This post is long overdue. I am writing this just to inspire my self to think of yet another holiday. It could be similar in nature or not, depending on the feeling i get after i finally finished this post. Not too sure how long this post going to be so... maybe I'll start with a quick overview.
I had to refer back to my hotel bookings and my phone camera gallery as this was a while ago (last December). We spent 2 nights in Oxford, 1 night in Bath, 6 nights in London, 1 night in York, 2 nights in Edinburgh, 2 night in Windermere, took an overnight ferry from Liverpool to Belfast and lastly spent 2 nights in Belfast. We took almost all kind of transportation throughout our travel but I think we rather enjoy the train rides. We took a train to York from London and another train from York to Edinburgh. But the most unforgettable experience have to be driving during a snow blizzard from Edinburgh to Lake District.
Day 1 - Heathrow - Windsor - Oxford ✈🚘
Day 2 - The Cotswold + Bicester Village🚘
Day 3 - Bath🚘
Day 4 to 9 - London 🚈🚍
Day 10 - York🚆
Day 11 to 12 - Edinburgh, Scotland🚆🚍
Day 13 to 14 - Windermere, Lake District🚘
Day 15- Liverpool🚢
Day 16 to 18 - Belfast, Northern Ireland 🚕🚍
Let's get into the details shall we? We took Malaysia Airlines flight from KLIA to Heathrow simply because it is a direct 16 hours flight. The last time I went to London was with Etihad and we had to transit in Abu Dhabi. At first, I wanted to break-up the journey so we could visit a transit city but I decided against it as we just want to spend more time in the UK.
Day 1 - Arrival, Magnificent Windsor and A Quiet Oxford on Christmas Day
We left Malaysia for London on the eve of Christmas 2024 and arrived in the wee hour of a very cold Christmas day. Upon arrival, we were greeted by smiling immigration officers wishing Merry Christmas to their colleagues. We went through our security checks in a jiffy. I anticipated long lines and many questions because we did have to Q for almost 2 hours in the summer of 2016. Since we arrived earlier than schedule, we managed to get ourselves cleaned up at the airport, had coffee, acclimatized to the cold weather and pray fajr before going to the car rental company to pick up our rental car. Since it was Christmas day and there were no public transport in service, rental car is the best option available to us. That way, we get to roam freely around the Cotswold before going into London. We rent our car from the company, Budget. We used the app Booking and the whole process is painless except for the price. As we chose to pick up our car at the airport and it was Christmas day, we paid so much for a 4 day rental (more than MYR2,000). That's the price of convenience. The rental company have shuttle services that took you from the airport terminal to their office. Again, so convenient!
After we picked up our car which involve a whole lot of waiting simply because we arrived way too early, we finally made our way to Windsor. It is located just a few minutes drive from Heathrow. Windsor is the best spot to stop and it was very beautiful. It has a lake with many ducks in it, the Long Walk is incredible too and of course, the castle. We also managed to get coffee and pastry at a local coffee shop. There are a few coffee shops selling pastries and souvenir shops that were opened. It was such a lovely walk.
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| Our cute Fiat in Windsor |
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| Sightseeing in Windsor |
We wondered around for a bit and then we made our way to Oxford. We stopped at a service station to use their restroom. All the shops were opened and there were quite a number of people too. We got coffee and a bit of snacks at their small M&S before continuing our journey to Oxford. Driving on the highway was fairly easy however going through their country road is a whole other story. Their speed limit ranging from 15 to 30 miles an hour caused so many arguments between Eddy and I.
After we dropped our bags at our homestay which was located within a short walking distance to Oxford City Centre, we went to explore a little bit of Oxford by foot. We got ourselves kebab from Kebab King for dinner simply because they are halal and were opened on Christmas day. Many souvenir shops were opened as well but the roads were rather quiet as it was a bank holiday in the UK. We walked around Oxford for a bit, browsed the souvenir stores and returned to base before it got dark at around 4pm. We managed to do our laundry as 16 hours flight can get a bit messy. Then we just stay in watched tv the rest of the night. Since we adjusted our biological clock a few days before our arrival to the UK, we experienced no jetlag. Just that I kept waking up at 3am because it was lunch time in Malaysia.
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Day 2 - Timeless charm at The Cotswolds & Boxing Day Sale at Bicester Village
One of the reason why we stayed in Oxford was because we wanted to have a base which will make it easy for us to wander around the Cotswolds. According to AI, the Cotswolds is the largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England and Wales. We visited several towns starting with Burford. We had our breakfast at a charming little place called Bakery on the Hill.
A misty, alluring morning gave way to a brief walk around the charming town of Burford. We soaked up the crisp cold air before setting off for Bibury, a tiny village known as the "most beautiful in England." The road was a mess, with traffic backed up due to the annual Boxing Day Duck Race. We got there just in time to see the organizers release hundreds of rubber ducks into the stream. The sight of them bobbing and racing along, with the crowd cheering from the banks, was an unforgettable, unique tradition. Anyone can buy a duck to take part and the proceeds often go to charity making it a fun event with a serious purpose.
We walked by the clean stream watching real ducks swimming and made our way to the area where "the most beautiful village" is located. Since there were too many people around, we could not really enjoy the uniqueness of the place. Another reason to return to the area some other time. *wink
Our next stop was Bourton-on-the-Water, a small but very popular Cotswolds town. The area was full of people, with many relaxing by the river or gathering in the bustling cafes. Since it was almost lunchtime, most cafes were full, but we found a spot at a cozy shop named La Reine. We ordered tea and pastries, not because we were hungry, but simply to warm our hands. The town was filled with quaint shops, each with beautifully decorated and whimsical window displays. We spent some time browsing before making our way to the next town, Chipping Campden.
Our last stop of our Cotswold's exploration day was Chipping Campden. We arrived around 2:30 pm, but the fading afternoon light and the fog already made it feel dark. To be honest, the town's charming streets and Cotswold stone architecture, while beautiful, felt a bit repetitive after seeing so much of it throughout the day. We snapped a few pictures and then got back on the road, heading straight for Bicester Village.
The hour-long drive from Chipping Campden brought us to Bicester Village Premium Outlet. We hit a bit of traffic on our approach and were surprised to see a long queue of people just to get in. While we waited, I scrolled through my phone and read news reports about the chaos that had broken out earlier in the day, with queues which looked like a messy maze. We were incredibly lucky as our line moved smoothly and we were inside in about 45 minutes.
Our first stop was the multi-faith contemplation room, then we made our way to a few of the high-end stores. We had to make at least a few purchases to justify the long drive! I found a new purse from Furla on sale and my husband insisted I also pick up a small handbag from Coach. I also grabbed a few small items from L'Occitane. To top it all off, we stopped at a kiosk called Vero Latte for a warm apple pie crumble and a cup of hot chocolate. The crumble was a perfect mix of sweet and tart and the hot chocolate was rich and creamy, it was absolutely heavenly.
Day 4 - Oxford's attractions & Bath at night while thinking about a small medical issue
On our last day in Oxford my husband complained about the pain at his toe that he had been feeling on and off since the day before. Oh no, gout attack! As we were mostly driving around the Cotswold, he managed to endure the pain by taking panadol and painkillers. So, the first agenda of the day after a light breakfast and a super nice coffee at the Covered Market, was to find some medicine to relive his pain as he had forgotten to bring his stash.
We did not manage to explore much of Oxford as planned since Eddy was in pain, but we did see all the main attractions such as the the Bodleien Library, Ashmolean Museum (which we didn't enter), the Radcliffe Camera, the Bridge of Sighs and the highlight of the day was visiting the Oxford's Museum of Natural History. Eddy endured the pain (with the help of the painkiller) like a champ!
I tried a non-conventional approach to cheering up Eddy: bribing him with a pair of new shoes. Since he didn't buy anything for himself at Bicester Village, we went to a local shop, Walters of Oxford and found a unique pair. Afterward, we stumbled upon a small Christmas market. It was our first in the UK, and I was surprised to find one still open since they usually close a few days before Christmas. I was only looking forward to the Edinburgh Christmas market, which normally runs until January 10th. Finding even a small one was a pleasant surprise.
Before making our way to Bath which was our final destination before entering the city of London, we stopped at the Covered Market, again, for a quick lunch. There was a small pizza shop called Pizza by Sartorelli's that was buzzing with customers so we ordered a margherita pizza.
We arrived in Bath quite late in the day as the road leading to Bath from Oxford was quite foggy and I made Eddy drive slowly. "Late" here simply means after the sun has already set which happened pretty early during winter time. Upon arrival, we ran into a small difficulty of finding a parking space. The hotel we were staying, the Royal Hotel, had very few parking spaces and they were all fully occupied. So we had to park in a public parking space just a few meters a way from the hotel. The charges is very expensive but we had no other choice.
As usual, upon arrival, we cleaned up for a bit, pray and made our way to find dinner. We walked towards the Pulteney Bridge. We found a small chip shop with halal sign on it and decided to order a fish and chip. They have window seats with a view. Since its night time, we can't really see much.
After that quick meal, we decided to walk a little around Bath Abbey. Most shops were already closed but the night lights surrounding Bath City Centre was very pretty. We returned to our rooms before 8pm.
We stayed at the Royal Hotel, an old hotel established in 1846. It is located very near to the Bath Spa train station. The front desk officer who helped to checked us in was a very nice and polite English chap. We get to chat for a bit and found out that his mom is currently staying in Johor Baharu but, he has never been to Malaysia. The room that we got was very spacious. Even though the floor creaked when we walked around the room, it was still a well maintained hotel with a functional lift. Of all the hotels we stayed, the Royal Hotel had the best complimentary teas and coffee selections. They also gave us Galaxy hot chocolate mix and several biscuits to go with our tea. Its ashamed that we only get to spend 1 night there.
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| We got a cup of hot coco from Mrs. Pot Chocolate House |
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| The Royal Bath Hotel is located at the end of this road, on the left |
Personally, I feel that the best place to visit in Bath is the Bath Guildhall Market. Although it is small in size but, it has the quirkiest collections of souvenirs and products. It is the home of the oldest tea and coffee merchant in Bath established in 1888. We bought our first array of cheese from a cute cheese shop called Nibbles Cheese. Eddy bought a hat and I got a Mini car model. We had fun just wandering around the market. We checked out from our hotel around 11am and rushed to make it back to Heathrow to return our rental car. Other than the foggy highway, our drive was pretty uneventful and we reached our hotel in London before dark.
Upon arrival, we dropped our bags, cleaned up and went hunting for food. We decided to go to Tesco instead and got some provisions such as instant noodles, snacks and juice. Since our hotel was close to the Tower Bridge, we decided to have a picnic at a park overlooking the Tower Bridge. On the hindsight, that was probably not a good idea. But, in my defence, we saw another couples there too and it was not that late in the night. The city was still bustling. After Eddy saw a homeless guy sitting on a bench near us, we decided that its time to head back to our hotel. Plus, it was so cold!
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| We continued our picnic in the warm comfort our our hotel room. |
Day 5 - Columbia Road Flower Market, Spitalfield Market, Imperial War Museum & Battersea Power Station and the London Eye
After a restful sleep, we woke up bright and early, took a bus and made our way to the Columbia Road Flower Market. As they only opened early Morning every Sunday and we only have 1 Sunday in London, we had to go there first thing. I was very curious to see if there are any freshly cut flowers in winter and I am happy to report, the Columbia Road Flower Market did not disappoint. I wished I could buy them all but since we will be out and about the whole day, I didn't get any 😢.
Not too sure if we were too early or because it was winter, but there were not that many people at the market that morning. The vendors were not looking too happy too. I even heard one of them sighing loudly saying, "What a boring life" while arranging his pots of plants. Nearby the flower market, there were a stretched of shops with pretty windows. We have plans to meet a friend for brunch a little later so we just popped into one of the cafes and ordered a cup of coffee and walked around for a little bit before taking the bus to our next market.
We arrived at our next destination, Spitalfields Market slightly before 10am. Do take note that they have different opening times depending on the season. Upon arrival, I saw a shop that has massive offerings of pastries on display. I was always intrigue with those shops so we bought some from the Chai Guys. I must say, they look pretty in videos but English sweet pastries are not my cup of tea and their chai was too sweet for my liking.
We met with a friend who was studying law in London and had a lovely breakfast in a cosy spot called the Market Coffee House. Afterward, we walk around the market for a little bit before heading back to our hotel for a short prayer break.
Before going back to our hotel, we stopped by the old London wall which was located very near our hotel train station, Tower Hill.
Looking at the timestamps of my photos, we took less than an hour break before heading straight back out. London is huge and we wanted to see everything but since it was winter, we know our limitation. I guess, with that in mind, we just tried our best to make full use of what little day lights that we had.
In the evening, we took the bus to the Imperial War Museum. It has so much interesting exhibits but coming from a country that was once colonized by the British Empire, I can't help but to think that most information on display sounded more like a propaganda which aims to justify the wars and ultimately making British Army looks like saints.
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Visiting the Imperial War Museum sparked a bit of Malaysian pride in us. Naturally, our next stop was Battersea Power Station, proudly owned by a Malaysian consortium. Knowing that EPF is one of the partners, I had to see for myself where a tiny portion of my retirement savings has been invested!
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Prior to this trip to the UK, I did watch a few UK's youtubers who went to Battersea which mentioned that it has no footfall and it was not doing well. Clearly, those videos did not manage to dampen my spirit to check that place out for myself. Upon arrival, I was pleasantly surprised with the Christmas decorations. They had a small ice-skating rink, a few pop-up stalls selling candies, fondue and gifts. I especially love the beautiful Christmas tree that they put up at Malaysia Square.
Since we skipped lunch, we decided to grab a bite there. There were long lines everywhere we looked. I wanted to try Nandos but the line was especially long but not due to it being full, it looked like they don't have enough staff to clear the tables quickly. We settled for a light meal at itsu which consist of a tuna/crab stick and avocado maki and a hearty vegetarian soba. We like itsu's concept. It is great for those who want to grab a quick yet healthy bite.
To go back to Central London, we decided to take Uber Boat. I think it is a must do activity and see all the lights at night, its pretty amazing. Just make sure you get a seat outside. I think we got too excited and made the mistake of stopping at Westminster, which was the wrong stop. We jumped off as soon as we saw the Big Ben and the London Eye. It was a 1hr walk to our hotel. We decided to make the best of it by walking along the river.
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Now that this was all a distant memory, I can say that it was a happy mistake. We saw our first London's fish and chips truck and decided to give that a go. Eating chippy with the locals at a small park near the London Eye is a must have experience when you are in London.
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I was thinking that this was a perfect opportunity to walk along the river and cross the Tower Bridge to get to our hotel. But since it was getting late and my husband have yet to received his meds from the pharmacy, he was not willing to walk that far. So, we took a bus from Catherine Street back to our hotel. On the way to the bus station, we passed by a stretch of road with Christmas light display. I was pretty excited to see that because the next day was when we would go to Covent Garden and Soho to watch the theatre, Phantom of the Opera and see the full blown Christmas lights display along the streets.
Day 6 - Anniversary Breakfast at Sky Garden, St Dunstan in the East, Sugar Quay Walk, Leadenhall Market, Covent Garden, Christmas Lights & Phantom of the Opera
This was our last day at Tower Hill's area. It is a solid base if you want to see what central London has to offer. All within a short walking distance from our hotel. We don't really have a fixed itinerary. We just relied on google map and see what interesting area to visit which were close to the places we were. That was our whole MO whilst in London.
For this particular day, we made an advance breakfast reservation at Darwin Brasserie, Sky Garden. The food was good but people come here for the view. It was just an 8 mins walk from our hotel. We were lucky as the sun had decided to shine that morning so we got to enjoy an excellent view of London from above.
After spending a few minutes there, we decided to walk towards Tower Bridge. Although the monument is very, very close to our hotel, we did not manage to visit it properly. Since it is massive and it need at least a whole day to properly visit it, we decided that this time around, it is best to admire it from afar. We ended up at Sugar Quay Walk and spent some time by the river just watching everything.
Today is also the day we will be moving to another hotel located near Bayswater. I just want a change of scenery and to be closer to Notting Hill. Before we head back to our hotel to check-out, we decided to make a quick stop at Leadenhall Market. It is also a short walk from our hotel.
Our checked out and checked in process into our next hotel in Bayswater was a bit dramatic because.... I left my passport in the drawer of our last hotel in Tower Hill. Luckily, the hotel staff allowed us to checked into our room using my Malaysian identity card. We had a quick prayer break and thanks to my husband's excellent navigation skill, we manage to sort out my snafus.
Since we are going to the His Majesty Theatre, we head on to Piccadilly Circus and stopped by Hard Rock Cafe so that Eddy could checked out the merch. He got himself a t-shirt as a souvenir.
There were so many people out and about. At the time, the phone snatching incidents were rampant and viral, so we were a bit nervous. I tried not to use my phone as much and rely on Eddy to navigate. I took several short videos of the pretty christmas lights and mixed them into this reel.
Since we have a few hours to kill before our show, we decided to have a look around the area. All we did was to follow the lights and somehow we ended up at Liberty London. I always wanted to see the building. It is amazing how they preserved this medieval building and convert it into a luxury department store which has been in operation since 1875.
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Our initial intention was just to see the inside of this old building and then have a bite to eat somewhere close to the His Majesty's Theatre. However, we came across a tiny cafe called Arthur's at Liberty. Since the line into the cafe was basically non-existent, we managed to get ourselves a table. We wanted to have tea with scones but since they also have vegetarian pasta and salad, we decided to have tea with our pasta. That was definitely a new combination for us.
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The meal we had was simple and enough for us to continue our journey to the theatre. Upon leaving Liberty, we ended up passing by a few more weird looking Christmas Lights near Carnaby Street and Soho. As the evening went on, the crowds grew. Busses have difficulties to pass through as people spilled into the streets. We walked ever so slowly in the crowds and try to secure our belongings. Everyone seems harmless tho. They were all out to have a good time.
We managed to reach the theatre almost an hour early. So we decided to pop into Farzi Cafe for a simple but delicious hot chai (and to use their toilet 😂).
It is actually Eddy's first time watching a theatre but I think I did make him and the kids watched the Broadway's production of Phantom of the Opera on youtube during the the Covid -19 Lockdown. We were both very excited.
All I can say is, i don't mind watching it again and again and again. We had a great time and totally in awe of the performance.
The show finished at 10pm. That was probably the only time that we stayed out that late. On the way back, we found Phatbuns, a halal burger joint that open late nearby our hotel. We stopped by to take away a couple of burgers and boy, they were good burgers.
Day 6 - Notting Hill, Portobello Road Market, Buckingham Palace, Borough Market, Harrods, Birthday Dinner & New Year's Eve Celebration
We woke up bright and early. Most days, upon waking up, we still had to wait for the rest of London to wake up before we would start our day. We decided to walk slowly towards Portobello Road Market. We stopped by Gail's to have a nice coffee and pastries for breakfast.
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We arrived at Portobello Road Market around 9am. Many stalls are still setting up. We popped into Poundland to have a look around and bought a few knick knacks. We planned to visit Borough Market but since it is still too early, Eddy suggested that we dropped by Buckingham Palace first.
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Walking the Buckingham Palace massive compound sure worked an appetite. We went straight to Borough Market. We were quite nervous because we know that it is a very popular place and the line could be massive. We were right about the crowds but we were surprised of how systematic everything was. Yes, the lines were long but they moved so quickly. We enjoyed several delicacies which made our tummy so very happy. Eddy even managed to grab a few more cheese to add to his cheese collection.
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We left Borough Market and popped into Harrods Food Hall for a quick browsed. I got myself some chocolates and also a tiny birthday cake. We then made our way to our previous hotel in Tower Hill because Eddy's meds had just arrived. We decided to went back early to our hotel and get some rest. We had a special dinner reservation at a Malaysian Restaurant in Bayswater that evening. Looking back, we sure did a lot of eating that day.
to be continued...
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