By: MJ + PJ
To help with reducing your initial confusion upon arriving, heads up on the following nuances of the United Kingdom: On Sunday, it shuts down at four p.m. so plan accordingly. They don’t mind unmatched chairs around a table, and you’ll usually pay before you eat or drink in all casual places. You’ll always need a handful of coins in your pocket. If you don’t know any club football songs, then sing along as best you can. If you rent a car, pay for fuel after you fill your car. It took us a few attempts to get each of these things in order.
What else? The rest of this post serves as a practical guide from our experience traveling as a small family in the United Kingdom over the course of two winter months. See our Northern Ireland and Scotland posts for more about our time in the UK.
Arriving from Buenos Aires, it was a bit of a shock to arrive as far north as we had been south. To switch seasons and to have our day length inverted with the night length was a harsh change! Despite this, we stayed,…and stayed a long time. During the first week in the UK we debated the pros and cons of continuing to Asia versus staying put. We abandoned what was intended to be time spent in a warm Asia, postponing it until a later date.
Plans change, and this was a recurring theme while in the UK.
The high cost of our December budget was purely due to a large purchase late in the month. An end of year sale for transport costs popped up for the final three months, so we took it. While it looks like our most expensive month to date, it was actually second cheapest of the seven so far at a real cost of about $4700. Indeed, by the middle of January we had also paid ahead all of or our final Europe month’s accommodation. We were again able to cancel some expenses by redeeming free miles. Our average for the two months in the UK on paper was $200/day, but only $163/day if you remove the final three months transport expense.
ACCOMMODATIONS
We were lucky to have some family and friends to stay with and to visit while in the UK. To them we are very grateful! This helped keep our accommodation costs lower and to offset the generally higher cost of seeing what we did. Taking more time than we had ever expected in the region, we got to look around at a manageable pace. (Food is actually quite reasonable when talking about supermarket items, with staple foods being slightly cheaper than in the US. Eating out is expensive.).
We considered and looked into using hostels, but these usually charge per person which was close to the cost of a regular hotel room since there were three of us. With few ‘family’ or ‘matrimony’ rooms (like found in South America) hostels consequently moved down our list of options. In the UK, hostels are more suitable for individuals who travel.
If you know someone who lives and works abroad, and is a government employee, you may want to ask them about the availability of state owned housing in the areas you are intending to visit. You might get lucky and some cheaper accommodation if the location and timing is compatible.
We relied heavily on Airbnb in this period, and being here in the winter (off season) conservatively saved us 35% or greater compared to summer prices. By staying in an Airbnb longer than five days, you will often get a 10% to 15% reduction in cost. We became more aware of the quite variable extra fees that can be added on with Airbnb: extra person charges per night, cleaning fees, booking fee, etc. When the fees are added up, check the final price and determine if the benefits of the privacy and independence (and usually laundry machine!) are worth it compared to a standard hotel with a better location in the area. If your Airbnb is cheaper but you have to spend £10+ per day on public transport, it may be better to stay closer to attractions.
TRANSIT
Transit costs can be quite expensive on face value, but in context are reasonable. With an Oyster Card in London, young children travel free on the Tube and buses. PJ was master of the Tube while MJ just got confused below ground. On city buses, regional buses and trains, family passes or half price for child seats are the norm. It is best to ask questions and be very specific about your travel plans when getting a ticket on the service. We inadvertently overpaid for two regional bus tickets on trips (family £26 twice thinking this was correct, but third trip was £9 and explained by the bus driver).
Flights in and around Great Britain are quite cheap if you have no luggage… which is NOT us. This led to us using more train, bus and ferry services, where there is no luggage charge or weight limit (beyond reasonable items per person). These modes take more time, but we had time! The rolling countryside and coastlines in the UK are a part of the reason people visit, and these are best seen from buses and trains. When booking or choosing your seat, consider which side of the vehicle will give you the coastline view!
WINTER
While we had intended to avoid winter on this adventure (to limit having to lug around bulky clothing) we found that we could spend less and stay closer to budget visiting the UK (a known expensive region) in winter.
The consequences of exploring the UK in winter were both positive and negative.
Positives:
- Less busy at attractions (shorter lines, if any lines at all)
- Booking ahead was rarely necessary (but we did anyway if in any doubt)
- Easier access to locations and attractions (on tours)
- Cheaper accommodation
- Smaller tour groups and quieter tour buses
- Photos of places are less obstructed by other tourists (vantage and field of view)
- During early winter, the Christmas markets were in full swing! (Mulled wine and cider for everyone!)
Negatives:
- Outdoor places in the cold with wind limited our tolerance or duration visiting
- Some playgrounds were not open during the week in winter
- Some attractions had sections or exhibits closed
- Some attractions were fully closed for the season, or had only a few days per week
- Less daylight hours means less time to explore
- Additional clothing for layering may be needed
- Having and using thermals was essential
SIGHTSEEING
With more accessible locations and shorter lines, we were able to see most things we had on the radar in the UK. There are a ridiculous amount of things to see and do, but we feel we gave ourselves a good look at the region.
The Heritage Visitor Pass paid for itself in two ways. First, using it at Stonehenge and Old Sarum paid for the price of the pass. We also used it to see several other sites for subsequently no entry cost. Secondly, while others vehicles were turned away late in the day at Stonehenge we were allowed in because we had the Pass (i.e. “prepaid ticket”). (What a relief, and what a deal! That said, to see the Neolithic areas in the winter you really need a car to get around. With a car you can leave earlier and get home later, you have the freedom to move more directly between locations, and you can avoid the strain of trying to get to transport on time. If you have their Heritage pass parking is either free or refunded.
While AJ was participating in a theatre camp (on the invitation of London friends), we took the chance to have some date days. Day one was full of mishaps: Eltham Palace was closed for the winter; then MJ tagged nearby Darwin’s House incorrectly (the one we went to was a halfway house… boy were they surprised); then we raced back in the bitter cold to the city; we didn’t go up the Monument to the Great Fire of London; we did go to St. Paul’s Cathedral but didn’t have enough time and got herded out of the crypt area on two full price tickets. Day two was more productive, and we totally got our money’s worth with an early entry and most of the day in the Churchill War Rooms, and then ducked over to see the Wellington Arch. Day three we had a half day to ourselves seeing the free and fascinating Victoria and Albert Museum thoroughly. Then it was off to the theatre to watch AJ’s performance of The Greatest Showman. It was phenomenal, and AJ had a blast getting to play with and visit with some London children.
What is important to note, particularly in comparison to the ‘usually free’ South America, is that you will mostly have to pay an admission fee for your child, at around 50% to 75% of adult costs. This in itself is fine, in context. What hurts the most is that for a ‘family ticket’ to attractions you basically get no benefit with one child. Subsequent children on a family ticket essentially become ‘free’… so bring two or more children! In our case this was frustrating as with one child we usually had to pay for three standard tickets.
It is a good idea to search around for ‘2 for 1” deals as much as possible. These are often published in a booklet associated with using the regional train system. So, if you stay outside of London and come in (as we did from Apsley and Bicester) on a regional train, you can fill out the little docket and present your train ticket to get one adult free. This can save you £12 to £25 at the listed attractions. You have to have your ticket and the docket to be granted that discount (some require pre-pay/reservation, so read the fine print and do your research).
There are far too many places that we saw to discuss in this post. Have a look at our Bucket List Month 7, Bucket List Month 8, and PHOTOS: England posts for more of what we did in the England.
WALKING
People in the UK don’t mind a walk – this ranges from the necessity of commuting to getting outside on the hills and dales for recreation. People walk quickly in the cities and particularly in the Tube stations, so when you are not hauling your luggage around, you’ll find yourself striding along with the locals. That’s when you’re not dodging them incessantly on the footpaths: there is no side convention for pedestrians to keep right or keep left apparently!
Consistently, we noticed that pedestrian or zebra crossings (crosswalks?) at traffic light intersections had what can only be described as impractical delays. To explain further: traffic lights change and the traffic stops, so you are ready and inclined to cross, but the green walk signal does not light for another four to 10 seconds. (Yes, MJ kept track of this.) This feels like an eternity at some crossings. The problem this presents is two-fold: locals cross when it is safe (independently of the signal), and children see that behavior. While giving traffic generous time to stop may improve safety, it may be sabotaging safe behaviors by frustrating pedestrians. When traveling with a child you want to demonstrate safety around traffic, but it is difficult when the traffic conditions and human nature do not align. In Bolivia, dangerous jay-walking resulted in a influence program of Zebras at zebra crossings at main city intersections – look closely at this picture:
This was aimed at getting children and parents to go to the crosswalk, but also influenced adults to model safer street safety as pedestrians.
Where there are no traffic lights, striped pedestrian crossings in the UK are regulated by pedestrians having right-of-way. These crossings are indicated by flashing yellow globes either side of the crossing.
Where there is a Tube station, particularly the larger city stations, entrances and walkways to the station go under the roads which saves having to cross traffic (as also seen in NYC). Additionally on the topic of walking safely, trains and platforms for trains are of incongruent heights and gaps, so you will see plenty of yellow lines and reminders to…
