PTR - Dipping our toes into Europe

[areweindisneyyet]

Your plans for London look great. We stayed in Kensington last year and it was a great base for exploring. We ate at the pub you are going to. We also enjoyed the Archangel on Kensington High Street (Sunday kids eat free on the roast of the day which was huge and chicken, beef, lamb and pork offered). Also a great little coffee shop called the Muffin Man in Wrights Lane near the High St Kensington tube stop. Great milkshakes and sandwiches, home cooked food. Only take cash. The High Street Kensington shopping strip is great.

We loved Westminster Abbey, spent ages walking inside. The same with the Tower of London. Spend many more hours than we had planned there. We actually started that day by going on the London Eye and visiting the London Aquarium. We then cruised up the Thames to the London Bridge and hopped off to go through the Tower which was great.

We ate at the Hard Rock on our last day which was good. We spent the morning at the British Museum and then used the Tube to get to the Hard Rock for lunch.

The Rainforest Cafe is in London and at Paris Disney. We were really disappointed. Decided it is only an America thing.

In Paris we did a half day trip out to Giverny to visit Monets Garden using local trains. It was just amazing. You could also do a day trip up to the Somme Battlefields at Villers Bretonneux. The Palace of Versailles also. DH and DD1 loved the Catacombs in Paris. Me and DD2 not so much. The Luxembourg Gardens where lots of fun on a Wed afternoon, with pedal cars to hire. We booked a dinner on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower which was about 80EUR each for DH and myself and 26EUR for the girls. They had a set menu and we had the choice of about 4-5 options for our meal. A bottle of water for the table, a drink for each of the girls and a bottle of wine for us. It was worth the experience.

By week 3 which it was for us in Paris, we were a lot more go with the flow, lots of options for days to fill in, but leaving the decision making to each day to see how we were feeling. Museums, art galleries get tiring, it might be raining so need indoor stuff to do, or a lovely day makes you want to be outside. A list of possibilities rather than a set plan.

The trip looks great, cant wait to read along.

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

AWIDY - thanks for the advise on places to eat near our apartment in Kensington, that is wonderful.

Glad to hear you loved Westminster Abbey and Tower of London, I think they will be fabulous.

Yes Paris, it's my hardest one to work on. I want to lock in a few things on the best days to visit them but I agree, it might be nice to be fluid and take it as it comes.

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Things have been so hectic since we got back from the US and Canada I haven't had any time to update this PTR and with out trip only 2 1/2 weeks away it's getting to the "pointy end" of the trip planning.

Everything that can be booked and paid for and planned in advance has been. I like to do as much of that before we go so I can relax a little while away. Still lots more to do but for now I'm feeling calm-ish.

Here is roughly what the itinerary looks like now:-

MONDAY 25 March, 2013 - LONDON, ENGLAND

Arrive LONDON, private car to Apartment, afternoon settling in and wandering the neighbourhood

Dinner at a very well known local pub called The Churchill Arms

TUESDAY 26 March, 2013

Morning - Private Tour in Black Taxi Cab seeing:- Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, No. 10 Downing St. Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge, Marble Arch, etc.

Trafalgar Square for lunch and a wander

Afternoon - Hyde Park for the afternoon seeing Princess Diana's Memorial, Kensington Palace etc.

Dinner at my MIL's cousins restaurant called Entree:- http://www.entreebattersea.co.uk/

Kind of a mini family reunion with this branch on her family

WEDNESDAY 27 March, 2013

Morning - Westminster Abbey Private Tour

Afternoon - London Eye, Thames Cruise and shopping along Oxford St

THURSDAY 28 March, 2013

All Day bus tour to Oxford, The Cotswolds and Statford on Avon (home of Shakespeare)

FRIDAY 29 March, 2013

Morning - Tower of London

Lunch - Borough Market -famous food market

Afternoon - The Globe, Shakespeares Theatre and walk across Millenium Bridge

SATURDAY 30 March, 2013

Morning - Portobello Market

Afternoon - Girls to go to The Orangery for High Tea at Kensington Palace and boys to go to Lords Cricket Ground and Abbey Road

Evening - West End Show "We Will Rock You"

SUNDAY 31 March, 2013

Easter Sunday

Morning - British Museum

Lunch - nearby Museum

Afternoon - Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum

(may need to switch British Museum with Wax Museum as have been reading that the Wax museum is mayhem in the afternoons)

Late afternoon/evening - a local pub for music/food/etc.

MONDAY 1 April, 2013

All Day Tour to Bath and Stonehenge

TUESDAY 2 April, 2013

Morning - St. Paul's Cathedral

Afternoon - Harrod's and more shopping


WEDNESDAY 3 April, 2013 - EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

Morning - catch train to Edinburgh

Afternoon - arrive, check in, go to Holyrood Castle nearby


THURSDAY 4 April, 2013

All Day Bus Tour to Loch Ness and the Scottish Highlands


FRIDAY 5 April, 2013

Morning - hop on hop off bus tour around Edinburgh

Lunch and walk along the Royal Mile

Afternoon - Edinburgh Castle


SATURDAY 6 April, 2013

All Day Bus Tour to Rosslyn Chapel and the Roman Border of Scotland


SUNDAY 7 April, 2013 - DUBLIN, IRELAND

Morning - fly to Dublin, check in

Afternoon - wander around Dublin

Evening - dinner and show at The Merry Ploughboys Irish Pub


MONDAY 8 April, 2013

All day - Hop on Hop off Bus tour around Dublin, seeing many of the major sites including Trinity College

Afternoon - relaxing in a local pub I would say

TUESDAY 9 April, 2013

All Day Bus Tour to Cork and the Blarney Stone and Castle

WEDNESDAY 10 April, 2013

All day - Hop on Hop off Bus tour around Dublin seeing whatever we didn't see Monday

THURSDAY 11 April, 2013

All day bus tour to Belfast to see the Titanic Experience Museum and tour Belfast. Also taking a Private Political/IRA Taxi Cab tour through the affected areas.

FRIDAY 12 April, 2013

Guiness Factory and shopping and relaxing in a pub I would say

SATURDAY 13 April, 2013 - PARIS, FRANCE

Morning - fly to Paris, check into apartment, get supplies,

Afternoon - wander around Palais Royal area

Evening - out for birthday dinner for Fraser, walk home past the Louvre

SUNDAY 14 April, 2013

Morning - Private Walking tour along the Seine past most major sites
Lunch near Grand Palais

Afternoon - Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, walk along the Trocadero

MONDAY 15 April, 2013

Morning - Opera Garnier and then shopping at Galleries Lafayette

Lunch then walk to Rue Montorgureil Market Street for beautiful food

Afternoon - wander through Jardin Tuilleries, hot chocolate at Angelina's, then up Rue Royale to visit famous shops like Maille and Ladauree and go to Madeliene

Evening - Liv and Lisa to go to Moulin Rouge

TUESDAY 16 April, 2013

Morning - go into Notre Dame, St. Chappelle and Concergerie, icecream at the famous Berthillion, then on to Shakespeare & Co bookstore

Lunch in Latin Quarter than wander around this beautiful area

Afternoon - Luxembourg Gardens and St. Germain

Evening - walk across Pont Neuf and then take a Seine Cruise

WEDNESDAY 17 April, 2013

Most of day - Palace of Versailles

Afternoon - Musee D'Orsay

THURSDAY 18 April, 2013

Private Tour guide for the day

- morning Louvre
- afternoon Montmatre and Sacre Coeur

FRIDAY 19 April, 2013

Morning - Arc De Triomphe and Champs Elysees, then Place De La Concorde

Lunch

Afternoon - Invalides, Musee Rodin and Jardin Des Tuileries if haven't visited before or shopping

SATURDAY 20 April, 2013 - DISNEYLAND PARIS

Morning - private transfer over to Disneyland Paris, check into hotel

Afternoon - wander around park

Evening - Buffalo Bill's show

SUNDAY 21 April, 2013

Day - rides, shows, parades, etc

Evening - Fireworks

MONDAY 21 April, 2013

Day - rides, shows

Afternoon - private transfer to airport, fly home

[WAMUMOF4]

Wow sounds awesome, I can't possibly imagine with that list what you have left to organise it looks like you have covered everything.

[Aussie Wendy]

As always very impressive-looking forward to reading along and I get to read it all before we go so can pick up all your tips

[Aussie Wendy]

Oh forgot to add if you didn't see We will Rock You when it toured Aus-it was one of the best musicals we have ever seen - DH loved it as much as DD and I. If you love Queen you'll love the music and the storyline ties together really well. I would like to see it again. Rellies who saw the London version raved too.

[zanzibar138]

Wow that is a full itinerary! Sounds like an awesome trip and you're going to see so much

[viaggiamo]

How exciting!
I have just finished reading your TR on the US so I will be eagerly awaiting this one!

Have a wonderful time.

[areweindisneyyet]

Nice. And now I have my Easter holiday reading sorted.

[PrincessInOz]

Great trip! Not long now.

[Minniemum]

What a fantastic 4 week trip you have in store. Not long to go now!

[mumoftriplets]

What a fantastic trip you will be having! We were in England and Wales last August to visit family ( hubby is English), so not alot of touristy things happened this trip. You should really enjoy Bath - it is a pretty place. As well as Stradford-Upon-Avon. Oxford is really good too ( lived there for 3 months back in my 20's). You will absolutely LOVE Scotland - I would move there in a heart beat. The scenery is just amazing. And your always looking for that Loch Ness to pop up We were lucky enough to stumble onto a Highland Game whilst we were there during one visit - amazing too. So looking forward to reading all about it and hearing what you loved.

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Originally Posted by WAMUMOF4

Wow sounds awesome, I can't possibly imagine with that list what you have left to organise it looks like you have covered everything.

You know me - over the top plan every inch

Originally Posted by Aussie Wendy

As always very impressive-looking forward to reading along and I get to read it all before we go so can pick up all your tips

Shall try very hard to write a TR the whole way through

Originally Posted by zanzibar138

Wow that is a full itinerary! Sounds like an awesome trip and you're going to see so much

Zanzibar - I work on the "go hard or go home" style of trip planning. The good news is that I'm happy to let things go if they aren't prebooked and paid for if everyone is tired.

Originally Posted by viaggiamo

How exciting!
I have just finished reading your TR on the US so I will be eagerly awaiting this one!

Have a wonderful time.

Thank you

Originally Posted by Aussie Wendy

Oh forgot to add if you didn't see We will Rock You when it toured Aus-it was one of the best musicals we have ever seen - DH loved it as much as DD and I. If you love Queen you'll love the music and the storyline ties together really well. I would like to see it again. Rellies who saw the London version raved too.

No we haven't seen it before Wendy. We were looking for a relatively family friend show that we hadn't seen but that would appeal to everyone and this got rave reviews. I think it will be fun. Glad you enjoyed it.

Originally Posted by areweindisneyyet

Nice. And now I have my Easter holiday reading sorted.

Excellent - get ready, wine in hand of course.

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Great trip! Not long now.

Nope it's speeding towards us

Originally Posted by Minniemum

What a fantastic 4 week trip you have in store. Not long to go now!

Thanks Minnimum

Originally Posted by mumoftriplets

What a fantastic trip you will be having! We were in England and Wales last August to visit family ( hubby is English), so not alot of touristy things happened this trip. You should really enjoy Bath - it is a pretty place. As well as Stradford-Upon-Avon. Oxford is really good too ( lived there for 3 months back in my 20's). You will absolutely LOVE Scotland - I would move there in a heart beat. The scenery is just amazing. And your always looking for that Loch Ness to pop up We were lucky enough to stumble onto a Highland Game whilst we were there during one visit - amazing too. So looking forward to reading all about it and hearing what you loved.

Thanks for this Mumoftriplets. Good to know you enjoyed Bath, it is one of the places I am most most most wanting to see. And Scotland, sigh I just know we will adore it even before we get there. Can't wait.

[gogo65]

Looks like an amazing holiday, looks like you planned just a few things
One question, have you per booked your Eiffel tower tickets? If you haven't do it ASAP

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Originally Posted by gogo65

Looks like an amazing holiday, looks like you planned just a few things
One question, have you per booked your Eiffel tower tickets? If you haven't do it ASAP

Yes Gogo I have already booked them but thanks for the heads up. I decided I would prefer to choose a set date to go up the Eiffel tower and chance rain than to line up for hours on a nice day .