London and Edinburgh, Scotland

- July 25, 2012

Canterbury Cathedral in a quaint village

In honor of the Olympics, here is my previous England post...

Great Britain has so many charming villages and destinations to visit however, it would take you a long time to see everything. We've been several times and like to see the same sites so it's been hard to discover new areas. But it's worth a trip outside London to see small villages, castles or spots of interest. More...

Canterbury is worth the short trip out of London to visit. There are regular bus trips out to the town.

Leed's Castle

Leed's Castle is a private castle that's worth the short trip to see out of London. It's very peaceful and the blossoms are lovely for photos. You can tour the inside even though it's private. It's known for being one of the "lovliest" castles in the world.

The greenhouses are amazing at the castles.

London-Parliament

Harrod's Department Store

This was the memorial to Diana and Doty at Harrod's Dept. Store following their deaths...Doty's father owned Harrod's. It was a very simple tribute to the very attractive couple.

Changing the Guards at Buckingham Palace

A must see in town is the Tower of London where Henry VIII would keep his wives or "disloyals" and execute them in the courtyard. It's within walking distance to the Bridge and Parliament.

Big Ben at the Parliament

Windsor Castle

Another great trip to Windsor via the Tube out of London. Only a short 30 minutes or so and you can walk around the cute Victorian town of Windsor. We got to tour the castle with very few tourists that day. The Queen was in residence the day we visited and we were able to view the fire damaged area that had been rebuilt. Many works of art were destroyed and saved in the fire in the 80's. There is a wonderful display of the fire as well as the remodeling project.

The castle is huge--church for the Queen and townspeople in the front while the Queen resides in the back past my red arrow. My arrow points to the location of the photo above and below this map.

The Westminster Abbey

St. Paul's Cathedral, London Diana and Charles were married here.

Piccadilly Square theatre district in London. The Underground or Tube is the way to get around however, if there's a soccer match in town it gets very crowded.