Travel Review: Alton Towers, England

A weekend away to Alton towers. One of our friends did the drive up on the Thursday night. This was a four hour process which eventually ended at a travelodge. The cheapest way to find a hotel is to have a means of independent transport to the themepark. This allows you to stay a little further out and means you have a few extras £'s for souvenir pictures. 

For the park we brought a two day ticket. This was good value for money as the second day only added an extra £5ish to the price of one day. Two days is really required to be able to cover the ground in this park. Especially as when the park is busy as the queues to some of the more popular rides can take over an hour. This might be worth considering if you were planning on bringing younger children. 

If you get bored of queueing, the restored gardens are beautiful. I was very surprised to find a place like that in a theme park. In terms of concentration of guests, there is a serious reduction here. Peace and quiet!

We managed to get on all the big rides. Air was amazing and you go around the ride facing the floor head first. It does actually feel like you are flying - and a little bit less frightening for those who are a little more nervous! Nemisis was great and in an area of the park which takes longer for the guests to move to. It was probably one of the shortest queues. 

The cheapest way of buying ride photos is to buy a 4 photo offer. It allows you to record the number of the pictures of the different booths and buy them when you have made your selection. This allows you to be a bit choosy and not buy them on impulse. 

NOTE: the river rapids ride will get you wet. Either waterproof your bags or at least bring a decent waterproof!

Travel Review: London, London Eye, Aquarium and lonesome wonderings

Last weekend I spent a few days up in London on my own. I was armed with a camera and a combo ticket for the London eye and London Aquarium.

There is something about London I have always found magical. It is filled with office blocks with hidden rooms and important goings on. This fills me with a sort of anticipated energy every time I visit.

This time I thought I would take the opportunity to make the trip on the London eye. I found a really cheap combo trip online - about £35 for both tickets (http://www.londoneye.com/Schools/TicketsandOffers/Default.aspx). After finding some cheap coach tickets (http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx) and a cheap hotel room (http://www.hotwire.com/) the entire weekend only set me back about £150! A pretty cheap weekend for london.

It was an early start. I got onto a coach at 8:00am Saturday morning. The tickets were cheap and a guarranted comfy seat meant I was pleased with my choice of travel.

The London eye is something you should do at least once. If you can time the weather so the sky is clear the view you can see goes on for miles! However, it is really worth checking the weather report the night before. It allows you to time your visit to get the best views. Remember to ensure you leave enough time to queue! I was in the queue for about an hour. There is no covering so highly recommend bringing waterproofs!

It gives visitors the opportunity to see all the iconic sites around London. You will gain a perspective that you cannot hope to get otherwise. What I found really striking was that all the separate districts of London were suddenly all laid out in-front of me. It was a bit like a patchwork quilt. It was relatively easy to get which bits of London were 'old' and which 'new'.

If you do nothing else you will need to bring a camera.

After a quick lunch at the local fast food restaurant (if you want a seat I advise moving a little away from the Thames). I made my way into the Aquarium. Thankfully, having brought my ticket online, I was able to skip past the hour long queue for tickets. Although, the wait is seriously worth it.

The Aquarium is another must-see if you're in London. There is a huge range of ocean life. The sharks and penguins were a particular crowd pleaser. My favourite displays were the jellyfish. The backlight displays made them particually striking. I highly recommend ensuring you look in all the tanks. Two small boys were so excited by the penguins in the next tank that they nearlly missed the two huge Star fish in the Artic display. They were neally half a meter across!

It took me a good few hours to go through the different displays. It is really great value for money.

Really looking forward to my next trip up to London. There is so much still to explore.