We wrapped up our final international travel plans for 2025 with a visit to the United Kingdom, spending two weeks in London and Edinburgh. This was my fourth time in London but our first time as a family of three including one unruly two year old. It was definitely our most challenging family trip so far now that Teddy is so much more independent (and defiant!), but both cities were great for travel with a toddler.
We travelled at the end of August and if you were following travel news, you may know that we were one of thousands of people affected by the Air Canada flight attendants strike. Our departure was scheduled on the week the strike started, so we ended up cancelling for a refund and I booked us on alternate flights via Air Transat and WestJet. Of course, the last minute bookings cost several thousand dollars more than our original fares. Fortunately, I just received an update from Air Canada that my compensation claim for the fare difference has been approved, so we actually ended up getting a good deal since our rebooked return flight was on premium economy.
We landed at Gatwick airport on an early Tuesday morning. Our original flight was supposed to land at London Heathrow so the longer trip to central London threw me for a bit of a loop since we had planned to just catch an easy cab ride from the airport to our hotel. During our pre-baby travel days we would have taken public transit without question, but now that we have so much more stuff with us (stroller, diaper bag, travel crib) along with a 25 lb little guy requiring close supervision, we usually need to take taxis or private drivers for our airport transfers.
Since Gatwick is much further from the city and a private transfer would be exorbitantly expensive, we took a chance with the Gatwick Express train to Victoria station and it actually turned out totally fine. There was ample space on the luggage racks for our bags and we just tag teamed to wrangle Teddy and our stuff on and off the train.
Once at Victoria station, we found the taxi rank and hopped onto a black cab to our hotel. These cabs are awesome as the passenger space is large enough to simply push the stroller directly in like a wheelchair, so we didn’t have to deal with setting up the car seat.
We stayed at Cheval Harrington Court in South Kensington, which is my favourite of the London neighbourhoods that I’ve stayed in so far. It has a more residential feel while being within reasonable walking distance to public transport, restaurants, and tourist attractions. We stayed in an open plan studio apartment that was fully appointed with a kitchen and laundry. They even supplied a real crib so we didn’t bring our Guava Lotus this time — one less thing to pack!
We kept a pretty light itinerary during our four days in London, with only one “big” outing per day, keeping the afternoons free for nap time, walking around, and relaxation.
On our first full day in London, we visited Buckingham Palace for a morning self-guided tour. This was probably the least impressive thing we did and honestly, a bit boring. I guess I was expecting to see more of the private quarters and rooms that are shown in The Crown but the publicly accessible areas are mostly the art galleries. It was also incredibly crowded outside as we arrived and departed just as changing of the guards was happening.
The next morning, we took the Underground over to Covent Garden to check out the London Transport Museum. This activity was intended for vehicle-obsessed Teddy but I enjoyed it too.
On our third and final full day in London, we spent the morning at Kensington Gardens, where Teddy played at the popular Diana Memorial Playground. In the afternoon, we visited the Natural History Museum which dinosaur-obsessed Teddy also loved. Bonus points for being free, although booking tickets is advised since they do timed entry.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention all the good food we had in London. We had researched several restaurants ahead of time, but the place we enjoyed most was one we wandered into by chance as it was across from our hotel – Brother Marcus, serving Eastern Mediterranean cuisine. Other food highlights from London are documented on my Instagram.
Although every restaurant we went to was generally baby/child friendly, mealtimes were a challenge with a picky two year old who demands only fries and ice cream for every meal. I don’t have any good advice yet for managing this aspect of travel!
After our short city break in London, we headed off to Edinburgh for our exploration of Scotland. More on that coming up.
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