Soho apartment
ConfirmedSoho, London
Bright 1-bed flat (Homes & Villas by Marriott), sleeps 4. London Leg 1 base, walkable to Chinatown, Covent Garden and the West End. Check-in on arrival day; leave the morning we drive to the Cotswolds via Kent.
← The Atlas
Photo by David Monaghan on Unsplash🇬🇧 United Kingdom
London
A beautifully paced family fortnight with a smarter geography. Four days of London from a Soho base, a countryside reset through Kent, the Cotswolds and Bath, then Harry Potter on the drive back in and a final London leg from the Tower — the City, the South Bank and Notting Hill — before flying home from Gatwick. Built so the four of us can just follow along.
11–26 July 202616 days · 2 to goAmit, Aastha, Aaina, Arth
Day by day
The plan
Opens on today automatically, with the day's forecast built in. Every stop links straight to directions.
Photo by Bruno Martins on UnsplashDay 1 of 16 · In 2 days
Day 1 · London Leg 1: arrival in Soho
Easy arrival · West End atmosphere
The softest possible first day. Get to the Soho flat, then an easy West End wander through Chinatown and Covent Garden. No tickets, no rushing, an early night.
- Morning08:00Emirates → London Gatwick, United Kingdom
- Afternoon12:30Land at Gatwick
Follow signs to the station.
Gatwick Airport - 13:45Direct train to London Victoria, then a cab to Soho
Skip the Tube with luggage and children. Train to Victoria, black cab or Uber to the Soho flat.
- 15:30Check in — Marriott Homes & Villas
Check in, unpack, freshen up
- 16:45Quick bite at Bun House, Chinatown
- Evening17:30Walk: Soho → Chinatown → Neal's Yard → Seven Dials → Covent Garden
If the flight runs late, shorten Neal's Yard and go straight to Covent Garden.
- 19:30Dinner at Dim Sum Library, Covent Garden
- 20:45Back to Soho and sleep early
This day is intentionally light — protect the early night.
Soho
Book or arrange now
No attraction bookings needed today.
Good to know
Best arrival transfer: Gatwick → London Victoria by direct train, then a cab to Soho. Avoid the Tube with luggage and children.
Planner’s notes
- This is intentionally light — protect the early night.
- If the flight runs late, shorten Neal's Yard and go straight to Covent Garden.
Flights, cars & stays
Your bookings
Every confirmation you've uploaded, as a pass. Tap one to open it. Codes and documents stay hidden until you unlock the wallet.
Flights
1Cars
1Stays
3Follow along
Everywhere, pinned
Pick a place to zoom in, then send it to your phone's maps for turn-by-turn directions.
What to pack
The forecast
Live daily weather for the trip dates, updated automatically as we get closer.
Weather in London
live · open-meteoGood food, sorted
Where we're eating
Family-friendly picks with the one thing to order at each. The ones we love earn a ✓ once we've actually been.
Where we're sleeping
Our stays
Every bed for the trip in one place, with dates and nights, so each booking is easy to confirm at a glance.
3 confirmed 15 nights
Cotswold cottage, Lake 6
ConfirmedSouth Cerney, Cotswold Water Park
Orion Holidays self-catering cottage on the lake. Check-in from 4pm (they call when it's ready); checkout 10am. Call Orion on 13 Jul for the key-safe code, saved in the wallet.
The Tower Residences
ConfirmedTower Hill, London
Blue Orchid aparthotel at Byward House, Tower Hill — steps from the Tower of London. London Leg 3 base for the final City / South Bank / Notting Hill days. Check in on the Warner Bros. return drive; check out for Gatwick on the 26th.
Confirmation numbers, exact addresses and key-safe codes live in the private wallet, not here.
Book & budget
Tickets, by the day
Organised by the day we'll use them, showing what's booked and what's still to book.
1 booked 12 to book
Sunday 12 Jul
Buckingham Palace State Rooms
Royal London To bookBook immediately. Summer opening only. Allow 2–3 hours.
£35/adult£20/child · approx
TicketsMonday 13 Jul
London Eye
Views To bookCheaper booked online in advance; summer evening slots go fast.
£35/adult£32/child · approx
TicketsTuesday 14 Jul
Natural History Museum
Museum · South Kensington To bookDay 4 main indoor pick — free, reserve a free timed slot online. Swap for the Science Museum next door if you prefer.
Free
ReserveThursday 16 Jul
Castle Farm Lavender Fields Walk
Countryside · Kent BookedBooked: field-walk slot for 16 Jul, tickets in the wallet. Farm shop alongside.
£8/adult£5/child · approx
ViewSaturday 18 Jul
Roman Baths, Bath
History To bookBook timed tickets. Bath Abbey next door is optional.
£28/adult£20/child · approx
TicketsSunday 19 Jul
Puzzlewood
Outdoors · Forest of Dean To bookBook admission. Outdoor woodland walk, good shoes and a rain layer.
£10/adult£9/child · approx
TicketsMonday 20 Jul
Cotswold Wildlife Park
Kids · Cotswolds To bookBuy e-tickets ahead. The little train usually runs in season.
£20/adult£14/child · approx
TicketsTuesday 21 Jul
Bicester Village
Shopping To bookFree entry, designer outlet. Better on a weekday.
Free
ReserveWednesday 22 Jul
Warner Bros. Studio Tour
Kids · full day To bookBook immediately, these sell out weeks ahead. Now done on the drive back from the Cotswolds — timed entry, allow 4–5 hours, free on-site parking.
£53/adult£43/child · approx
TicketsThursday 23 Jul
Tower of London
History To bookFamily tickets available. Arrive at opening for the Crown Jewels.
£35/adult£18/child · approx
Tickets
Tower Bridge glass walkway
Views To bookDo it right after the Tower, last entry is usually 17:00.
£13/adult£7/child · approx
Tickets
Sky Garden
Views To bookFree but book a timed slot up to 3 weeks ahead. An evening slot works well on the Tower leg.
Free
ReserveFriday 24 Jul
St Paul's Cathedral
Optional · City To bookOptional interior visit on the Borough Market / South Bank walk. The exterior is free; only ticket it if you want one church inside.
£25/adult£10/child · approx
TicketsFlexible · wet-weather backups
Science Museum
Museum · wet-weather backup To bookFree, hands-on galleries next to the NHM. The alternative Day 4 pick, and a clean rainy-day family pivot. Some special exhibitions are paid.
Free
ReservePrices are 2026 estimates for planning only. Always check the official site before booking, they change, and family tickets often save money.
Quick maths
Pounds to dirhams
For when you're staring at a menu doing the conversion in your head.
Pounds ⇄ Dirhams
offline estimate£1 ≈ 4.66 AED. The dirham is pegged to the US dollar (fixed since 1997), so only the GBP→USD leg moves, and that part is a live rate.
Before you go
Trip checklist
Passports, bookings, insurance, tickets, everything we need to carry. The actual documents live in the private wallet.
4/9 sorted
Documents
Documents, all in the wallet
HaveWhole family
Passports, UK visas and eVisas, flights, the stays (Soho, the Cotswolds cottage and the Tower Bridge hotel) and the Sixt car rental are uploaded to the private wallet.
Accommodation
Cotswolds stay: Orion Holidays essentials
HaveWhole family
Orion Holidays 01285 861839 (24/7, also the emergency line), contact@orionholidays.com, office at The Gateway Centre, Lake 6. Check-in from 4pm on 16 Jul (they call when ready), checkout 10am on 22 Jul. Call them on 13 Jul for the key safe code; keep the code + directions email in the wallet.
Tickets & bookings
Book Warner Bros. Studio Tour ×4
To doWhole family
The hardest ticket of the trip, book this first.
Book Buckingham Palace State Rooms ×4
To doWhole family
Summer opening only, reserve a timed slot.
Reserve Sky Garden (free timed slot)
To doWhole family
Free but books up to 3 weeks ahead.
Castle Farm lavender tickets ×4
HaveWhole family
Booked: field-walk slot for 16 Jul, in the wallet.
Insurance
Travel insurance
To doWhole family
Buy it, then add the policy and 24h line to the wallet.
Health & emergencies
South Cerney local numbers
HaveWhole family
Laurels Pharmacy 01285 861123 · South Cerney Surgery (GP) 01285 862112 · Elsey & Elsey Dental 01285 860712 · NHS drop-in, Cirencester Hospital 0300 421 6200 · Emergencies 999/112. Rebooking direct with Orion: code RG5OFF for 5% off.
Emergency card
To doWhole family
999 for emergencies. Note the nearest hospital to each stay and the kids' details.
This is the checklist and the reference. Storing the actual documents (PDFs, boarding passes, scans) securely is the next build, see the note at the bottom of the page.
The memory bank
Photos
Albums for the trip. These fill up as we go, the plan first, the memories after.
The albums fill after the trip
Once we connect our shared iCloud album, the real photos land here, grouped by the day and place they were taken. Nothing staged in the meantime.