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London/Greenwich/Oxford with kids AND grandparents

London/Greenwich/Oxford with kids AND grandparents

Old Nov 5th, 2012, 11:32 AM
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London/Greenwich/Oxford with kids AND grandparents

Spent 8 nights in London for the October half-term break. Photos and commentary as usual. Enjoy.

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11...ndparents.html

Who: family of 4 American ex-pats (kids 13 & 10) living in Derby joined by spry, septuagenarian grandparents from the States.

Where: 3BR/2BA 5th floor apartment in Fitzrovia (W1T 4BP). The apartment was very well located and worked well for us. We had a few issues (e.g. oven broke, etc.) but they were handled very quickly. Nothing fancy but a great deal at £1260 for 8 nights. Plus we saved on breakfast and a few grocery store dinners.

http://www.vrbo.com/323395

What:

Day 1: Arrival, British Library, British Museum
Day 2: Science Museum
Day 3: Greenwich
Day 4: Tower of London
Day 5: US Embassy, Churchill War Rooms, Covent Garden, Lion King (and the Queen!)
Day 6: London Zoo
Day 7: Oxford
Day 8: Imperial War Museum, Borough Market
Day 9: Home

How:

East Midlands train to St. Pancras + taxi for us. Flight to Heathrow + Just Airports for Grandparents. Met at café near flat until we could drop off bags.

Went sans public transport on the first day (walked) and then 7-day travelcards for the rest. Oysters for DW and me. Special 11-15 Oyster for DD. DS still free.

For the grandparents, we got 7-day travelcards from Virgin Trains at Euston. With passport photos in hand, in was a snap to get the cards. I find the cards slightly more hassle than the Oysters but certainly worth it for the 2for1 offers.

We utilized 2for1’s at the Tower of London, Zoo, War Rooms and the Greenwich walk. Big savings.

Best splurge: seeing the Lion King

Best Surprises: Greenwich was a real treat and the Zoo was a really nice break from the museums.

We had an unplanned sighting of the Queen (or her stunt double) that was pretty exciting too.

Disappointments: Neither the Greenwich nor the Oxford walks run from the respective Visitor’s Centres met expectations. The Oxford one was downright poor unfortunately. Depends a lot on the individual guide I guess. The Bath walk (from a previous trip) set the bar pretty high here. We didn’t fit in any London Walks this time but they are generally better as well.

Also disappointed that we didn’t make it to Dover, however it looked like pretty foul weather there and it is extra time/money/effort to boot. Maybe another time.

We had a great time. The kids got some quality time with the grandparents and London was a good choice for activities and a base for their visit.

It didn’t hurt that the trip was so well planned either.

Fully expecting additions/corrections to the blog so fire away.
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Old Nov 5th, 2012, 12:04 PM
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Great trip report as always!

Lee Ann
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Old Nov 6th, 2012, 01:03 PM
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Great doings again! thanks for sharing!
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Old Nov 7th, 2012, 09:08 AM
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Thanks Lea Ann and Irishface. Appreciate the comments as always.
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Old Nov 7th, 2012, 10:22 AM
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For future reference:

1. The Oxford Tourist Information Centre runs about half a dozen differently themed, organised, walks several times a day, with a constantly changing collection of one-off walks as well. It doesn't tell visitors anything useful to describe one walk as "poor" (too much information? too little? too fast? too slow?). Full current range at http://www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire...shop=8&sct=107

2. If you don't want someone leading you, there's a wide range of downloadable self-directed guides at http://www.visitoxfordandoxfordshire...ss=Town+Trails

3. Or don't even plan ahead. The city's awash with information panels, each with maps of where else to go to and a QR code that will take your smartphone to a site with fuller information on what's visible from that spot. No app needed: it's free (assuming you're not being reamed by your phone company). www.oxfordexplore.com
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Old Nov 7th, 2012, 01:14 PM
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Could you please give more information about the 7 day railcard and how you can use it for 2for1 offers in London, if you are staying in London. Many thanks
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Old Nov 7th, 2012, 01:39 PM
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Could you please give more information about the 7 day railcard and how you can use it for 2for1 offers in London, if you are staying in London.

I thought I did in the blog.

To get the 2for1's you need to go to the website and print out all the vouchers/coupons that you might need.

www.daysoutguide.co.uk

In addition to the vouchers, you will need valid round-trip train (rail) tickets. If you are flying into London (and thus do not have said rail tickets) you can use a loop hole in system.

That is, a London "Tube" Travelcard issued from a National Rail Station (not the Tube/Underground) will suffice.

Another wrinkle is that to get the 7-day travelcard from a Rail Station you are buying a Season's ticket. So, they make you have a passport size photo to apply to get the travelcard. If you have the photo, then it just takes a minute or two.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_...n_tickets.html

Note that most (all?) of the train stations also have Underground stations so you want to buy the travelcard on the Train/Rail level. An Oyster Card (from TFL) will not work.

The train stations are denoted with this symbol:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Na..._Rail_logo.svg

The tickets will have orange borders like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rail

Hope that's clear. Good luck.
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Old Nov 7th, 2012, 03:18 PM
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Thanks for that. I didn't get to the end of your very interesting blog before my computer crashed...
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Old Nov 8th, 2012, 09:30 AM
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Thanks for that. I didn't get to the end of your very interesting blog before my computer crashed...

Hopefully just a coincidence that your computer crashed!
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Old Feb 2nd, 2013, 08:22 AM
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bookmarking
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Old Apr 30th, 2013, 02:00 PM
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Just took a look at your lovely photos and blog (I was particularly interested in your Greenwich experience). I had to laugh that you are the Freys in London as in 3 weeks, we will be the Fryes in London. Based on your photos, I am now as excited as my husband about Greenwich! Thank you.
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Old Apr 30th, 2013, 09:00 PM
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Have fun. We really enjoyed our day in Greenwich. It's a nice change of pace as well.
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Old Aug 10th, 2013, 03:33 AM
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We are off to London in about 3 weeks time. Jotted down many tips from your blog. Thank you for sharing your experience
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