To blanch at the cost of UK attractions

Mine had Blue Peter badges. They tend to qualify you for one child free all the good educational attractions.
London museums are free. I never did the donation at the door as I always bought something in the gift shop.

We’ve have Merlin passes and have had them for years, we don’t go as regular as some but I still think they are good value and it also means you can go somewhere for a few hours when it suits rather than having to spend a full day to get moneys worth. Not sure what the bad reviews are about, can only guess it’s because you now have to book rather than being able to roll up on day and sometimes all pass availability is gone. We’ve never had a problem with booking as we book a few weeks in advance anyway

Our best free days out on a nice day with a picnic when DC were younger was the viewing park at Manchester airport. London must have similar.

Think like a small child, what are your 6 and 4 year old interested in?

Many years ago I had my 10 year old cousin visit me for a week in London.

All he wanted was to go to the top of a big building and paddle in Trafalgar square. Oh and travel on the tube. But if you live in London that's not much of a treat.

City Farm with free entry https://ktcityfarm.org.uk/

The huge Hindu temple in Neasden, actually a lot of religious places will allow visitors.

Don't just go tot he park go to the park with n explorer kit https://www.amazon.co.uk/kids-explorer-kit/s?k=kids+explorer+kit

Buy one or make your own.

Another vote for Hamleys.

I don't know where you are in London or how often you explore other areas but a visit an area that is different culturally to your own and buy food you don't normally eat, take it home and cook it.

Egt my brother lives in Cornwall where 99.9% of the population is white British so when he visited me (Wolverhampton) I took him to an Indian supermarket.

Loads of free things that we do (I live in London and have similar age kids). Museums, galleries, playgrounds, gardens, general wandering around, usually some kind of walking trail somewhere, and instead of London Eye book free tickets to Horizon 22. Pick one paid for activity if you insist (but to be honest at that age I wouldn't bother, save it until they are older!) and do free activities for the rest. Picnics can save money, and food halls are a good plan on days you can't be bothered to picnic (just make sure you choose one with something your kids will eat - we always look for one which sells pizza slices).

Kids theatre (excluding in the West End) is often fairly reasonable in terms of price, if that's of interest. For West End, check out Magic Monday offers for Lion King and Frozen.

We used this website a lot when the kids were younger and got some great deals https://www.littlebird.co.uk/ideas/family-days-out#?page=2

Yes! I found the same with the cereal box 2 for 1 offers lately. No saving at all!

There are SO MANY amazing things that aren’t tourist money grabbers in London!

Eden project is a waste of money. And agreed, too far away to nip back to.

We went about 4 ish years ago just before the pandemic it's such a rip and we live so far away that there is no chance we could nip back for a visit!

We went to the Eden project over the summer…. Absolute rip off! Oh but don’t worry, it’s an annual pass… I don’t want a bloody annual pass, I don’t live remotely close enough to avail of that!

Just let me pay a normal price for a regular, one off entry!

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/spring-family-fun?tab=events&type=free&type=family-young-people

Free family events at the southbank centre.

If you join Central tickets you can often get tickets for kids theatre or kids concerts for £5 per ticket.

Surely London has to be one of the best place in the country, for free entry to museums, parks, etc?

The merlin passes are actually really good value, especially if you are close to lots of attractions.

We have paid £80pp in the sale for the most basic annual discovery pass. With that, we are planning 4 days at alton towers (staying at a campsite nearby), 2 days at chessington, London Eye, sealife, and maybe the Shrek thing.

It covers legoland too.

We are lucky to have Scottish holidays, so the dates fall nicely for us. But even if we had to pay more for the pass, it's well worth it.

I think there are good discounts with rail tickets too, if you need to travel.

Elvis1956 · Today 17:41
There's an American travel writer I like called Rick Steves. One of his books lists shot notes about areas of Britain. For Devon and Cornwall he says "be prepared to be ripped off" I think it's more that the whole of Britain is a tourist rip off

I think our prices are reasonable compared to a lot of tourist attractions in America. Last November my DH and I went on an hour long land train with commentary around a cute historic town. I expected it to cost about £25 each, it was actually almost double that.

@penjil - agree. We looked at London zoo last time we visited London, and it was so expensive.
As a comparison, our nearest zoo is bigger than London zoo, all natural habitat etc, and it’s €18.

We pay for a pass here that covers the whole region, it includes most animal parks/ castles/ museums/ mountain cable cars/ outdoor swimming lidos, local pool/ public transport. its valid April to November, and cost me €70 last week per adult, so €140 both. Kids under 15 go free with adult. That will cover 99% of attractions we will go to for 8months of the year. We use it 3-4 times a week in summer

There's an American travel writer I like called Rick Steves. One of his books lists shot notes about areas of Britain. For Devon and Cornwall he says "be prepared to be ripped off" I think it's more that the whole of Britain is a tourist rip off

But many countries have aquatic and animal places, as well as historical buildings, and no other European country charges what the UK does for entry fees.

Even France, Germany and the Netherlands are reasonable in comparison.

At 4 and 6 I’d look for free or cheap activities. Not sure about London but Facebook community pages here are good for this. The council may also offer summer activities eg libraries do crafts.
Transport can be a novelty so get bus or train to a different park with a picnic.
I did see an interesting instagram the other day where a mum had taken her dc to an indoor playground in Bulgaria? And flights plus entry was less than a similar attraction in uk.

When I go abroad I will pay too much to go in places as I figure we will never be back. So I can see why foreign tourists pay these prices.

Get this "adult" to order an alcoholic drink, and then see what they say! 😂

Foreign tourists.

Disney you’re an adult at 10!

Check out Bablands on Instagram as she posts about cheap family things to do in London. She’s very honest and will call things out when they’re crap and not worth the money. She will also link to other things in the area so you can easily do a whole day trip without doing a lot of mileage!

At 4and 6 the Docklands museum in Canary Wharf is perfect and it’s free. You can get there on the DLR from Bank Station chose the seats at the front so the dcs can try steering the train. Do that in the morning then go to Greenwich park for the best views of London also on the DLR. Then back into central London on the Thames Clipper boats which is an adventure in itself