MSC Poesia - 7 night Mediterranean cruise - 20th May 2017 - with 2 children

This was our second cruise (we cruised in Alaska in 2015 on Radiance of the Seas). Our 7 night Mediterranean cruise on MSC Poesia was part of a three week trip to Europe. We are a family of 4, with children aged 7 and 9 years, from Melbourne, Australia. I will review the cruise first, then if anyone is interested I can add the other 2 weeks (mostly England but also European train travel and Bruges and Zurich).

Thursday 18 May

We arrived in Venice by train at 6.40pm. Short walk to our apartment, then found a local pizza restaurant Pizzeria All'Anfora for a quick dinner,followed by gelato for the children.

Friday 19 May

After breakfast in our apartment, we boarded our first vaporetto. We chose 24h passes , even though at 20 Euros each (and no discount for children) it felt expensive. First vaporetto ride from our apartment near Venice Santa Lucia train station to San Marco, then had skip-the-queue tickets to the Campanile di San Marco (bell tower). We were running late but were allowed straight in when we arrived 20 mins later than the ticketed time. Then we moved across Piazza San Marco to Basilica di San Marco with another skip-the-queue ticket for a short walk through the Basilica (we chose the timeslot because the lights are inside only between 11.30am and 12.45pm, this time we were 20 minutes earlier than our ticketed time, again we were allowed straight in).

We walked to the Libreria Acqua Alta book shop, which had a resident cat sleeping on a chair in the doorway. The children walked up steps made of old books for a view over another canal. Then gelato for children and walk to next vaporetto stop for boat to Murano, the children enjoyed looking at all the hand blown glass(especially animals) available in the shop windows.

Next vaporetto ride to San Marco and popped into the Giardini Reali gardens. Another boat to Rialto to see the Rialto Bridge with shops over it, and another gelato. One more boat back to our apartment to cool down before dinner.

Early dinner at Pizzeria All'Anfora again, then gelato for the children then vaporetto to San Marco square to see it in evening. Children ran round a bit, less crowded than this morning but still lots of people around. Then final vaporetto ride,left San Marco in daylight & arrived back at Venice Santa Lucia train station in darkness.

Saturday 20 May

Embarkation Day.

We were up,breakfasted & out of the apartment by 10am. We were able to leave our bags in the apartment, but otherwise there is a left luggage service for 5 euros per bag at a kiosk to the left of Venice Santa Lucia train station.

Unfortunately it was raining. We started at the Giardino Papadopoli park (just over the bridge from Piazzale Roma), which had a small children's playground, then wandered through the narrow streets of San Polo. We stopped for pastries, bit more wandering, then returned to our apartment to collect our bags and walk over to Piazzale Roma (very grateful we only had to cross two bridges from our apartment to P. Roma with suitcases).

We left P.Roma at 12.30pm on the People Mover (1.5 euro per person, no discount for children, machine at P. Roma takes credit cards, machine at the cruise terminal takes only cash), then the walk to the ship - there were 4 cruise ships in and we had longest walk, mostly not under cover, fortunately it stopped raining about noon. The wait for check in was under cover but outside - lots of smokers in a small space which bothered the children. We had been told to check in at 1pm for the 4.30pm sailing, however when we disembarked at Venice at the end of the cruise, people for the next sailing were already lining up about 11am. For our cruise, we found out as we checked in, it was possible to board as early as 11am, buffet lunch was available on board, and cabins available from 2pm.

From P. Roma at 12.30pm, taking the People Mover, the walk to the ship, hand in our bags, pre-boarding photo, wait for check in (juice & water was available while we waited), and clear security, we were on board at 2.45pm.

We went to our cabin, which was ready, collected our sea cards, then to level 13 for a buffet lunch.

The Emergency drill - we were meant to take our life jackets from our cabin but this was not enforced.

We were scheduled to leave Venice at 4.30pm however we left 15 min late after waiting for 2 late passengers (not embarking, transiting). We were first of 4 cruise ships out of the port. We chose deck 7 for sail away. The other options are deck 13, 14 or 15. Or the front of the ship, under the Bridge, on deck 9, 10 or 11 (walk along internal corridors to the very front of the ship and go through the door marked Emergency Exit). We had a tug boat at aft until we were out of the canal & the pilot was off.

We went to the Mojito Bar on deck 13 – it serves gelato – 16 flavours, all made on board.A small cup of gelato is 1.7 euro, 2 scoops of gelato in a cone or cup is 2.8euros, plus service charge 15%, and there is milkshake & sundae menu too(I'm not clear which, if any, drinks packages include gelato).

We explored the ship, found the children's club, and had 7pm dinner in the buffet (first seating for dining room was also 7pm).

It took us a couple of days to work it out but lunch in the buffet has more variety on offer than dinner, when one half of the buffet is closed, and we later worked out the buffet & MDR serve almost the same food each night. Buffet is open 20hrs out of 24hrs (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, late night snacks) and is usually the only option at lunchtime - MDR is open for breakfast &dinner most days (was open for lunch 2 days of our 7 night cruise). My children preferred the buffet for all the foods on offer to choose from, my husband preferred the table service & atmosphere of the MDR. Also the MDR has a kids menu aimed at very young children, my children couldn't choose anything off this and preferred the buffet with its Kid’s Corner, set up for children to serve themselves and with child-friendly options.

Our cabin was an internal quad share cabin. It was fine. Smaller than the same type of cabin we had on Radiance of the Seas. Double wardrobe, plus 6 drawers in a third cupboard, with a safe and 2 more shelves with beach towels on them. We stored our suitcases under the beds. Desk with 2 drawers, and 3 shallow bed side drawers for each side. There was a mini bar we never opened. TV had 3 English language news channels. Bathroom was better than Radiance, because Poesia is a newer ship. Liquid hand soap provided, and body wash and shampoo dispensers in the shower. Retractable clothesline above the shower. We were directly under the Bridge and had cabins either side of us and underneath us, never heard other noise. Did hear noise in the corridor at 2am (laughter and giggling form some people who were having a big night) just the once. Our room attendant was very discrete, we never even got his name! But we could tell from made/turned-down beds and fresh towels he must have been in our room about 3 times a day. Daily program for next day was put under our door about 9.30pm each night.

More gelato after dinner then bed.

Sunday 21 May - Bari

Woke to more rain but the weather was forecast to improve.

Buffet breakfast - so busy at 8.45am we had to share a table with another couple. Arrived at Bari at 9.15am (45 min early). We walked off the ship about 10.30am. The Port is not pedestrian-friendly and not many passengers were on foot but it was a 10 min walk from the ship to the old town. MSC offered shore excursions,as well as a shuttle to town for 9.5 euro (8.5 euro children) but we chose to walk, the walk isn’t interesting until you reach the Old Town but it’s not far. Walking through the port we were offered rickshaws, taxis, a street train, and a hop on hop off bus.

We wandered through the old town, past Basilica of St Nicholas (something important was happening, with police cars & tv cameras outside during a service) and Bari cathedral. When we got to the outside of the castle (Castello Normanno-Svevo)we turned and walked back to ship for lunch - we left the castle wall at 12pm,walked back to the port, through security, and were sitting down eating lunch in the buffet by 12.30pm.

The children wanted a swim - it was now a sunny afternoon, the pool was labelled 26 deg but felt colder, it was a fairly short swim. Then gelato from the Mojito Bar and some afternoon tea in the buffet.

We were upon deck 15 (at bottom of stairs to deck 16 exclusive area we can't access) for sail away. The Port of Bari is not big. We had been moored facing the break in the sea walls (so must have turned nearly 180 deg when we came in). I thought we would just straighten up & off we went. Instead, with help from 2 tugs and a pilot, we turned nearly 360, came very close to sea wall, then out the heads. Wish I knew why! It was windy, the ship was moving around a bit.

We had dinner in MDR (early seating at 7pm). The kids menu was disappointing for non-tiny children, it had a section for babies and a section for 12 months plus, my 9yo ordered off the main menu (fortunately there was lasagna that evening, the other dishes didn’t appeal to her) & my 7 yo's pizza from the kids menu was inedible (undercooked, nothing like the pizza served in the buffet) so we took them to the buffet after our dinners. We found the buffet had exactly the same food on offer, so MDR is just for the atmosphere &table service.

After 2xdinner, children wanted to get back in the hot tub and pool, then gelato then bed.

Monday 22 May - Katakolon

We slept in (an internal cabin = dark cabin so the children don't wake early) & there was an one hour time difference (forward).

We arrived at Katakalon 15 mins early, at 10.45am. We were booked on the Katakalon Express, scheduled tour 11.30am-3.30pm. However, we waited an extra half hour for the last 2 booked passengers. The whole tour was done bilingual (French& English, there was also a separate German group on our coach) - the tour guide worked very hard but this was time consuming- the tour ran over plus the original delay, so we were late back. We arrived back to the ship at 4.20pm ahead of 4.30pm all-aboard. Must have been about the last group back because we sailed away 10 mins earlier than the 5pm scheduled departure. We had a late lunch in the buffet, then a swim, then dinner then gelato then bed.

MSC offered a range of shore excursions, and the night before listed a shuttle to Olympia for 22.5 euros per person (no child discount), return to Olympia. Katakalon Express was 20 euros bus-only or 30 euros with a guide (discount for children, see their website). Lots to see at Olympia including the museum so we were glad we had a guide,otherwise it might have "just been ruins" (and I had done some reading from home so felt reasonably prepared, but there isn’t a huge amount of signage at Olympia explaining what each part is). Children particularly enjoyed seeing the Stadium and running the length of it.

Tuesday 23 May - Mykonos

Anchored, not berthed, at Mykonos. There were 3 other ships in port. Arrived 7.30am, our cabin is on deck 11 right under the Bridge at the front of the ship and the noise & vibrations from dropping anchor was loud – it woke the children up with a start.

Breakfast in the MDR - almost same food as buffet but with table service. Small buffet in the MDR included cereal, breads, but different yogurt & fruit & couple of pastries not in the main buffet (croissants filled with custards). Order all drinks, hot food & toast from table.

Tender to Mykonos - right into town, no shuttle required. Walked through winding, narrow,white streets (children thought they were like a maze, certainly that's why they were built that way, to confuse pirates), we saw windmills, lots of shops (touristy and high end fashion and jewellery and souvenirs). Wander. Lunch.Wander. Gelato. Wander. Tender back to ship. Children had down time with colouring in books in the cabin & then we played mini golf, then afternoon tea in buffet then another round of golf, then sail away at 6.30pm (half hour early) then buffet dinner.

Mini golf,also basketball & soccer - there are 5 mini golf holes on deck 15 & a basketball court with soccer nets and tennis markings on deck 16. However you have to sign out the equipment only at specific times and only for a specified time period - most days for golf, basketball, soccer and board games was 10am-12pm and 3-6pm, and only had equipment for 30 mins. This was a bit limiting, on a previous cruise with Royal Caribbean we could use the equipment any time and around or game after dinner was fun. Also the basketball-soccer court use was specified for each day - for example Mykonos day was soccer.

Library on level 7 was similar - you could walk in anytime but books were on shelves sorted by language, behind locked glass doors & you could only sign them out between certain times, 10am-12pm and 3pm-5pm for example.

Wednesday 24 May - Athens

Up at 6am for breakfast & on deck 7 just after we docked in Piraeus, a few minutes early (scheduled at 7.30am). Walked off the ship from deck 5 and met just outside the port building by Dominic from PGT Tours, our driver for the day, at 7.45am.

He whisked us to the Acropolis, we arrived at 8.20am well ahead of the crowds. We explored the Acropolis, constructed from 4th century BC, including looking down into the still-used Odeion of Herodes Atticus (Roman theatre), the ruins of Theatre of Dionysos (first theatre in the whole world), the Parthenon (dedicated to goddess Athena), the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Erechtheion with the olive tree and the Porch of the Caryatids (6 young ladies are the columns holding up the porch roof), until about 10am (it was very crowded as we walked back down,queues for tickets then queues to get in, I would recommend arriving between 8-9am, and wear a sun hat & bring bottled water).

Then onto visit the Panathenaic Stadium (made entirely of marble, originally built 4th century BC, hosted first Modern Olympics in 1896, used for archery and the end of the marathon in the 2004 Olympic Games).

Our driver took us past the residences of the prime minister and the president (former Royal Palace), before stopping outside the House of Parliament to watch the changing of the guard (guards guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier, not the parliament building). Then a drive up Lycabettus Hill for a view over Athens.

We had lunch outside the Ancient Agora, and a visit to the Ancient Agora, including the Temple of Hephaestus (the best preserved ancient structure in Greece), and the drive back to Piraeus.

Back on board at 3.45pm, ahead of 4pm all-aboard, sailed away at 4.30pm on time, gelato & a swim, then buffet dinner.

Children's highlights were more connected with stray cats and tortoises seen at Acropolis & Ancient Agora than landmarks themselves.

Thursday 25 May - Sarande

Lazy morning due to not arriving in Sarande until 12 noon. Late breakfast in the buffet, and children watched movies on the iPad & tablet. Mini golf (deck 15). Soccer (deck 16).

Arrived Sarande at 11.30, then had to drop anchor & lower 4 life boats to use as tenders, first tender left the ship at 12noon. There was one other ship (also anchored) in port.

Not being in a rush (didn't think we had a lot to do in Sarande), we collected a tender ticket from deck 5 reception just after 12 noon (next available was tender "M" scheduled for 1.15pm, and the tender tickets had been available for collection from a bar on deck 6 from 8.30am) then we had buffet lunch, and then headed to theatre on deck 6 to wait for our tender to be called - they were not as efficient as at Mykonos, our tender was scheduled for 1.15pm, was called at 2pm (they explained the delay due to traffic in the port - must have been that one other cruise ship's tenders).

Walked along the sea front, there were a lot of taxi operators offering their services, and women & young children begging. Found a very simple playground on the beach but after a few minutes walked away when a local boy was throwing fruit at my children and we noticed the rubbish in the sand/pepple beach so didn't want the children to play on the beach, regardless of the weather. Rain shower. Thought about buying the children an ice cream but didn't have any local currency. More grey clouds looming. Back on the ship by 3.30pm. Gelato & afternoon tea on ship. Pouring rain. Children wanted to swim in the rain but pools were closed due to developing thunder storm & lightening (but not much wind so water not too rocky). Sat in a bar on deck 6 with children watching movies oniPad/tablet. Early evening swim under more grey clouds before buffet dinner(nothing on MDR menu the children would eat so have to stick to buffet).

Scheduled departure was 8pm but by 7.15pm we had winched in the last tender& raised anchor & were on our way to our final port of call Dubrovnik.The children had energy to burn so we explored the outside decks – you can walk up and down stairs on the two aft corners of the ship from deck 7 to 14. Also, if you follow the corridors on deck 9, 10 and 11 all the way to the front of the ship, go through a door marked “emergency exit” you can access the front of the ship, right under the Bridge. Watched some F1 GP in a wine bar on deck 7 (the children had yummy rich hot chocolates). Bed.

In hindsight I would have preferred MSC skip this port altogether, making this day a seaday, and have a few more hours in Athens (instead of departing at 4.30pm) and getting into Dubrovnik an hour or two earlier (only have 6 hours there). If nothing in the shore excursions appeals to you, and you do some online research and can't find an activity you want to do, and you aren't utterly desperate to get onto firm land, I recommend treating Sarande as a sea day and plan to have a quiet time with a book (or a pack of cards or something downloaded to your iPad/tablet in advance).

Friday 26 May - Dubrovnik

Weather forecast said 19 deg but it was sunny and felt warmer.

At 9am we walked off the ship, having arrived in Dubrovnik a little earlier than scheduled. Immediately off the ship there are lines of taxis waiting and a bigyellow sign saying 13 euros (or 95 local currency) to the Old Town (Pile Gate)or 50 euros for one hour panoramic tour, also ending at the old town. Cash only, no credit cards. MSC offered a shuttle bus for 13.9 euros per adult, 9.50euros per child.

By 9.25am we were on the city walls- where the taxi drops you just outside Pile Gate, there are plenty of ATMs, tourist services, exchange services (they exchange euros to local currency but will not exchange local currency to euros, so be careful how much you take out of ATMs), bakeries, gelato, pizza, lots of tour operators on street offering waking tours, Game of Thrones tours, sea kayaking tours.

Walk right through Pile Gate, you see a big round fountain, and on the right is the ticket office and the left is the entrance to the walls. City Walls are 150 Kuna for adults and 50 Kuna for children, and they take credit card or local currency, but no euros.

Along the walls there are cafes selling drinks, ice creams, souvenirs. There are no covered areas on the walls - you need a sun hat, sunscreen & sun glasses& decent closed shoes. There are some flat bits, also up and down a lot of stairs, not recommended for walking sticks or with a stroller. We finished at 11.10am – there were lots of crowds going up as we came down - definitely one of those things best done early.

Walked down through old town along Od Puca, stopped for gelato, saw the Rector's Palace,the Cathedral and City Hall. Looked up lots of narrow steep streets of steps, lunch on Prijeko, more wandering, then taxi back to ship.

At 1.30pm there was a decent size queue for both the bus shuttle service & for taxis. By 1.50pm we were in a taxi. At 2.10pm we were back on board ahead of 2.30pm all aboard. Must have had everyone back early, as sail away was 20 mins early at 2.40pm. We had as snack in the buffet for the children, then final swim, final gelato, then dinner.

Bags have to be outside our cabin by 1am, we have to be out of our cabin by 8am, and we have to meet at 10am at theatre on deck 6 to disembark (disembarkation times vary from 9am to 11am depending on your deck or your status or if you have a transfer booked).

Saturday 27 May-Sunday 28 May

We set our alarm for 6.45am so we could be on deck (we chose the front of the ship on deck 11, at the end of the corridor closest to our cabin) to watch as we sailed into Venice. At 7.30am we saw 2 pilots come on board & then cruised through the lagoon heads. We could see another cruise ship ahead of us (and when we reached the cruise terminal we realised we were the last of 5 ships arriving into Venice that day). We had a tug boat at the front of the ship. At 8.15am we sailed past Doges Palace & the Grand Canal. Docked in the same berth as one week ago. Berthed at 8.45am (scheduled 9am).

Breakfast(very busy, but we weren't in a rush) in the buffet. Sat inside to eat but as crowds cleared we moved to a prized outside table at rear of the ship (there are 7 outside tables across aft of ship outside buffet on deck 13).

We moved to the theatre on deck 6 for our 10am disembarkation- actual disembarkation called at 10.30am. Off the ship & found our bags by 10.50am.

Husband declined free shuttle bus to the port exit. Same walk (not under cover) as embarking. People Mover didn't take credit cards at the port, only cash (6euros for 4 people). At People Mover station by 11.20am, in P. Roma looking for airport bus at 11.30am. On bus route 5 to airport at noon (8 euros each) which took 35 mins. Other options were private water taxi from port to airport,waterbus from port to airport (15 euros per person, via San Marco), taxi car from P. Roma, and an express bus from P. Roma.

Airport Venice Marco Polo is being renovated – it’s messy. There were big, slow queues to check in, in a small, crowded departures hall spread over two floors – it took us a while to find our check in queue, we had to go up an escalator. We joined the queue at 12.35pm, then tried to check in on my mobile & moved into “checked in online” queue - all done at 1.10pm for a 3.35pm flight. (Again the check in staff member was surprised at how light our bags were - 23 kg total checked in luggage).

I have all the Daily Programs but it will be a week or so before I can scan and upload them. In the mean time ask me any specific questions and I can look it up. Also lots of photos but few more days before I upload those too.

Does anyone want to read about the 2 weeks travel before the cruise? England, train travel to Bruges and Venice?

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your review!! We are going to some of the same places this fall. If you have more information to share about Venice, I would love to hear it. We are flying in a few days early. Do you happen to remember how long the vaporetto ride was from your apartment to the P. San Marco?

Thanks so much for your review....I'm going on the Poesia on July 1st!! Your report was so helpful since it has been hard to find many informative reviews. Do you have any mdr menu pics? We are a little under a month here and getting very excited

Interesting review, thanks.

Yes I want to hear more! Tell me about what else you did☺

Sent from my SM-J200Y using Forums mobile app

Thanks for the review.

Thank you for the interesting review. Looking forward to the Daily Programs. :-)

Hopefully I have attached these files ok - should be the daily program for the first two days.

MSC Poesia 20052017.pdf

MSC Poesia 21052017.pdf

And this should be the next 3 days.

MSC Poesia 22052017.pdf

MSC Poesia 23052017.pdf

MSC Poesia 24052017.pdf

And this should be the last 3 days.

MSC Poesia 25052017.pdf

MSC Poesia 26052017.pdf

MSC Poesia 27052017.pdf

QUEENP - I'll post the first 2 weeks of England & trains across Europe in a couple of days. Also I will get to photos ... soon ... still sorting them out!

CROSEN2 - sorry no MDR menus, we only ate there once and I didn't think to take a picture of the main menu - just the Kids one - which I will post in the next couple of days once I get organised with sorting & downloading!

MRSFITZ - from memory the vaporetto ride from the main train station to P. San Marco was half an hour for no 2 (the express one) and allow 45 mins for no 1, which stops all stations (so to speak).

Friday 5-Saturday 6 May 2017

After a normal day of work & school, we had dinner at home, then took an Uber to the airport. The check in staff member was surprised how light our bags were - I deliberately packed light to make moving our bags round easier especially on days when we had to change trains or transfer from one place to another (I’m quite prepared to do handwashing so I can pack less clothing) – we checked in with 2 suitcases weighing a total of 19kg.

The children accidentally banged heads in the departure lounge resulting in my daughter having a blood nose – once I mopped her up, calmed her down and changed her shirt, we thought we were ready to board. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10.55pm however after a delay for engine maintenance, we left at 2.30am. This was a rough start to a very long flight (Melbourne to London via Dubai). The 7yo got a reasonable amount of sleep while the 9yo had very little sleep,however both children unexpectedly suffered from travel sickness. We eventually arrived at Heathrow at 4.30pm Saturday, more than two hours later than scheduled. Customs, bag collection, then out to Arrivals to meet my brother. We headed for his home, near Windsor and close to the airport, had a quick explore& unpacked. He took my husband and my son for a short walk, then one child had a small bowl of cereal for dinner while the other skipped dinner, and after a shower they were both asleep by 8.30pm.

Sunday 7 May

One child was awake at 2.45am, thanks to lovely jet lag, and didn't get back to sleep.The other one slept to 6am and both children felt much brighter than the night before & tummies had settled overnight.

After breakfast we headed for Windsor Castle under grey skies and feeling cold. I had pre-purchased tickets online which was an advantage when we arrived just minutes after the castle opened for the day to find queues for tickets winding down the road while we got to walk right in. Collected free audio guides and explored the castle, starting with noticing the Royal Standard flag flying high above the Round Tower which meant the Queen was in (presumably having a quiet day). Children really liked the garden laid out in the moat round the RoundTower, and seeing the arrow loops & battlements of their first real castle.Through the State Apartments including Queen Mary's Dolls' House, a highlightfor my daughter. As we walked past St. George's Chapel the sun came out &we saw some guardsmen on parade.

Walked round to the main gate & looked down the Long Walk of Great Windsor Park (we would be at the other end of this later in the day). Sandwich lunch in Windsor then we walked down to the Thames River, past the Diamond Jubilee fountain, to find the Queen’s white swans.Children fed swans & ducks, had an ice cream then walked a little further along the river and looked across at Eton.

Back to the car then up to the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede. This included amazing views of Windsor Castle and across to Heathrow and beyond to the city skyline of London. Then across to Bishopsgate of Great Windsor Park, and a walk up to the bronze horse - the statue of King George III, and more fabulous views of Windsor Castle back along the Long Walk. Quick drink at the Fox and Hound pub outside Bishopsgate.

Grabbed some food for dinner, back to my brother’s house, dinner, shower &bed. One child was asleep by 7.30 after barely finishing dinner - no surprise given he had been awake so early, and we’d done a lot of walking. The other child was asleep before 8.30pm.

Monday 8 May

Better sleep overnight all round. Day started grey & cold. Drove down to the New Forest and visited Beaulieu Motor Museum.Children enjoyed the cars and also running round the abbey ruins and the kitchen gardens. Then across to Bucklers Hard for a pub lunch on the river in the sun but also cold wind. Saw New Forest wild horses, donkeys and cows on the sides of the road to the children's delight.

After lunch we drove to the New Forest Wildlife Park, where we saw owls, otters, deer,bison, ferrets, harvest mice, polecats, Scottish wildcats, lynx, wallabies, mouflon & wolves. Seeing the otters being fed and viewing snowy owls sitting on eggs were highlights.

Tuesday 9 May

Off to Hampton Court Palace today. We toured the main parts of the building -kitchens, Henry VIII's state apartments, King William III's apartment and the Georgian story (my daughter’s favourite), before lunch with my aunt and uncle in the HCP cafe. After lunch we ran the children around the extensive grounds -the maze, wilderness, rose garden, the great fountain garden, the privy garden,and the pond garden. Quick drive down the road to have a short walk in the Home Park and see some of the 300 deer who live there.

Wednesday 10 May

We left my brother’s house at 9am, and by 11am we were walking up the steps from the Underground to the foot of Nelson's Column, in the sunshine, after taking the Heathrow Express and two tubes, leaving our bags at the hotel across the road from St Pancras station, and one more tube to Charing Cross.

After the children ran round and tried to climb on the 4 bronze lions, we found the HOHO bus. For some reason the traffic was particularly bad and it took longer than it should for a bus to show, and then took more than two hours to get from Trafalgar Square to Big Ben, via Marble Arch and Victoria, and bypassing Buckingham Palace which the children had been looking forward to (should have taken less than an hour). Children wriggly and not paying any attention to what we were seeing and proclaiming bus to be horrible.

Off the bus at Houses of Parliament, after a frantic search for a toilet for one child(eventually paid 50p to use toilets at Westminster underground station, almost all toilets in London require payment now), somehow in search for lunch that was acceptable to both children, we wound up walking back to Trafalgar Square,and all tempers were frayed.

After food,we walked along The Strand, to pick up the HOHO bus at Aldwych, now there was a better flow of traffic though the City to Tower Hill but we were getting short on time to get back to the London Eye for our 5.15pm booking, eventually jumping off bus at Temple and taking the tube 2 stops to Westminster and across Westminster Bridge under Big Ben to the Eye.

After queuing for and riding the Eye, we took the HOHO bus across Waterloo Bridge to where we had earlier got on at Aldwych, then walked through to Covent Garden tube and took a crowded peak-hour tube back to Kings Cross St Pancras. Checked in to hotel, dinner at Pizza Express downstairs, walked over to St Pancras to walk through shops, then bed.

Children did cope really well with crowds on the street, and tube (noisy and peak hour crowds).

Thursday 11 May

Today we took the tube to the Tower of London. We had a tour with a Yeoman guard, then visited the Crown Jewels and the White Tower. Had some lunch then walked the walls and visited another couple of towers, and the ravens.

Then we went to find the route 15 bus, which is primarily a tourist route from Tower Hill to Trafalgar Square run by Routemasters, including some original RMs. We got off at Monument station and walked up to find Leadenhall Market and the shop front(now an optometrist) used to film the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in the first Harry Potter film (my children are fans of the books).

Onto another bus over London Bridge and walked through Borough Market to find the shop front used where the Knight Bus stopped in the third HP film. And bought some chocolate... for me ... and ice creams for the children. And apple and cucumber for healthy snacks!

Back onto bus 15, this time an original RM! And we sat up top near the front, all the way to Trafalgar Square. We walked up to find Cecil Court, to see the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the HP books, and while I was telling the children about this a passing man pointed out Goodwins Court opposite and advised we explore that too, for its shop windows and gas lights.

Back to Trafalgar Square and onto bus 11 along Whitehall to Big Ben. We watched it strike 5pm, then walked south over Westminster Bridge, along the South Bank to Lambeth B ridge (where the Knight Bus squeezed between two Muggle buses in the third HP movie), then jumped on a bus to Victoria and took the tube back to the hotel for dinner. Very foot sore!

After dinner my husband popped across the road from the hotel to make a quick visit to the British Library (just enough time for a quick visit to the Treasures Room, it closed at 8pm) while I bathed the children.