the cotswolds and taking more time there, maybe going up to the lake district, but we'll just have to go back we'll just have to go back.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but you got, you guys were there in june, so it's starting to. I mean saying that it's always busy. I was the last time I stayed in the cotswolds, for it was actually in january last year I think, and it was still. It was fairly busy then it's. It's just such a popular place for british people and obviously it's a very popular place for tourists. It's not too far from London. It's kind of that quintessential English, that village town, you know, those kind of imagine, what you imagine, of that kind of, you know, cottage with the roses around the door, and that's what you get in the Cotswolds. So it's, you know, is that kind of quintessential English experience that that people kind of crave. But but even us Brits love it.

Speaker 4:

So yeah, that was quite a revelation to me too, that we you know, I didn't, you know you don't want to be an obnoxious tourist, and you know we were doing things right alongside a lot of UK residents, you know, and that it's like, okay, no, this is really truly cool. We're not just you know.

Speaker 1:

No, no, absolutely. I mean, it was my mom's 80th birthday two years ago and I took her for afternoon tea in the Cotswolds and then we went to Kiftsgate and Hidcote Gardens because they're my favorite gardens so far in the UK. There are so many gardens to explore, but so I just so that's. You know, my mum took her there for a trip, so you know it's just such a popular place to go. Now I'm going to kind of pivot a little bit and talk a little bit about how you got around and I know you talked about car, you talked about train and obviously on foot. So what sort of how much combination of those? So mainly, I guess in Ireland you're doing a lot of driving, and then when you were in Scotland and England, was it a combination of train and driving or did you mainly take the?

Speaker 3:

train. We took the train everywhere.

Speaker 4:

The car was just Ireland and we were very happy to bring that car in.

Speaker 4:

And all the public transport, a little bit of black cabs, took a couple of black cabs in London just because and we did a lot on foot. And then trains, we had bought the. After crunching the numbers, we decided to try the Brit Rail pass and I think it came out anyway. I have more to say about that. If you want me to geek out about that a little bit, I will. We actually we went for first class tickets because when I added up the meals you know, I thought well, maybe we can actually replace some of the evening dinners, you know, eating on the train because we travel a lot at night and so I'm glad we did that. And then we packed fairly late but we had enough that. It was nice knowing we wouldn't have to worry about that. In first class, you know, we could just get on there and pretty easily get our, our bags situated. That was kind of stressing me out. So I was, I was willing to to go the first class route and get a little more peace of mind.

Speaker 1:

Oh it's, it's really comfortable. If I can travel first class and I'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 the fact that you you know you often will get food as well um, and also with the Brit Rail Pass, I think I mean Doug's just actually done a um, he's done an article on the website about the Brit Rail Pass, um, and how to use it, and I think hopefully, if we're back in the UK next month, we'll do some videos as well showing how you use it. I think hopefully, if we're back in the UK next month, we'll do some videos as well showing how you use it. I think the advantage of it it just gives you the. It is. We look at it and go, it's quite pricey, but it's the flexibility it gives you. That is, you know, that's pretty priceless in some situations where you know things, if you miss a train or what, it doesn't really matter, because you can get the next one.

Speaker 4:

You've got that flexibility, so it does gives you less stress. I think that that was that was worth it to me. You know, and honestly, the routes we were taking, at some of the times a day it wasn't a bad deal, you know, really, um. And then I think, especially if you're going to take some of the bigger overnight rides, that would really really be worth it. You know, but we didn't. We didn't get to do this this time, so we'll just have to go back next time that you guys go there.

Speaker 1:

So we talked a little bit about um, the accommodation that you stayed in, um, so do you want to? Kind of, because we can, we can actually link to them in the show notes. So I guess, if you want to have any shout outs to any particular, ones.

Speaker 4:

I do. I do Just real quick. I wanted to go back to the invitation. We wanted to be sure to do some underground oh Try London with the girls and we did and they loved it. It was a great experience. It went very, very well. So Good, that's good. That was good, good experience for them. Uh, but yeah, so our first. Do you want to hear about dublin? I don't know. We had a great uh yeah, go on.

Speaker 1:

We often get a lot of people when they're planning a trip to the uk that they're either going to start in dublin or go over to dublin. Yeah, so yeah, why not?

Speaker 4:

so do you want me? So? Um, we stayed at Ariel House in Ballsbridge. I don't know if you're familiar with it. It was just fantastic. The food was lovely, the welcome was warm and they have like a living room area that has you know games and tea.

Speaker 4:

And at night they have cake out. You know, and it was just, it was just wonderful. It was a great place to land, very walkable. It's in Balls Bridge neighborhood so we were able to really walk everywhere from there pretty easily. Just so comfortable and nice. I couldn't think of a better place to to have landed and as a family and be comfortable, and you know we would definitely stay there again. That was great.

Speaker 3:

Well, certainly the so Trembling Mountainous Apartments were a very interesting place to stay. If you go on the second floor, you should be very athletic, because the ladders are, or just be a kid.

Speaker 4:

I think it's more for kids.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I really don't think it's meant for adults.

Speaker 3:

There's not stairs, it's a ladder.

Speaker 4:

It's really a ladder.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, I think I'll give that a skip.

Speaker 3:

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 one of our favorites in Oxford. Um, just all around it was just lovely. It, you know, had kind of a I don't know Oxford boathouse kind of feel or whatever.

Speaker 4:

And um, it's beautiful too. It's right on the river.

Speaker 3:

So if you dine outside it's a great place.

Speaker 1:

I've eaten there.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, the food we really liked, yeah. And then let's see Other accommodations. We did stay in a few kind of more kind of big hotels. We did a couple corporate chains.

Speaker 4:

You know, it just ended up. We did that in Edinburgh and it was fine. You know, let's see. And then in bath also, we stayed at uh where did you stay?

Speaker 1:

in london, which location did you just?

Speaker 4:

in place so I did want to tell families about that or anybody that needs. You know, like 80 um accommodation for various, you know, mobility issues or whatever. It was the Marriott residence in Kensington Residence in Marriott Kensington is what it was.

Speaker 4:

So it ended up being a little bit more than we were initially quoted. So that's the caveat, but it was a really great situation for a family in that it was the same space as a rental would have been. It was truly two rooms, two baths, plus a kitchen. It was like an apartment, but it was in a hotel, but then you could go downstairs, there was 24 hour concierge and there was the big breakfast buffet every morning, you know. So it it was pretty nice and it was a maybe a less than 10 minute walk to um Earl's court. Earl's court, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So it was. It's good to be close to a tube stop, cause I well I know for myself, by the end of a day walking around London I've the last thing I want is to have too far to get back to my hotel. That's's me. So yeah, having a short walk is is always a good option yeah, so it was nice.

Speaker 4:

I mean it was. It was definitely not the lowest price option, but you get a lot.

Speaker 1:

I mean it's not gonna say it's london, london's not cheap. It doesn't matter how it really isn't. And you know you kind of have to budget. You kind of know if you're gonna, we know for ourselves, if we've got the uk, that it's london is going to cost us more. Edinburgh generally will cost us more.

Speaker 4:

So you kind of know yeah, yeah, exactly but what I loved about that watching um. So we had booked and cancelled a couple of apartments because they just, I mean, they were so economical. But then, when I started thinking about having to clean up on our way out, you know, clean the kitchen and do the breakfast myself for everybody and also get our bags and get to the train, I just thought you know what I don't want to do, that I want a hotel. Well, it's a holiday for you as well, isn't it?

Speaker 1:

This is sometimes what I think, and I get that because we all stay in apartments, we all stay in Airbnbs. But I like to mix it up because you know what? It's also a vacation for me if I get the chance.

Speaker 4:

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 long trip. I mean I couldn't wear myself out you know no, exactly.

Speaker 1:

So what about? Um, we'll talk about two, two topics, uh, kind of briefly, because I do want to talk to you about traveling with teens and tweens, because I think that's an interesting topic as well to definitely talk about. But we'll just quickly cover your 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 to start Nick with food. Was there any food memories that you're going to go? Oh, I'd really like to eat that again uh, yeah, there were.

Speaker 3:

There were a few um really liked, um, so when we we had a, uh, um, sunday roast in london 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 and uh, um, they had, you know, it was roast beef and yorkshire pudding, like all the things you you know that should be there.

Speaker 4:

It was beautiful too. The building was beautiful, do you know?

Speaker 1:

that one.

Speaker 2:

No, I haven't eaten there. No.

Speaker 1:

I'll add that to my list for next month.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so that was fun. And we I tried prawns and or no, they're not prawns, what are they called?

Speaker 1:

Scampi.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, it was scampi that's it, yes, which wasn't what I thought it would be, um, but it was good. Um, it's scampi is uh. So for those of us in us we think of like shrimp that's sort of sauteed in butter and wine sauce and usually served with spaghetti or something. That's not at all what this is no. No, definitely not these were bits of monkfish that are deep-fried or something.

Speaker 1:

I think they're langoustine tails. I don't know something like that. 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 get a question about it. But I do like some fish, but generally, as a blanket rule, I say I don't. But then scampi is one of my favorites. So I do. I absolutely love that. Did you try the sticky toffee pudding, nick? Because I know that's a favorite.

Speaker 3:

Yes, we did, we did have that and it was amazing. Yes, that was quite good, we did manage. So people always ask us this because this is the object of curiosity for anyone that goes to Scotland, if they ate haggis or not. And we did end up eating some haggis. It was in our tea at the Georgian Tea Room, which you had recommended to us, and we did very much enjoy, and they had little sausage rolls that had haggis, uh mixed in and, uh, very good, very, very good good I'm glad you did that.

Speaker 4:

That was, uh, the kids favorite and my favorite too, that tea at the georgian tea room.

Speaker 1:

That was just fantastic it's, you know. You know I do afternoon teas all 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 are still the one we talk about. We loved it there. We just thought the staff were fabulous there. The food was lovely, just lovely it's just beautiful.

Speaker 4:

I mean, it's a real luxury experience, you know, but it's, it's very approachable and they make you feel they don't. They're not snooty at all and they could be. I mean, it looks like that kind of place, you know, but they're not. They're totally welcoming and the tea was actually just delicious and they let you change out your tea a couple times If you want to try. I tried a couple of different kinds in the food and they let you change out your tea a couple times if you want to try. I tried a couple different kinds in the food and then my filter for every. I have different favorites from the rest of the family because I'm gluten free and some places do that better than others, and the Georgian Tea Room did a fantastic job with gluten free.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's good.

Speaker 4:

And so did Makar's. I can't say that right.

Speaker 3:

Makar's Mash Bar.

Speaker 4:

Makar macars I can't say that right. Macars, smash, macars, macars yeah, that was. That was amazing. Their gluten-free stuff was just some of the best I've ever had anywhere. Oh, lots of dessert things which I never get. You know, that was so great and the dinner it was just fantastic.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's brilliant. Did you go to sally luns when you were in bath? I always have to ask, because that's my favorite lemon curd on a Sally Lund's bun no, next time.

Speaker 4:

We did get a Bath bun, but I don't know, if it was Sally Lund's, it was the one where you could just kind of walk in and get one to go in a little. It's a different one.

Speaker 1:

It's been Bath. Yeah, it's been bad. You'll have, yeah, it's a bath one. You'll have to go to um. Next time you go, you'll have to go to sally lund's. I just they're like lemon curd on a sally lund's bun, it's like it's like a brioche bun, but it's. But it's also in the most amazing building. So, yeah, and you can go downstairs because there's a. You can actually go downstairs to how what it was like when sally lund set it up and you can see the height of the pavement, like how it's grown over the years, like in the last four or 500 years, how like the pavement level has just grown. It's amazing. And there's the original like ovens 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:

The Abbey Deli or the Abbey Deli? Oh yes, the Abbey Deli was nice too.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yes, that's also good. What about things Did you buy?

Speaker 3:

anything fun when you were over.

Speaker 4:

Well, so our daughter bought some costume jewelry at the Gorgeous the Guildhall Looks like a Renaissance fair, you know, like this big emerald thing with the big necklace and then the big dramatic earrings. She's already got an event, she can wear all that too.

Speaker 3:

And then we, we bought some books, you know, at different places, but we weren't really there. So much for shopping.

Speaker 4:

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 you can send everything home for 25?

Speaker 1:

pounds. Yeah, Fortnum and Mason.

Speaker 4:

Yes, that was one of the things I really wanted to do that. We just ran out of time.

Speaker 1:

So again next time you can get some tea, tea and biscuits and send them home.

Speaker 4:

I want to get it. Well, I want a teapot for my night tea, but that's a whole other thing. But no, that biography of Mary Queen of Scots. I'm telling you it was just this slim little book but it's just fantastic. That was great. We got some things in Ireland. Book of Kells tour we got some things. And you of Kells tour, we got some things. And you know the Nock Shrine.

Speaker 4:

And then the Nock Shrine, and then the girls oh they got there when we were in Ireland, before we even got to London. The twins got these really cool matching Wicked T-shirts really pretty pink and green and they wore those to the show.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's really cool.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, we were pretty, I think. Yeah, we didn't go all out, but we got really special things yeah, that's really nice.

Speaker 1:

I do that um right, so you traveled with um your teens and tweens, so so let's talk about how did that go and what sort of advice you have for families planning a trip to the UK.

Speaker 3:

So I think something that worked out well was we had some time kind of built in to just walk and look around and things like that, and that seemed to be something they enjoyed. You know, where they didn't, it wasn't all. I mean, we definitely emphasized a lot of historic sites, and you know that they, where they didn't, it wasn't all. I mean, we definitely emphasized a lot of historic sites and you know things like that. And but you know, wanted to make 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 thing was that we did give them some chances to help pick things for us to do, which worked out really well. Like they picked, when we were in Dublin they picked a optical illusion museum that they wanted to see, and so we went and saw that and you know it was fun and they really enjoyed it. They talked about it as a highlight. That's good.

Speaker 4:

Let them pick some things and then you just prepare them for the length of the flights and um made them, you know, understand that they were going to have to carry their own stuff, you know, for 30, 40 minutes at a stretch sometimes. So they, they packed well and they carried their own stuff. Um, you know, that was cool, but they didn't want to do a lot of guided tours. You know, if Nick and I ever go back, just the two of us we'll do all the guided tours, you know. But they liked a little bit of that. They did like the ones we did, but they really just like walking and exploring.

Speaker 1:

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, when you'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:

Yeah, but it really was, I mean, a cultural experience for them. You know, they really did take it all in, you know, and they got some context for history too. You know, because we talk about this stuff, we read this stuff, but it really you really, really feel the weight of it too and you really start to put things in order. Like you've heard these, you know individual stories of people but you really start to get a sense of the flow of events and the people.

Speaker 1:

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 to Kensington Palace, you can go and see Queen Victoria's toys from 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 played with. You know like yeah, it's, it's mind-blowing. And obviously in the UK you can go back a long time, a long, long, long time, and see things. So, uh, yeah, it is fabulous. And do the girls have any particular kind of favorites? You think that they would say or those are the things that we really loved.

Speaker 4:

The tea, the Georgian tea house, that was a real highlight. Um, the Cotswolds tour, the day and bath, the guild hall and the, just the walking discovering. I mean they saw all the highlights but they found them on their own, you know. And that, um, tollymore forest was just magical for them. I mean they saw all the highlights but they found them on their own. Yeah, you know, and the Tollymore Forest was just magical for them. I mean it really was, and that's in Northern Ireland.

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm going to have to do that now. You do realize that, don't you? Lorianne, that's going to be on my list if I go over.

Speaker 4:

But if you're into hiking and nature, I mean like we get out in there, you know we're big hikers and so they were really down in the creek and on the rocks and, um, it was beautiful.

Speaker 1:

Well, I have to say I'm not a hiker I'm actually famous for not being a hiker but I did. I did a hike in new zealand two years ago, which it just was amazing the hookah valley trail and I just was like, okay, this is what hiking's all about. So you never know, I might try it. I actually have to buy myself some hiking books because I'll be in Antarctica in November and they've said I need hiking boots for that and I do want to do a little bit hiking on Antarctica, so maybe I'll get some practice in in Northern.

Speaker 4:

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 can stay on, and I actually stayed on that. I wasn't in a mood to go down into the creek and, um, you know, I was taking pictures, I had my iPhone, yeah, so I stayed up and it's it's pretty accessible okay that's good and on the rocks you could get away with just sneakers okay, oh, that's good, okay, so you know, at the end of every episode, we wrap up with the same question.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to ask you guys the question that I always end with, which is what would be your top tip for anybody?

Speaker 4:

planning a visit to the UK for the first time. I liked that we had the long days. If you are on a tight timeframe, boy, we got to pack a lot in because we had daylight till 10 PM almost. So I would think about that. I would think about the time of year and then realize that if you're going in late may, early june, uh, northern ireland and edinburgh are still thinking about doing winter to you like you're going to get some winter. We had, we had some winter weather really in uh, in june, early june. It was pretty crazy.

Speaker 1:

It's that thing. You know that I always say the only predictable thing about the UK weather is that it's unpredictable and you just don't know what you're going to get.

Speaker 4:

You don't. So we had so I'm talking Fahrenheit right low 40s with, you know, sideways rain and cold, cold, cold wind, and then by the last half of the trip they were having a heat wave in with sideways rain and cold, cold, cold wind, and then by the last half of the trip they were having a heat wave in the Cotswolds. So I mean you really do have to pack for at least three seasons, so just do your layers. I liked having a scarf and I had a knitted cap and I was glad I had them. Definitely I would look at train 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:

Doug will be happy to hear you say that.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, I do trains, and then I thought a little kind of thing that worked for us. We traveled a couple times in the evenings after everything was closed anyway, and so I feel like we kind of maximized our time by taking a couple of evening trains instead of morning trains. We really got more touring time. That's good.

Speaker 1:

That's good. Anything else, anything from you, nick, anything that you can think of think of.

Speaker 3:

Well, the only other thing I would suggest, in addition to what Lorianne brought up, was just learn how the trains work before you get there, because it's not intuitive.

Speaker 4:

Doug has a train guide.

Speaker 3:

That was helpful for me, doug's train guide was helpful because you know things like they haven't assigned which bin the train's going to leave out of until right before it leaves. So there's like a mad scramble of people to try to get to the right track like we would never have known about that is that at waverly no it was the next yeah, that can happen

Speaker 1:

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 my mom lives, um near birmingham, so if I, if I leave from marinal bone, sometimes it's a case of like waiting, waiting for that platform announcement to come so that you can do a dash through to get to get a seat. That's the main thing. But, um, yeah, so well, doug's got, obviously he's got his train book, which you guys had, which is great, and he's also doing a lot more videos now. So he's on youtube.

Speaker 1:

So far he's put I think we've got a video about the different trains from london to edinburgh. He's done one on the edinburgh tram actually, which is really useful for anybody getting from from the airport in edinburgh into edinburgh city center, and he's done a third one. He's done one on the caledonian sleeper as well, and he's got loads more plans for um videos because he knows we've got the book, which does really well. He also does train consults as well, actually. So if anybody out there thinking about doing a train itinerary, he can help you with that um. So, yeah, we are developing a lot more of that because we know that the train travel can be something that people can find a little bit like intimidating, especially if you live somewhere that you don't have access to that sort of public transport yeah, and you want to kind of see where your car is going to be.

Speaker 4:

So one, one point first class was at the back of the train and then at one point it was at the front of the train and the time it was at the back we almost missed getting on, because that was also where they didn't let us know where the gate was or the platform was till the very last minute. We had to run all the way to the end of this train. It's that was our but it does work.

Speaker 3:

I mean, it sounds like it's terrible, but it's. It's a wonderful way to get. Oh, it's great, just once you learn some of the no, no, it's a.

Speaker 1:

It's a good way to get around, it's our favorite way to get around. Sometimes you have to take, you have to take the car because you can't get everywhere by train. But Doug, honestly, would just sit on a train every day, all day. That would be his dream life. That would be for sure. Anyway, it's been so lovely speaking to you guys and catching up with you about your trip, because we met a couple of months ago for the consult and I know Lorianne and I we've been emailing a bit since then, just keeping up with things. We've been emailing a bit since then, just keeping up with things. So it's been fabulous to chat with you. And thanks very much, nick, for coming on, because I know you've been very busy at the minute with work. So I do appreciate that you've come on to share your trip. So thanks very much, guys.

Speaker 4:

Thanks, so much Thanks for having us. It's been fun, thank you.

Speaker 1:

Thanks so much to Lorianne and Nick for sharing their incredible family adventure through Ireland and the UK, from dance competitions and castles to scenic train journeys and afternoon tea. It was such a joy to hear about how I made this trip special for the whole family. If you found this episode helpful or inspiring, we'd love your support. You can help us keep the podcast going from as little as three US dollars a month, and the link is in the show notes. And don't forget, we'd love to hear from you.

Speaker 1:

If you have a travel tip, a question or a story to share, head to speakpipe again in the show notes and leave us a voice message. You might even be featured in a future episode, but for this week, thanks again for listening and, from Doug and me, happy UK travel planning. 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 favourite 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.