Hey everyone! I am so excited to share another travel post with you all! After this, I have one more recent vacation to share, and then I will be all caught up on my travel posts for now! This post will be pretty long, but I hope that you will stick around and read about this memorable trip! (All photos were taken by myself or by a family member).
In June of 2017, I went on a family vacation to the UK! There was so much that I was looking forward to crossing off of my bucket list, and I was so excited to go! We traveled around different parts of England and Scotland, and we even spent one morning in Wales.
When we arrived at Heathrow airport in London, I remember feeling eager to see all of the sights, however we were definitely a bit jet lagged. We gathered our bags and met with our driver who took us straight to our first stop, Bath! On the way there, I was feeling tired, but couldn’t fall asleep because we were driving on the wrong side of the road! I was a bit nervous, but I also found it so interesting! I loved seeing how different everything looked from my town in the US, and I also thought it was so cool to be in a country with so much history. We soon got to the hotel and after checking in, we decided to explore the city of Bath!
I absolutely loved this city, and felt like it was the perfect first stop on our trip! As to be expected, we did a lot of walking in pretty much every city, but any time I am in a new place, I really don’t mind because there’s so much to see! We eventually found ourselves standing in front of Bath Abbey. Of course, we stopped to take photos and to admire the beauty that surrounded us. We went to take a look and spent some time inside. After, we continued exploring and we walked by the Royal Crescent; one of Bath’s most iconic landmarks. I found the architecture to be so interesting and unique to anything I’d ever seen before! Sadly, we didn’t spend a lot of time in Bath (it was only a couple days), but I really did love what we saw! Just a few years later, and this city now holds a very special place in my heart.
Next, we were on our way to see a very historic landmark that I am sure most people have heard of, and that is Stonehenge. We first drove from Bath to Avebury and then to Stonehenge. When we arrived, we all were given a headset and device so that we could stop and listen to learn about the history of Stonehenge. I didn’t really know very much about it beforehand, but I was aware of its importance in the UK. I think it is amazing that these stones have been here since 3000 BC to 2000 BC! I also feel that it is so important that we keep these monuments protected and taken care of; not only to attract tourists, but because of the interesting history behind it. After our tour, we decided to stop by Salisbury Cathedral which was incredible.
The next day, we made our way over to Wales to see one specific site: Tintern Abbey. This was so cool to see because the Abbey is a ruin, but so much of it has been preserved, so we took a tour inside and around the area.
Back in England, we spent some time in Chipping Campden, which is a small market town. I loved our hotel, which was close by. It was small, yet very nice and I liked that it felt private for my family. I believe this is where I was introduced to the typical full English breakfast! While I did enjoy most of what was on my plate, I found it so strange that beans are considered a breakfast food because this isn’t the case in the US. I remember really enjoying the food in this area. One day for lunch, we were at a restaurant close by, and there was a group of about four people and they were playing some traditional music while we ate our food.
One of my favorite areas was the Cotswolds! I just really enjoyed being in the countryside of England for part of our trip because it felt peaceful to be out in nature. On one of our hikes we saw many horses, cows, and sheep walking around as well! I absolutely loved seeing all of the charming villages!
We soon made our way to our next destination: Keswick. I really enjoyed staying in this town because it is right in the northern Lake District, and we were surrounded by the beautiful mountains! I thought it was the cutest town, with some stunning views! My family and I took a little boat ride on Derwentwater which was beautiful, and then we decided to go on a hike at Lake District National Park. The views were truly breathtaking! It was a pretty long hike, but it was still very enjoyable because we had such perfect weather and the fantastic scenery around us.
After making our way to the North of England, we went a bit further to spend some time in Scotland! I didn’t think I would, but I absolutely fell in love with Edinburgh! We arrived on a cloudy day, but something about this felt perfect. The architecture and mood of the city just seemed a bit gothic and dark which I surprisingly really liked! I just love big cities because there is so much to do and see! As we walked around, we saw the Scott Monument which I thought was so cool! We also stopped in front of St Giles’ Cathedral. The crown spiral was awesome, and I felt that it was a bit more unique compared to other cathedrals I had seen previously. We walked up Calton Hill to see a gorgeous view of the city with many monuments in walking distance. I have such a fond memory of our first night in Scotland. When we went out to dinner, it started to rain, and normally this would bring down my mood, but I was just so happy that I didn’t care! I was laughing and having a great time with my family.
Eventually we got to Loch Ness, which is a very famous lake in Scotland. It was actually pretty cold when we arrived, but we still wanted to spend time in the area. Despite the cold weather, we all got some ice cream (because I don’t care how cold it is, I will NEVER say no to ice cream)! After, we somewhat spontaneously decided to take a boat ride on the loch, however we split up, so a few of my family members went on a larger boat to tour the lake and search for Nessie (the Loch Ness Monster), and the rest of us went on a high-speed boat tour, which was so much fun! We had to wear some protective gear (goggles, a life jacket, etc.) as well. I was a bit nervous, but I spent almost the entire ride laughing with my brother sitting beside me!
We also went to check out Tynemouth Castle and Priory. I loved seeing this because it was in such a beautiful location; overlooking Tynemouth Pier! Although it was windy, it once again seemed to perfectly add to the overall mood of the castle. I really loved exploring things like this because I had never walked through ruins quiet like it, and the fact that so much of it is still standing after so many years blows my mind!
After our time in Scotland, we made our way back to England for the end of our trip. We only had a couple more stops, but first we went to York! This was another city that I really loved! As we were walking, we ended up seeing York Minster Cathedral. This medieval building is very important to the city of York, and it is one that you definitely cannot miss! There’s something so nice about just walking around a new city. While it is the simplest thing you could do, it is so exciting as well! It was another day where I simply felt happy and not for any specific reason either! I enjoyed walking by all of the shops and the food was delicious as well!
Our trip was coming to an end, so of course, our final destination was London! I completely fell in love with this city, and I never wanted to leave! I was overjoyed to be there! It was a bright and sunny day when we arrived, and we saw most of the tourist attractions that day. We saw Westminster Abbey, which was amazing, and then we saw Big Ben which is, of course, one of the most iconic landmarks in the world! Throughout our entire trip, we stopped to take a ton of photos, but once we got to London, the amount of photos doubled! After admiring Big Ben, we stopped by the London Eye. We debated whether or not we wanted to go on, but we decided to keep exploring instead (though I hope to go on one day)! We spent some time relaxing in Trafalgar Square which was very crowded, but I didn’t mind at all. I really enjoyed being around new people, and it was nice to just take in everything in that moment. I was really looking forward to seeing Buckingham Palace because it is historic and one of the most popular tourist destinations in London, so this is where we headed next!
The next day, it was a bit rainy, but that was definitely not going to stop us from going out! On this day, we went back to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards! Then, we went to Picadilly Circus. A lot of people tend to say that all big cities look the same. People also compare London and New York a lot, saying that Picadilly is just like Times Square. In some ways it did remind me of New York, but it was different in some significant ways too. Things like the red double-decker buses, the architecture in many areas, and of course the well-known landmarks and monuments made this city really stand out to me. We stayed in this area for a while, walking past all of the shops, seeing the attractions, and hearing musicians playing on the streets. Eventually, we made our way over to the British Museum. We were able to see a few different exhibits, but we had to see the most popular exhibit, which is the Rosetta Stone! Seeing the Egyptian Hieroglyphs in person was really incredible, and it made me think about the different ways that people could communicate through writing/symbols.
Everyone is familiar with the playwright Shakespeare, and it was really cool to walk by Shakespeare’s Globe, which is not very far from where the original theater once stood! We also happened to walk by a colorful mural of him which I loved! On our final day of the trip, we saw a few more important landmarks, and of course my family had to buy a couple souvenirs from the gift shops! We saw Tower Bridge and also London Bridge, which both cross over the River Thames. Up until this point, I had yet to try fish and chips, and as cliché as it sounds, I didn’t want to leave without having it! This was one of my last meals in the UK.
The next day, we were off to Heathrow, catching our flight to head back home to the US! I was so sad to leave because I had such a wonderful time on this trip! Now, I have all of the happy memories to look back on through photos, videos, and stories.
I hope you all enjoyed reading about my trip to the UK! I know that many of us really miss traveling right now, but I truly believe that sometime very soon, we will all be able to see more of this beautiful world again! Thank you for reading!
Can’t forget the classic phone booth photo:
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