Dream trip to London and Edinburgh

England | Jul 12 - Jul 22, 2023

We absolutely loved this part of our trip. We were a little nervous because another travel agent had not recommended sleeper cars on trains, but it seemed to be the best use of our time, so we decided to give it a shot. My husband and I got a connecting room with out 12 year old daughter, and my inlaws got their own room. All of the rooms had bunkbeds and the rooms are TINY. If you have large suitcases, you are better off having them store those and working out of an overnight bag. Because we had an empty bunk in our daughters room, we piled all of our luggage on there. **We could not figure out how to open the door between our rooms, but we found out in the drinks car that they come around and do it for you once the train gets moving. We went to the bar and got drinks and snacks (adult beverages for us and hot chocolate for my daughter). They were short staffed and couldn't do large meals but at 11pm we weren't looking for that. We met some other travelers who were going home to Edinburgh and talked to them about restaurants, etc. It was a nice way to wind down before bed. We were laughing going to bed that no one was going to sleep, but we all slept AMAZINGLY well. The bed was firm and comfortable, and the provide earplugs and eye masks. My in-laws, who are 70, agreed that it was a great night sleep. In the room there is a tiny sink that you can use to wash your face and brush your teeth. There are toilets in each train car and we never had an issue being able to use one when we needed to. We didn't have breakfast on the train 1) because we wanted to sleep in and 2) you arrive really early, so we just went straight to breakfast in Edinburgh. I would highly recommend it. It was a fun experience- leaving London and waking up in Edinburgh. Because we slept through the journey, we had more time to explore in Edinburgh which was a huge value to us.

The evening we went, it was not crowded at all, so our group of 5 got a "room" all to ourselves. The pace is nice and slow so those of us who get motion-sickness were not bothered at all. It was our very first activity after arriving and checking in, and it was nice to get to take in ALL of London, from every direction, for our first event. My husband and I rode on it almost 20 years ago, so it was fun to come back and do it again. You can't beat the views!

We had a wait a while to get on the bus, but after that it was smooth sailing. We had downloaded the app and talked about the stops that we wanted to get off at and what we wouldn't mind passing by. My father-in-law really wanted to see Buckingham Palace and stop at a Hard Rock Cafe (he collects shirts). The audio commentary that you get to listen to is really good-- not boring at all. There was only one stop we didn't get to make because we ran out of time. We spent a really fun day getting to see so many different parts of London.

The bus we took was very nice! The studios are 45 min- 1 hour outside of town but we were very comfortable. The studios are overwhelming (in a wonderful way). The guide told us a lot of people spend 4 hours there, which is how much time we had, so it was great. There are passports you can stamp along the way. There are the sets, costumes, design pieces- with fun additional facts. There are also several areas where you can create videos of you riding a broom throughout different areas of Hogwarts and London. My daughter and father-in-law both did it and the videos are hilarious. There is a huge cafeteria about halfway through with a good variety of options. We stopped and had lunch and then went back for butterbeer ice cream. If you are a Harry Potter fan, this is a MUST DO!

Our driver and guide were both wonderful on this trip. We were on a really nice bus, and it was full. We were not able to sit together but we would reconvene once we got to each destination, it was fine. We thoroughly enjoyed each place. At Windsor, we were the first to arrive and so we were the first ones in. There are a couple of highlight areas and you need to choose what you want to do because you have a limited time at each place. We went to the Royal Apartments and marveled at everything we saw. There is so much art, history, and space! On the way back to the bus, we grabbed lunch to go at one of the sandwich shops in the train station that you walk through. Stonehenge is very cool to go to, but it has it's own microclimate and it was insanely windy! There is a path from the main parking lot to Stonehenge, and there is also a bus that will drive you the 1.5 miles. Because of our time limits, we all took the bus. If I came back, I would make a day of it so we could walk through the country side. We grabbed a snack at the cafe there, which is packed. Bath was by far the favorite. We want to come back and spend several days in Bath because the town is so beautiful. The baths themselves were a great site. It is a self-led walking tour throughout. Once we were done, we had about 45 minutes to kill, so we walked around and got ice cream.

We really enjoyed this small group tour. It was much more intimate and we got to know several of the others on the tour. Stratford Upon Avon was beautiful. We got to tour Shakespeare's home which was so interesting, and the guides who worked there were very engaging and helpful. After that, we had some free time to explore. The day we were there, there was a large famers market on the river with food trucks and vendors of all kinds. That was an added treat! From there we went to the Cotswalds. We drove through these precious, tiny towns, and it was obvious that larger tour buses would not be able to get down a lot of those roads. We stopped for lunch in a beautiful village, but we only had about 1 hour to to find a restaurant, get seated, eat, and get back to the bus. With it being Sunday, a lot of the restaurants were offering Sunday roast or more formal meals. Since we didn't have time to research the village beforehand, we felt a little panicked about finding a restaurant that could seat us and serve us in the allotted time. We made it, but if I could change anything, I would allow 2 hours here so we could walk around and find a place we actually wanted to eat and enjoy ourselves rather than rushing through. Finally, we got to Oxford. This is a beautiful area and we had the most time here. Besides going into the one building (which is the setting for a scene in Harry Potter where the students are learning to dance), we had a lot of free time to go into shops. That was fun, but it was very touristy. My husband opted to go to the free Natural History Museum and he loved it. I would have been happy to have spent less time here and more at the Cotswalds. Our guide was very nice and talked a lot during the roadtrip portion. He was very entertaining!

We arrived about noon and were able to eat lunch in the Clubhouse before the tour. The food was good and we could see the practice greens so it was good people watching, The guys went on the tour and loved it. The girls went into St Andrews and shopped and visited the University. St Andrews is a beautiful city! We were very happy we made the day trip out of Edinburgh.

Gareth was a fantastic guide! He was very personable and friendly. He took us off of the Royal Mile and around parts of Edinburgh that we never would have seen. There was no Harry Potter on this tour but my 12 year old still enjoyed herself very much. My husband asked a ton of questions when we were in between locations and we had some great conversation. He was very sweet about taking pictures of us so we have a few family shots that aren't selfies! It was really nice to have a guide to ourselves rather than being in a large group setting. Everyone agreed that this tour was a highlight of the trip!

We had a lot of fun exploring all of the areas of the castle grounds. We spend a lot of time in the jails because my daughter was intrigued with it. There was a lot to see and do, and the self-guided tour aspect of it makes it more enjoyable because you don't have to stay with a crowd. You definitely want to book in advance because we heard a lot of people who were upset that tickets were sold out for the day.