hermione

I'm planning a trip for 2 weeks in July to England with our 3 kids (13 to 7). We wanted to see London for a few days and then spend the rest of the time in the country- definitely take in the Lake District, maybe some other nearby areas. Any advice on what would be the best use of our time? Which should we visit first- the city ot the country? Thanks for any help.

Anonymous

With a name like that, perhaps you ought to pursue some of the Harry-Potter-related sites.

You can put together your own itinerary, based on existing packaged tours (such as http://www.imagetours.com/intro.cfm ) or just put together visits to Oxford (where several scenes were filmed), King's Cross Station (Platform 4 as actualy used in the film), Warwick Castle, which wasn't used in the film but is hte best place to scamper around and feel what it's like to live at Hogwarts.

Visit the country first if you'll be starting off your trip jet-lagged.

I spent 2 weeks in London and 1 week in the countryside (Stratford, Warwick, Gloucestershire, Hay-on-Wye, Bath, Salisbury) with kids ages 11 and 13 two summers ago, would be glad to answer specific questions.

obxgirl

Well I guess it's my day to be contrary! If you are planning on driving about the countryside but haven't done the left side of the road thing before, I'd visit London first until you're past jet lag and more oriented.

Outside of London, I'd pick one spot, rent a self catering house and use it as a base for touring.

At age 5 and 7, my daughter found the noise and hubbub of London too overwhelming so we spent more time in the country. By age 11 she was hooked on London and now we practically have to drag her out of town.

Have a great trip!

davidx

If you send me an e-mail I'll send back my notes on Yorkshire which would go quite well with the Lakes.
[email protected]

hermione

I just talked to my husband and he said he loved the idea of renting a house and using it as a base for our siteseeing. Does anyone know of a good place to begin shopping for one? Thanks for the great advice!

obxgirl

hermione,

I can't make a recommendation for the Lake District but you could start getting some info by putting "self catering" in the search box and highlighing United Kingdom in the list box. Also if you don't get anything more on this thread about letting a house (tho I bet you will), post again with something specific like "self catering Lake District.."

If by chance your base of operations takes you to the SW of England I can highly recommend Helpful Holidays.com which has properties in Devon/Cornwall/Somerset and Dorset. We've used them a bunch and never been disappointed.

Happy planning!

JanieC

We were in England last summer with 15 and 12 year old boys and had a fabulous time. Our boys absolutely loved London. The science museum was one of their favourite acivities. We only allowed 3 hours there but we should have stayed a whole day. Also the British Museum was pretty interesting to them with all the mummies. Of course the Tower of London was a highlight and the visit to the inner workings of the Tower Bridge was very interesting. We took the boys to see the musical "Fame". We didn't book ahead and waited in the last minute line at Leicester square. In retrospect I should have just pre-booked tickets and paid more. We really wanted to see one of the bigger shows. Also check out the Imperial war Museum Trench Blitz experience and the Cabinet war rooms in Whitehall. In the surrounding countryside we visited Oxford and did a walking college tour. It was worthwhile. We also went to Blenheim Palace which was fabulous. Be sure to take a picnic and have bread to feed the ducks. There is a little putting ground and an excellent hedge maze which was a big hit. With afternoon tea in the little town of Woodstock (try the Blenheim teahouse) this is a full day excursion. Definitely take the kids to Warwick castle. It is really well set up to entertain children. We arrived 2:30 when the crowds were starting to die down. Stonehenge was also fabulous for my kids. Again we got there late at 6 pm, 1 hour before closing. We had the place to ourselves and experienced the sun starting to set on the stones. the Roman Baths in Bath were also interesting to the boys as they wanted to see some Roman ruins. On our last day we visited the Naval Museum in Portsmouth and took the all inclusive deal. It was a fantastic day with a boat tour of the Naval ships, action staions with games for the kids, Nelson's ship the HMS Victory, and the Mary Rose. I am sure there a many other great things to see and do. We visited other places that were not quite as interesting to the boys. Be sure to buy a Bitish Heritage Pass on-line before you go. It saved us money and took the pain out of paying expensive entrances when we were there. Do avoid the Jack the Ripper Walking tour in London. It was expensive and the crowd of people on it was ridiculous. I felt really ripped off in the end!

Anonymous

For a week-long base, try the Sudeley Castle cottages.

janis

Self catering is a great choice for your family. If you are drawn to the Lake district a good place to look would be near Ullswater or Windermere. There are Hundreds of cottages for rent in the area - and besides the Lakes this would be a good base for day trips to southern Scotland, Yorkshire, and North Wales. Plus having a cottage will mean you have a washer/dryer so you can pack a LOT lighter.

I agree w/ obxgirl - stay 4 to 6 days in London at the beginning to get over the jet lag - a apartment would be a good choice in London too since you would have a lot more room - and another washing machine.

Then rent you car out at LHR and drive up to the Lakes and your country cottage. Then drive back down through Warwick/the Cotswolds for the last day or two and back to LHR to fly home.

To find a cottage - simple do a web search on Google or similar. Use terms like self catering, holiday cottage, Cumbria, Lake District, etc. You will find a TON of sites. After you have found a few that interest you, you can post them here and get feedback about location, an so on. One thing - most cottages rent from Saturday to saturdy so you may need to massage the above itinerery to make it work. Say a day or 2 in London, the cottage, and then more time in London at the end.

the Sudeley Castle anonymous mentions are very nice but not convenient to the Lakes. They are in the Cotswolds.

Xenos

We stayed in a lovely little cottage in the village of Satterthwaite a few years ago. The village is situated between Lakes Windermere and Coniston and next to the Grizedale Forest, all of which are great for kids and it has a real village feel to it, unlike the more touristy Windermere or Ambleside. Can't remember who we booked through, but if you Google for Satterthwaite, or cottages and Lake District (try using google.co.uk, not .com), I'm sure you'll come up with lots of options.