Things to do in London for kids...

[JackNamesThePlanets]

Looking for ideas of places to take DS (5) and DD (3) in London? Going for the day and wanted to make a plan. I have so far come up with Natural History museum!

Any ideas? Places to go, things to see, places to eat? Budget not huge
Thanks!

at that age, the Diana memorial gardens in Hyde Park are just brilliant,, and free. You can walk to Ken High Street from there, past Kensington palace which has good slopes for rolling down and a massive pond with plenty of swans out front and it's a few steps down the high st. to Wholefoods which mine really like (buffet style meals upstairs and excellent cake / face sized meringues from the shop part downstairs). All that is about 3 bus stops away from the Science Museum which is one bus stop up from Nat Hist!

the Science Museum just around the corner from the NHM is great

You can take your own food into both, to keep costs down (entry is free)

There are some bus routes that go past major landmarks, like the Houses of Parliament, Marble Arch, close to Buckingham Palace

Which station will you be coming into? What sort of things are they interested in?

Whole foods is really expensive!

Get the Thames clipper it'll cost you about £5 and five and unders are free. The Emirates airline from North Greenwich is cheap and good fun too.

The v and a in Kensington often run free events for children. The Tate modern is really good for young children.

Ah great replies already- thanks! Will be getting in to Kings Cross, tubes aren't a problem though. They would like Museums where they can fiddle with things- science museum? Think I went there with school when I was 9!

Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green is brilliant, lots of things to play with,and it's free. Café very pricey though, but there's a park with benches just outside for packed lunch.

And if you have time to spare at King's Cross, there's a huge birdcage round the side of the station with a swing to play on.

@milkmoustache as its in Bethnal Green lots of greasy spoons as pie and mash paces nearby

Lots to play with in science museum.
It's right next to the natural history museum,

London zoo is great and you can get 2for1 with train tickets https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/zsl-london-zoo

The London Aquarium is also good and near to the London Eye.

Catching a clipper boat down the Thames from London Bridge to Greenwich to see the Maritime Museum is great - there's a planetarium there.

Also the Emirates sky cable car is cool

The Science Museum now charges for the very hands on bit, but it is excellent and the rest of the museum is good too

There's a small Hamleys at St Pancras station, if you want to get something from there without braving the whole big store....

London Transport Museum

Science Museum - the basement is where the godly things are.

@OlennasWimple the basement is not free anymore?

the basement is still free AFAIK (and given the ages of OP's kids, is probably where they want to be anyway), but the stuff up on the top floor (think it's called Wonderlab now) that used to be free has been re-done and now costs £8 each to go in

If going to NHS, def go to garden in basement of science museum. They have bubble shows as well which are fun. If you don’t want to pay for wonderlab - who am I section is good fun. But might be a bit old for them? Other options are getting open top bus to see sights, Thames clipper down the river and Tower of London. If you do Tower of London - tower bridge is also fun. You can walk across a clear glass walkway high in the sky. If you have time the Greenwich museums are also great. For those ages I would say cutty sark and maritime museum are best. Obviously you can’t do everything in one day though. Out of those - for one day, I would say NHM, science museum and Tower of London (to get history vibe)!

I really like the museum of London, my highlights are the Victorian street to walk around, and the cauldron from London 2012. It’s a 5 minute walk from Barbican station. There’s also one at Docklands that is very interesting.

Transport Museum in Covent Garden is great for that age and feels a bit more chilled than Science Museum/NHM. Always something to watch on the piazza and loads of places to eat. Trafalgar Square nearby for photo opps with the lions!