Categories
Europe

Quick Links for London

Big Ben, London

Planning a trip to London this year? Here are a couple of my favorite links to get you started….try LondonTown; on their homepage right now is a downloadable PDF file on London for Families.

For all of us who love Harry Potter movies, don’t miss a chance to see where the scenes were filmed. The comprehensive Visit Britain site has a section that will guide you to London locations from the books and movies , plus lots of others outside the city and around Britain.

I highly recommend London Walks for moderately-priced and well-executed guided strolls around London. They go to familiar tourist spots, but the rather obscure neighborhood or theme walks are even more interesting and fun.

Harry Potter's Platform 9 and 3/4, London (Scarborough photo)

My older daughter and I went on their Pub Walk (she got to drink lots of lemonade.)

We sauntered along the Thames at sunset, saw the outside of the restored Globe Theater, popped into the Tate Modern for a good view, rounded a corner at night to stumble upon a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s “Golden Hind” Elizabethan warship floating in front of us….and of course enjoyed local company in several pubs.

Have a great time, but pack your brolly/umbrella.

Across the Thames from Westminster (Scarborough photo)

Categories
Europe

Mini-Europe in Brussels, Belgium

Mini People in Mini-Europe, Brussels Belgium (Scarborough photo)Here is an item at Jaunted about a fun family stop in Brussels called Mini-Europe.

It’s scaled-down miniatures of famous European buildings and places.

Walk around the Parthenon in Greece, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (with a little bit of the Berlin Wall as it used to look,) even a small-scale Eiffel Tower and Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Photo Op in Brussels, Belgium (Scarborough photo)

My kids really enjoyed our visit, perhaps because finally those grandiose buildings were scaled for little people and they got to play like Godzilla.

Tons of goofy photo-ops!

That strange atomic-looking thing behind the “Buckingham Palace guard” IS supposed to look like an atom — it’s the giant Atomium, built for an Expo in 1958.

It makes a cool backdrop for the Mini-Europe mini-buildings.

Related Family Travel post: Visit bountiful Brussels