In this post you will find a mix of my travel tips and pre-trip planning plus the itinerary I built for my mom and I for when we went to England and Scotland in May 2023. At the bottom of this post, I included other activities and restaurants that we didn’t get a chance to try this go-around, but are on the list for next time!

Pre-Travel Tips

• When choosing what time of the year to travel, I always look at what is financially best (off-peak season), what type of weather I want to experience (definitely not the sweltering heat or dead of winter) and if I am going somwhere that is known for a large festival, event (could drive up the costs)

  • I also comb through social media plus Travel & Leisure

• Before booking your flights, consider flying out on a Wednesday night as it is usually cheaper as is flying round trip

• Book as many of your trains as possible before your trip as they get very expensive the closer to departure time

  • This doesn’t include quick day trip train rides, this mostly relates to longer hauls that can fill up quickly

    • The site I highly recommend is Omio

    • Our trip started by flying into London-Heathrow then training up to Edinburgh since it was cheaper to do roundtrip in/out of London

      • We didn’t book our train tickets ahead of time for fear of delay, missing the train, etc.

        • You could always give yourself plenty of leeway (3 hours from landing to train departure) or you can wait to book day of

• Look into the London Pass to save money on popular tourist stops in the city

  • We booked a two-day pass and go access to almost 10 spots we had on our list to visit; in my opinion, it was worth it

• Try to only bring a carry-on and personal item, especially if hopping from one city to the next

  • If the airline loses your bag or it doesn’t make your flight, it might take time for it to catch up to you

  • So try to pack everything into an expandable carry on as well as a weekender duffle or large tote back

    • I have flown international three times and each time, I used a carry on and duffle bag (and I am a NOTORIOUS overpacker)

• Stick to one color scheme to make packing easier

  • Think capsule, basic pieces that are comfy but chic, easy to pack and easy to steam/iron in case you need to do that when you get to your hotel or rental

• Pack outfits into cubes based off days/regions

  • Example (stopping in London for three days): put three outfits into a medium packing cube and label so you don’t have to go through each cube, each time you are looking for an outfit

• Make sure to have an antitheft purse/bag because pick pocketing is very common! Keep your head on a swivel and put your phone, wallet, anything important in your front pockets/in front of bag.

• On the day of your flight, wake up with plenty of time to look over packing/finish up plus get all your documents in order. What I typically bring or compile ahead of time":

  • Passport

  • Global Entry card (if you have this, if not do not worry; basically Disney Fast Pass for getting back into country)

  • Insurance cards (US insurance cards might not be applicable overseas, could look into international insurance if you are traveling for a bit)

    • You can find more information about travel insurance here.

  • Credit cards - best if using cards that have tap payment and don’t have international transaction fees

  • Pre-exchanged currency (go to local bank and get at least a few hundred US dollars converted to pounds)

    • Make sure to notify the bank you use that you will be going out of the country so they don’t flag your card and put a freeze on it

  • Copies of itinerary and put into a binder/folder:

    • https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C77GP9XB/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVk&th=1

    • https://www.amazon.com/Sooez-Accordion-Organizer-Expanding-Documents/dp/B0CNT83WJ3/ref=pd_sbs_d_sccl_1_2/137-1242368-8788162?pd_rd_w=dp3Fh&content-id=amzn1.sym.aa738fbd-ad05-4d11-aae2-04b598db6305&pf_rd_p=aa738fbd-ad05-4d11-aae2-04b598db6305&pf_rd_r=H3MRPKAGQN4THG86P88C&pd_rd_wg=HV5pt&pd_rd_r=6cc90193-1ae4-42a2-9e83-439a4d518cd5&pd_rd_i=B0CNT83WJ3&th=1

  • Make any Google Docs for trip into PDF and to be available offline

  • Print out tickets for all tours/excursions and put in the binder

    • Can also just save in one central area in email

• Drink a lot of water before and during flight since the air is super dry and you can get dehydrated quickly

• Eat a good, filling, protein packed lunch before getting to the airport or once you get to the airport

  • You will get food on the flight but sometimes it’s not the most filling and not the most tasty

• Before boarding flight make sure to take an Emergen-C packet or use throat spray with antioxidants (lots of germs floating around during the long flight)

• Pack snacks or buy snacks at airport

• Download shows/movies on iPad just in case

  • While there will be TVs on the flight, sometimes you want to watch your own stuff

• Bring a book or Kindle with plenty of downloaded options

Travel Resources

• Google Maps

• Google Translate

• TripAdvisor 

• Get Your Guide

• Omio Trains (in case you need to book any trains while in France)