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Charles and the Chesterfield Afternoon Tea: A Family Friendly London Tea House

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Disclosure: This post may contain an affiliate link & I may have been compensated for my time writing this article.

London Tea House

Having afternoon tea is something that everyone should experience when visiting the UK and there are no shortage of places to indulge in the tradition. Our first family afternoon tea adventure was at the Chesterfield Mayfair hotel in London, England. After scouring the web for some of the best locations to have tea with kids, we decided the Charles and the Chesterfield Afternoon Tea was the perfect family friendly London tea house. What kids (even “cool” teenage boys) don’t love all things Wonka?

We arrived at the beautiful Chesterfield Mayfair hotel and were immediately greeted by a smiling doorman and escorted to the restaurant. After providing our name, we were whisked to our table in the sunny conservatory. The Wonka fun started immediately as we were presented with mini bottles of fizzy lifting drink with brightly colored straws. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the drink (too sweet) but Derrick and the kids loved it.

London Tea House

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20 Things to Know Before Visiting London

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Disclosure: This post may contain an affiliate link & I may have been compensated for my time writing this article.

Are you visiting the UK for the first time?  Or maybe just want to learn a few more tips before traveling to London?  London quickly became one of our favorite cities with the seemingly endless attractions, great restaurants and pubs, and abundant shopping   The hustle and bustle of the city is contagious, but there are a few things to know before visiting London for the first time.

Things to Know Before Visiting London

1. The UK uses the British Pound (£) which has recently lost a lot of ground against the  US Dollar, making it a fabulous time for Americans to visit.  While the value does fluctuate, the exchange rate at the time of writing this post is $1.25 to 1£!!  That’s crazy!  We visited 2 months ago and it was around $1.34 to 1£ and that was low.  Seeing the rate drop even further, I’m seriously having a hard time writing and not looking at airfare instead!

2. Since we’re on the topic of money, lets talk about tipping.  In restaurants, the average tip is 10-15%, although you need to confirm it hasn’t automatically been added to your bill.  You can add the tip to your credit card, but cash is preferred.   Not all establishments pass on the tips paid on a card to the servers.  You’ll even see on some menus that all tips are given to the servers.  Personally, I found this rather curious. I would have assumed the servers always got the tips, but apparently that is not the case.

You can tip the same 10-15% rate for taxis, but most people just round up or leave £1.  Tip more if its a long ride or the driver helped with luggage.

You don’t tip at the pub if you’ve ordered drinks from the bar.  However, if you are getting table serve you’ll want to tip.

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London Itinerary: Top Family Attractions in London with Teens and Tweens

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family-attractions-in-london

It’s really no surprise that London is a top vacation destination.  It’s full of history, culture, food, shopping, theatre, nightlife, royalty and more all lumped together in England’s capital city. And you don’t have to look far to find countless family attractions there to entertain the entire clan.  We recently spent 5 days in London with our tweens.  While it wasn’t nearly long enough to experience all the kids attractions in London,  we were able to visit many of our must-see spots.

Getting around London is easy with the extensive public transportation system.   We alternated between the bus and tube, depending on where in the city we wanted to go. Grab a tube map when you arrive to help navigate all the different lines. We found everyone to be super helpful and willing to answer our questions when we weren’t sure how to get to our destination.   Having the Oyster Card made it easier (and cheaper) to get around as well.  The city is also extremely walkable.  While we used public transport to get us to from point A to point B, we walked whenever possible.

For our London itinerary, we tried to balance the wants of both parents and children.  We typically strive for at least one youth activity and one adult activity per day. As my kids are older, this is a lot easier than traveling with little ones.  Many of the attractions listed will be fun for teens as well as adults traveling without kids.   Keep reading to find the best family attractions in London.

Family Attractions in London:

Fun things to do with kids in London

  • Platform 9 3/4
  • Hamley’s Toy Store
  • Piccadilly Circus
  • British Museum
  • Changing the Guards
  • Westminster Abbey
  • Big Ben
  • Kensington Palace & Princess Diana Memorial Playground
  • Tower of London
  • London Bridge
  • Shrek’s Adventure
  • London Eye
  • Sea Life London Aquarium
  • Afternoon Tea

London Day #1 – Apartment, Relaxation & Cars

cars-in-london

Lucy and I stayed in the apartment during our first day in London.  Lucy was on a high dosage of pain medication from her surgery, so she was sleepy and spent the day resting.

Derrick & K explored the Chelsea neighborhood with the goal of seeing how many exotic cars they could find. They couldn’t get over how crazy it was to see $200,000+ cars parked all along the street!  I think Derrick wanted to go around with a bucket and sponge to wash the dirt and grime off the high priced McLarens and Bentleys parked throughout the neighborhood.

Prior to the accident, our plan was to take a sightseeing tour of London which included an early look at the Crown Jewels and watching the changing of the guards.  The tour would have lasted until 12:30pm.   Afterwards we planned to have lunch at Piccadilly Market, then wander around sightseeing for the rest of the day.

If you don’t want to take a tour and would like to follow the rest of our itinerary, you could visit the ZSL London Zoo and Platform 9 3/4 for my fellow Harry Potter fans.  The Camden Market is near the zoo, so that’s an option for another activity if you have time.

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24 Hours in Bath, England – Fun Things to do in Bath with Tweens

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fun-things-to-do-in-bath-with-tweens

Bath, a World Heritage site, is famous for it’s beautiful architecture and fascinating history. This lovely city is located only a 2.5 hour drive west of London or just a 90 minute train ride from Paddington Station. The city became a spa in 70 AD when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon.   Today, Bath is well known for these Roman baths and attracts millions of visitors every year.   If you’re planning a day trip to Bath or plan to make it your home base for a few days, take a look at our family friendly guide to things to do in Bath. It’s a city we didn’t get to spend nearly enough time exploring, but I think I can get you off to a good start with these helpful hints!

We had intended to spend more than just a day in Bath. Unfortunately, we experienced our first major travel emergency the morning of our second day.  Lucy fell and broke her wrist. This accident and it’s aftermath took up almost 2 days of our travel time. We spent a significant amount of time at the medical facilities in Bath and now have first hand experience with the Royal United Hospital. The staff was great.   My poor baby broke two bones in her wrist and needed a pin inserted surgically to ensure it healed properly.   We drove straight from the hospital to London, so we only had the chance to explore Bath for one day.   Thankfully, Lucy is recovering nicely.

Things to do in Bath, England

 

exploring-bath-from-the-avon-river

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Getting Up Close With the Animals at Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens

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Disclosure: This post may contain an affiliate link & I may have been compensated for my time writing this article.

cotswold-wildlife-park-and-gardens-england-zoo

If you’re searching for Cotswold’s attractions for kids, look no further than the Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens in Burford.  A mix between a zoo and a safari park, the Cotswold Wildlife Park will delight visitors, young and old. The park boasts of over 260 different species of animals & has the largest privately owned zoological collection in the UK.

As you walk around the grounds, you’ll notice spacious enclosures for the animals that blend in with the natural environment, taking advantage of the beautiful Bradwell Grove Estate. Visitors can get closer to animals than in many of the other zoological collections we’ve visited. Even the kids noted how nice it must be for the animals to have so much space.

The park is divided into several sections, each with it’s own unique plant and animal life. Our first stop was at the Large Animals section, home of the giant tortoises and the parks oldest resident, both in age and duration. These massive reptiles were fascinating to watch. They may be slow and ponderous but their size amazed us when compared to their smaller turtle cousins we were used to seeing. We had seen the giant tortoises at only one other park.

So close!!
Large rhino enclosure with the Manor House in the backdrop.

 

Next, in large paddocks you’ll see the white rhinoceros up close and personal.  Never have we been this close to one. They are usually so far back at our home zoo that you need the long-range camera lens to get a good picture. These guys were just hanging out, having breakfast near the moat.  While we were safe from the animals (and they were safe from us), the design of the wildlife park made feel it like you could just walk right up to the them.

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