UK bucket list ideas

We are on track to leave the UK in July.

Our children are Primary Aged and so I wondered if there was anything we should put on our list of things to do before we leave the UK?

We live in the South East of England, about an hour from London.

Thanks

I'm guessing you have done much of the iconic London things already - when I was leaving London I wanted to go on the London Eye, have a curry in Brick Lane and eat at the Ivy (this was 2002!)

When we left Scotland for Australia our 'bucket list' was more about seeing people, as we have friends and family all over the UK, so it included Liverpool (my husband's birth place), Middlesbrough (my birth place), Newcastle (where we'd met at university), Southend (where much of our mis-spent early adulthood happened), Blackpool (just because we'd spent our childhoods going there and wanted our son to experience it). if there are places that are special to you then take your kids there so they are special as a family.

If it is just about places I would focus on the places that have international status and that they are likely to learn about at school in Australia such as the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, Natural History Museum, British Museum rather than places like Legoland and Alton Towers that have equivalents worldwide. Arguably the museum do have but British museums are some of the earliest and I know for my son studying the rosetta stone at school in Australia, having seen the real thing was special for him.

I would also store some of the British countryside in their memory banks - it of course depends where you are going in Australia but one of my son's memorable days before we left was spent in a beer garden with his god parents and the children just messing about in the river - where we lived there was really nothing comparable.

Don't overdo it though - enjoy your last few weeks/months of normal life, there will probably be plenty of stress once you arrive in Australia so don't do what we did and wear yourself out before setting off!

We are on track to leave the UK in July.

Our children are Primary Aged and so I wondered if there was anything we should put on our list of things to do before we leave the UK?

 

We live in the South East of England, about an hour from London.

 

Thanks

Well I would think to concentrate on things which Australia does not have, some of the great Cathedrals like Salisbury, Winchester, canterbury.

Castles like Dover and the classic castles dotted around Wales and further away Edinburgh.

Stonehenge and Avebury

Historic towns like Bath, Chester both magnificent, Tunbridge Wells

If you have the time and energy, the north of Scotland and the Islands.

The British museum, The Imperial war museum, the royal armouries at the Tower of london and at Leeds, Duxford air museum, the Tank museum at Bovington, the natural history museum, the Tower of London and see if its possible to see the ceremony of the Keys in the evening

The Turner galleries at the Tate, finest collection of Turner's work in the world, the National Portrait gallery, the Tate Modern, Shakespears theatre on the South bank, check when it is open for visits outside of performances..

Go up to London and go to Fortnum's, Harrods and Hamleys , this one might be difficult with children, and Burlington arcade, wander into the Reception at the Savoy just to say you've been, if you've got a couple of hundred to throw at it have tea or lunch there, jackets and ties required.

Thank you for taking the time to reply with such detail, you've made some really good points and gven me lots to think about.

Buckingham Palace, the London museums (again), The Globe and Madam Tussaud's keep featuring on our list. You make a good point about not wearing ourselves out too much though!

Fantastic ideas, thank you. We took the children to Liberty's recently - definitely has the wow factor!

I love the Savoy idea.

Fantastic ideas, thank you. We took the children to Liberty's recently - definitely has the wow factor!

I love the Savoy idea.

I added in the ceremony of the Keys at the tower, don't know whether it is still accessible.

And there is the Mappa Mundi at Hereford cathedral and where is the Magna Carta on display.

We are on track to leave the UK in July.

Our children are Primary Aged and so I wondered if there was anything we should put on our list of things to do before we leave the UK?

 

We live in the South East of England, about an hour from London.

 

Thanks

I'm guessing you're around Kent/Sussex area? I can wholeheartedly recommend Leeds Castle near Maidstone. My kids absolutely beg to go there when we visit the UK. There is the castle/moat plus a bird of prey sanctuary, a maze, adventure playgrounds and acres of wood and park land. I'd also recommend Dover Castle and the war rooms/tunnels underneath plus a visit to the White Cliffs of Dover National Trust place. The Museum of Kent Life near Maidstone is interesting for kids also, with opportunities to feed farm animals, historical buildings such as a school room and blacksmiths, plus a play barn with soft play/climbing areas. We also like Dungeness, the beach is desolate, windswept and pebbly but totally in contrast to the Australian beaches we've been to so the kids love it! There are also great fish and chips at The Pilot Inn, another place that the kids ask to go when we are in the UK!

Other than that maybe London stuff, although I can't comment on that only having been to London twice in my 42 years! Family visits (lots of) and countryside other than that.

ETA: Our kids are primary aged too. They were 8 and 10 when we visited the UK this time, and 5 and 7 the last time.

We did loads but from the Bristol area. So took a few day trips and long weekends. Didn't mind a good few hours drive to get to the places.

I'd suggest the Warner Bros tour for Harry Potter, seeing a few good castles (Warwick is one that springs to mind), perhaps visiting Lyme Regis for a weekend to go fossil hunting and having some smashing fish and chips. Also things like a good zoo, aquarium, wildlife parks like Longleat (nothing like it here in Aus really) and a few visits to some National Trust places, not just stately homes but land trust places too.

Simple things for me would also be rock pooling and a day at an English beach and visiting the 2p arcades. A day out in the Forest of Dean or someplace.

London you can easily do in a weekend or two, well, the main things. And if you've done them before I'd try to find new things to do over repeating yourself too much there.

Thank you so much everyone.

Great advice and ideas.

We are on track to leave the UK in July.

Our children are Primary Aged and so I wondered if there was anything we should put on our list of things to do before we leave the UK?

 

We live in the South East of England, about an hour from London.

 

Thanks

As a family we all wrote things on paper, folded them and put them in a bowl, we then each picked out a piece of paper (Kids first lol), we had a fantastic long weekend in Edinburgh and we went to Cadbury world with two of their closest friends and their mum (amongst other things)./

That's a really nice idea.

Fantastic ideas, thank you. We took the children to Liberty's recently - definitely has the wow factor!

I love the Savoy idea.

I added in the ceremony of the Keys at the tower, don't know whether it is still accessible.

I hadn't considered a 'Bucket List' before going. I was more 'F*ckit List' but now I'm getting ideas...

B

Fantastic ideas, thank you. We took the children to Liberty's recently - definitely has the wow factor!

I love the Savoy idea.

Savoy is very good, in another life (sans l'enfants) I stayed there for a weekend with my wife ,Have a cocktail at the american, a popular meeting place for the USAF WW2 bomber boys during the war.

Harry potter world for the kids, and adults too, it's very impressive, I'd echo what others said about east sussex and kent, Leeds castle is excellent, so too is Hever, and Bodium castle is a complete intact moat castle used in plenty of movies..

Fantastic ideas, thank you. We took the children to Liberty's recently - definitely has the wow factor!

I love the Savoy idea.

I thought later about HMS Victory at Portsmouth and the Mary Rose and the Cutty Sark.

How about a trip north. You can fly into Glasgow from Heathrow with tickets from £13.

Then head north to see the mountains, jumps on the train at Fort William - the home of Ben Nevis and get the steam train to Malaig. This is the Hogwarts line and goes over the viaduct used in the movie. So, the kids feel they are on the Hogwarts Express. In Malaig there is a boat that takes you out wildlife spotting - whales, seals, dolphins etc and comes back in time for the train back.

Visit some good english pubs like one of my favorites below..visit some cotswold villages.....have a few good curries before going and some decent draught ales......:cute:

Go ape...if they are old enough...there is nothing like it here, only smaller crappy versions and it builds self confidence and it's lots of fun....also hang out at asda more, you will miss it when you get here

My kids love Legoland and want to go again when we fly back for a visit. Can't say I miss it much though!

My kids love Legoland and want to go again when we fly back for a visit. Can't say I miss it much though!

I don't know how old your kids are, but Windsor Castle is amazing.

My kids love Legoland and want to go again when we fly back for a visit. Can't say I miss it much though!

You know there is Legoland at many of the stopovers on route? Malaysia, Dubai, California etc?

Make sure you set aside some time to spend with extended family.

I've just seen this and it made me think of this post

https://www.thecrazytourist.com/40-places-uk-see-kids-grown/

If nothing else it validates a lot of the suggestions already made