Road Trip Outside of London

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I hate visiting big cities with my littles. I embraced the opportunity to get out of London for a little road trip! Because London is insanely busy and the traffic was horrendous (read more about it here), it took us a whole hour to drive 10 miles! Blehk. We found there is a lot to see right outside of London. Here are some of the things we saw:

Windsor Castle

We eventually got to Windsor Castle! (Note: Have cash and/or coin handy for parking!!!) Windsor Castle is beautiful and HUGE! When entering, they hook you up with an audio tour. They give you a little touch screen device and some headphones. They had a kid version and adult version. My oldest kids (7 and 5) got really into it and was teaching me as we went! They have people living and working in some parts of the castle, so those were gated off with guards, but we were able to walk through most of it. It had incredible detailed and luxurious decor. Pictures were not allowed inside, but we managed to sneak in a few to give you an idea! Also on the grounds is the very famous 15th-century St. George Chapel, where a lot of past kings and queens have been buried, including King Henry VIII! They asked for no pictures inside, and since it was a church, I obeyed that time.

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Walking the streets of the Windsor Castle.

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Some sneaky pictures of the interior of the Windsor Castle. (The left picture is the room where the ceiling is covered with crests.)

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Outside of the Windsor Castle. This was the part that was guarded and gated off.

Warwick Castle

Next on our agenda of things to see outside of London was the Warwick Castle! Since it was the week before Halloween, they had the spooky theme all throughout. My kids loved it and they had plenty of kid-friendly activities! Their favorite parts were the story-telling, the archery, and the kid-friendly haunted house. This was also a great castle to visit! After visiting the castle, make sure to stop and eat at the Millwright Arms Pub. It is one of the oldest buildings in Warwick (about 1500 AD) and it was great! The food was surprisingly delicious and the people were very friendly and personable.

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The first view of Warwick Castle after entering the gates.

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The kiddos listening to stories about the castle’s history.

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Liberty and Justice try out archery for the first time!

Bath

We spent a night in Bath, which is an adorable town holding history of its own. The biggest historical attraction is The Roman Baths, hence the town being named Bath. These were fascinating! They offered the same audio tour and my kids learned a lot! It was literally a large spa fully equipped with sauna rooms, massage rooms, swimming pool, and large hot baths. The hot water came from natural springs. Although a lot has been restored and rebuilt, there are still plenty of the original stones and architecture there to enjoy! They’ve done a great job at preserving this and have built a grand visitor’s center around it for people to learn about the history. (Note: It was kind of a handful keeping my nearly 2 year old a safe distance away from the water. Luckily, I had some toy cars and distracted him in a corner for a few minutes while we took turns enjoying the baths. Be prepared for that if you’re going with adventurous toddlers!)

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One of the sacred pools in The Roman Baths. You could see the water boiling in some parts.

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Family picture with Roman Baths.

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Avon River runs through the cute town of Bath.

Stonehenge

Lastly, of course I had to see Stonehenge!!! It’s one of the 7 wonders of the world and it lives true to its name! Getting to the actual stones is a little annoying since they make you park near their fancy schmancy visitor center, pay a bunch of money, and then walk or take their shuttle to the stones. Maybe it annoyed me because it was different than I expected or maybe I was tired…oh well. Once we got to the stones, that all melted away anyway. It was incredible!! We had fun taking pictures and while we were all checking out the stones, my little Grayson was far more interested in the sheep behind us! haha And the one time we forgot the umbrellas, it ended up pouring on us and we got back soaking wet! Nothing could get us down though, we had a great visit.

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The Stonehenge. My favorite part of our road trip outside of London.

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We were all admiring the stones and then we hear Grayson behind us saying “baa”!

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We got soaked!

The road trip was awesome! We would’ve added a couple more stops, like the Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey filming location) and the Stourhead Gardens (one of the Pride & Prejudice filming locations), but the weather and time of year didn’t allow it. Maybe next time…[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]