To blanch at the cost of UK attractions

Haven't read the full thread but just in case it hasn't been mentioned, there are lots of things on TikTok detailing free attractions in London. Might be worth a look?

You're not talking about "UK attractions" really though are you @Monket , you're talking about central London attractions. Which cost an arm and a leg as they are catering for tourists. It's the same in Paris (adult ticket 32 euros for Versailles) and in New York where it's $44 to go up the Empire State Building.

We are incredibly lucky in this country to have so much free in terms of museums and galleries, many of which put on events for summer holidays. Also things like annual passes work out good value - we had annual passes for Edinburgh Zoo which was £45 for a child compared to the £15 standard price, well worth it if you're a regular visitor and it lets you into several other zoos too.

Life long Londoner here.

High ticket items are for tourists. The natives do all the free / cheap stuff.

I nearly fainted when I priced up HMS Belfast recently. When my parents took us I swear it was free? Granted it was circa 20 years ago.

We have annual zoo passes and go about once a month but other than that we only do expensive stuff if we have visitors or it's a special occasion. We are a "packed lunch, jump on a bus" type of family.

It's ridiculous. £130 for 4 of us to go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. 2 of us won't be going on rides. I don't understand why they don't do a lower cost, no ride, ticket.

We also found this and were really surprised as it's an offer that seems very popular and is often suggested to parents on Facebook and here but we thought it was a complete con when we discovered this.

We were in London for 5 days over the New Year and my kids Loved the Natural History Museum - it’s Free and if you book on their website you skip the Q! They were excited to see Andy’s Clock from CBeebies! Not to mention all the dinosaurs etc!

If you live in zone 2 then why holiday in London? That's the perk of living here... you can go to anything anytime. Right now your kids would enjoy the Balloon Museum or the bubble museum or (twist museum). Why not go to story world at Stratford.
Why not go visit thomasland which isn't far or paradise wildlife park. I took the train to these, and a 5min taxi and was brilliant.

If you live near a zoo, zoo passes are great. Had some for Chester zoo when my kids were little as we
lived not too far away. Paid for themselves after like 3 visits. We went in all weathers and took our own food. Whipsnade etc probably have their own passes.

The exact reason I decided to have just one kid!
I live in London. Forget London Eye ...book tickets (free) for horizon 22. It is the highest viewing platform in the UK... 360 degrees. You need to book tickets tho as they are sold out 2 months before. Harry potter studios is incredible and the best value for money for kids ....4 and under are free.
Battersby playground is by far the best playground in London and worth taking them. Princess Diana Park is really great too.

Tesco clubcard vouchers have been mentioned

Useful members:

A historic houses card
Wetlands card
Kew Gardens

Free stuff:
Science museum
Natural history museum
British museum etc

It is. It’s the perfect size for smalls and you don’t need to make it an endurance to feel you get value for money

There are loads of free things in London - Google is your friend!

If you want to do paid for attractions, find offers. If you travel to London by train, there's a 2-for-1 offer (have to book the attraction via the train website and then show train ticket and attraction ticket at attraction), Cadbury's chocolate and Kellogg's cereal do half price vouchers on their packaging regularly (I buy multipacks of chocolate to get the vouchers and then use the chocolate all year), Tesco club card points are just some of them.

But there really is loads to do I. London that is free or very very cheap!

We did that a couple of times when dc were little and had spring birthdays. Nice day out.

Portsmouth aquarium is nice. It’s compact, but it’s nice and the staff are very passionate. It’s also on gorgeous coastline of southsea, so take a pocket full of change for the arcades, few quid for chips or an ice cream and your set.

At least there re a lot of free museums in the UK, especially London - most other countries charge entry fees to these.

I agree with PP who say 'look at it from the perspective of a 4 and 6 year old' - at that age, I really wouldn't have got much out of a lot of paid-for attractions. We were never taken to such places when I was little (not that there were many about - I'm 65 and lived in a village), but what I really loved were picnics in the park and visits to the seaside.

OP, I'd save the expensive venues for when they're older and can appreciate them better.

Most of my young (primary age) childhood was spent in the village playground - we could be in there for hours every day.

A boundless pass is good too if you are a civil servant or related to one. Gets free entry to Kew Gardens, the Wetlands and some other stuff.

But there's so many free things to do in London with kids, take a packed lunch, saves money and means you can eat whenever and not stress about finding somewhere suitable/queuing etc.

Touristy things are fine but surely not every day during the holidays most families on a budget pick a couple to spread out during the holidays, I googled the London sealife centre it's £28 which Is a bit steep but doable if that's all you were paying for that week.

Sorry I mis read its £33 if you book.

OP it’s still free parking in Bushy Park. We would park up there and spend the day picnicking in the fenced off rhododendron gardens. Always lots to enjoy there.

A day out as a family of 4 is extortionate.

We buy yearly passes for a few places as it works out alot cheaper and we visit them atleast once a month. We have on for the local zoo, a play farm and a medium sized theme park, all 3 in total cost around £380 for the year.

YABU because there’s so much free stuff in London. Mine are grown up now but we had amazing times on very little money when they were those ages. Never felt the need to go to Tower of London etc.
I do feel sad that Kew Gardens isn’t the bargain it used to be though. Back in the day an annual pass was £28 and you could park on the road from 10am. Take a picnic and spend the whole day there. Free indoor play and massive outdoor play area and the palm house and indoor aquarium. No free parking now so effectively not possible.

Wicksteed Parking Kettering is perfect for the 4-6 to and not too expensive

The best cost saving is usually to get a an annual membership for 1-2 places. Then use it fully that year. Ie the palace pass use for Tower of London, Hampton court, etc two or three times that year each location . Then the next year don’t renew, and get a membership say to Kew Gardens, and go there every month for a year. Then Merlin passes another year or national trust if outside London trip. Over 5 years to get everywhere, but at a much more reasonable cost