After our China trip we quickly researched for the next family travel destination. We first visited England as a couple in 2011. It was a very memorable event as we coincidentally happened to be there during Prince William & Kate’s royal wedding. Although we prefer to visit places we have never been before, England is an exception. For years we have been waiting for the right moment to go back. So finally this was our chance!
For our fourth family travel adventure we chose England because:
- Currency was really good value ever since Brexit was announced
- There were great flight deals available
- Berlin was good during our previous long haul flights to Germany & France
- Affordable family friendly accommodation – believe it or not!
- Food and drinks are generally cheaper than Perth
- England is easy to get around – good public transport and easy to hire a car
- Most places are generally family friendly
- Museums are generally free and relatively kids friendly
- No extreme cold weather (no snow)
When speaking to all of our friends about our England trip, they always assume we fork out a fortune for this trip. But it can’t be more further from the truth. Since Brexit was announced in June 2016, our Australian dollar has gotten stronger against the Pounds by roughly 10% We took this opportunity to pursue England as our next destination as our dollar can be stretched further.
Mid January when we travelled is classified as shoulder season. So we had a pretty good deal flying Emirates. The total travel time was just over 21 hours. One of the reasons we chose to fly with Emirates, is because we always prefer the early morning flight out of Perth (which suit our son). It took 11 hours direct flight to Dubai from Perth.
By 23 months old, Berlin already understood the concept of plane travel. He sat on the window seat and he was very excited throughout the plane journey. Not even once he asked to walk up and down the aisle, and not even once we had to carry him to comfort him. We were worried with terrible two tantrums, but we must admit this age group turned out to be the easiest BY FAR. He was able to entertain himself most of the time by eating his snacks, playing with his stickers, toys and for the very first time can enjoy the in flight entertainment system. Berlin watched “Cars” on repeat for countless times. When he got a bit sleepy he would ask for a pillow and put his legs on Tara’s lap as he slept across. No tantrums and no dramas from Perth all the way to Manchester – miracle?!
Essentially this trip should have been called our Premier Inn holiday as we stayed at Premier Inn chain hotels in all cities except for in Cambridge. For those of you who have never heard of this chain before, Premier Inn is UK’s largest hotel brand. They provide basic, clean, no frills 3 star accommodation across UK. It is very affordable. Our accommodation in Manchester was only $80 per night and the one in London was $150 per night. No extra charge for Berlin’s extra single bed. In Cambridge, Tara had plans to catch up with her primary school friend whom migrated there years ago. So we opted to stay at a self contained unit (booked through Booking.com for $150 per night). This way, we were able to have a night in and talk way past Berlin’s bed time.
Booking.com
There are a LOT of options for food from cheap to most expensive. On one occasion we splurged on a fine dining high tea at The Shard on our last day in London. But most of the time we just chose family friendly restaurants. Food and drink costs in England we found to be slightly cheaper than in Perth. And there are a lot of ways to save. Buying croissants, bagels or sandwiches from mini mart for breakfast for instance are a lot cheaper than dining in at a cafe.
During the trip we managed to visit six different towns! Manchester, Liverpool, York, Oxford, Cambridge and London. As usual we based ourselves in a central location and made day trips as needed to avoid moving hotels too many times. Liverpool and York are only 1 and 1.5 hours away by train respectively from Manchester. Public transportation is very reasonable and Berlin still rides for free.
We hired a car to get around the country. Oxford and Cambridge were both very beautiful towns to stop by before arriving in London. We knew as soon as we got to London, our days will be packed and hectic. So those two towns were more of a “breather” and we got to visit the massive Tesco supermarket to stock up on much needed nappies and wipes. In London, we caught the tube pretty much everywhere. Most of the older stations do not have escalators so we needed to carry Berlin up and down the stairs. Glad our hard work at the gym pays off
The great thing about England is how child friendly every place is. Almost every single restaurant and museums we went to have a change table for babies and toddlers. As soon as we arrived at a restaurant, they would provide us a high chair along with kid’s activity paper and crayons. Everywhere we went, we were always welcomed with a smile.
A lot of the activities we chose in this trip included museums. Almost all museum entries are by donations only. There are museums to suit everyone’s interest. Berlin in particular loved York as we visited the National Railway Museum. It won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001. Possibly his favourite part was seeing the turntable in action. Almost all museums we visited have a kids’ corner and a grassy area at the back. This is particularly useful to let the kids run around and burn off their energy.
In a city like London, after a day sightseeing and visiting museums, in the evening we got to take a break from adult activities and headed to fun toy store (to be fair to Berlin). We loved the new Lego store, and Hamleys the oldest toy store in the world.
In Mid January, the weather was cold but not freezing and no snow. It showered some of the days we were there but didn’t affect our schedule at all. Days were short and only 3 out of the 17 days we were in England we saw a blue sky. The rest of the time it was dark, gloomy grey sky. Something we are not accustomed to living in Perth. We were very lucky those 3 sunny days were the days we had our tripod with us to take some family photos.
Overall, it was a very memorable trip and it’s simply amazing how each time we travel with Berlin it simply gets easier.
Booking.com
