We got back almost a week ago from a big family trip to the UK and Paris. It was awesome, and I am so, so grateful. We got to do a lot of cool things and make a ton of memories. But it was also travelling with two neurospicy teens who bicker…all. the. time. It was still parenting, just in a bunch of different places.

I wanted to share a few things – what went well, what we learned, our favourites, and what we would change.

What went well/What we learned:

1. The pacing of our itinerary. We planned pretty much the exact right about of time in each place and allowed enough time for the driving portions, so we didn’t feel rushed at any time during the trip – with the exception of one speed walk to make our ticket time at the Louvre!
2. The variety of our accommodations. We stayed in hostels, hotels, an apartment from booking.com, and a very cool 17th century grain barn VRBO home. And one very terrible hotel on our last night…more on that later.
3. Allowing for neurospicy needs. There were a number of times during the trip that our oldest opted out of an activity to have some alone time back at the accommodation. At first I struggled with this. I knew he’d be totally fine, but I needed to release any preconceived definition of what a “family vacation” meant. He asked for it, he was choosing it, he needed it, and us all having that time was actually super helpful.
4. Mid-trip downtime. Even though we planned the pacing well, we changed some plans during our time in the Cotswolds. We had planned to drive around some more little villages, do more sightseeing, etc. But we opted instead to simply take the day. The place we were staying had lots of room for all of us to have our own space, it was comfortable, and it was cool during a hot day. We all just chilled, and it was exactly what we needed to reset as we prepared for the next phase of our trip.

Our favourites:

1. Big Bus. Our first morning in London we did the Big Bus Hop-on/Hop-off tour, except we never hopped off. It was a low-key way to see all the major sights when we were still adjusting to the time change, and the audio narration was cheesy but fun. The kids both list it as a favourite.
2. Theatre in London. We saw Phantom of the Opera and The Great Gatsby. Both phenomenal. We also went to watch Rachel Zegler sing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” to the street from a balcony outside the theatre where she is starring in Evita. She does this as part of the show, every night at 9:05pm. It’s totally free, you just need to contend with the 1499 other people that are in the street watching with you.
3. Shakespeare’s Globe. This replica of the original Globe theatre in Shakespeare’s day is very cool, and they do a great tour. I was there years ago and the tour included backstage, but because they have a show in previews this wasn’t an option. But, that did mean we got to see the actors rehearsing a few final notes on stage, which for this theatre family was very cool.
4. Mini golf. This may seem like a weird one as it’s not typical that we would do something as “normal” as mini golf on a European vacation, but it was awesome. We were in Hastings on the seaside in England, and they had an awesome adventure and pirate-themed mini golf course. Both kids loved it and we all had a great time.
5. Palais Garnier guided tour. The guided tour of the Paris Opera House was a total highlight. There’s also a self-guided version where you carry around an iPad, but the human guide is so much better. And our guide was excited to share a ton about the Phantom of the Opera, which was a very cool extension from having just seen the show. For those that know, we got to see Box 5! And side note…did you know that the Phantom’s name is actually ERIC?!
6. Paris by Night. We took a “Paris by Night” TootBus tour, where you sit on the open-air top level of their double-decker bus and go on a two-hour driving tour of all the major sights in the city. They time it perfectly to catch the beginning of the sparkles at the Eiffel Tower.
7. Food. I have to say, England has gotten a lot better at food since the last time I was there! Paris was always great, but here were some of our favourite things:
   1. Greggs sausage rolls in the UK. The kids were obsessed.
   2. Sunday roast at any local inn or pub in England.
   3. Crepes in Paris, anywhere. My favourite was lemon juice, sugar, and fresh strawberries.
   4. Croissants and pain au chocolat, in any boulangerie.

What we would change:

1. Don’t always trust the accommodation photos. One of our hotels very old and was probably awesome in the 1910’s, but I don’t think it’s been updated since then. The curtains were broken in our room, the carpet was questionable, and there were cobwebs in all the ceiling corners. We had gone through the reviews, but I think I gave them too much benefit of the doubt.
2. Sometimes savings aren’t worth it. We needed a place to stay close to Heathrow for our final night, and opted for what looked okay (again, don’t trust the photos), had okay reviews, and had a pretty low cost compared to the well-known brands. But it was not worth it. It was awful. While the mattresses were bug-free and the sheets were clean, that’s pretty much all I can say. Everything else was half done, in disrepair, or moldy. It was the last night of this amazing trip, and it ended on a disappointing note. I would rather have spent a little more and had a better experience.

Family photos

One other thing we did in Paris that I would totally recommend is a booking with Flytographer. We did this a few years ago in Maui, and I also had them come to Mom Camp: Wine Country in 2023.

If you’re not familiar with this company, it’s fantastic. Plus it was started by a BC mom, and I love her entrepreneur story. I describe Flytographer as AirBnB for photography, because they have professional photographers in just about every major city in the world. Their prices are super reasonable when you compare costs with other local vendors, and you end up with incredible family photos in incredible locations that have ALL of you, and you don’t have to beg strangers on the street to take photos for you on your iPhone. Our Paris photographer was Rachael and she was phenomenal. Our oldest hates getting his photo taken as it gives him quite a bit of anxiety, but she made him feel totally comfortable and he actually had fun. The booking system is super user-friendly, their web concierge is awesome (and human), and we had the photos within 5 days.

Coming back was rough and another lesson learned – I am VERY glad I took two extra days before I was back at work to manage the jet lag. The best thing you can do is do everything you can to get back on the local schedule as quickly as possible, but that doesn’t help when you’re wide awake at 3am!

We’ve take a number of opportunities, both during the trip and in the week we’ve been home, to chat with the kids about their favourite moments, what experiences they liked best, etc. It’s been a great practice to keep the experiences top of mind so we don’t all just speed on to the next thing.

I love hearing tips from others about their travels – it helps you decide what will be a good fit for your family’s travel style, have first-hand recommendations, etc. I’m grateful to everyone that shared their own experiences as we planned this trip.

Do you have any tips to share that you have take away from family vacations?