UK Trip Planning

Oh I’m so pleased for you – it’s lovely when we can finally achieve some of our bucket list items! 😀

As a London resident and a regular visitor to Scotland, some recommendations if you have the time:

* In London – you’re likely to go to St Paul’s Cathedral (and it’s beautiful, so why not) – while you’re there, head north on St Edward’s Street past the ruins of Christchurch Greyfriars (it’s like a ghost church half-made of gardens, very cool) and then cross St Edward’s and go into Postman’s Park (low-key gate into some gardens just before Less Britain – which is a street!). Postman’s Park is a cute garden – but it’s the home of the memorial to our unsung heroes, which is just amazingly cool, a little Victorian tiled niche celebrating people who gave their lives for others (it has showed up in movies like Closer, but is generally unknown, which is such a shame, it’s one of my favourite spots). From here you’ve got two options: go out the eastern gate to Postman’s Park and head north towards the Museum of London (which is worth a visit in its own right!) – the remaining ruins of the original Roman wall of the City of London are in a small park on the north side of London Wall (the street); OR go back out the west gate of Postman’s Park and head north up the side of St Bart’s hospital to Smithfields. St Bart’s is where they executed William Wallace; and the entrance to the new MI6 HQ in Bond/Skyfall; and Smithfields is the spectacular Victorian meat market. So lots of good food round here too! All of this will take max an hour out of your day, if that 🙂

As a bibliophile, the British Library is a lovely stop-off too (right by St Pancras/King’s Cross, so handy on your Harry Potter peregrinations!) – it has a permanent free exhibition that usually has amazing works of classic literature on display – Austen, Shakespeare, Dickens – which rotate regularly, so you’re never sure what awesomeness you might see today.

* Getting from London to Scotland – take the train if you can and do it in daytime; the scenery in the north is stunning and you can enjoy it as you zoom past rather than missing it by flying. If you have time to go by road and/or stop, Durham Cathedral (total bias; it’s where I’m from) is one of the most stunning in the UK (aaaaaand a big Harry Potter location).

* In Scotland – it’s just gorgeous, so don’t stop at Edinburgh – get a car and go up to the Highlands. Hogwarts (and specifically Hagrid’s hut) is in Glen Etive (also a Bond location in Skyfall – that shot of him and M staring down a glen is the turn-off to Etive) and it’s _stunning_. It’s on the A82 north from Glasgow to Fort William (and you get to go across the outer reaches of Rannoch Moor, which will look familiar from the Hogwarts Express too); and when you come back out and head north, the A82 goes through Glen Coe which is the site of a famous clan massacre and also one of the most beautiful spots in the whole of Britain. Fort William isn’t so pretty but is nestled at the foot of Ben Nevis (our biggest mountain), and then I’m guessing you’ll be out of time. You can head west to see the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct (Hogwarts Express ahoy), in which case ALSO stop off and see Neptune’s Ladder, because it’s an engineering marvel (a ladder of locks to get up from sea level to the lochs that lead to Loch Ness) – and then go north out north out of Fort William and turn east on the A86 through Spean Bridge (Rob Roy country!) and back to the A9 (main north/south road through the Highlands) to get back to the more famous/accessible locations around Stirling and Edinburgh. If you DO have time for more than a day trip, oh my, I could keep you going for weeks 😉

I’ll stop there. It may show that I’ve done lots of tour suggestions for all our foreign relatives visiting the UK 😉

Don’t forget your umbrella, make sure it’s a proper strong one that can cope with strong winds or it will be useless. If you need to buy a Proper Umbrella, go to James Smith & Son north of Covent Garden on New Oxford Street on London – it’s an honest to god walking stick and umbrella store – utterly unique, very cool, and excellent umbrellas for about £20 (which is expensive, but they’re amazing).

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