2015 British Isles Trip

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• published: 04 Feb 2016
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Family of five trip to the British Isles in 2015, September. DAY 1: Landed at Gatwick midday. Spent the afternoon sight seeing and walking around London. DAY 2: Harry Potter tour in the morning, walking around London in the afternoon. Nearly recovered from jet lag. DAY 3: Left London in the morning via train to Bournemouth. Picked up rental car and then drove to West Bay/Jurassic Coast (where Broadchurch was filmed). Drove to Taunton to stay the night. DAY 4: Left Taunton to make our way to Cardiff for the Doctor Who Experience. On the way there we met a nice family crabbing at Clevedon Beach. Popped on by Clevedon Hall, then Chepstow Castle in Wales. After lunch, let the kids burn off energy in the Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre. Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay, and then checked out the celebration going on in Bay. Dinner and unexpected late night fireworks. DAY 5: Walked to the other side of Cardiff for breakfast and exploring. Headed to Fishguard to drop off the car hire and catch a ferry to Ireland. Arrived, picked up new car hire, and checked into a hotel in Wexford. Travel day. DAY 6: Drove toward Ennis where our hotel was and to see the Cliffs of Moher, our primary activity for that day. DAY 7: Walked around Ennis in the morning looking at the sites like the Ennis Friary. Then drove towards Poulnabrone Dolmen. Stopped by the Caherconnell fort (www.caherconnell.com) and was amazed with the sheepdog demonstration. On to the Dolmen and the Burren. Afterwards headed to Dublin where we dropped off the car hire. DAY 8: Woke up in Dublin and spent the day exploring the city on foot. Lots of different sites such as Dublinia, Christ Church Cathedral, Guinness and Jameson, Book of Kells, and let the kids get some playtime in at St. Patrick’s Park. DAY 9: Still in Dublin for the morning. Played in St. Stephen’s Green before catching a train to Belfast. Switched to a local commuter train to take us to Larne where we stayed for the night. DAY 10: Larne was an overnight stay to catch a ferry to Scotland. Arrived in Troone and then walked (AND walked!) to the local train station to take a train to Glasgow. Dropped our bags off at the hotel and then walked to the Glasgow Science Centre where the kids had a nice afternoon playing & learning. DAY 11: Picked up our final car hire in Glasgow and then started to drive towards Fort William. On the way there we stopped at Doune Castle (who wouldn’t?!) and had a nice lunch in town. Kids are huge Monty Python fans and loved the tour. (Parents are also huge Outlander fans and loved it as well). The drive was fantastic. Stopped more than once just to take pictures. We stayed overnight in a lovely place in Ardgour. DAY 12: Headed towards Fort William to do the Steall Gorge and Waterfall wall. The Scots are serious about their hill walks! After the walk, we headed towards the Isle of Skye. Stopped at Eileen Donan Castle to snap a quick pic before taking a walk at the Fairy Pools. Got a wee bit of Scottish weather that day! We did get some nice rainbows, however. DAY 13: Left Portree to do the Quiraign Walk. Somehow we got off the designated path while trying to walk up the hill. Decided to follow everyone else and went until we reached a spot that was a bit too treacherous for our youngest. Maybe also our oldest (i.e. James). Took our time leaving Skye, making sure to stop at many sites along the way. Stopped at Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness on the way to Inverness. We were treated to an actual wedding that was going on that day. DAY 14: First of a two night stay in Inverness. On the first day we had a private tour guide that took us to Clava Cairns, Culloden Moor, and Cawdor Castle and gardens. It was a very Outlander themed day! DAY 15: Took the scenic route to Edinburgh through the Cairngorms Nation Park. Very lovely, if adventurous drive! Checked into our hotel and then spent the afternoon wondering around Edinburgh on foot. St. Giles’ Cathedral, Greyfriars Kirkyard, The Elephant House, and we explored some of Edinburgh Castle (among others!). DAY 16: Explored Holyrood Park and Arthur’s Seat. The weather was great so we took our time on the walk. Even found some yummy wild berries to snack on. Left Edinburgh to head back to Glasgow. On the walk, we stopped to see the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel. DAY 17: A bit of a travel day, we took the train to head back to London. Walked around and saw more sights in London that afternoon and evening. Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Piccadilly Circus among other attractions. DAY 18: On our last day we met with family for lunch after a little more sight seeing. After that we took a train to the airport and headed back home via JFK.