Photographing landmarks in London and beyond...

[caption id="attachment_2545" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Big Ben seen through the wrought iron gates at the House of Commons[/caption]

 

Landmarks are such special, wonderful places to visit because of the excitement of seeing something so famous right in front of you. Whether it’s the Golden Gate Bridge or the Tower of London, that sense of instant recognition makes the visit particularly exciting.

We’re lucky enough to have visited a number of landmarks over the years but we’ve realised one thing: they’re always busy! So busy, in fact, that it can be hard to cut through the crowds and bustle, and enjoy some time at the place you’ve spent ages getting to.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go – of course not. We wouldn’t have missed our views of the Eiffel Tower for anything, nor of the White House. But it does make it very hard to get a good photograph!

However, we think that there are ways round this, ways you can get a terrific picture and enjoy the whole experience. Let us give you some examples, but before we do, we'd recommend a visit to the CEWE Photoworld website, where they have a lovely infographic showing the top 10 most photographed places in the world (perfect for bucket list inspiration)!

[caption id="attachment_2551" align="alignnone" width="900"] The Eiffel Tower reflected in the Seine[/caption]

 

The Eiffel Tower
You can’t get much more iconic that his 300m tall construction, which was built in 1887. When we visited, we weren’t disappointed, although I think we might have been if we’d had to stand in a queue for hours to get in! So, our biggest tip is to book online and then take as many pictures as you want. But, if you want something a little different, you've got a number of options. Our favourites include shots from standing at the bottom (giving you a very different view of such a famous structure) and taking advantage of any special weather conditions. I was at the top of the Tower when I spotted that the sun was positioned so perfectly that I could get a picture of the Tower reflected in the Seine. I think it's very special.



Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
One of the most amazing things we’ve done together as a family is a tour of Big Ben, and we’ve realised that not many people know this is possible. You have to be a UK resident, and it’s free – all you have to do is contact your local MP who will put you in a ballot (you can read more about this on our blog post). You can’t take pictures while you’re actually on the tour, but you can take some as you exit the House of Commons. This means you can get views which most people simply can’t – from inside the Parliament setting, giving you a totally different perspective to that which most people see as they walk by on the outside.
Here’s one of our favourites, plus another (at the top of this post) which anyone could take, through the wrought iron. I just like trying to frame pictures in different ways.

[caption id="attachment_2552" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Notre Dame Cathedral[/caption]

 

Notre Dame
We’re back in France for this one – surely one of the most famous Cathedrals in the world and situated in the fourth arrondissement of Paris. It’s always surrounded by people, so it can be hard to get a beautiful shot without everyone crowding in. Ours came from a trip on the Seine itself – a different view of a beautiful place, with the bridge crossing it in front.

[caption id="attachment_2547" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Monument (from below!)[/caption]

 

The Monument
We mentioned going down low to get a new perspective on taking pictures and it is a lovely way to get something that bit different. On our trip to the Monument, which marks the Fire of London, I knelt down to take in this vast column which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. If you do visit, it’s also definitely worth walking the 300 steps to the top to enjoy the views.

[caption id="attachment_2548" align="alignnone" width="640"] St Paul's Cathedral, seen from the Millennium Bridge, London[/caption]

 

St Paul's and the Millennium bridge

The Millennium Bridge (which you might recognise from the Harry Potter films) is a pedestrian bridge between Tate Modern and St Paul’s Cathedral, and takes you across the River Thames. I really like this picture of two landmarks together, as I love taking shots which show the old and new sides of a city. London is brilliant for doing this, and one of my other favourite London pictures shows The Shard peeking out from behind the Tower of London.

I also really like this picture because it’s from a different angle, so it’s not too full of tourists!

[caption id="attachment_1347" align="alignnone" width="1712"] We got to take pictures in front of the castle with no tourists around![/caption]

 

Disney’s Magic Kingdom
This is one of our most special pictures from what our children would term our “best ever” holiday. As you can see it’s just us in front of the iconic Cinderella Castle. Why? Because we were incredibly lucky.
We were picked to open the park, one of just 365 families to get this honour in a year, and that meant we were ushered in early and able to take photographs with no one else around. I’d obviously recommend this, but it’s not quite as easy to do as the other examples!

We love taking photographs and we actually print them out and put them in albums (I know, we’re old school). This means we can look at them again and again. Sometimes we have logjams of all the pictures we take, but we never regret taking them. It’s wonderful to have memories which last forever.

Disclosure: we wrote this piece in conjunction with CEWE Photoworld who are running a new travel photography campaign featuring the top 10 instagrammed landmarks around the world. From the Eiffel Tower to the Burj Khalifa, it covers great tips on how to get the best shots around - so please take a look! CEWE can also help you turn your treasured shots into your very own professional looking photo book.

Disneyland Paris by Robert

[caption id="attachment_1110" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The parade at Disneyland Paris[/caption]

I went to Disneyland Paris with my scout group and had a great time. The rides and attractions were brilliant but here's the thing: if you want a happy family experience where you meet Mickey Mouse, go to Florida. If you want exciting rides and to get wet go to EuroDisney. Apart from a building where you could meet the most famous Disney character, and the parade, there weren't many things to do with the characters at all, but I still loved it. These are the highlights of my day there:

1. Big Thunder Mountain ( 6+)

If you decide to go on this ride, and you definitely should, go to it early on in the day as the queues can be very long. Big Thunder Mountain was the first ride we went on and the queue was two hours long. Later in the day it became six hours.
This ride is a roller coaster, not too scary and not too calm. The ride was around four minutes long which I thought was brilliant as most rides usually last one minute at the most. There were plenty of small drops, tense moments and some of the ride was in complete darkness. One of the things I thought was cool about this ride was that the main thing that caught your eye in this section of the park was a massive mountain. In the ride your train went all around the mountain and right at the top there were a few seconds when you could see the whole park before you plummeted down. It was the best ride of the day and I would give it 5 stars.

2. The Pirates of The Caribbean Ride (5+)

This ride was an extremely fun one. It took you through the world of pirates and how they find treasure. There were moving models and sound effects but there was a downside... At the beginning there were loads of signs saying you will get very wet, yet I got about a drop of water on me and I was sitting at the front. Apart from that it was a great ride and I would give it three and a half stars.

3. Star Tours (4+ but the youngsters may not understand it very well)

Stars Tours was a fantastic simulation that made you feel like you were actually inside a space ship from the Star Wars films. There were bumps and wobbles, the space craft travelled through the air and the special effects were brilliant. All the talking from the Star Wars characters was in French so I didn't really understand what was going on but the feel of the ride was great and it was the adults' favourite. 4 stars.

4. Alice's Labyrinth (all ages)

Alice's Labyrinth was really fun for both the kids and adults. It was a very tricky maze, yet at some times there was only one route to take. There was the castle of the Queen Of Hearts in the middle of the maze. Me and my partner managed to get out of the labyrinth twice but both times we failed to find the castle, even when accompanied by a leader. The maze had twists and turns as well as things like a mini door. Also there were signs from the Cheshire Cat, some useful and some not. At the end you got to sit down with the the character's things, like wearing the Mad Hatter's Hat. 4 Stars.

5. The Haunted House (5+)

The haunted house was half ride, half walking around. It was creepy but not really scary. One of my favourite bits was at the beginning, when on the walls there were four happy paintings, including a woman picking roses, a couple having a picnic and a woman canoeing on a river. But then the paintings were extended and you could see the woman was picking roses on a graveyard, the couple having a picnic were surrounded by zombies and the woman canoeing was about to fall down a water fall. Another thing I liked was that near the end you looked in a mirror and you could see a monster on top of your car. I would have liked more things to have popped out as all the things were just there for you to look at. 3 Stars.

6. The Parade (all ages)

The parade was brilliant and was one of the only things that made me think of the happy side of Disney. It made me feel like I was four years old again. The floats were fantastic and the costumes were brilliant. There were dancers on roller skates and characters walking, as well as them being on the floats. At one point the Evil Queen from Snow White came up to us, looked at our scouting uniform and gave us the scout salute. 5 stars.

Some of the things we didn't do were:

• The Snow White and the Seven Dwarves roller coaster which was said to be really good


• Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom. You need to be 1.4 M to go on this so we couldn't go on. It had loops, pinwheels and big drops in it so definitely for the older ones.


• Space Mountain which was closed for repairs but looked and sounded amazing.

There was so much more to do like boat rides, a shooting range and even a visit to Robinson Crusoe's tree house. It's a small world, Peter Pan's flight and loads more. It was a fantastic day and you should definitely go.

If you have five minutes and you like our blog, please vote for us in the Bibs (the Brilliance in Blogging Awards) in the travel, and perhaps photo, categories. We would really appreciate it and every vote counts. Just click over here. Thanks so much!

Read more:

Is 11 too old for Disney World?

Parks in Paris with kids (by Robert)

[caption id="attachment_1201" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The rides were great fun at the Jardin D'Acclimation[/caption]

When you are on holiday as a family, it's always worth doing some research and finding local parks. Sometimes the kids just need to let off steam and it's a great way for them to do so. We were particularly lucky in Paris, because we found a few excellent places to visit. Here's Robert to tell you more...

In Paris my family and I went to two great parks. I liked one more than the other and this is why...

Jardin D'Acclimation

This park was amazing, right from the start, when we went on a little train to get there.

We came to the park. thinking it would be swings, slides and seesaws but we were wrong. The amazing place had everything, including a little farm/zoo. We saw goats, sheep and lots more.

There was also a mini fairground, full of carousels and carnival games from throwing to rolling. My favourite bit of the fairground was the rides, especially the ones which went up, down, back and forwards. I especially liked the Alice in Wonderland ride because it was fast and went in different directions - you even went down a drop backwards.

In the park there were also forest adventures, climbing, trampolining and much more.

Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Gardens

This is the second largest public park in Paris. It was very beautiful and had shows and pony rides. There were also these cool swings where you could go really high, and which you would not find in most other places. The only problem was that you had to pay for everything including the basic slides and swings. You had to pay for the Jardin d'Acclimation too, but you would expect to pay for fairground rides. Although this park was nice, it was wasn't as much fun.

We also walked through the Tuileries and I enjoyed that, particularly because there were sculptures in the park and you could actually go inside some of them.

There was a small park near Victor Hugo's house in the Place des Vosges and it was fun too, with equipment to climb on. But it wasn't the kind of place you could spend a lot of time at.

[caption id="attachment_1204" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The small park on the Place des Voges[/caption]

All the parks in Paris were fun but half of them were just like the ones you could find anywhere else. If you go to Paris with kids I would recommend going to the Jardin d'Acclimatation and for the grown ups I would recommend the Tuileries.

More by me Doctor Johnson's house and  Cadbury World.

Read a full account of our trip to Paris!

We've teamed up with the lovely Mari of Mari's World for some time travelling...

 

Parks in Paris with kids (by Robert)

At the Jardin D'Acclimation

When you are on holiday as a family, it's always worth doing some research and finding local parks. Sometimes the kids just need to let off steam and it's a great way for them to do so. We were particularly lucky in Paris, because we found a few excellent places to visit. Here's Robert to tell you more...

In Paris my family and I went to two great parks. I liked one more than the other and this is why...

Jardin d'Acclimatation

This park was amazing, right from the start, when we went on a little train to get there.

We came to the park. thinking it would be swings, slides and seesaws but we were wrong. The amazing place had everything, including a little farm/zoo. We saw goats, sheep and lots more.

There was also a mini fairground, full of carousels and carnival games from throwing to rolling. My favourite bit of the fairground was the rides, especially the ones which went up, down, back and forwards. I especially liked the Alice in Wonderland ride because it was fast and went in different directions - you even went down a drop backwards.
In the park there were also forest adventures, climbing, trampolining and much more.


Read more »

The Eiffel Tower - with our tips for visiting with kids

Before we went to Paris, we read an article on what you absolutely "must" do. It also had some tips on what you shouldn't do - what you could leave out without it affecting your trip. One of these was the Eiffel Tower.

I wish I could find the author of that piece and tell him straight. If you're in Paris, particularly with kids, you have to visit the Tour Eiffel. Otherwise, there's just no point being there. This may not be true if it's a place you come to often, but if it's your first time, then it's a must!

When my son asked if we could go to Paris. He said it was because he really wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower. Doesn't that say it all? Once the tallest building in the world (it's over 300 metres high) it's a brilliant place, with the most remarkable views. The word is often used, but this really is iconic.

We were very fortunate that we visited on a beautiful Autumn day, with a clear blue sky. We had also booked in advance and I can't stress how vital this is. As we neared the tower, we saw the queues snaking around and around. But there was literally no queue at all for us, with our pre-booked tickets. We simply walked through security and were in the lift after about, ooh, five minutes.

If you are with kids, you really won't want to hang around for hours before going up the Tower, so this is my main piece of advice. It was the only thing we pre-booked for our entire trip.

 We had booked to go all the way to the top, and you should definitely do this. Otherwise, if you (or your kids) decide that they want to go up another level while you are inside, you will have to queue again (sigh). The views at the top are also so brilliant. When you come down again to level 2, it actually feels quite near to the ground.

Of course, you can always walk, and many would recommend this, though probably not with young children. We decided the lift was a better option than hundreds of steps! We only walked between the two small parts of level 2.

Going up in the lift is a bit of a squash, but it only takes a minute or so before you are on the second level (the first level has a restaurant, but no one got out when we stopped there). We quickly took the lift up again to the top, although there was about a 15 minute queue for this, which would presumably be longer at busy times, such as the summer. If you are travelling with kids, this would be a good time to give them a snack/game/your phone to play with.

The Tower was built by Gustave Eiffel for the World Exhibition in 1889. It's made out of 12,000 iron pieces, and at the time it was the tallest structure in the world (this title remained until the completion of the Chrysler Building in 1930), but it was meant to be a temporary one. There were contemporary complaints that this huge "object" was not a suitable fit for Parisian architecture, but luckily those complaints are long gone. It is, instead, a symbol of the city, able to be seen from so many angles.

Despite the people at the top, many drinking a celebratory glass of champagne, we didn't feel rushed or hurried. It was, simply, beautiful.

After walking around the top, we did the same on level 2 where there are souvenir shops and food outlets. You may experience some pester power here, but there are some affordable things in the shops. Be warned also, that you may have to queue for the lift back down again.

We really loved our visit, from the walk from Bir-Hakeim metro station, across a small park, to the shadow of the Tower we could see reflected in the Seine. Paris without the Eiffel Tower? Unthinkable.

We pre-booked our tickets, which cost 14.5 Euros per adult and 10 Euros for children. We thought this was pretty good value.

Our tips for visiting the Eiffel Tower:

1) Do it!

2) Book in advance, and when you arrive, look for the signs for "Entree Visiteurs Avec Reservation" (Visitors with Reservations).

3) Go all the way to the top

4) Dress up warmly

5) Take your camera and video!

6) Go at night if you can or watch the sunset (we didn't do this, but know it would have been magnificent)

7) Don't rush it - take your time going round

8) Look around the base of the Tower too - the architecture is extremely impressive

9) If you want a brilliant view of the Tower afterwards (although there are many in Paris), walk over to the Trocadero afterwards and get snap happy.

10) The Tower lights up at night, for around five minutes each hour. Try to be outside to see this while you are in Paris. We saw it from Montmartre and it was fabulous.

Watch our video of going to Paris!

The Eiffel Tower - with our tips for visiting with kids

Before we went to Paris, we read an article on what you absolutely "must" do. It also had some tips on what you shouldn't do - what you could leave out without it affecting your trip. One of these was the Eiffel Tower.

I wish I could find the author of that piece and tell him straight. If you're in Paris, particularly with kids, you have to visit the Tour Eiffel. Otherwise, there's just no point being there. This may not be true if it's a place you come to often, but if it's your first time, then it's a must!

When my son asked if we could go to Paris. He said it was because he really wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower. Doesn't that say it all? Once the tallest building in the world (it's over 300 metres high) it's a brilliant place, with the most remarkable views. The word is often used, but this really is iconic.

We were very fortunate that we visited on a beautiful Autumn day, with a clear blue sky. We had also booked in advance and I can't stress how vital this is. As we neared the tower, we saw the queues snaking around and around. But there was literally no queue at all for us, with our pre-booked tickets. We simply walked through security and were in the lift after about, ooh, five minutes.

If you are with kids, you really won't want to hang around for hours before going up the Tower, so this is my main piece of advice. It was the only thing we pre-booked for our entire trip.

Read more »

We've been to Paris (and made a video!)

Did you guess where we spent last week? We put some clues on our Facebook page, and also in the post below, and the answer is... Paris!

We had a great time in this beautiful (but very expensive!) European city and will be writing more about our travels over the next few weeks. We especially loved going right up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and were lucky enough to do so on a beautiful day, as you can see from the picture above.


The children made a video of our trip, and if you can excuse the shaky camera, please take a look and see what we got up to. And please leave us any comments too.

Thank you.

We've been to Paris (and made a video!)

Did you guess where we spent last week? We put some clues on our Facebook page, and also in the post below, and the answer is... Paris!

We had a great time in this beautiful (but very expensive!) European city and will be writing more about our travels over the next few weeks. We especially loved going right up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and were lucky enough to do so on a beautiful day, as you can see from the picture above.

Read more »