Map & Family

A Family Travel Resource

Christmas at Kew Gardens London for families

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Take a twilight winter walk along a magical trail of sound and light.  Stop en route to toast marshmallows or sip a warming toddy.  To round off the year here’s a taster of the annual December nighttime treat at Christmas at Kew Gardens, London.

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  • Just back from Naples, Italy ☀️🍕🍦😀. Wow! It’s colourful, vibrant and culture-packed - a great city to explore and a brilliant base for day trips along the coast of Campania 🏖🍇🏛. It’s grittier than your classic Italian city break but I’d go back tomorrow! I really need a holiday to recover from my holiday now but we’ve in back-to-Uni week so I’m sorting eleventy million photos with one hand and ironing with the other. Just for starters here’s a pic of the bay of Naples - complete with volcano - from Vomero. I can’t resist an aerial view. #naplesitaly #campania #vesuvius #visitnaples . . . . .
  • Here are two of my favourite viewing platforms in London, nearly side by side though you might have to look quite hard to spot the older one. Can you see the Doric column to the left of the picture topped by a golden orb? That’s the Monument to the Great Fire of London, the highest point in the city at 62m when it was built in 1677. It still has a wonderful viewpoint at the top of its 311 stone stairs - and you get a certificate to say you made it to the top! To the right of the pic and easier to spot as it’s 160 metres tall is 20 Fenchurch Street. Otherwise known as the Walkie Talkie it’s home to the Sky Garden on Level 35. You can book ahead to visit the indoor garden, gallery and terrace for a free view of London. I love the mix of old and new around this part of the river - do you have a favourite place to visit near the Thames? Read more about our favourite views of London on the blog, link in profile ⬆️ @themonumentinfo @sg_skygarden #familytravel #visitlondon . . . . .
  • Twenty-first century skyscraper viewed from a 19th century bridge. Which do you prefer? Here’s The Shard on the south bank of the Thames in London seen through some tremendous Victorian ironwork on Tower Bridge. I wonder what the intrepid 432 workmen (and divers!) who constructed the bridge from steel, granite and Portland stone, long before ‘Health and Safety’, would have made of the recent high rise newcomers on London’s skyline? Check out our blog post, link in profile ⬆️, for out top picks of London’s viewpoints. And if you’re in London do pay a visit to Tower Bridge’s immersive exhibition, stellar river views and glass floor walkway! #familytravel @towerbridge #visitlondon #lovegreatbritain . . . . .
  • London really suits all the blue sky we’ve had this summer so it’s the perfect time to be checking out its best viewpoints. Up on the blog is a new Save or Splurge guide to the best sky high city views. Which is your favourite? Is it the London Eye, the bird’s eye view at The Shard or the free and leafy terrace in the Sky Garden? Or maybe it’s world famous Tower Bridge, with it’s Thames river views and aerial glass floor bonus? We’ve tried most of them over the years and - as you’ll see on the blog - in very variable weather ☀️☁️ 🙄. Read on for our top picks and don’t forget your trainers 👟 - a couple of London’s properly old viewpoints don’t have lifts. Link in profile ⬆️ #towerbridge #visitLondon #familytravel . . . . .
  • Is it time for tea? This is Abinger Hammer, a little Surrey village set beside a stream. Idyllically, on sunny summer weekends, village cricket is played on the green whilst picnickers watch and children paddle in the shallows, searching for trout. Jack the Blacksmith strikes the hour on the village clock - if I’d been doing my job properly I’d have posted that moment on Stories but I went for a cuppa with the cricketers instead. Anyway, less than an hour by car from London this is just one of a string of ridiculously pretty Surrey villages, resplendent with picturesque cottages and tea rooms, cosy pubs, woodland walks and local museums. Worth an outing on a slow summer’s day even if your son isn’t playing cricket. 🏏 #familytravel #Surreyhills #visitBritain . . . . .
  • There’s some amazing architecture in railway stations. Will our teens ponder this as they catch trains from platforms across Europe on their interrail adventures this summer? I guess they might as a last resort if they’ve run out of charge. But to avoid such an awful eventuality we’ve drawn up the ultimate interrail packing list. It includes our tried and trusted power packs, travel speakers, chargers and other 21st century essentials for every teen traveller who’s left their parents at home and hopped on a train. It’s a pretty handy checklist for all family holiday packers too. Link is in the profile ⬆️ #familytravel #interrailing #packinglist . . . . .
  • London’s weather - and politics - may be a little unsettled today but the Queen was on the balcony at Buckingham Palace and there were Spitfires and Red Arrows in the sky above. The 100 aircraft flypast celebrated the history and centenary of the Royal Air Force whilst the breathtaking formation flying demonstrated their tremendous skill, nerve and dedication. Crowds applauded the little WW2 Spitfires and excited young air cadets in front of me helpfully identified the planes as they flew over. Tens of thousands of people gathered around the Palace and then dispersed again seemingly effortlessly (though undoubtedly a lot of effort had been made by the calm police presence). London doing pageantry brilliantly. #familytravel #RAF100 #visitlondon . . . . .

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