Hello! We’re going to try something a little different. Usually, I write about our travels as a couple. This time, my husband went to the United Kingdom with his parents, aunts, and uncle, and I couldn’t go with them, because I recently started a new job. This post is my husband’s story, but I’ll do my best to tell it. Cheers! (As they say.)

Overview

• When did we go? May 2025
• What kind of trip was it? Adult family trip to visit relatives.
• Which cities did we visit? Manchester, Edinburgh, and London.
• Duration: 5 nights, 5 full days, plus one day and night for flights. 2 nights in Manchester, 2 in Edinburgh, and 1 in London.
• Total Cost: $2500 per person.
• Weather: Cool. In the 50s and low 60s. Light jacket weather.
• Luggage: Carry-on and backpack. (He upgraded to a TravelPro!)
• Logistics: United to Heathrow (yes, there were mishaps), tube and train to Manchester, train to Edinburgh, one-way return flight to Luton for final night in London. For getting around town: Uber, the tube, cabs, and the double-decker bus.

I’ll skip the usual details about planning, except for a couple of points. One, planning an adult family trip is much harder to wrangle than our usual DINK travel. There were several months of weekly family calls involved.

Two, travel is scary right now. With recent stories about arrests of legal immigrants who criticized Trump and discriminatory arrests of citizens returning home, my husband’s family (who are all citizens born in the United States) did not feel safe taking their phones in case of inspection on their return to the US. They bought the cheapest refurbished Iphones they could find, just for the trip. This is a travel blog, but let’s keep it real. This is what life is like under Trump 2.

That’s enough commentary from me. For the rest of the blog, I’ll write interview-style, with my questions and comments italicized and his words in normal font.

Manchester

Did you like Manchester?

It was okay, to be honest. The problem was I didn’t do much there. There was a theater, Palace Theatre where they were premiering Mary Poppins but we didn’t go see it. The architecture was nice downtown, with the movie theater and the clock tower.

You mean the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel? Did you know it was haunted?

One of our relatives mentioned it, but we didn’t go inside.

Why didn’t you see much while you were there?

We missed a day because of flight issues [their United flight was canceled and it delayed their trip a day.] And the Holiday Inn Express canceled our reservation, because we called the corporate line and told them we couldn’t make the first night, but that information wasn’t relayed to the local hotel, who canceled our entire reservation. So we got there and didn’t have a place to stay. They eventually found us a place at the Maldron.

Bummer.

Yeah. Manchester got cut short. I wish we had an extra day. I liked what we saw.

Best meal? We went to a fish and chips place recommended by the hotel staff. Wright’s. It’s not expensive. They give you two pieces of fish and chips – fries. I definitely recommend it.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh was better, though?

Yes, we had more time there – the architecture was good, and the castle. It’s definitely a good city for touring; you can feel that it’s really old. I bought a pass on Edinburgh Bus Tours. There are three bus lines; I went on all three. For 24 hours, it’s about $26. Some routes go to the botanical gardens and the observatory. Going inside the castle is an extra fee.

The tour of the old city was good. There is a shopping center near the train station, a 10-minute walk up the hill; I went there the second day for souvenirs.

And you got me a shirt.

Yeah. Two shirts for $26.

Who was the other one for?

(He gives me an incredulous look.) Me.

Best meal? The food hall. Bonnie & Wild Market. I had Sri Lankan street food at Kochchi the first night.

Anything else?

Yeah, there’s a game developer, Rockstar North on one of the tour routes. They are the developer of Grand Theft Auto. We went and saw their office. It was cool seeing that.

London

What did you see in London?

Big Ben, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and London Bridge.

How long did that take?

Two hours. I took the train from Heathrow Airport, and that takes an hour to get downtown. And then you switch to different lines to see everything.

There’s a cruise on the water [the Thames] called the London Eye River Cruise. If you want to see different sights, it’s good, but I didn’t have time to do that. We were seeing family in the evening. There’s also a London dungeon, but I didn’t go. I heard some people are afraid of it.

Best meal? There was a place we went on the last night for shawarma, near Queensmere Observatory Shopping Center. Rusto (Shawarma and Grill). It was really reasonable food in a working class area, and it was good.

If we go back together, where would you take me?

Probably to Scotland. The highlands for nature, and Edinburgh for history.

What do you wish you had time to see?

If I had more time, another day in Manchester. There are things to do. We thought about going to a football game but you have to join a club to go. It would have good to see a game, if I had another day.

Anything else you want to tell people about the trip?

You should probably have a decent budget. Be prepared, if you’re an American, to pay for activities. It is more expensive than other places in Europe.

But you spent less there than our trip to Greece.

That’s because I did a little touring, but part of the time was visiting family, and it was only for a week. Going with friends and family is more cost-effective, to get group rates for things.

Upcoming: For June, I plan to finish my blog series on our honeymoon trip to Africa. I haven’t gotten to it, partly because I was busy with the new job, and partly because I was discouraged by low views on the second installment about Kenya. But our time in Tanzania is too special not to write about, even if it’s only for myself in the end.

Now that I am settled into my new job, we will start planning trips and have fresh content to blog about, but in the meantime, I still have plenty of great past travel stories and recommendations to share. Subscribe below for notifications, and stay tuned!