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| View of Edinburgh from Holyrood Park |
Summary
Spent 5 days in London, 4 days in Edinburgh. Cold but fantastic trip! Total out of pocket: $4474.74.
Travel Notes (All prices below are USD unless otherwise noted)
Travel Visa
- No Visa necessary to UK for US passport holders.
Airport
- Used CheapAirportParking to book at Hilton LAX and paid majority at hotel with Aspire for the 14x point return.
- Stayed at KAL Lounge using Priority Pass. Was decent enough stay. Chicken wings were excellent, but they ran out.
- Airfare was actually $1300 more, but used my AA gift cards I had been saving. These were gained by credit card annual free credit.
Travel
- In London we used Heathrow Express to get to Paddington station and then walked to the Hilton Metropole. The train ride was excellent! Only took about 15 min and roughly $31.
- My wife and I each ended up adding $32 each to our respective Oyster cards. The girls were free as they were both under 11. We ended up using almost the entire balance of $64 during our 4 days in London.
- Used Uber once to get from JW Marriott to Euston station for the Caledonian Sleeper.
- Caledonian Sleeper was a hit with the girls. However, the schedule was pretty brutal:
- Board: 10:30 PM
- Breakfast: 6:45 AM
- Must be off-train: 8:40 AM
- Given the price and the schedule we likely won't do a sleeper train again.
- We rented a car in Alamo Edinburgh through Amex Travel for the entire stay. We picked up in Edinburgh city center and then chose to drop off at the airport. This way we wouldn't have to take the train to the airport.
- Did not need an IDP, my US drivers license sufficed
- I chose automatic since I was not confident shifting gears with my left hand (everything is reversed).
- Driving in Edinburgh was a mixed bag. Right turns were difficult at times, and it was hard to know what ground markings meant. Roundabouts are great though.
- Chose a Ford Focus, was upgraded to Jaguar XE.
- Mifolds were great to have again for the rental car.
- Google maps was excellent in both London for tube/bus schedules and Edinburgh for driving directions.
Accommodations
- Hilton Metropole
- We had Diamond status for the stay.
- Paid cash ($418.92) to use Amex offer and points promotion. Wasn't worth it.
- Our 2 times we were upgraded to Family Superior Room and Family Plus Superior Room. No luck this time, got Queen Superior Room.
- Executive suite had decent offerings for lunch and dinner (mostly sandwiches).
- Breakfast here is in the restaurant and has an excellent buffet spread.
- Also has indoor pool and sauna room.
- JW Marriott Grosvenor House London
- We had Titanium status for the stay.
- Used 170,000 points + 3 Suite Night Upgrades. Was upgraded to Park View Suite which was normally ~$2600 per night, this is our highest per night redemption so far!
- Point redemption value was a whopping 4.5 cpp.
- Breakfast was in executive lounge. Lunch and dinner spreads were impressive with large number of alcohol choices (we don't drink so I don't have more details here).
- Radisson Blu Edinburgh
- We had Gold status for the stay.
- Used 356,000 points for Family Room.
- Point redemption value was roughly .4 cpp.
- Family room had a small children's play area that the kids loved.
- Breakfast was in the restaurant downstairs. It had a good buffet spread with omelets and other hot options that could be ordered a la a free of charge.
Entertainment
- The girls loved Kidzania. They enjoyed stocking the supermarket the most...
- Warner Bros Harry Potter tour was impressive but too crowded. Moved through without really getting to take in some sections due to how many people were there.
- The Gingerbread cabin at York and Albany was really quaint. The girls really enjoyed being able to decorate the giant gingerbread cookie!
- The Scotland Explorer family pass was great value. We only were able to get to 4 castles/palaces and still feel like we got a really good deal! That and Arthur's Seat were my favorite parts of the trip.
- Edinburgh Zoo had really interesting exhibits and we got to see a good deal of the animals even in the cold weather.
Mobile/Internet
- Our mobile plans covered use in the UK.
Laundry
- We walked to Central Wash - Launderette off Crawford St. in London. Wash was 7 GBP, dry was 3 (1 GBP every 10 min)!
- Didn't get to a laundry in Edinburgh. The place we were going to go closed early on Christmas Eve and nothing was open for Christmas. We ended up hand-washing and hanging clothes to dry around the room.
Local Currency
- Against our better judgement we exchanged at the airport at $1.61 USD to GBP. The actual rate was $1.31 and I saw many places near our hotel that were ~$1.40.
- We only changed $100 for tipping and cash only places. Both London and Edinburgh were great for contactless pay.
- Apple pay was accepted almost everywhere we went, so I left my wallet in hotel safe most of the vacation.
Food
- Leveraged hotel breakfasts and lounges heavily.
- Used Google, Yelp, and Tripadvisor reviews to find decent restaurants that the girls would eat at.
- Also went grocery shopping and used fridge in Edinburgh.
- This may be sacrilege, but we still don't see what all the fuss is about regarding Nandos.
Security
- Brought body pouch for wallet in London. However, since Apple pay was so widely accepted stopped carrying it. Kept phone in zippable front breast pocket.
- Did not feel unsafe at any time in any of our locations during the trip.
- Also did not notice any pickpocket attempts even in the busy areas but there are notices to be aware.
Family
- Brought the mifolds and they worked great for the rental car.
Tipping
- Gave 10% tips at restaurants.
Cold Weather Kit
- Brought umbrellas and a rain poncho.
- The waterproof sneakers I bought worked like a charm for both city walking and hiking.
- This beanie and neck warmer were great too! Both my daughters kept borrowing the neck warmer.
- The gloves I bought worked ok for phone use but were too cold for the climates I tried them. ~4 C/40 F.
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