Hello, internet strangers. My name is Kristen and I’m going on vacation with my family this summer and every time I read an article or click on a stupid Pinterest post some a-hole spouts all about the beautiful places there are in the world without an eff-ing map. The 10 most amazing beaches in the world means nothing if I don’t know where Praia do Carvalho or Brač is off the top of my head. You know what… [lots of clicking and incoherent muttering] BOOM! They are yellow dots below in Portugal and Croatia. DM me to find out where to mail the Nobel Peace Prize.
But that brings me to my trip which is the real purpose of that map: we’re traveling from Boston, MA, USA to London then taking a train to Paris then another train to Bordeaux and finally a third train to Barcelona before flying home. It’s almost as if we won Pig in a Poke.
We will get to each area on its own but we had also considered using Lyon as a midpoint to Marseille or Nice which is why that are on the map as well.
Right now we’re focusing on our first stop: London!
When you research London only knowing the general area it is within the country is that there are official names for the London boroughs… which no one uses and they call pockets of streets different names and then argue about their boundaries. (And I’m not throwing shade at London. I live in Boston where they taught us to do the exact same thing.) But this is what I was seeing:
There is some overlap in naming but that makes it more confusing if anything. It just so happens though that I have a very particular set of skills that does absolutely nothing if you are Liam Niessen-style taken but likes solving problems and drawing maps.
Most of the sights are centrally located (except the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio tour which is off to the northwest) so it’s the inner boroughs because I found it helpful when looking at places to stay.
I broke the locations into Top Sights (what all the lists tell you to do minus the zoo and science museum because we have those in our city and I don’t think they make the cut for us), Harry Potter Sights and Other Things I Want To Do which will probably grow longer but for now is only 3 things.
Here they are again in case you want to copy/paste any info:
TOP SIGHTS
1) Buckingham palace
Where the Queen lives, right? Probably? There's a changing of the guard that you see in movies but a big park nearby for when that takes too long. I estimate we'll plan an hour on this and be done in 10 minutes. If you want to take a tour, the base tour costs £30.00 for adults, £19.50 for 18-24 year olds, £16.50 for 5-17 or disabled and free under 5 but you can upgrade to see more.
2) Westminster Abbey, Big Ben & Parliament
Big Ben is the bell not the clock, you heathens. Also if you don't think I will chant “Look kids! Big Ben! Parliament!” you obviously didn't get my Pig in the Poke reference earlier. Westminster Abbey is 0.2 miles away/kitty corner so that’s close enough that the two dots would have been blobby. There is also a Westminster Cathedral a half mile away because reasons but the one you want is the Abbey. And just to make you question your sanity, Parliament is also referred to as “Westminster Palace”. Big Ben is currently closed for renovations but a guided tour of Parliament is free. Westminster Abbey is £24.00 for adults, £10.00 for 6-17 or £48.00 for a family (2 adults + 2 kids—score! That’s what I have!)
3) London Eye
I’m on the fence about this one. Seems like a big tourist trap but a friend was like “Oh the views though.” It’s a big ass ferris wheel with rooms instead of rickety seats. It’s £29.50 per person if you buy tickets in advance and £36 per person same day.
4) British Museum
The British Museum an amazing collection of antiquities that are a little questionable in origin.
I remember going there the summer after I took Art History in college and loving it. We just read “The Red Pyramid” by Rick Riordan which features it as well so kind of have to go. It’s free!
5) St Paul's Cathedral
Among the highest domes in the world, St. Paul’s Cathedral is part of the architecture that Christopher Wren went to town on after the Great Fire in the 1600s. Tickets from adults are £18.00 and £7.70 for children.
6) The Globe Theatre
The Globe that was around in the time of Shakespeare burnt down a couple times and then was demolished but this is an “academic approximation based on available evidence of the 1599 and 1614 building”. Tickets to main stage shows range from £25.00-£100.00. But there are some other very cool looking shows and workshops (very bummed that family sword fighting is after our trip). Guided tours (including family friendly tours) are £18.70 for adults and £11.00 for under 18.
7) Tower Bridge
The Tower Bridge is different from London Bridge which is just a normal ass bridge. This is the iconic one with towers (gasp!) that looks like one might write a song about it falling down. Tickets are £11.40 for adults and £5.70 for kids.
8) Tower of London
I am very excited for this one. I went last time and we definitely went through the people movers that go past the Crown Jewels several times. Also the Yeoman tour was a lot of fun and I still reference the hazy memory facts from it whenever I can. Tickets are £29.90 for adults, £24.00 for 16-17 year olds (what is this?) and disabled, £14.90 for children 5-15 and there are a slew of family combo passes of which I qualify for £82.10 which is 2 parents + 2 kids.
9) Prime Meridian
Where time starts over and probably something happened in the DaVinci Code! The park where the Prime Meridian line resides is free but there is a Royal Observatory, a Marine Museum and a historical ship nearby for varying fees.
HARRY POTTER SIGHTS
1) King’s Cross Station- Platform 9 3/4 & St. Pancras Station
St. Pancras was used for the exterior train station shots and King’s Cross has a fun prop to look like your going through the wall at 9 3/4.
2) House of MinaLima
This is my map so I can put what I want on it. This is an exhibition by two of the designers from Fantastic Beasts and seems to focus on the graphic design props (newspapers, books, posters) and I am here for it. And it’s free except we will buy all the things when we are there.
3) Diagon Alley
This needs more research but near Leicester Square (pronounced “Lester” because when they name the language after you, you can do whatever you want) to the north next to a PF Changs, google maps has a street labelled “Diagon Alley” BUT general consensus says to instead go south to Cecil Court (photo is of Cecil Court).
4) Millenium Bridge
They fly over this in The Order of the Phoenix but it on the line between Harry Potter specific and general tourism.
5) Leadenhall Market
Another reason for making of this map! To know where this place is and wouldn’t you know, it’s near Shoreditch and Spitafields. Beginning to think this is some sort of Muggle initiative. The inside of the market is what actually looks like Diagon Alley.
6) Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour
This is hiding up in the top corner of the map because it’s an hour away and SURPRISE you need to buy tickets *way* in advance. We now have to do a stupid tour bus at a ridiculous mark up instead of taking public transit because it’s sold out over a month in advance.
(I dropped the Australia High Commission House from this list. It’s the interior of Gringott’s but I’m not sure if you can just go in. It would be to the right of the words “Covent Garden” on the map above)
OTHER THINGS I WANT TO DO
1) Harrod’s
It’s big luxury department store (I assume similar to Macy’s in NYC) but I want to roam around that fancy neighborhood it’s in and I hear the food court is good. I really want a good Victoria Sponge so fingers crossed.
2) Cleopatra’s Needle
This is a request from my daughter referencing
“The Red Pyramid” again. It’s an obelisk. Like the one we see all the time in Charlestown or the Washington Monument.
3) St Dunstan in the East
This is a former Church that was mostly destroyed in WWII but several walls remain and have been covered by the nature around it and is now a park.
I need to do more research on Oyster Cards and tours for the Warner Brothers Studio and where I can get afternoon tea and is afternoon tea worth it and good sewing shops (all with maps otherwise what the hell!) so that is forthcoming along with maps for Paris, Bordeaux and Barcelona! Stay tuned and if you found this helpful please let me know!