Part 1 - London Area

I lived near London for about 7 months and my sister did so many years ago for about 6 months. Our brother and his family were living in London temporarily at this time so our accommodation price couldn't be beat!

Our choices were:
Westminster Abbey
Tower of London
Victoria & Albert Museum
Kensington Palace

Cambridge - day trip with SIL and children

Canterbury - overnighter with SIL

Accommodation reviews:
~London - excellent!
~Canterbury - Ersham Lodge - on a scale of 1-10 - a 2
Rooms were drab and tiny and badly decorated. Shower was very low pressure electric. Rates far too high for the standard of rooms.

Part 2 - Scotland

Danny joined my sister and I for the rest of the holiday.

Edinburgh
Rosslyn Chapel
Isle of Iona
Isle of Mull

Photo: Edinburgh Castle

Accommodation reviews:
~Edinburgh - Charleston House B & B
too far from town centre but a straight shot by bus to Prince's Street - otherwise quite good


~Isle of Iona - Tigh na Tobrach
very good but no reception area for us to sit and chat as in most B & B's
~Isle of Mull - Tobermory - Harbour Heights Hotel
good - rooms very small but nice, fantastic breakfasts

Photo: Isle of Iona harbour

Part 3 Brugge, Belgium

We spent 3 nights in Brugge. Loved this charming medieval city with its canals, cobbled streets, magnificent churches, chocolate, and lace. We took a horse and carriage tour of the city and a boat trip down the canals.


Accommodation review:
Gasthof Groenhove
Fantastic! Nicely furnished and comfortable rooms (a bit small), excellent breakfasts, friendly and accommodating host/hostess. Only complaint was the lack of air-conditioning, and it was quite hot while there so mosquitoes came into our open bedroom window at night.

Part 4 Reims, France

We spent 3 nights here. Historical city with a Notre Dame Cathedral (most famous one is in Paris). Lots of outdoor cafes with brilliant French food!!
L'apostrophe - restaurant with gorgeous food! We had dinner there twice.

Accommodation review:
Quality Hotel Reims (chain hotel) - acceptable with a good location



Paris - daytrip
We took a bus tour of the city which enabled us to see the major sites. The Louvre was unfortunately closed that day due to it being Bastille Day (their website did not state this!).

Final night:
airport hotels for morning flights
Cathy in Paris hotel
Danny and I in Charleroi in Belgium


Restaurant review Fleurus-Charleroi:
L'Empire du Dragon
Food was brilliant! It had many choices aside from Chinese. Service was quite good although 2 of our waiters spoke no English. This was about a 5 minute walk from our hotel - Ibis Charleroi Airport.