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Going anywhere with a toddler can be… well, scary. They’re unpredictable, emotional, always hungry, and sometimes they just don’t feel like listening. When I was first pregnant with my son, I had these fantastical daydreams about playing with him in a park in Paris – I loved the idea of having new experiences with my little one in tow. Then came the pandemic – and everything came to a crashing halt.
With my son being born a month before the world shut down, understandably we didn’t do much that first year. So when things started to calm down a little bit, the idea of traveling started creeping back in. After proving to myself I could survive solo-parent travel during a short weekend trip with just me and my son, I started to get some big ideas. What if we went somewhere for a month? Just me and him.
Where did I want to take my son on his first international trip?
I know a fair amount of French from school and having stayed in France many years before, however I’ve gotten pretty rusty. After France, Italy was on my list – I had heard they liked children, so maybe people would be helpful and friendly? Through all my months of planning, I couldn’t quite fathom traveling so far to a country with a language barrier for my first big solo trip with N. What would I do if we got lost? If we needed medical help?
I started to think maybe our best bet would be to do a few weeks in England. I had been there before and I felt comfortable navigating the airport and train system. I understood the language and for the most part, the culture is very similar to the US. Yes, England would be good.
After lots and lots of long nights scrolling the internet, of making Airbnb plans and changing them, of questioning how much we could do and maybe going a little crazy over-estimating our abilities, I finally decided on our itinerary for three weeks in England.
So, where did we go?
My initial plan was for us to be in one place for a month – Airbnb has surprisingly great rates for month long rentals. In many cases, I can get a rental for a month at the same rate as one or two weeks thanks to the monthly discounts that some Airbnb hosts offer.
However, after 2 years of being stuck at home, I decided – what the heck – why not just do what I want this time?
Our first stop was in Seaford, Sussex. We spent 3 days in a lovely Airbnb right in the city, close to the tiny end-of-the-line train station and a two minute walk to the bus that would take us to the Seven Sisters.
From there we picked up a rental car and made our way towards the Cotswolds, with a brief stop in Wiltshire to see Jane Austen’s house. In the Cotswolds we stayed at Burleigh Court Hotel, which turned out to be a nice center point for visiting Bath, the Forest of Dean, and Bourton-on-the-Water.
After our stay in the Cotswolds, we did a 2.5 hour drive to the Peak District, reaching it just in time to watch the sunset from the Red Lion restaurant at our hotel – the Peak Edge. A couple of days here to see the two Pemberleys (Chatsworth House and Lyme Park) and a brief stop in Matlock for dinner.
From the Peak District, we made our way to our longest stay at an Airbnb in the Yorkshire Dales. I didn’t expect to think much of the Dales – I had my sights set on the North York Moors or the Lake District instead but we compromised with the Dales situated between the two. I left completely in love with the Dales National Park. From our little parish house-turned-Airbnb in Gargrave, we visited York, Haworth, Windermere, Skipton, and Carlisle.
Our trip concluded with a few days in London and Windsor to make sure we could stop at Harrod’s, as well as wait in line to pay our respects at Queen Elizabeth’s grave.
Our trip itinerary looked like this:
Sept 26-29: Seaford
Sept 29-Oct 2: The Cotswolds
Oct 2-Oct 4: Peak District
Oct 4-Oct 15: Yorkshire Dales
Oct 15-Oct 17: London + Windsor
What was our transportation around England?
Outside of our flights from the US to and from London, we depended on the following transportation (a lot of this would also be possible relying solely on public transportation but we chose to rent a car for flexibility’s sake):
Getting from Heathrow Airport to Seaford:
We took the Underground to Victoria Station – and then from there we took a rail line towards Brighton. We had one changeover in Lewes – so we had to make sure we were in the right train car because the line did split at one point. In the hurry of boarding, we got into the back of the train which we thought was the front, so during the ride we had to stumble our way with our baggage all the way through 5 rumbly train cars!
Getting from Seaford to the Cotswolds:
We took the Gatwick Express train from Seaford station to the car rental center at Gatwick Airport. From there we drove highways to Wiltshire and then to our hotel. The drive was surprisingly easy and I adapted to left-side driving very quickly. The hardest part of the drive was when we reached our hotel – the roads in the Cotswolds can be very steep, narrow, and have lots of blind curves.
Getting from the Cotswolds to the Peaks to Yorkshire Dales:
We relied on our car for the rest of our time up North. We thought we would take more public transportation but the restrictions just felt very unnecessary when you’ve got a toddler around. We did take the train from Gargrave to Carlisle, which went straight through the Dales and over the Ribblehead Viaduct. In the Lake District we also relied on the open-top bus and boat to sightsee on our tight-timeline.
Getting from Leeds to London:
We ended up leaving our rental car in Leeds and taking the high-speed train to King’s Cross in London. The trip was about 3 hours and was pretty smooth-sailing. The Leeds train station was very busy and had a lot of food options to peruse before our journey. A note about the LNER train to London, the platform is not typically announced until 30 min before departure and we had assigned seats. When we arrived at King’s Cross, we had to take the Underground to our hotel by Heathrow (which was maybe our one biggest regret of the trip!)
Where to stay with a toddler in England?
Our English accommodations:
The Lamb’s Knees – Seaford, Sussex Airbnb
Taira Cottage – Gargrave, Skipton Airbnb
Hilton Garden Inn, Hatton Cross, London
We stayed at three hotels and two Airbnbs during our stay in England. My son’s favorite place to stay was our first Airbnb in Seaford, with a robust playroom on the third floor. We had glimpses of the sea and the cliffs from the playroom windows and listened to church bell practice on Tuesday night.
The Burleigh Court Hotel in Stroud was our central point for our visit to the Cotswolds. We were charmed right away with the ivy-covered stone façade and the bucolic views and details of the hotel. The staff was incredibly welcoming and the restaurant was incredible. It was the perfect introduction to the countryside.
The Peak Edge Hotel is where we stayed in the Peak District for two nights. It was on the outskirts of the National Park but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t in a scenic location. The rooms were comfortable and affordable and the Red Lion restaurant was cozy and delicious. This one was slightly less kid-friendly, but the staff was nice nevertheless.
Our Airbnb in Gargrave was a cottage that was once part of the vicarage of St. Andrew’s church. From our window seat on the stairs we could listen to the church bells on Sunday and watch the local passersby. Gargrave was a lovely little village in Skipton – with a number of good places to eat, a train station very close, and a river and canal to walk along.
Our last hotel was the Hilton Garden Inn near Heathrow Airport. Despite being right beside the tarmac, the hotel was incredibly quiet. The staff was kind, the breakfast was robust, and the location was very close to both busses and the underground to London. We were able to grab the bus to Windsor right outside the hotel. The only downside of this location – dragging our luggage up the multiple Underground stairs and then over the walkway for pedestrians. Tough but we made it!
So, this was a brief overview of our three week stay in England. Amazingly, my 2.5 year old exceeded my expectations in every way. With some flexibility on my part, patience, and learning to adjust my expectations, we ended up having an amazing experience.
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