Family Outing to the National Maritime Museum and Queen's House

Tips for Visiting the National Maritime Museum and Queen's House

By Mark Fitzgerald

The National Maritime Museum is sandwiched conveniently between the Old Royal Naval College to the north and the Royal Observatory to the south in Greenwich England.  The museum is collection of maritime artifacts, artwork and the world's largest maritime historical library,

We would start our tour in the Queen's House.  This palace from the 1600's holds the National Maritime Museum's art collection on 3 floors.  The house itself, with its painted ceilings, is worth seeing in addition to the art on the walls.  A neat architectural feature is the Tulip Stairs.  When there see if your family can spot resident ghosts.

Right next door to the Queen's House is the National Maritime Museum.

The Great Map at the
National Maritime Museum

Beyond the art in the Queen's house the museum holds a number of exhibits ranging from flags, photos, models, full sized ships and weapons.  One of the exhibits I believe the family will be interested in is the Great Map.  For the young ones it is matted area where they can play, run and move ships around.  For the older youth there are tablets that will tell about naval events and even use real time ship data of vessels around the world.

Royal Barge at the Maritime Museum

There are other interactive exhibits in the museum as well.  Kids can operate cranes or send telegrams.  There is a ship simulator that allows you to be on the bridge of a modern day ship or in the Children's Gallery you can fire cannons at pirate ships.

There are bathrooms on the ground floor of the Queen's House and each floor of the National Maritime Museum.  WiFi is available in the Compass Lounge, located on the ground floor of the main museum.  While in the Compass Lounge pick up a Compass Card.  This barcoded card allows you to find hidden stories and features throughout the museum.  Entrance to the Queen's House and National Maritime Museum is free but may have temporary exhibits that require tickets.

There are several options in getting your family to Greenwich. The first option is to talk a boat and arrive at the Greenwich Pier. This will take you about an hour from Embankment. Another option is to take the Dockland Light Rail from Tower Hill to Cutty Sark or bus route 188. If you are feeling adventurous you can ride a bike to Cubitt Town and walk under the river through the Greenwich foot tunnel.

A brief overview by Kevin Kilpatrick about the National Maritime Museum:

The Floor Plan of the National Maritime Museum:

A map of the National Maritime Museum:

Going on a family vacation builds memories, provides life changing experiences and helps teach about the world we live in. Take time to explore, enjoy and have fun. If the National Maritime Museum sounded interesting, you may also like the Discover Greenwich Visitor Center. You can also look at our entire list of London Attractions.

Taking to the water with your family visiting the Old Royal Naval College

Tips for visiting the Discover Greenwich Visitor Center and ORNC

By Mark Fitzgerald

Discover Greenwich Visitor Center

My original thought in visiting Greenwich was solely thinking about the Prime Meridian.  Greenwich is a London Borough and has a collection of wonderful places to visit including the National Maritime Museum, the Greenwich Market and the Old Royal Naval College.

The Old Royal Naval College (ORNC) looks and feels like a college campus with old buildings and grassy quads.  It was built originally as a royal residence, but never used as one.  These facilities were transformed to house Naval Pensioners or retirees, similar to Chelsea for the army.  The remodel was done by Christopher Wren and in my opinion looks very similar to St. Pauls Cathedral.

Though its main attractions are the Painted Hall and the Chapel, start in the Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre.  There are hands on activities for all agents and exhibits to help situation where you are at.  The visitors center is on the west end of the campus and closest to most transportation stops.  From the Discovery Center head east along the water front.

Old Royal Naval College (ORNC)

Of the four buildings on the quad the Painted Hall is the one on the south west.  It was originally the dining room and is a sight to impress visitors.  The ceiling is painted to tell the story of how King William III had liberated Europe from King Louis XIV.  The chapel is across the way in the south east building and depicts the Biblical story of Paul shipwrecked on the Isle of Malta.

Your family can find bathrooms in the Discover Greenwich visitor's center.  As these facilities are also used by the University of Greenwich you may also find bathrooms in other locations, such as the Queen Mary undercroft.  There is no wifi in the public areas.

There are several options in getting your family to Greenwich.  The first option is to talk a boat and arrive at the Greenwich Pier.  This will take you about an hour from Embankment.  Another option is to take the Dockland Light Rail from Tower Hill to Cutty Sark or bus route 188. If you are feeling adventurous you can ride a bike to Cubitt Town and walk under the river through the Greenwich foot tunnel.

A quick overview of the Old Royal Naval College can be seen on YouTube by Greenwich in London:

Map of ORNC and Discover Greenwich

Floor Plan of Old Royal Naval College

Going on a family vacation builds memories, provides life changing experiences and helps teach about the world we live in. Take time to explore, enjoy and have fun. If the Discover Greenwich Visitor Center and ORNC sounded interesting, you may also like the Banqueting House. You can also look at our entire list of London Attractions.

London Transport Museum is one of the most family friendly sites in London

Tips for Visiting the London Transport Museum
By Mark Fitzgerald
The London Transport Museum has to be one of the most family friendly museums in all of London. The museum has hands on activities and exhibits for all ages.

Entrance to the London Transport Museum

Start your visit by entering the museum through the Covent Garden Piazza. After you purchase tickets the museum will guide you to start at the top on level 2 (the 3rd floor) and work back down to the ground floor. Not only does this help with the flow of the museum it keeps you in order chronologically. The top floor exhibits start in the 19th century and then works you towards the present day.

Level 1 (2nd Floor) has a children’s interactive area with the one of the highlights is being able to board and drive a London Optare bus. Younger kids can try on replica costumes and discover mystery objects. They even have a play section to move buses and trains around a model version of London. Even your teens will enjoy the chance get some hands on activities or simply exploring one of the 20 large trains, taxis and buses.

Buses at the London Transport Museum

The museum closes at 6 every day and opens late on Fridays.  The prices of admission is a little steep for adults at £15, but children under 17 are free.  The larger your family the better the deal.  This is a London Attraction in which you can get in free if your purchase the London Pass.  Either way tickets are good for a year, so you can come back another day.  All toilets, including accessible toilets, and baby changing facilities are on the ground floor.

The museum has a cafe, known as the Upper Deck, above the gift shop.  You can pick up a burger, chips and a drink for about £10.  Note that a 12% tip will be added to your bill.   Open on weekends is the Lower Desk Cafe, which is more of a self service vending operation.  You can also take a lunch to the museum and use their picnic area.  Wifi is available for you to use in the museum, make sure that your phone is set correctly.

For the real train enthusiast family, consider the Acton Museum Depot.  The warehouse for the museum is open on select weekends throughout the year.   Located 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) away, or 30 minutes on the Picadilly line, the Depot is where they keep the bulk of the 400,000 items the museum has in its collection and most of its rolling stock.  Entrance will cost you £10.

The main London Transport Museum most accessible Tube Station is Covent Garden on the Picadilly Line.  There is also Embankment Station which uses the Circle and District lines.  You can always use the London Transport option of riding a bike or one of the many buses in the area. The bike dock on the back side of the building on Wellington and Tavistock.

Map of the London Transport Museum:

Overview of London Transport Museum

Floor Plan of the London Transport Museum:

Floor Plan of the London Transport Museum (Click to Enlarge)

A preview of the museum can be seen on this video from http://anglotopia.net - The Website for People Who Love Britain:

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Going on a family vacation builds memories, provides life changing experiences and helps teach about the world we live in. Take time to explore, enjoy and have fun. If the London Transport Museum sounded interesting, you may also like the London Science Museum.  You can also look at our entire list of London Attractions.

#London
#LondonTransportMuseum

A little bit of Egypt in London - Cleopatra's Needle

Cleopatra's Needle

Visiting Cleopatra's Needle

By Mark Fitzgerald

London and New York share a pair of Egyptian obelisks from Alexandria.  At 69 feet tall (21 meters), this red granite tower or needle is a site to take in.  It sits on the banks of the river Thames and is flanked by two bronze sphinxes.  The need itself is right on the banks of the river on a pedestrian plaza and you may find it hard to get far enough back to get a full picture of the Needle.

When you go to see the Needle you will notice scaring and cracks.  These came from a German air raid during World War I.  Londoners choice not to repair the damage, but rather keep it as a memorial to the event.

Finding stories that your family is interested in and then visiting locations of those stories can really help with the imagination and excitement of the trip.  To bring this monument to life consider reading with your family the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan.  Obelisks, including this one, play an important part of that book series.  You could also look at the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes or Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher.

If the weather is nice spend a few minutes in the Victoria Embankment Gardens before crossing the street see the obelisk.  Afterwards sit down and watch the boats come in and out of the three piers that are near this part of the Thames.

#London
#CleopatrasNeedle

Don't let your family be eaten alive with International Cell Phone Use

Tips for International Smart Phone Use

By Mark Fitzgerald
Using your cell phone internationally can be an expensive venture.  Your on vacation - leave the phone at home.  It just isn't that easy.  Increasingly our lives are on these devices.  Among other things, for many it is their only cameras and you will want to take pictures on your trip.  Also a lot of museums are adding in online maps and other interactive services for mobile devices.

Unless you have an international plan on your phone I suggest disabling it by using Airplane Mode.   In both iOS and Android when you turn on Airplane Mode it will disable your Wi-Fi and cellular networks.  After turning Airplane Mode on you can then tap into the Wi-Fi settings and turn it back on.  This will allow you to use wireless without having the cellular on.  If you are really paranoid you can always remove your SIM card from the phone.

Using Airplane Mode has the draw back that you still cannot use the phone.  We work around this by using Google Hangouts and video chatting with our family.  It is something they are quite familiar with, but it can take some getting used to.  You both have to have Gmail accounts and computers with webcams.  You will need to prearrange a time to ensure those that you are calling will be logged in.

If you must have a normal phone and you don't want to pay for an international plan, try visiting Clark Howard's page on how to use cell phones overseas.  He will walk you through several options.  Make sure to check devices that each member of the family may have.  Forgetting about one devices may cost you dearly.

The wifi on most international flights ends just outside of the continental United States.  Delta is just starting to add internet service internationally.  Still don't expect blazing speeds from this satellite based service.

Victoria and Albert Museum and things to see for children of all ages

Victoria and Albert Museum

Your family and the V&A
By Mark Fitzgerald

At first I was hesitant about visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum.  This London attraction is billed as the world's greatest museum of decorative art and design.  I was thinking odd clothing, funky wall hangings and other interesting housewares.  I did not believe the kids would be interested.  After digging in, I found plenty that would interest our family.

Tipu's Tiger

If you have younger kids you may want to start off in the basement at the Sackler Centre by picking up a free family trail map.  In addition to guiding you to exhibits the kids will like, the booklet provides puzzles, observation games and drawings.  I think the young ones will really like exhibits such as Tipu's Tiger.  This is a life sized mechanical hand cranked toy.

Our older children would likely be interested in some of the hands on exhibits throughout the museum.  As we have several brass rubbings in our home, I think they would like to try making one of their own.

I also would like to share with them some of the amazing classical art throughout the building.  In the Cast Court there is a plaster cast of Michelangelo's David (room 26-27).  In room 46a there is a copy of an amazing, almost 3 dimensional piece called the School of Athens by Raphael.  There are a number of other Raphael pieces in 48a.  Another statue to find is Bernini's Neptune and Triton.

As we move deeper into the museum we would like to find the Devonshire Hunting Tapestriesup on the third floor.  The most interesting tapestry would be the Boar and Bear Hunt in room 94.  Also on the third floor is a history of photography.  On the second floor I believe our family could spend a lot of time looking through Medieval and Renaissance Britain galleries.

Entrance to the museum is free, though certain exhibits may have a fee.  You will be asked for a 1 pound donation for a map or you can print it free online.  Better yet, they have an app that you can download.  They do have WiFi in the museum that you can use.  Make sure that your phone is set correctly.  You should also check their website before going as several galleries have been closed for renovations.

The museum opens at 10:00 AM and stays open late on Fridays.  There are ample rest rooms throughout the facility.  You can access the museum from an underground pedestrian walkway that runs from the South Kensington London Tube station to the basement of the museum.  South Kensington is served by the District, Piccadilly, and Circle Lines. You can always use the London Transport option of riding a bike. The bike dock is just down the road outside of the Exhibition Road entrance of the Natural History Museum.

Map of the Victoria and Albert Museum

Floor Plan of the Victoria and Albert Museum

(Click to Enlarge)

To get a feel for what the Victoria and Albert is like see this video

Going on a family vacation builds memories, provides life changing experiences and helps teach about the world we live in. Take time to explore, enjoy and have fun. If the Victoria and Albert Museum sounded interesting, you may also like the British Museum. You can also look at our entire list of London Attractions.

#V&A
#VictoriaandAlbert
#London

Getting your VAT back

How to collect a tax refund after visiting London

by Mark Fitzgerald

The tax system used in London is known as a value added tax or VAT.  Instead of adding on sales tax to the purchase after the purchase it is incorporated into the marked price.  In London it is upwards of 20%.  And you thought New York was bad.  Well there is some good news in that you can apply to get that tax back.  Sort of.

To shop tax free you have to buy something you plan on consuming outside of the country.  That means any service, such a restaurant or tourist attraction doesn't count and you can't apply to get it back.  You can't county something you buy and use in the country, such as a box of chocolates.  So in the end this ends up being mostly souvenirs that you can claim.

And then it isn't easy to apply to get your money back.  First you need to request paperwork in the store you buy your merchandise.  After the paperwork is filled out you and the store need to sign the papers and you will have to show them your passport (which will mean you would need to be carrying your passport). Stores do not need to participate either.  Harrods for example requires travelers to spend £50 or more to apply for a refund.

Once you get to the airport you can take all of the merchandise you bought, receipts and paperwork and bring it the customs desk. They will collect it and you will get either a cash refund or a return on your credit card 3 weeks later. You can also take it to a number of other locations, such a money changing operation.  The refund company will charge you a fee for using Tax Free Shopping. They will take the money out of your VAT refund.  If you plan on doing this make sure you get to the airport at least 30 minutes earlier than planned.