Although it’s late, it’s time for the EF Ultimate Break: London and Scotland Escape Review.
I learned a lot on this trip, particularly about my own travel style and what kind of trip I know to choose vs avoid during my next outings with EF Ultimate Break. Make no mistake, overall the trip was amazing and I brought back experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life. But let’s get right into it, shall we?
The suitcase I used: Hanke 20 Inch Carry-On Luggage
The backpack I used: Coowoz Large Travel Backpack
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Trip Part 1: London
I once again took an overnight flight to London Heathrow, but this time I can honestly say I fared much better and actually got around four hours of sleep on the plane (yes, even in economy). This was certainly aided by my absolute travel essentials, which you can read more about here.
Once we arrived at London Heathrow we got our Pounds from an airport ATM and met up with another group on our trip as we awaited our driver to get us to our accommodations. Now, this trip was NOT the Ultimate Plus trip, it was the normal version of the trip. So while on my last EF trip to Italy, Germany, and Switzerland I stayed in hotels, this time we were stationed in hostels.
London: The Hostel
The hostel was quite the drive from the airport, but was situated close to an Underground station and to Borough Market. We stayed at the St. Christopher’s Inn London Bridge Hostel. My experience with the hostel is biased because I got VERY sick while we were there, having a terrible cold and stomach bug. It meant climbing down from the top bunk every few hours to go to the bathroom, which I do not recommend unless you have to. The elevators were also quite tiny, so with luggage, only two or three people could fit at a time. We ended up opting for the stairs each morning.
London Hostel: The Bedrooms
I traveled with two other friends, and we were put in the room of ten, so there were five bunk beds for all of us to share, with luggage cages below the beds. Each room was accessible only by entering a code on the door handle every time you wanted to enter.
My experience with the hostel is biased because I got VERY sick while we were there, having a terrible cold and stomach bug which meant a lot of time worrying about if that ONE toilet was occupied or not.
Each bunk bed had two “cages” beneath it for luggage storage, you DO need to bring your own thin lock (like these) to attach to these if you don’t want to end up purchasing one from the front desk. These are the locks I used throughout the trip. My carry-on suitcase and backpack fit perfectly in the luggage cage with room to spare, but if your luggage is deeper than a carry-on you might have to just leave your luggage standing about in the room. The sleeping situation was less than ideal, but it’s exactly why I always pack a blanket, a sleeping bag insert, and a travel pillow. I would have been much more miserable without my neck pillow specifically, as the pillows provided were quite flat.
London Hostel: The Bathroom
The one thing I would put down as a negative for me personally was there was only one toilet for our entire side of the floor. There were three gender-neutral shower stalls lined up next to each other, and sinks with mirrors as well as Euro-style hair dryers in that same room. The toilet was in it’s own room right next to the one with the shower stalls.
The showers here each had a bench and little rack to hang things on, which was very appreciated. That way you could change inside the shower stall without getting your clothes wet. If you feel comfortable doing so, you can also bring your own bathrobe to walk in if you’ve got the room for it in your suitcase.
The hair dryers there are quite like vacuum cleaners, but in reverse. I also HIGHLY recommend bringing your own travel towel (I use this one) as the hostel will charge you a fee to borrow their towels. Most of us did our makeup in our hostel room, and I highly recommend bringing your own folding mirror and a clip-on ring light to ensure everything is even, that’s what I did and it certainly helped this time around!
London: The Experience
Day 1 in London started off with a fantastic walking tour, allowing us to see some of the most amazing sights all in one go. For a movie nerd such as myself, I loved seeing where Tom Cruise sprinted across when they filmed a major scene in Mission Impossible: Fallout (I ADORE the Mission Impossible films). Shakespeare’s Globe was a sight to see in person, as were his quotes lining the Thames.
We got to see the changing of the Guard, and that memory will stay with me forever–particularly because there was a grouchy policeman on a bicycle bellowing “GET OUT OF THE ROAD!!” whenever someone stopped in the middle to take a picture. My group adored watching him work, and it still makes us laugh when we talk about it.
Our walking guide also navigated us to a photo spot for St. Paul’s Cathedral that was so perfect, I saw the same photo come across my TV as a screensaver, taken by a professional. We opted-in for the “London Eye and Tea” activity, which I do recommend, but not if you dislike heights. I don’t like ferriss wheels normally, and every time the London Eye made a noise I almost flew to the bench in a panic. The views were lovely though, and very worth it. The tea cruise on the Thames was also worth it, especially to get such great photos while on the top deck post-tea.
Our free day in London was spent between Kensington Gardens, Camden, and then off to the Harry Potter Studio Tour!
The Harry Potter Studio Tour
If you’re trying to make it from London to the Stuido Tour, PLAN AHEAD! Tickets come with admittance times, and you cannot attend a tour time earlier than the one you have a ticket for. Tickets sell out MONTHS in advance, so buy them as soon as you know what day you’d like to go! The train ride from London to Watford Station is over an hour and VERY punctual, so arrive at the train station with time to spare. The bus from the train station to the Studio Tour is free, and runs intermittently from the station.
I also recommend doing a morning or early afternoon tour, as we were there for three hours and had to leave with some areas unexplored as the venue was closing. if you are leaving the Stuido Tour at closing time, GET IN LINE FOR THE BUS EARLY!! There is no guarantee you will make it onto the free bus back to the station, so either get in line early or Uber to the train station! (That’s what we ended up doing so we wouldn’t miss our train back to London).
Part 2: Scotland
Our group departed London and boarded a train for Scotland. I was incredibly ill that morning, and I wanted to give a shoutout to my tour guide Sophie for absolutely saving my life by giving me a ginger wellness shot she kept with her. I can honestly say I would not have survived the trip without it.
It was a five-hour train ride through the countryside to Scotland, so I definitely recommend having your headphones, something to watch/listen to, or a book to read to help pass the time, as sleeping on the train wasn’t the easiest. Your ticket is specific to your seat, and you don’t have to worry about strangers being seated next to you. I will note here that if you have a carry-on suitcase you’ll have a much better time as well, because the luggage rack fills up quite quickly, and the smaller ones have a better chance of fitting on the rack than the others.
Smaller suitcases are also preferred because once you exit the train in Edinburgh, you will have to drag your luggage up a few flights of stairs to avoid the massive line for the elevators. One of the friends I made while on the tour insisted upon hauling my suitcase up the stairs for me because I apparently looked quite sick due to the bumps toward the end of our journey.
Edinburgh was nothing short of magical from the moment we left the train station.
Scotland: The Hostel
I will be the first to admit I liked the Kick Ass Greyfriar’s Hostel in Edinburgh better than the St. Christopher’s Inn London Bridge overall. The room was much larger to better accommodate the ten of us from our trip, and there was a woman-only bathroom on our floor we could use if we didn’t want to use the unisex one. The “lockers” for luggage were standing lockers much like the ones we use in schools here, only nicer. I was just able to fit my carry-on suitcase in the locker and thread my skinny TSA travel lock through it, but there was room under the beds for suitcases as well, just unsecured.
Another difference between the two hostels was that these rooms were accessed by a key card rather than a code you had to remember, so you had to make sure you brought it with you on every bathroom trip. It was quite cold there even in June, but the rooms were toasty warm, even for a Floridian. We ended up propping a window open with someone’s Beis makeup bag to let some cooler air in.
Scotland Hostel: The Bathrooms
As previously stated there was a woman-only bathroom on our floor pretty much everyone in my room opted to use. Their mirrors had wonderful lights and the bathrooms were clean overall. The lights were motion detecting so if you were in the shower for a while the lights may shut off on you. The shower cubicle was also VERY small, leaving not much room to turn around. There was also no place to put your soap/toiletries in the shower, but I believe there was one knob/hook outside the shower cubicle for your towel.
Scotland: The Experience
I HIGHLY recommend this trip, if only to get you to Edinburgh. Highlights of this portion included entry to the castle high above town (which feels like something out of a storybook, much like the rest of the town). We were also able to visit the museum, and used our free time to go through the Johnnie Walker Experience in town. I highly recommend the Johnnie Walker Experience, it’s very interesting and your experience will be customized to your flavor profile!
My favorite, without a doubt, was visiting Loch Lomond. Yes, the one from the song. On the bus ride we trailed through the Scottish Highlands, listening to Touch the Sky from Brave (and yes, I did cry) before stopping to meet some Highlands Cows (“Sexy Coos” as our guide lovingly called them) and parking the bus to walk the trail to Loch Lomond’s shores.
We had the option to do a cold plunge into the Loch, but seeing as I was finally getting over a nasty cold, I opted out of the plunge and got to enjoy the scenery while they jumped in. I could have stayed on those shores for hours though, just taking everything in.
Also, BRING A RAIN JACKET! Check the weather before your trip and bring a rain jacket/umbrella no matter what! It absolutely downpoured our first day there and many in our group got totally soaked to the bone.
EF Ultimate Break: London and Scotland Escape Review
I would recommend this trip overall, especially if you’ve never taken an EF trip before. It’s a shorter trip (one week including travel days) and will help you figure out your travel style and preferences while giving you amazing experiences in beautiful places.
If this isn’t your first rodeo with EF Ultimate Break, I still recommend this trip, I would just say take a look at the Ultimate Plus version as well to see if you’d prefer it over the hostel experience. While the hostel may not have ultimately been for me, we were at prime locations within the city, and didn’t need to take a bus into town in London or Scotland, but we were told the Ultimate Plus people had to take a bus or train into town each time. So each has it’s perks!
Tips and Tricks
- Bring a travel towel to avoid rental fees (this is the one I bring with me everywhere).
- Pack everything in a carry-on and personal item, but bring a foldable duffle bag to check on the way back (we inevitably buy too many souvenirs or liquids over the allowed carry-on amount)
- I highly recommend bringing a trunk-style carry-on as there will not be much room to open a clamshell-style suitcase in either your hostel or hotel (European hotel rooms can be very tiny). I used this as my carry-on for this trip and loved it!
- Make sure you have cold medicine in your emergency kit!!
- Noise-cancelling headphones and a sleep mask may save your sanity both on the plane and in the hostel
- Pack a pillow or use your neck pillow to sleep in your accommodations
- Specific to Edinburgh airport: They only allow one bag of travel-sized liquids, and they will yell at you to take your bin with your things off the belt and put everything back on elsewhere, rather than standing at the belt from the scanner.
- They will also make you remove your shoes if you’re wearing boots of any kind
- Get there EARLY especially if you’re checking luggage for the return trip. TSA takes a WHILE and they only let a certain amount of people through the mechanical doors at a time.
EF Ultimate Break
While this trip was fun I’ve determined the Ultimate Plus versions are definitely more my vibe. My next EF Ultimate Break trip will be France: Castles, Coasts, and Croissants in 2025.
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