Things to do in London

[NeverTalksToStrangers]

Going to London with DH and DS 8 & 10 for a week.

What touristy things would you recommend? And which are dull/not the best for kids? Considering madame Tussauds (although my kids don't have a LOT of celebrity awareness (beyond footballers and some actors), shrek, dungeons etc.

We are already booked for HP tour and Cursed Child. Will probably go to lion king too. We might go to Chessington also - lego land doesn't look high-octane enough for my 2 thrill-seekers. They love a rollercoaster.

London eye - best during the day or night? It will be summer so might not get much darker until late.

Logistics wise, are there attractions close by each other? We will be based in Waterloo area.

The Science museum was a huge hit with my 8 year old. My 14 year olds loved it too.

I wouldn’t bother with Tussaud’s.

Speed boat experience on the Thames is good fun. My ds also liked The Tower of London.

No to Tussauds. Overcrowded and too many foreign waxworks who your children will have no idea who they are.

Sea life is good if they haven’t been before.

Something high up is good. The Skygarden is free if you book in advance, Tower Bridge has a Perspex walkway above the road, riverboat trip on the Thames to Greenwich is good (you can go to the Observatory if interested, or at least stand on the Prime Meridian). There’s a big slide at the Olympic Park (in the thing that looks like an airport tower) which is said to be fun.

Agree, don’t do tussauds. How many days do you have? I’d probably do

1 day S Kensington - science museum, natural history museum

1 day Waterloo - south bank, Tate modern, London Eye, loads of entertainers by the Eye and nice food places by Festival Hall or in Borough market

1 day maybe get one of those open top buses so you see lots of the sights if they are interested? Or the City - Fire of London, St Paul’s followed by Shoreditch for lots of hipster places and brilliant curry on Brick Lane

Definitely a boat. You can get a speed boat further or a gentle Tate to Tate. Could even go to Greenwich and see the cutty sark.

If they fancy a day off history things then you can do worse than Westfield Sheoherds Bush - Kidzania is great fun for them (they do lots of ‘jobs’ from tv presenter to window cleaner!) and there is all star lanes bowling and puttshack golf there too.

If you have even more time to play with I’d go to Hampton court.

Have a brilliant time!

Natural History Museum is fantastic too!

We have 6 nights, so 6.5 days. Going to HP tour for 5:30pm slot, so that morning is free, Cursed child will take up the guts of a full day, but we can spend the time in between shows in around west end and might be able to fit in some stuff that morning.

Interesting that no one has recommended Tussauds... what about shrek or the dungeons? Is science museum free? I know a lot are. Are sky gardens just restaurants or is there more to do up there?

Cable car from north Greenwich
Leake street graffiti tunnel

Number 11 bus takes you past lots of well known landmarks West to the City of London.

Monument is fun to climb. You get a certificate and have great views over London. The Museum of London is within walking distance.

Most of the museums are free. The natural history museum and science museum appealed most to the kids. It nice to be able to take in an art museum as well. The WWI exhibit at the imperial war museum is good and quite close to Waterloo. If you have time and interest to trek all the way up to the RAF museum, it is excellent.

I would say pass on Tussaud’s as well. My 8 year old would not like the dungeons...too scary, but depends on the child. I think LEGO land might appeal more to younger kids than yours.

We prefer the London Eye during the day as you can see more, but pretty at night as well.

Mine really enjoyed the Tower of London. The tour with the beefeaters is good.

The markets are also good to have a wander around in. Bourough Market for food, Camden markets are good for other stuff. Lots of street performers on Southbank and in Covent Garden. They’re always entertaining.

Kew Gardens is not too far and very beautiful if that’s your thing as well.

DH, DD (was 9) and I enjoyed Shrek and the Eye. We didn't enjoy Tussauds. DD didn't know many of the waxworks. Cable car was great fun as was the Clipper (boat) to get there.

If you go to the 10th floor of the Tate Modern there is a viewing platform (which is free). The Sky Gardens is free, but you need to book, you don't need to book the Tate.

Science museum and History Museum are both free. We enjoyed both.

How about the transport museum? Hamleys? Harrods? Buckingham Palace? Portobello Market is (super busy) but interesting to walk through. Try a food stall at Borough Market, which is near the Clink which is also a fab gem.

I'll go against the majority here and say my kids loved Tussauds! I went with pretty low expectations admittedly and we did have Merlin passes so it didn't cost us anything extra but I thought it was pretty quirky and fun. The kids (10, 13 and 16) liked the Star Wars and Marvel waxworks and knew plenty of the other celebs, royalty, politicians etc. The taxi ride at the end is great.

Some really good suggestions on the thread. I'd just advise factoring in some "down-time" so you don't all burn out - your itinerary sounds exhausting! Make sure you visit parks, cafes, places where you can while away some time watching the world go by.

Agree a no to Madame Tussaud’s. The shrek experience is good and so is the London dungeons.

The chesterfield hotel is good for afternoon tea. They do a Charlie and the chocolate factory one with willy wonky coming around.

Science museum and natural history museum also good.

A bus tour, especially a night one is good too.

If they like rollercoasters and more grown up rides, don't bother with Chessington. We made that mistake last weekend, thankfully we have Merlin passes so we jumped in the car and went over to Thorpe Park. We had an amazing time there, my boys are 5 and 12 and both thrill seekers, loads more for them to do there.

Tussauds is a huge amount of money for standing in a line and really not seeing or experiencing anything valuable. Shrek can be a lot of queueing too.

I always recommend on London threads doing a treasure trail in an area you want to explore: www.treasuretrails.co.uk/things-to-do/london

They're great- a chance to see lots of details you wouldn't normally and you'll probably discover shops or cafes that are off the beaten track. The Spitalfields and Brick Lane one is my favorite. It's a good activity for kids and adults.

Absolutely agree don't go to Madame Tussauds. I always feel so sorry for the people in the massive queues.
London Eye would be best at dusk, I think. I went during the day - it's a one-off so I probably won't go again - but I remember thinking it would be good as the lights were coming on - google lighting up times.
Boat from The Houses of Parliament to the Cutty Sark, or vice versa, is good fun.
The cable car (The Emirates Air Line) appeals to me but I'd have to be over that way anyway to make it a reality.
Walk along the South Bank, especially on the weekend, to Tate Modern, then over the Millennium bridge to St. Paul's.
The Science Museum is brilliant, and free, but very very busy in school holidays. Close to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.
Changing the Life Guard on Horse Guards is nice and touristy and not as busy as Buckingham Palace, and very London I think.

And Coram’s Fields if the boys want to let off steam.

We're from NI so will be going before English school hols begin so crowds shouldn't be too bad anywhere.

I realise the need for rest, but we actually found we didn't need as much rest as we thought we would in Orlando 2 years ago. Cafes and people watching are a definite. And to me, sitting in a theatre is relaxing as I'm not on my feet. If we don't plan things on hols we faff about wasting time and it does my head in (even though I'm the worst offender).

Chimpy see, we looked at Thorpe park and what put me off is the high % of rides for 140cm+. Our youngest is roughly 130 at the minute, admittedly without shoes and if he can't go on loads of rides that his brother can (just about, he's small for a 10 yo) he'll be upset. It seems to be heavily themed towards teenagers too?

Will definitely look at the treasure trails, cable car, tower of London, speed/nonspeed boat (dh is now talking about his sea sickness, which i have no recollection of and can think of at least 10 boats we've been on together), covent garden, markets etc etc, so thanks. My biggest decider right now is how to pay for things. We already have about £100 in Tesco points, so could triple them to cover several, but not all, attractions. You can get a Merlin pass via tesco, but just a standard one, not the London one, so we'd be be paying for everything separately, albeit with points and not cash for the most part. Then there's the other attraction passes for sale etc.

Is the free part of the science museum enough or should we go to the special exhibitions too? I see one is finishing before we go, but it seems to have been on for over a year.

What is the best way to get cheap theatrev tickets? I'm thinking lion king as above because i feel I can't go to London without seeing a musical (I'm a musical lover), although I realise the cursed child will meet that London, high budget, slick production thing. Aladdin review's aren't great, we have already seen Matilda, Joseph isn't the greatest and there doesn't seem to be much else on suitable for kids? I'm a bit unsure about it at the same time because lion king is coming to Dublin soon too, so could just go to it there and we could see The play that goes wrong instead - I know the boys would love that too.

Any recommendations on where to eat? Family friendly, cheap and cheerful ideally. I get that in London, cheap and cheerful doesn't actually mean cheap . We're staying in a premier inn, so will probably have huge breakfast most days.

Speed boat down the river is GREAT - quite scary though!

London Eye in the day not night.

Agree with PPs re: Monument, also I love taking mine to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square to see just a few great paintings. It's free, rarely any queues, and we nip in, clock maybe a couple of Turners and a Van Gogh and a something else - in there max half an hour, time for each DC to choose their fave painting and say why - and then we're out again. It's the most enjoyable way to introduce them to art that I've found.

On a similar note, I wouldn't bother with Tate Modern. Massive, nothing the DC really enjoyed. Maybe go for a run down the slope in the Turbine Hall but that's it I reckon.

Brick Lane is also a GREAT shout - one of our best days out was there. We walked past a few Jack the Ripper scenes which I'm afraid to say they loved as I googled and told them a few facts.

Then down Brick Lane - eating weird Indian sweets and enjoying the street art. One of them said to me 'are we abroad' which I loved. Then we went bowling at All Star Lanes and I flirted with the half my age bar man while the DC loved bowling. GREAT day!

China Town also fun, and mine love Covent Garden for the street performers. Shake Shack a great place for lunch - it's in the piazza and they do great burgers and cheesy chips. And it's next to the Transport Museum.

If the weather's good, I suggest buying sarnies etc at M&S or Greggs and eating outside. Hyde Park's lovely, and take them for a look at Kensington Palace. Don't go to any of those awful touristy steak houses or pubs advertising fish and chips. Chicken Shop is a fun place for children - roast chicken on a spit and chips and sauce. Mine love it.

Have fun!

Sorry OP just read the end of your post - The Play That Goes Wrong is brilliant.

If you go to see the Lion King get seats in the stalls at the end of the row because the 'animals' walk down the aisles at the beginning of the show.

Science and Natural History museums are both great, free and you can spend a whole day there easily.
Def no to Tussauds.
Posting to throw in an odd museum at the Bank of England if you want a wander round the city. It is free, sounds dull but isn't, your DC are a great age for it.

Sorry, and HMS Belfast is worth a visit too for many boys of that age.

A walk through Regents Park and through to Primrose Hill to look at the views of London is lovely, and free, if you want a bit of a break from the bustle. Then combine with a trip to the Zoo or walk along the canal to Camden.

Money saving expert has some London tips.
'Wicked' is suitable for children and gets great reviews.
Buying sandwiches is a good idea. Go nowhere without a small bottle of water each.
Marie's Cafe on Lower Marsh is a caff by day and a Thai by night. Gets busy.
I think the Tate's worth a visit even if you just go up to the top floor where the viewing platform is. But there's usually something to enjoy. St Paul's is free if you're attending a service, otherwise you pay.

Im watching this thread with interest as we're going to London for the day on Friday. We're planning to go to The Tower of London, if your travelling by train you can get 2 for 1 tickets with a voucher for lots of things.