Our team member Dawn enjoyed a visit to London with her children to see the fabulous Tutankhamun exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. Here is Dawn's blog about their visit.

Tutankhamun Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London

On a cold and windy leap day morning, we arrived at Shrewsbury train station, seamlessly parked and boarded our train for London. The children quickly settled down with their cards, colouring and of course snacks, as the train pulled away for the 2 hour 35 minute journey direct to London Euston Station.

Once in the capital, we headed for the London Underground and Covent Garden. Did you know that children travel free on the Tube? This worked out as quite a big saving for us, given all the short rides we took. Covent Garden is one of the most lively and interesting places in London and a must on any visit. When we got there, the children were suitably entertained by an array of acts from the talented street entertainers, allowing the adults (well at least one of them!) the opportunity to visit the Apple Store for a browse. 

Fairly soon, thanks to the cold February air, a sit down in a warm place with a cup of coffee (or hot chocolate for the little ones) was in order and the children knew just the place: All Bar One, a great corner café within walking distance of Covent Garden. The café provides 'Smarties' sweets with the hot chocolate - something the younger members of the party had clearly not forgotten from a previous trip to London!

An unconventional but thoroughly enjoyable road tour followed, as we flagged down a 'tuk tuk' auto rickshaw - a new experience for us and one of the more unusual ways to experience London. Obviously the excitement made the children hungry (I mean why wouldn’t it? All that sitting while someone else does the hard work!), so food was next on the agenda. A quick hop on and off the Underground again and we found a great Italian restaurant in South Kensington, Cacciari’s, which catered for us all with ease.

After we had eaten, we took a short walk through Kensington to the Saatchi Gallery and the main reason for our visit, the Tutankhamun exhibition. The exhibition did not disappoint and we witnessed a fantastic display of the boy king's treasures, found with him in his tomb back in 1922 by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. This was the only Ancient Egyptian royal tomb to be found undisturbed and it felt an honour to be viewing the artefacts. The children were fascinated - audio guides in hand to explain what they were looking at, and lots of photos, which they were desperate to show their teachers when they got back to school on Monday!

If you or your group would like to enjoy a culture tour of London or the UK, taking in some of the many world class museums, exhibitions, shows, concerts, events and activities, please do contact our friendly team today.