infant travel Archives - Page 2 of 11

Aug 02 2016

Surveying Scotland: What to do on the Isle of Skye (Part I)

Hopefully my picture post piqued your interest in the Isle of Skye. It truly served as the highwater mark of our trip – quite literally at times since we got the most rain there! As I mentioned on the last episode of the Saverocity Observation Deck podcast, if you need good weather to enjoy your vacation, you might need to pass on the Isle of Skye (or stay for two weeks). It does rain a lot in Scotland, especially out in Skye, but it’s not like 24/7 rain. Also, everything still looks beautiful in the rain. Still, the breaks in the rain make you marvel at the natural beauty even more.

Driving from Inverness to Skye

We took a short hop flight from LHR to Inverness that we remember very little of. That’s a good thing! As soon as we got off the plane I had the feeling we were going to really enjoy Scotland.

Being a small airport, there was a huge line at the rental car desk. We were in no rush and the kids were hungry so we took lunch (fish and chips!). Thirty minutes later the desk was completely empty and I grabbed my car with no issue. It’s weird renting a standard sized car after years of renting the tiniest cars possible, but gotta fit all the luggage and strollers!

We had to drive three hours to get to our house in the Isle of Skye. The kids and the wife slept through a bunch of it, thankfully. The decision to make the drive during naptime paid off!

About forty minutes from our house, on the Isle of Skye, we stumbled upon the Sligachan Hotel at around 400 PM. We had done virtually no research but it looked like it had food and a playground so it was time to stretch and eat! This turned out to be the right decision as all the grocery stores closed at 5 PM and we would have starved that night if we hadn’t stopped.

It turns out that the Sligachan Hotel is conveniently situated at the end/beginning of many hikes through the Cuillin Hills – there were backpackers and hikers coming and going the whole time. Seeing all those hikers come in and out was the first time I’ve ever felt a twinge of regret that my kids were with me on a vacation. That quickly passed, but man, who ever would have thought I’d miss hiking the most?

After dinner we made our way on a bunch of one way roads and managed to find our house without getting lost more than once!

Lodging on the Isle of Skye

Now admittedly, there are thousands of blogs out there, but I don’t recall anyone ever writing about the Isle of Skye. My guess is one reason for that is that until someone makes an Airbnb credit card, there is no way to stay here on miles and points (though cashback, of course, works!).

It’s of course tough to figure out lodging when all you have is Airbnb and Trip Advisor (we ended up going with the latter). Making things more complicated, the Isle of Skye is composed of a bunch of “fingers” – peninsulas carved out by glaciers long ago. If you’re on one finger it’s 45-60 minutes to the next, so it’s tough to find some place central. Broadford is a town with some housing, but that isn’t too far into the island so you’re looking at a long drive every day. Portree is the biggest town but it is pretty far inside the island so you might be backtracking to see sites.

My advice? It doesn’t matter much. We drove through almost all of the fingers and they were all beautiful. Also, you’re going to be driving a lot wherever you stay – just enjoy the scenic drives.

We stayed near Carbost and the Talisker Distillery. Every other day on the way home we would stop to pick up eggs from a box on the side of the road (the first time we did it I literally slammed on the brakes to turn in). Our house was four bedrooms, which we spread out in nicely. When my parents joined us later on in the week they got their own room and we still had a room to spare.

I’d happily recommend our house, called Arnaval and run by Isle of Skye Holiday Cottages. Dorothy was great and very responsive, though it takes a long time to respond to texts due to bad reception. We were able to do a nice hike right from our front door which I’ll cover in the next post. Just a beautiful, quaint place to live.

Oh, and it was 160 pounds per night for the four rooms, and you can fit up to 8 people in there. Pretty fair price if you ask me!

Visiting Portree

Our first full day in Skye we went to Portree to pick up supplies. It was raining but we still managed to eat some good fish and chips at this place called “The Chippy.” It’s fried right? So it must be good.

Due to the weather we didn’t venture out too much, which was unfortunate. But there’s lots of great stuff to do in Portree. On subsequent days we discovered a nice bakery called the Isle of Skye Baking Company. Jess also managed to find a nice secluded walk down to the harbor.

Really, though, Portree just served as a supply station for us – we loaded up on groceries and would swing through to grab picnic lunches, but other than that, we wanted to explore nature.

The Fairy Pools

One of the biggest attractions in Skye are the Fairy Pools. People go swimming in these pools although they are absolutely freezing. They are filled with beautiful, clear water cascading down rocks. You can hike all the way from the Fairy Pools to Sligachan in half a day – we will return to do that some day.

Unfortunately, the first day we went the river was flooded and we couldn’t get far past the parking lot. I don’t think M would have gotten very far anyway but she pushed us to try. Of course, she did all the walking downhill and I did all the carrying of her back uphill, but oh well. H slept in the car the whole time. 🙂

Luckily, Jess and I made it back to the Fairy Pools on our last night (after my parents had arrived). We did about an hour hike, although a lot of the time was just spent soaking in the view and taking pictures. The Fairy Pools are definitely worth it but they get crowded (all relative in Skye but parking is at a premium). Go early or go late! The sun doesn’t set until 1030 PM anyway.

Talisker Distillery

On their first day on Skye, my parents graciously agreed to watch the kids for an hour. That meant whiskey! Although Talisker isn’t the most famous Scotch, it’s still a solid single malt and the only distillery on Skye. We weren’t sure if we’d get a chance to visit any other distilleries so we jumped at the opportunity.

The didn’t let us take pictures for fire safety reasons (the Scots are super serious about fire safety as far as I can tell), but it was fun to spend an hour to ourselves.

The worst thing about Skye: midges

Apparently, midges are little flying insects that are super annoying. As long as there is a light breeze you won’t see any, but if the air is still they come out in droves. We didn’t see any, probably due to our not so great weather, but people should know that going in.

Final Thoughts

This post covered about half the things we did in Skye and the next post will cover the rest. We booked four nights and were worried that might have been too long, but honestly we could have spent our entire 2 weeks in the UK there and been happy. You will be hearing about this ad nauseum for one more post!

Surveying Scotland: The Isle of Skye – 11 Photos that will hopefully make you want to visit

I mostly chose the title of this trip report “Surveying Scotland” due to the alliteration. Surveying turned out to be the right verb, though. I once read in Rick Steve’s that you don’t really start appreciating a city until your second or third visit, which is something I have come to live by. That’s why we easily took our kids around London despite some things going south, it’s why I love visiting Madrid, and it’s why I’d love to go back to the Bavarian Alps.

Traveling with kids obviously slowed us down a bit, so it really felt like we only got a taste of Scotland had to offer. A decent taste, but not as much as we might have liked. Wish we had hiked more, sat more, ate more, taken tea more. But it was a great place to bring the kids.

We made the decision early on to make our way to the Isle of Skye – that involved an hour flight from London followed by a three hour car ride. What we didn’t realize at the time was a lot of that car ride was going to be on single lane roads, and adventure in and of itself. Still, we had read that the landscape on the Isle of Skye was beautiful, perhaps reminiscent of the Dingle Peninsula, and so we made the commitment to stay four nights out there.

We didn’t regret it in the least.

Here are some pictures to give you a taste of our experience there. Though I plan on expanding on what we did there, I know some people don’t like wading through long trip reports, so hopefully these photos will inspire some of you to get out to the Isle of Skye. It’s well worth it! No miles, no points, just amazing scenery and great people.

In my next few posts I’ll get to what we did in a bit more detail – but what a place!

Surveying Scotland: Hyatt Regency London The Churchill Impressions

I know people don’t care too much about hotel reviews but I still find them useful, so here are some quick impressions of the Hyatt Regency London: The Churchill (what a name). I used a Diamond Suite Upgrade and stayed as a Hyatt Diamond (thanks to the status match earlier this year). As I mentioned, we were upgraded past even the lowest level suite thanks to the great employee working the desk at the lounge. Here are my impressions.

Location

As we discussed on the last Saverocity Observation Deck podcast, I was deciding between confirmed suite in unfamiliar location (Hyde Park) and smaller room in a favorite location (Covent Garden). The Hyde Park location, while a 30 minute walk, is still fairly closely situated to the West End all things considered.

Hyatt Regency London the Churchill — Being close to Hyde Park is very convenient

Oxford Street gets very busy, but as long as you’re okay with that the location proves quite convenient. Hyde Park lies steps away and a lot of the big stuff lies 15-20 minutes east, so the location is great. As I mentioned, there is also a small park nearby which is great if you have kids.

London sites spread throughout the city, so there is no one location, it’s just a matter of what you are interested in doing. But the Marble Arch area pleasantly surprised me.

Room

Obviously, this would be more useful if we had stayed in a standard room, so I won’t go into too much detail here. Our suite had its own living room, a separate bedroom with door, and 1.5 baths. The second bathroom was really nice since we didn’t have to disturb the kids after they went to bed.

Basically, the Regency Executive Suite is a super nice suite. I think the biggest difference between our room and the standard DSU upgrade is the Regency Suite King doesn’t have the extra bathroom. Here are a couple pictures which basically say all that need to be said about the room.

Lounge

The Regency Club served a nice breakfast. There were a couple of hot items (usually eggs and some kind of meet) and your standard continental fare. One thing I think people will appreciate is there are two lounges: one for adults only. I’m sure those of you who hate my kids will appreciate it :). That also helps to reduce congestion though if you go to breakfast late you still might have to wait for a table.

We never got much of a chance to take advantage of the evening canapes and wine, I’m sure they are your standard fare though. As I’ve mentioned multiple times the lounge attendants are great and probably were one of the highlights of our stay.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking to stay at a Hyatt, you only have two options in London. The Andaz is in a less desirable location (to me), so that makes the Hyatt Regency London: The Churchill (phew!) the desired option by default. Still, the hotel is more than just a location: the staff is great, the rooms are nice (recently refurbished), and while it feels business-like the hotel still has a pleasant vibe. Diamond suite upgrades are nice, great hotel staff are nicer. On to Scotland!

Surveying Scotland: Free activities for young kids in London

One of the benefits of visiting a city repeatedly lies in familiarity. Having visited London multiple times before we had kids, we know our “favorite” places and areas to hang out. Of course, with two kids under four in the mix, a lot of things change by necessity. However, we found that having a nice baseline and knowledge of the city helped us greatly when touring our kids – especially since it was our first stop and we were still in the throes of jetlag.

Despite the stroller unfriendly Tube, London actually turned out to be a great city for our preschooler and infant. Better yet, nothing we experienced had an admission fee. Here are some attractions we found worthwhile (granted we only had three days), and some reasons to consider each.

Walking is free

Walking is the perfect place to start because it’s one of the best ways to get around the city. The very first day (aka the get off the redeye at 7 AM day), we spent the majority of the afternoon walking from our hotel to Covent Garden and back (roundtrip about 4 miles).

kids in London — Stopping for a bite to eat at Borough Market. Note: not free

The next day we walked from the Bank Tube station to see the Tower Bridge (M insisted on seeing London Bridge and we decided that was the best looking one), through Borough Market, and then over to the Tate Modern. After taking a ferry to Embankment we walked to go see Big Ben, had dinner in Covent Garden, and then walked back to the hotel. Another 4 mile day.

Our last day we did a shorter walk through Hyde Park, maybe 2 miles tops. If you’re willing to put the mileage in, you can see almost all of London’s major sites on foot. You avoid the Tube and gain the ability to go at your own pace. Pushing two strollers isn’t that bad, though some parts get very crowded (I’m looking at you Oxford Street!).

Parks are Free

We also spent a lot of time in various parks. Hyde Park is a lovely place – like Central Park there are a lot of different things going on. We of course spent a bunch of time on the playground and looking at ducks.

As a bonus, we were there during British Summer Time – a festival they have in the park two weekends in the summer. Basically: food stalls, free Wimbledon viewings, and free movie viewings. While we did not have the attention span for the latter, the former two were pretty nice!

The nice thing about London (and Europe in general) are there parks everywhere. There was a little park, Portman Square, right across the street from the Hyatt Regency London. They too had their own little summer in the city event. Again, free Wimbledon viewings and food carts.

I actually liked Portman Square’s event better, you could borrow blankets for a small donation (or free if you insist) and there were lots of fun activities for kids to engage in. Giant Connect Four? Yes please!

You can spend plenty of time exploring London’s different parks – we were hoping to picnic at Kew Gardens but decided to bail due to the aforementioned junk (for strollers) London Underground.

Museums are free

Before we had kids, I thought free museums in London were pretty great. With two kids in two, I think free museums are game changing. Why?

Well, we enjoy art quite a bit, but have only taken M to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston twice. Why? Because if your kid has a meltdown in an art museum, you have to leave. Pretty much immediately. Then if you can’t settle them down outside, all your admissions fees are down the drain.

In London? Hop into the National Gallery for 15-30 minutes, see your favorite pieces, and get out of dodge before the kids even have a chance to think about losing it. Before our trip, I just assumed we wouldn’t be visiting the National Gallery at all, even though it’s a museum we enjoy. But the kids passed out on a long walk and we had a nice 30 minute visit. Is it the same as spending a couple hours there when we were without kids? No, of course not, but we still appreciated it nonetheless.

We also brought the kids to the Tate Modern when they were awake. H, being only 1, of course could have cared less. But at three and a half, M is at an age where she can “appreciate” the art a little more. Modern art lends itself to playing a simple game we came up with: “What do you think this looks like?”

Modern art is so…abstract…that there are no wrong answers really! M happily played this game for about 30 minutes and we got to visit the Tate Modern. But if she had been bored after 5 minutes we still would have gotten out of there without losing money. The free museums really allow you to take more “risks” with the kids.

The third museum we visited was the Museum of Childhood, a new one for us. I really enjoyed this museum. The exhibits feature a bunch of old toys – stuff that will make you nostalgic, stuff that you will think is cool like toys from other time periods, and stuff that you wish you had to play with as a kid.

Sprinkled throughout are more interactive play areas for kids – a sand pit, a kitchen, stuff you would find at a regular children’s museum. The play things are a bit worn and simple, but kids under 5 should have a blast. School aged children should be okay provided they aren’t the type who need the fanciest toys (so 99.8% of them).

The absolute highlight for H&M was storytime, which lasted for-eh-ver. Like half an hour! I was so bored by the end but M loved every minute of it and acted out the story again and again throughout the rest of the trip. A craft at the end of storytime was just the cherry on top. A delightful visit and I will be sad when the kids are too old to appreciate a museum like that.

We didn’t have time to hit up the British Museum (aka wow England sure took artifacts from a lot of different countries), Victoria and Albert (aka home of my favorite Chihuly chandelier ever), or the Tate Britain (aka learn about English history I guess?). I’m sure there are other free museums I’m missing too!

Final Thoughts

If you are introducing your kids to international travel, you could do worse than London. Sure, it’s filled with tourists, but there is a reason for that. Take advantage of all the things you can do for free in the city and you can have a great time on a small dime. We left realizing we could have spent an entire week there and been happy, but Scotland lay ahead!

Surveying Scotland: Getting Around London with Young Kids

One thing I neglected to research before leaving was accessibility in London and Scotland. Did you know that the majority of Tube stations in Central London, where the bulk of tourists spend their time, do not have elevator access for strollers or wheelchairs? I do now! Here are some suggestions for getting around London with young kids (the ones who can’t walk far).

The London Underground is not your friend

When we went to Hong Kong with our then two year old, my mother warned us Hong Kong’s subway system wasn’t very stroller friendly. It turned out to be okay, though not great. Let’s not sugarcoat this: the London Underground is horrible if you need to use a stroller or a wheelchair.

Look at this website before planning your trip to London. When an official page detailing how hard it is to find elevators exists, you know you’re in for it. When I booked the Hyatt Regency Churchill, I didn’t bother to look into any of this stuff. I saw that it was near a Tube station (Marble Arch) on the Central line. Perfect, right? Woops.

Our first experience on the Tube, we wanted to take the subway six stops or so, from Marble Arch to Bank (gotta see London Bridge even if it isn’t falling down). Like the unprepared geniuses we are, we left the house with two strollers, diaper bag (in the caddy), and a backpack.

To be honest, I blacked out that experience. Our stress levels were high but somehow we got the kids down (and up) 5 or 6 flights of stairs and a long escalator. We returned home via a ferry and walking.

The next day, we decided to take the Tube again – twice. This time, infant in carrier, preschooler in umbrella stroller (with shoulder strap – key), no diaper bag, just a backpack. We made it down but it was still pretty rough. I understand it’s an old system and all, but unless you are gluttons for punishment for us – skip the Tube. With two young kids it’s really tough, if you have just one, at least one parent can carry the stroller down and the other can escort the kid.

Bottom line: if you are parent to a young child, don’t think being next to a Tube station makes life more convenient. Oh and make sure you get Oyster Cards, even if you don’t return them you’ll probably save money if you take public transport at all.

Buses and Ferries are much more family friendly

If you want to stick to public transportation, the buses and ferries work much better for families. We didn’t take a bus but those famous double decker buses all seem to have a dedicated section for wheelchairs/strollers (“buggys”). They even lean over to make rolling onto the buses easier.

We also took a nice ferry ride from the Tate Modern over to Embankment (near Trafalagar Square). The ferry system uses the same Oyster card system as the rest of public transport so you can save a few pounds. Riding on the water brings a sense of calm and peace and the kids seem to enjoy it. You can ride all the way up and down the Thames if you’d like!

We also enjoyed the ferry because there was a lot more room to spread out and it was much less crowded. Bear in mind we never traveled during rush hours, we do not love punishment THAT much.

London Taxicabs and Uber work well

I probably should Uber more but…I don’t know, I don’t have a good excuse. I’ve read that Uber runs well in London, so putting that out here first.

We did use taxis, which I thought were pretty great. London taxis have this neat feature where all the luggage goes in front of you. They are these funky black cabs where you can fit 5 people in the back and/or luggage. This works out well for strollers: they can go in the back without the need to open the trunk, etc. etc. I just found it super convenient. We are not heavy cab users (except Cab Sauv RIMSHOT) but for those of you who are, I found the London system pretty family friendly.

Walking works great but be prepared to go slowly

I’d say we averaged 5-6 miles of walking every day in London. We walk because we love it; with the kids we add on the benefit of stroller naps. From Marble Arch it’s a 30-45 minute walk to Covent Garden or the Theater District; we did that multiple times.

One thing I noticed with the kids that I hadn’t noticed before is just how crowded London is. Without kids impatient Americans can just cut in and out of the crowds with ease. With strollers, even when we split up, it took a bit of navigation. Oxford Street proved especially difficult: TONS of tourists.

Still, we love walking and really enjoyed walking through all of London with our kids. The real benefit of visiting a city multiple times is you know it well enough to focus on what you love and can use energy to explore as you wish. This works out really well with kids since you have to expend so much energy managing them!

Quick thoughts on the Heathrow Express

I really love the Heathrow Express and the Hyatt Regency is just a quick 10 min cab ride away from Paddington Station where it drops you off. If you book 90+ days in advance, tickets only cost like 6 quid which is a steal. The express train runs every 15 minutes and gets you from Heathrow to London in 15 minutes.

However, since M was still feverish the night before we left, we opted to take a loss on our return ticket on the Heathrow Express and take a cab all the way to Heathrow (about 70 pounds). Up until the very last second we considered pushing her, but ultimately decided taking a more expensive and convenient route would be best for her health and the family’s sanity. Parenthood.

Final Thoughts

Other than the Underground, London feels pretty accessible for young kids. So make sure you don’t plan to use it unless you are staying near an accessible station (and only plan on visiting accessible stations). The odds of that are low. Still, everything else is great and feet work great too! If you are one of those crazy step counters, London can do wonders for your goals!

Surveying Scotland: What to do on the Isle of Skye (Part I)

Driving from Inverness to Skye

Lodging on the Isle of Skye

Visiting Portree

The Fairy Pools

Talisker Distillery

The worst thing about Skye: midges

Final Thoughts

Other Posts in this Series

Surveying Scotland: The Isle of Skye – 11 Photos that will hopefully make you want to visit

Other Posts in this Series

Surveying Scotland: Hyatt Regency London The Churchill Impressions

Location

Room

Lounge

Final Thoughts

Other Posts in this Series

Surveying Scotland: Free activities for young kids in London

Walking is free

Parks are Free

Museums are free

Final Thoughts

Other Posts in this Series

Surveying Scotland: Getting Around London with Young Kids

The London Underground is not your friend

Buses and Ferries are much more family friendly

London Taxicabs and Uber work well

Walking works great but be prepared to go slowly

Quick thoughts on the Heathrow Express

Final Thoughts

Other Posts in this Series