Travel with Children in England and Ireland

Thanks, any particular suggestions as to activities or loging?

Our kids loved London when they were the age of yours. The Tower is great! Windsor makes a good day trip (by train) York is also good by train. Though Dover would probably be better for kids. Bath- not so much for kids.

Seven years ago, my then 10-yr-old daughter and I joined my parents for about 2 weeks in England. Some of the highlights for her were the Tower of London, Bodiam Castle [our first castle; it's not large but has a moat and there was armor that kids could try on], the Weald & Downland Museum in Kent, the Acton Scott historic working farm in Shropshire, York including the Minster and Jorvik [a ride through a replica of York during Viking times], and Warwick Castle. We did a day trip out of London to Hamptom Court Palace and really enjoyed a carriage ride around the grounds. We also went out to Oxford to see the Great Hall that was used for the huge dining room at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies. It was a great trip. How long do you plan to stay? Have a wonderful time!

We are planning on about 11 days (possibly up to 14) depending on the costs. Our grandson would love to see castles up close and our grandaughter is interested in gardens, and fashion.

For a combination of castle (with lots of armor and weapons) with gardens- Windsor! It is one of my favorites and add in Mary's dollhouse and both your children will love it. Be sure to take in the yellow rose garden (my favorite part). The Tower is also excellent and Kew Gardens! I also second York and the Jorvic "museum". The Shambles is fun. Warrick castle is supposed to be great in summer (we've not made it there yet). Dover castle is very good and often has archery exhibts (hands on...)and falconry, etc.

My 11 yr old daughter and I were lucky enough to be in Ireland recently and she thought Dublin was very fun and fashionable. A very young crowd in a very historical city.
Just south of Dublin is the fabulous Powerscourt Estate and Gardens, (www.powerscourt.ie) with picnic areas and Ireland's tallest waterfall, it would be fun for all.
Cahir is home to 1 of Ireland's biggest castles, Cahir Castle. Of course the Rock of Cashel, a little north of Cahir, is the biggest, coolest castle ruin any kid could hope to explore. You could see both castles in a day, it all depends on how much time you want to take. Cashel is free and self-explore; Cahir is a couple euro with audio visual/guided tours taking most people less than 2 hrs.

Enjoy your time with your grandchildren, I can't wait until my grandson is a little older!

Your grandchildren will love London...it's a great city for kids. You can tour Kensington Palace, there
usually is a display of some of Princess Diana'a dresses. Walk down Kings Road, Covent Garden (Floreal St., Long Acre have fashion stores), Monmouth Street, Shorts Gardens and Earlham Street offer trendy clothes for the young street scene, also great for peopl watching. Then of course you have the large dept., stores Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, etc. Your grandson would enjoy seeing the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace (you can go thru the Royal Mews at Buckingham, this is where they keep all of the Queen's horses and carriages). You can take a day trip out to Windsor Castle which is a great castle to visit. Plus, the kids would enjoy walking thru the beautiful gardens, St James Park, Hyde Park, Kensingston Gardens and Holland Park which is all great. Give each child a camera and lot them take the pictures that they want.
You can take them to the theater one night, I would recommdend seeing The Lion King, have seen it three times in London and loved it everytime. Devon has a lot of beautiful fishing villages which the kids would enjoy. I would recommend picking up the car outside of London. York would be great, in York the kids could walk on the Roman Wall which is around the city. Have a great trip.

Hello Evelyn, We traveled to Europe in the fall of 08 with our daughter, 11, and our son, 9. We stayed in London for 9 days. London is lots of fun for kids. Our suggestions: Tower of London (NOT to be missed); the London Eye; the Museum of London has good kid activities; the National Gallery (our kids like art and the museum has a computer room where you can assemble your own tour); the British Museum; Covent Garden (fabulous street musicians); Regents Park (for running around and playing on playground equipment); London Walks (we did a Beatles walk and a Harry Potter walk); Kew Gardens; St. Paul's Cathedral (great view from the top); Westminster Abbey; and, Hampton Court Palace, which is a little outside of London. If they know anything about the Beatles, they might like to go to the British Library, where they will see some hand-written notes that came to be popular songs. At museums, ask about kid activities. Many of them have them. One of the best we found was at the Tate Modern, but it's only available occasionally. Also, I agree with the suggestion to go to a show. We went to Wicked and Spamalot (we saw the Lion King previously)-- a real highlight of our time there. My kids also liked having tea at the Cafe Crypt at St. Martin in the Fields. Sitting on chairs on top of essentially tombstones was something they really enjoyed and still talk about. Have a great time!

Evelyn,

This amy or may not be helpful for you . . . If you decide against the car - when we went three years ago we were able to buy a family rail pass which made travelling on the trains eg to Bath much cheaper. If I remember correctly it was cheaper to buy the pass and then the rail tickets from Bath to london than it was to buy the tickets Bath to London without the pass.

It didn't matter that we didn't come from the UK. The pass lasted for 12 months.

I wanted to thank everone for the great info--has anyone tried a village stay maybe at a farm or out of the way B & B to get some idea of English country life?

Hi Evelyn,
What lucky grandchildren you have!
I have travelled to Ireland with my 3 children, now ages 16, 11, & 9 for the past 8 summers. There are loads of options but I'd avoid Dublin completely. If you fly into Shannon you might consider spending a night at Dromoland Castle in Clare. Nearby is also the Cliffs of Moher, breathtaking! I would then consider heading to the Cork coastline, kissing the Blarney Stone on the way. Your grandchildren could learn to surf at Garretstown Beach, outside Kinsale, and if anyone is a golfer Old Head is there as well. Kinsale also has an outdoor adventure school for children. Further on is Dingle, Co. Kerry with it's spectacular coastline, aquarium, boat tours, and quaint town. The Dingle Skellig hotel even has a kids club. The Tarbert ferry is an option to get back up to Shannon for the way home. Whatever you decide, know that children in Ireland are welcome everywhere. I know you will all have a memorable vacation.

Hi,, don't even think of missing taking kids to the Natural History Musuem in London,, I cannot imagine a child on earth not enjoying that place,, I enjoyed it too,, and its FREE!