#Post Title﻿ ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿-﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ ﻿#Site Title

Good Morning!!! Happy Tuesday! Coming to y’all from Menton, France on our last day here although by the time this goes live we will have moved on to my very very very favorite destination… ANTIBES, FRANCE! As I mentioned on stories the other day, I’m often asked when I say this if I love the South of France more than places like Santorini, Amalfi or Switzerland that I also gush about. There are lots of WOW places if you are a Europe first-timer or are looking for a crazy romantic place for a honeymoon or anniversary (I will detail my suggestions and chat more about those spots in other travel posts soon) but for me, the South of France is just an easy, laid back, shop the markets and sip a spritz kind of place.

And now… let’s chat ENGLAND!!! I visited London once about seventeen years ago for one night as the ending stop of a cruise so I’ve basically never been before in terms of really remembering the spots and the food and the vibe. I also think it rained while we were there which I know is common but this go around we had AMAZING weather which made the world of difference in really being able to tour the city.

Let me start by saying once again, I am not a big city Europe loving girl. I think there are so many different kinds of travel loving people and I am personally much of a small-ish town, mingling with the locals, shopping the markets, shopping the makers kind of girl. I really like “checking off” the major cities in each country but after maybe 2-3 days, I am over it. LOL! So having said that, we never deep deep dive into big cities to have any mega advice or restaurant round-ups or anything as much as I do for smaller towns that we spend more time perusing. BUT… here we go!

LONDON!

First things first… do the Hop On, Hop Off bus!!! London is absolutely HUGE. Not sure how it compares to Paris or other major cities I’ve visited but the spanse of things to do and see just felt extra overwhelming comparatively and fairly un-walkable especially in the heat or with kiddos like we typically do. Our most “steps” of the whole trip were in London and that was even WITH using Uber and the bus! So in a good way I guess… lots to see!

When it comes to travel, I am “good at” and “brave with” (according to y’all LOL!) booking the trip and taking the leap BUT that’s about where I stop. I love making my little jot list of places and booking the flights and finding the “best” Airbnbs/hotels and figuring out transportation BUT I usually don’t do much, if any planning beyond that. I usually just wing it when we arrive as far as what we see and where we eat and what we do. I’d say 95% of the time it works out for the best but in London, I do honestly wish I’d done more research. There’s just sooooo much and it’s soooooo huge that it felt almost impossible to simply stroll.

So having said that, my two pointers are… take the bus and do your research! We stayed at THIS HOTEL and it was pretty nice… WITH A/C which of course is a plus and a must for us visiting in June! Although it was a nice location, it did feel “forever-ish away” from anything. BUT I will say that if I remember correctly, I think everything closer into town was SOOOO pricey that it was the best of all things considered.

So all in all I can’t say I have too too many recommendations for London other than the typical… Buckingham Palace, The House of Parliament (Big Ben), Piccadilly Circus, London Bridge (which is actually called Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. We did love walking through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park… if you are going with kiddos, the SEVEN STORY Hamley’s toy store is a MUST… if you like Asian food, their China Town is WOWWWWWW… Coppa Club is a CUTE place to grab food and/or drinks with a beautiful view of the Tower Bridge… and Carnaby Street was an ADORABLE place to walk around, eat and shop! Oh and while you are there, pop into Kingly Court. It’s like the most beautiful and adorable outdoor “food court”.

Buckingham Palace…

My Top / Crossbody / Cardigan / Leggings / Winter’s Shorts / Addie’s Pants

House of Parliament (Big Ben)…

John’s Tee / Jeans

Hyde Park…

Winter’s Shorts / Sandals / Addie’s Pants

Hamley’s…

China Town…

My Top / Crossbody / Cardigan / Leggings

Carnaby…

Coppa Club…

More Random London Snaps…

THE COTSWOLDS!

I feel like this area kind of even needs it’s own blog post because it’s so adorable BUT at the same time, I don’t have too too much to share because we were only there for two days and WE SHOULD HAVE RENTED A CAR!!!

So first things first with my advice for a trip to the Cotswolds… rent a car!!! I am always the first to say to do your research before renting a car in the UK/Europe because big cities are almost always a no-go in my opinion and then lots of smaller towns either don’t have parking or don’t allow cars at all! I even had someone tell me once that in Rome, you are ticketed for driving own certain roads but those signs are all in Italian and they racked up like $500 in tickets when they turned their rental car back in. So needless to say, I usually advice against renting a car and we typically only do so in specific situations. For England, grabbing a rental car in a big city like London seemed overwhelming not to mention the fact that they drive on the left side…

So just like we’ve done time and time again, I chose to hire a private driver through MyDayTrip.com. I’ve found that these rides can in some cases be much easier and sometimes cheaper than renting a car PLUS they can get you places quicker than public transportation with more ease (especially with lots of luggage) AND they’re GREAT for places like Amalfi that require numerous methods of public transportation (as in lots of transfers… ferry, bus, Uber).

HOWEVER, what I didn’t research to realize is that “The Cotswolds” is actually the general name for several different villages and Ubers do not exist in this area. There are taxis but EACH 20-30 minute ride was $100! So with only two days there, a gorgeous hotel worth hanging out in (I’ll chat hotel in a sec!) and pricey rides, we chose to “only visit” Bourton-on-the-Water. Which was amazing and adorable and perfect but just a huge heads up about visiting the Cotswolds!

First, let’s chat hotel! My mom actually chose OUR HOTEL LINKED HERE and it was PERFECT!!! It’s located in Cheltenhem, England which is about 20-30 minutes from Bourton-on-the-Water and also close to lots of other Cotswolds villages.