With its blend of the old (the Tower) and the new (the Shard) Katherine MacAlister finds London irresistible

How we ended up at the top of the tallest building in Europe on the very day that 100mph winds were whipping through the country I’ll never know. Call it Katherine’s Law, but either way there we were at the top of The Shard surveying the devastation all around us from 1,000 ft up on the 68th floor. The very top was closed as it had an outdoor vantage point, but a few floors down made no difference to the views, and we were unaware of the earth’s forces huffing, puffing and trying to blow us down.

We had reached The Shard quite late because all the trains and many of the tubes were closed due to wind damage, but being stubborn sort of people who would have fared well in The Blitz we went anyway and found to our surprise that The Shard remained resolutely open and the organisers were perturbed as to why we would think otherwise.

How we got there is another story entirely, the beginning of our staycation and the result of some ferocious compromising. Because having suggested getting away for half term Mr Greedy smiled and said ‘sure’, at which point I whipped out some travel brochures of some wonderfully far-flung destinations and was just leafing through them when he called through from the other room: “How about going to stay with your mother for the week?”

At that point I realised that his version of a week away and mine where vastly different and that never the twain shall meet. So I quickly decided that a good middle-ground would be the staycation option we have long been intrigued by, the rules being that we would only do things that we hadn’t done before, and that the kids could choose something each.

They of course thought this enormously exciting, one wanting to see something Queen Victoria related, my son had his eyes trained on the Mary Rose’s newly rebooted museum, the Tower Of London was brought up, restaurants galore, Hamleys, Oxford Street and we soon had a long list of possibilities, realising that a sleepover in London was the only way to fit them all in.

Staying with friends was an option but more practical was the wealth of new, budget hotels that have popped up all over London, presumably thanks to the Olympics. The Travelodge in Vauxhall is one of these. Easily accessible, it’s right next to the Tube, the rooms being surprisingly roomy, clean and modern.

With the hotel booked we then planned our trip with the precision of a military coup. Investigations into train fares discovered that the Oxford Tube bus was £34 return while the train was over £160 return, making that choice easy to make. As it turned out, it being the weekend of the 100mph winds, when all the stations were closed, it was a serendipitous decision.

Deposited on Sunday afternoon in Notting Hill, we walked to our first point of call Kensington Palace, home of Kate, Wills and baby George, but also to a museum showcasing where Queen Victoria was brought up until she became Queen, as well as a wonderful selection of Queenie’s clothes, plus those of her sister Princess Margaret and daughter-in-law Princess Diana. Who would have thought the Queen’s waist was once so tiny, or that one woman could wear so much Dior, as was the case with Margaret.

Hungry we marched straight to China Town for dinner, picking a restaurant at random and choosing one with a rotating table and lots of unidentifiable food, chopsticks and jasmine tea that kept them all enthralled.

Settling down in our hotel afterwards we realised that the only downfall of the Travelodge was that they don’t provide any toiletries, which I thought was just plain unhygienic. Apparently there was a machine in the foyer selling soap and shampoo but it was empty so we had to venture out to Sainsbury’s and spend a fortune on things we already had at home. But we all slept well and got up with the added bonus of the generous breakfast which was free for children and kept us going all day.

The Shard was next up, but on turning on the news that morning were amazed it was open. However, regardless of all the fuss and bother it was worth the effort, the views being quite astonishing, and it’s an experience we will never forget.

We could see the Tower Of London quite clearly from up there, having no idea it was so prominent or big, the castle walls enclosing all sorts of other towers and buildings, all presumably signalling some poor soul’s demise. And so we walked over the Millennium Bridge and got in the queue for the tour.

Led by Beefeaters it was the best way to get around, our Beefeater being terribly droll and British with a sense of humour that could skin cats, making the hour long tour really fun and memorable. But that aside, what a place.

One thousand years old and originally built by William The Conqueror, this is where Henry VII held court and where Henry VIII had Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard beheaded. They were both buried in unmarked graves until Queen Victoria intervened and buried them in the chapel. Henry even dissolved Catherine’s body so she couldn’t have an afterlife, a despicable prospect back then. As for Anne she was so convinced she was going to get a reprieve she hadn’t prepared a funeral and her body had to be carried away in an arrow box.

After all this doom and gloom Oxford Street was the only way forward and the adults/children filtered off Hamleys and Selfridges respectively. Replete we then caught the reliably frequent and running Oxford Tube bus, getting back to Oxford later that night.

Needing a few days to recover meant that we didn’t set off for Portsmouth until later that week arriving early enough to get a full day in. And you need it because there is so much to do at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. From the fantastic harbour cruise around all the current and retired naval vessels, to the delights of HMS Victory, the amazement of The Mary Rose, its artefacts now proudly displayed as prominently as the boat itself, to HMS Warrior, the first iron-hulled navy ship, we ran out of time, but it was an incredible experience.

On the drive home I reflected that we have pretty amazing places to visit in the UK and that staying home isn’t as bad as I thought. As far as the children were concerned, we did things they will never forget and that’s what counts.

FACT FILE

* Travelodge: Rates are all subject to when you book. Rooms cost from £25 (from £39 in London) and prices are per room, not per person.
London Vauxhall Hotel opened on the 22nd April 2013.
Breakfast is £7.65 for adults (£6.65 if you book online) and free for children. www.travelodge.co.uk
* Kensington Palace: www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/
* Tower Of London: www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/
* The Shard: www.the-shard.com
n Mary Rose: www.historicdockyard.co.uk/