Travel Series: Top Five Tips

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost three months since we got back from our trip. Sometimes now it feels like a dream, but a really great one. There are a few things I wish I had known before we went, so hopefully these can help someone planning their own first trip to Europe!

Tip #1: Don’t Worry About Money

It was so much easier than I expected to spend our money in Europe, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. 🙂 I went back and forth about getting local currency before we left, and I’m glad I didn’t. The best thing we had was our credit card with no foreign transaction fees. I called them ahead of time to make sure there wouldn’t be any fees and to let them know we would be traveling so they wouldn’t put a fraud alert on my card. I also called to put a travel notice on my debit card just in case we needed it. Nearly everywhere we went accepted cards, and most of them accepted ApplePay, so all we needed were our phones. If you pay in dollars using your card rather than local currency, your bank will charge you the best available exchange rate. This was by far the best way to spend money and keep track of what we were spending, as well as have the option of disputing the charges if we really needed to (we never did). We used an ATM once in Dublin and once in Edinburgh. We got 100 euros in Dublin and 100 pounds in Edinburgh for emergency use. We wanted to take money out of an ATM as infrequently as possible because Chase charges a fee each time. We didn’t spend all of that before leaving Dublin or Edinburgh, but we were able to spend it by using our pounds again in London and euros again in Paris. We had to go buy lots of snacks to get rid of our last few pounds in London because it wasn’t enough to be worth exchanging it back. I did keep a pound coin with Queen Elizabeth on it just for a keepsake. #GodSavetheQueen

Tip #2: Be Prepared for No WiFi

The last time I was abroad was Argentina in 2012. Things have changed in the world since then. WiFi is so much more readily available, but I wasn’t sure how available it would be in all the places we were going. I’m really glad I planned ahead on finding things like train routes, because it was really spotty in some places. We put a travel plan on our phones before leaving. Verizon charges $10/day/line in Europe for phone service and using your data plan, but it doesn’t charge you for that day unless you use cellular data. We wanted the option in case of emergency, but were trying to keep it off as much as possible. In Dublin and Edinburgh, we were able to find Wi-fi nearly everywhere. It was available for free in the city centers, in our hotel in Dublin, and in nearly every restaurant or shop we went into. It was also pretty reliable and easy to connect to. In New York, WiFi is available in train stations and on trains, so I expected the same in London and Paris. We were shocked at how hard it was to find WiFi in London. Our connection in our AirBnb was spotty at best, it was not available in train stations or on trains, and it was hard to find networks you could connect to in shops and restaurants. In London, I was so glad I had researched everything ahead of time and it wasn’t really necessary for us to be able to look things up on our phones. We found the same thing in Paris. Again, we were really surprised how hard it was to find in a major city, although the WiFi in our hotel was much more reliable. The trains we were on between cities also offered WiFi, but it was also spotty. We were glad to have the option of using cellular data if we really needed it, and that we had figured so much out ahead of time. We also downloaded maps of the areas were visiting on our phones before we left so we could access those without WiFi or cellular data.

Tip #3: Use Public Transportation

Public transportation is so easy to use, and we saved so much money using it. We did try to walk whenever possible, because we like to walk and think that’s the best way to really get to know a place. Dublin and Edinburgh were small enough that we were able to walk nearly anywhere we wanted to go, but in London and Paris things are just too spread out.  The rail system in Dublin looked very convenient and easy to use too, but we just didn’t need it. Riding the trains in London and Paris helped us to get to know the city better by traveling like the locals do and figuring out where things were in relation to each other. It’s also very fast and reliable. If you’re going to use the Tube in London, buy an Oyster card. In Paris we just bought packs of tickets, and it’s worth noting that sometimes you have to scan the same ticket more than once on a journey. A couple of times, we decided to take Ubers or taxis. Uber was available in most places, but not in Dublin. In Dublin we had to download the app MyTaxi to get a car. It worked the same way as Uber or Lyft and we had good experiences.

Tip #4: Pack Light

By pack light, I mean pack as light as you possibly can. We got everything into a carry on and backpack each, and I was thankful for it so many times throughout our trip. We stayed in one place that had an elevator, and everywhere we stayed was somewhere between the third and fifth floor of the building it was in. We spent a lot of time dragging our bags up and down stairs and around city streets. It was pretty chilly in Edinburgh and pretty warm in London, so we packed layers and things that would work in different climates. David has a jacket that is both waterproof and keeps him warm, but I had to pack three different jackets to meet the needs of our trip. I ended up wearing all three of them multiple times, but they took up quite a bit of room in my bag. I took duck boots that were really great for rainy Scotland, but they didn’t fit in my bag either and I had to wear them each time we were traveling. Since we knew all the activities we were doing, it was easy to make sure I had everything I needed while packing as little as possible. I wore the same two pairs of jeans the whole trip. We were able to do laundry while we were staying with Meagan in Edinburgh, but David also washed some of his clothes in our hotel rooms and that worked out just fine. We had laundry available to us at our AirBnb in London too, but never ended up using it. Look into all the places you’re staying and see if laundry is available at any of them. Sometimes hotels will do it for you.

Tip #5: Start Walking

This is David’s top tip from our trip. You will be walking. So much. If you aren’t used to walking a lot, start now. Get on a treadmill and work your way up to at least five miles every day with an incline. The smallest amount we walked any day of our trip was six miles, and some days were between ten-fifteen. In Edinburgh, everything was so hilly too. If you aren’t used to being on your feet all day, you could be pretty sore and it could affect your plans. It also helps to make sure you have shoes that are comfortable all day and broken in before your trip. If you can start walking in the shoes you’re bringing before you leave, so much the better. Having sore feet, hips, and calves can really detract from your enjoyment of all the beautiful and wonderful things you’re seeing and experiencing.

 

There they are, folks! If you’ve been to Europe, what tips would you add?

Travel Series: The Plan

I enjoy having a plan.

I usually enjoy the process of creating a plan too, but planning for a two-week trip to Europe seemed a little daunting to me. I had never planned a vacation of that scale before. When I studied abroad, it was with a decent-size group, and everything was organized for us. Most of the vacations we went on growing up were cruises, so again, minimal planning involved. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to figure everything out on my own, but I decided to try. David is allergic to planning things ahead of time, so I knew it would mostly be up to me. I did reach out to a European travel agent early on in the process, but they never responded to me. This is how I went about it.

• Step One: Dreaming/Budgeting

Long before we settled on any details for our trip, we talked about going on a big vacation together. We both love to travel, and the last time we did a big trip together was for our honeymoon in Hawaii in 2013. I studied abroad in Argentina in 2012, and David went to Greece for work trips in 2015 and 2016. Because of that, I really wanted to go to Europe, and David really wanted to go to South America. We decided that we would go to Europe for this trip since a South American trip would include Argentina, and that way we could go to places neither of us had ever been. We’re both Anglophiles, so of course the UK had to be one of our destinations, but we weren’t sure after that. Once we started talking about it, we put a separate travel line in our budget every month and started setting aside money. We wanted to have a wonderful, memorable time, but not wipe out our savings, so it was important to us to plan with a budget. This stage is also when we made sure our passports were renewed!

• Step Two: Crowdsourcing

Although we had never done a trip like this before, we have lots of friends who have. I started asking around for input from people who have been to Europe and have planned their own trips. This is how we found out that Dublin is the cheapest place to fly into, and were convinced that we needed to add Paris onto our trip. It’s also how I got the idea to use Southwest points to fly to New York first, which saved us hundreds of dollars on our transatlantic flights. A lot of people confirmed what we were thinking, that it’s better to just pick a few destinations and see them well, than to try to visit everywhere in one two-week span. We decided we didn’t want to spend a ton of time traveling between cities, so we narrowed our focus for this trip to just Dublin, Edinburgh, London, and Paris. That still felt like a lot, and we didn’t have a ton of time anywhere, but I’m glad we didn’t try to do any more than that. We had a few friends who have lived in those places, and their input was invaluable. Of course, staying with friends in Edinburgh was the best possible scenario. A few friends who had been on similar trips sent me their detailed itineraries, and that helped me figure out what details needed to be settled before we left.

• Step Three: Securing Dates 

Once we had an idea of where exactly we wanted to go, it was time to nail down dates. We were pretty flexible because I don’t work in the summers, so really anytime from June to early August would work. We knew two weeks was about the maximum of what we could afford for this trip, so I just started looking for flights with all kinds of different dates to see if I could find a good deal. I used the app Hopper to help me keep track of flight prices. You put in your destination and when you want to go, and Hopper will help you find the best price and advise you when prices are likely as low as they will get.

I found a website called European Destinations through a Facebook group I’m a part of. There were several people who said they had booked a trip through the website and it worked out well for them. I was a little wary of it at first because the website doesn’t look really professional. I hadn’t heard of them previously and wasn’t sure if they were a reputable company, but I looked up lots of reviews and it all sounded good. European Destinations allows you to design your own trip, and they take care of booking it for you. You choose your dates and what cities you want to go to, and they will help you find flights, accommodations, and ways to travel between cities. It allowed me to create several different itineraries and save them so I could price compare different dates and order of travel. One of my itineraries I created ended up being a really great deal, and cheaper than it would have been for me to book it all separately. I was able to organize our flights to Dublin, hotel in Dublin, flight to Edinburgh, train to Paris, hotel in Paris, and flights back home all through their website. It was so easy, and everything worked out perfectly. They sent us vouchers for everything we would need on our trip ahead of time, and it was wonderful to have it all in one place. They were really helpful and quick to respond when I had questions. I highly recommend them if you’re booking travel on your own.

As we started getting things booked, I made a Google Doc with a detailed itinerary with a page for each day, including times, addresses of where we were staying, confirmation numbers for flights or train travel, and directions to get to the next place. I also kept a to-do list as the first page of the document with things to get, print, book, and do before leaving. Once everything was settled, I printed off a copy of the itinerary and brought it in a folder, each page in chronological order with copies of tickets and anything else needed for the day. It really helped to have it in a Google Doc because I could also access it on my phone when we were out and about and the folder wasn’t handy.

• Step Four: Where to Stay and Travel Between Cities

I did some of this through European Destinations and some of it on my own, all based on the price. I tried adding several different things to our European Destinations package, and then priced it myself separately to see if they were getting us a better deal or not.

For accommodations through European Destinations, you can choose what level hotel you want to stay in and then choose from several options they give you, all with reviews available. We found a hotel we liked in Dublin in a great location. Since we were staying with friends in Edinburgh, I could opt out of a hotel there. I looked into other places to stay in London and found a better deal through AirBnb, so I opted out of that on our itinerary too. Side note: London is EXPENSIVE. It was by far the most expensive place we stayed on our trip, even though our room was teeny-tiny. I booked our hotel room in Paris directly through the website as well. For each city, I checked the options to European Destinations, googled hotels and hostels, and checked AirBnb.

I looked up train tickets from Edinburgh to London through a rail line that a friend had recommended and found them to be cheaper than what European Destinations was offering, so I booked those on my own. The EuroStar from London to Paris was cheaper through European Destinations, so I booked that directly with them. For me, it was worth checking on all of those things because it ended up saving us a pretty decent chunk of money to do the research and pick and choose what we wanted included in the package.

The train travel between Edinburgh and London, and then London and Paris, was so easy, simple, and comfortable. I highly recommend traveling by train whenever possible.

• Step Five: Activities

Once our days were set in each city, it was time to start breaking down what we wanted to do with our time in each place.

I sat down with David and made a list of what our priorities were in each place. Once we had ideas of what we wanted, I looked them up on a map and looked for things that were close to each other and made sense to do on the same day. I settled on an itinerary for each day in each city, starting with Dublin since we were going there first, and working my way through to Paris. Most cities offer some kind of museum pass that allows you to skip the line at different attractions. I priced out the pass vs. admission prices at each of the places we wanted to go. For all the cities we went to, it wasn’t worth it for us to buy the pass. If we were in each place longer or spent more time at museums, it would have been a great idea. Since it didn’t work out to do it that way, I just bought our admission tickets to each place online and printed them out. For most of the places we visited, buying tickets ahead of time allowed us to skip the line or join a shorter line when we got there. Some things, like the Harry Potter studio tour, required us to purchase tickets ahead of time. I looked for tickets to that about four months before our trip, and by then there was only one time slot left during the whole time we were in London. I ended up having to rework our whole itinerary for London to make it fit since we really wanted to to do the studio tour. If you’re going to try to do that, make sure you book it early!

The fine print on the tickets told us if we could just show them on our phones or needed to print them out, and where to go on arrival. It was different for everywhere we went, but I printed them all out just in case our WiFi wasn’t working on our phones.

Once we had our itinerary set, I also started working out how to get to each place. We walked and used public transportation whenever possible. I downloaded apps for the Subway in New York, Tube in London, and Metro in Paris. Each of those are super helpful, and allow you to plan your route. They’ll tell you which trains to get on and which stops to get off, and where you need to change trains. I was so glad I had downloaded all of those, and ended up using them multiple times before we left and while we were there.

 

I tried to do some research on places to eat, and it was hard for me to find places on Yelp or Google. I found a few places through Facebook groups that people recommended, like White Mulberries in London, but for the most part we just found stuff around us and it worked out great. In Edinburgh, it was really great to have Meagan there to eat with us or recommend places she liked.

The most scheduled thing we planned was our tour with Rabbie’s in the Scottish Highlands (see Scotland Part 2 for details). It was so much better than we expected, and we would really highly recommend it.

• Step Six: Just Go

I spent a lot of time researching and planning. There were a couple of weekends in the late winter and early spring where I really did nothing except work out details. It was totally worth it. We didn’t have to spend any time while we were there figuring out what we wanted to do or how to go about it. Now that it’s over, I’m so glad I invested the time to do that before we left so we could maximize the time we had there. However, there came a point when it was time to stop planning and just let it be. There were all kinds of things we couldn’t plan for or had to be flexible in, and one of the days we had a super loose schedule for the day ended up being one of our favorite days on the trip. I’m glad we left room for spontaneity and making decisions on the fly. It was the best of both worlds for David and me to have days when there was a loose plan, but freedom to linger where we wanted or break off and do something else that looked interesting. Eventually, it’s time to just go and enjoy it!

our most spontaneous, happiest day in Ireland 🙂

Travel Series: London Part 3

Unpopular opinion: if I had been alive in the 1770s, I would have been a Loyalist. I love the royal family. God Save the Queen and all that. (I love America too, okay? But Princess Charlotte is the cutest.)

Our second full day in London was our British Royalty Day, and I loved every minute of it.

We started with coffee and breakfast at an adorable Aussie coffee shop right by Queensway Station, Urban Baristas. They had a v60 for 2 on the menu, so we happily ordered that along with our food. 

We were right by Kensington Palace Gardens, and we walked through them to get to Kensington Palace for our tour. This was our day to go visit our friends Will, Kate, Harry, and Meghan at their home. We were a bit early, so we sat outside and enjoyed the gardens for a bit before our tour began. When we visited it was Prince William’s birthday, and we saw a helicopter fly right over us and land just by the Palace before we went in. Kensington Palace was home to Queen Victoria when she was growing up, so we got to see several rooms that she lived in and learn about her life. Her childhood doll house was one of my favorite parts. We also toured the King’s and Queen’s state apartments in the palace, and saw a Princess Di fashion exhibit.

Next, we went to explore the Sunken Garden, a favorite of Princess Diana and the location where Harry and Meghan were photographed to announce their engagement.

Our afternoon tea at the pavilion overlooking the Sunken Garden was one of the things I was most excited about on the trip, and it did not disappoint. We each had our own pot of tea, as well as a selection of finger sandwiches, scones with cream and jam, and desserts.

We walked around the palace and then along the street right beside it with all the embassies. As we were walking around the side of the palace, we saw a truck coming out that had just delivered their groceries. It was a strange feeling to know that while we were touring the front portion of the Palace, there were members of the royal family at home just on the other side.

We headed home to rest for a bit, and then took the Underground to Westminster to attend Evensong at Westminster Abbey. The building itself is absolutely beautiful, and I was excited to see the place where Will & Kate’s wedding took place. The choir was lovely, but we agreed that the service didn’t feel worshipful. It was strange to be in a place that was so full of beauty and not feel inspired to worship. For dinner, we headed to the local pub, the Westminster Arms, and shared a very British dinner. We had steak and ale pie, some cider (for me) and whiskey (for David), and a lemon tart before heading back to our home in London.

We were both pretty tired at that point, but we decided that we couldn’t just lounge at home for our last evening in London. We ventured out to a craft cocktail place called Old Mary’s, tucked away in a basement that used to be servant’s quarters for the house above. It was a very cool place and the drinks were fantastic. There was only one guy working, and he was also the one who created the menu of drinks. There were only a few other people in there, and we spoke to some of them before we left. They were from Waxhaw, North Carolina, the same town where David’s parents live, and one girl went to the same high school as David’s brother. It’s a small world, after all.

For our last morning in London, we went straight back to Urban Baristas for more coffee and breakfast. This time, I convinced David to sit on the upper level I had been eyeing the day before. Once we finished, we walked back to our AirBnb to collect our things and took the Underground back to St. Pancras. Since we bought Oyster Cards, we were able to return them and get a refund on what we hadn’t spent. Our change was dispensed in pounds, so we spent it all on snacks and water at a Marks and Spencer before we headed back to the land of the Euro. We were glad we arrived a bit early, because the process to get on our train to Paris was much more involved than our journey from Edinburgh-London. On our first journey, our bags weren’t scanned and nobody actually checked our tickets until the train was moving. We just walked onto the train. On the EuroStar from London to Paris, we had to have our bags scanned and passports checked. It was still a much simpler process than getting on a plane and much more comfortable. I thought going underneath the English Channel would be a little scary, but honestly we weren’t even really aware it was happening. We were in open countryside for a while after leaving London, then it was dark and enclosed, and before we knew it, we were in open countryside again, although French this time. Next stop: Paris!

Travel Series: London Part 2

I read a lot of historical fiction.

If that fiction involves England and/or monarchs, so much the better. The Tower of London was something I knew I had to see, and we heard the same from several friends who had been there. That was our first stop on our first full day in London.

We woke up and went straight to the Tube station to go to the Tower. We thought it would be pretty interesting and a good experience to see it. David has read a lot about Henry VIII and his wives in his studies of Anglicanism, so he was excited to see some of it in person. It ended up being one of our favorite sites on the whole trip.

We got to the Tower just as it opened to the public and made a beeline to the Crown Jewels. We read somewhere that the line to see them gets quite long during the day, and like a popular ride at Disney World, its best to go straight there before the crowds arrive. There were already quite a lot of people in there, but we didn’t have to wait long. Photography was not allowed, but I don’t think our phones would have done it justice anyway. It was such a cool experience to see the actual crowns and scepters and orbs that have been used by English monarchs for centuries. When you get to that part with the crowns, you step on a little moving sidewalk that carries you down the line, I assume to prevent people from crowding around the displays. Since we got there early, we were able to walk back and ride past the crowns a couple times to see them better. There are all kinds of other things in the display, including items used at banquets, coronations, and baptisms. We saw the Lily Font that has been used at the baptisms of (almost) all of Queen Elizabeth’s children and grandchildren. There were a few things missing from the display because they were currently in use.

Once we had gawked to our (my) hearts’ content, we headed back to the moat area to take a tour led by one of the guards at the Tower, known as Yeoman Warders or Beefeaters. I’m glad someone recommended this to us, because there were so many people gathered to take the tour we probably would have skipped it otherwise. We were in a huge group, but the man who led our tour was exceptional. If you ever go, please do the tour. It’s included with the price of admission and you learn so much about the history of it, plus they’re all very funny. The tour ended in the chapel where both Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey are buried. We had a snack in the cafe there and then explored some more. We were able to go in the White Tower, originally built in the late 11th century, and see lots of interesting displays. It was such a surreal feeling to walk in a building that people have been walking in for nearly a thousand years. One of my favorite things was St. John’s Chapel. We also walked through the battlements. We kept seeing huge ravens everywhere, and it increased the feeling of being in a storybook. We learned during the tour that ravens are purposely kept there to guard the Crown and Tower, and it is believed that if they leave the Crown will fall, and Britain with it.

When we were through with exploring the Tower, we headed to the St. Katharine Docks. We had lunch and coffee at a very cute little place called White Mulberries with a view of the boats. Tower Bridge is right there, so we walked across it, down along the banks of the Thames a bit, and back across London Bridge. Our Yeoman Warder made a big deal during our tour of the difference between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. Since Tower Bridge is the more impressive one and London Bridge is more famous, people get them mixed up quite often.

Once we crossed back over the river, we wandered a bit, poking our heads into interesting looking buildings and generally just getting to know the city. We headed toward St. Paul’s cathedral and were shocked by how spectacular it was. It was far bigger and grander than what we expected. It cost 18 pounds each just to get in and look, so we decided to forgo that option and just go into a side chapel that was open for prayer.

After that, we walked to a nearby Underground station and went to the Westminster station. It’s close to lots of famous sites, so we walked around to see Westminster Abbey, the Parliament buildings, and Big Ben, which unfortunately was under construction and not really visible. We continued our walk through St. James’s Park to Buckingham Palace, then through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens back to our little square of the city. The gardens were all quite impressive. We were shocked at how much green space there was in such a huge metropolitan area. We stopped for some ice cream and watched the cygnets for a while. In Hyde Park, we walked through a beautiful rose garden and stopped for a while so David could take some pictures. We found one spot where you can see Kensington Palace from all the way across the gardens. There were lots of lovely spots to rest and look around.

We were right back by our AirBnb, so we stopped at Moor & Hitch for dinner. We were the only ones in the restaurant, which was surprising because it was really good. David had a burger and I had fish and chips, and both were great. It was probably my fifth time eating fish and chips that week, and I finally reached my limit. After our full day of exploring, we were both pretty exhausted and we went home and went to bed.

Travel Series: London Part 1

London and I did not get off to a great start. We had just left Scotland, thus far my favorite place I’ve been in the world, and came out of the train into one of the world’s most bustling, busiest cities. Our train brought us to King’s Cross, so of course our first stop was to go see Platform 9 3/4. You can’t actually access the areas around platforms 9 and 10 without a ticket to get on a train, but they have an area set up just outside the ticket turnstiles where you can get your picture taken with the sign saying Platform 9 3/4. It was busy. We thought about waiting in line to get our picture, but we were tired and hot and (I was) grouchy, so we just took one from far away and headed to the Tube station.I heard from other people that the best thing to do was get a reloadable Oyster card to pay for our Tube journeys, so we waited in line for a while to get some. While we were perusing our options, an English man near us asked us how long we were planning to stay. He was actually super helpful and talked through all of our options with us, and recommended that we just use Apple pay on our phones to tap in and out of the turnstiles rather than buying Oyster cards. That sounded like a good plan to us, so we exited the line and headed for the turnstiles. When we tried to tap in, Apple pay came up on our phones, but it kept giving us an error message. An employee came over to look and asked us what country our credit cards were from. When we told him America, he said they had been having trouble with American cards, jokingly adding that it had been worse since Trump was elected. Since we couldn’t get through with our phones, we headed back to the line to buy Oyster cards. We were finally successful and took a couple different Underground trains to get to the stop closest to our AirBnb.When we emerged from the station, it was onto a super crowded, busy street. It felt a lot like New York and there were people, shops, and restaurants everywhere. I was dressed for Scotland (aka with a sweater, jacket, and boots I had to travel in because they wouldn’t fit in my bag) and London was significantly warmer. This, combined with trying to navigate my suitcase down the bustling sidewalk, made me feel like London and I were not going to be best friends.Our flat was just the next street over from the train station, and once we dragged our bags up the four (!) narrow flights of stairs and got the door open, I was kind of shocked to see how tiny it was. It was smaller than the hotel room we had stayed in while we were in Dublin, and smaller than the spare bedroom where we stayed at Meagan and Jacob’s apartment in Edinburgh. It was a studio apartment and one of the cheapest AirBnbs I could find in London, so I knew it would be small, but the pictures made it look quite a bit larger than it actually was. Once again, I was very glad that we each had only a carry on bag and backpack with us, because otherwise we wouldn’t have fit. I was especially glad of this when trying to maneuver my things up the stairs!Once I was able to put my bag down and change into some more weather-appropriate clothing, I was instantly in a more cheerful mood and more excited to explore the city. We had a Harry Potter studio tour scheduled at Leavesden Studios just a few hours after we arrived in London. The studio is in a suburb a little way out from the city, so we didn’t have time to relax and unpack. We were already cutting it a bit close on time. Once we changed clothes, we went to a cafe close by for some takeaway sandwiches and then headed back to the Tube station.To get to our destination, we needed to switch lines a few times. We made our first switch and boarded a new train. The train sat for a few moments, and then we heard an announcement that the train had been delayed but should be departing momentarily. A few moments later, there was another announcement saying that the train had been delayed indefinitely due to a fire farther down the line, and passengers should get off the train and seek other means of transportation.Before we left I downloaded an app for each of the major underground train systems we would be using on our trip. The apps were super helpful, especially the route planners that came with each one. I checked my app and found that the line we just had to get off of was the only way to get to our destination using the Underground. One of the more frustrating things about London, especially coming from Dublin and Edinburgh, was the lack of widely available Wifi. In Dublin and Edinburgh, we found it nearly everywhere we went and it was pretty reliable. In London, it was difficult to find and cut out frequently, even in our AirBnb. We couldn’t find Wifi to figure out the bus system, so we decided to just walk to the station we were supposed to be going to anyway and catch the Overground train. Although I was a little worried about missing our tour, walking to the station was a nice way to see some more of London. We walked through mainly residential neighborhoods and it made me feel a little more friendly toward the city.When we arrived at the station, we saw several fire trucks and emergency vehicles sitting outside of it. An employee assured us that we would still be able to take the Overground train, and that we even had time for a smoke before it was scheduled to arrive! This was another cultural thing that surprised us about Europe – there were people smoking everywhere.We waited for a bit and then boarded a very crowded train. I suppose it was rush hour, and we were taking a commuter train out to a suburb. There was hardly room to squish in, but we managed to find enough space for ourselves. This train was scheduled to make quite a few stops, but it was running late. We heard another announcement that this train would be skipping several stops to try to get back on schedule, and would continue straight on to the end of the line. I was very relieved to hear that, as we were now running quite late and were headed to the end of the line anyway.We exited the train station at our stop and found lots of buses emblazoned with large ads for the Harry Potter studio tour. These buses are specifically chartered to carry passengers from the train station to the studio. You have to show them your studio tour tickets for the same day before they allow you to buy bus tickets. Like almost all of the buses we saw in the UK, it was a double-decker and we headed up to the top.Once we arrived at the studio, we took our vouchers up to the ticket booth to receive our paper tickets. The woman working at the booth was very sweet, and encouraged us to walk smartly as the last tour of the day was just about to start, and there would be no admittance after the doors were closed. We hurried into and through the building to the place where the tours start. Outside the door was the cupboard under the stairs set, and we stopped for a quick picture. We were among the last few people admitted into the room for the tour.The tour started with the movie posters on the wall transforming into video screens, and then we were led into another room like a movie theater. We watched a short video featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, and then the screen lifted to reveal the set where the video had been filmed. We walked through the doors and entered the set of the Great Hall.

It was an incredible experience. The tour featured many of the actual sets, props, and costumes used in the filming of the Harry Potter movies. While we were there, the feature was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so there were some extra sets and props from that film. The Great Hall was set up with the Goblet of Fire by the staff table in the front, complete with Dumbledore’s age line around it. We were able to see all kinds of things and take some fun pictures. There is an experience where you can go in front of a green screen and “fly” on a broomstick. You can also stand next to a broomstick and say “up” and it will rise up into your hand. We sat in a replica of Hagrid’s hut, complete with different size chairs to make whoever is in front seem much larger just like they did with Hagrid in the films. We walked through the Forbidden Forest and Number Four, Privet Drive. There is a cafe in the middle of the tour and David tried some butterbeer ice cream. I think my favorite is still the frozen butterbeer from Universal Studios in Orlando. We also got to board the Hogwarts Express and see Platform 9 3/4 again. There were classroom sets, Gryffindor tower, Dumbledore’s office, the Ford Anglia, Diagon Alley, and lots of other fun things to see.The last stop on the tour was my favorite part. In the last room, they have the actual model of Hogwarts that was used for all exterior shots of the castle in the films. David and I both felt surprisingly emotional looking at it. The detail is incredible and it made it all seem more real. I honestly think it was worth the price of admission just to see Hogwarts. For those of us who grew up with Harry, it’s an awe-inspiring experience to see that idea of home come to life. It made me think of something JK Rowling tweeted in 2015: “All these people saying they never got their Hogwarts letter: you got the letter. You went to Hogwarts. We were all there together.”