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Original poster

Taking ds (11) to London. Tips please!

43 replies

Muchtoomuchtodo · 23/10/2019 16:44

It’s been years since I’ve been to London but ds2 and I may be going for a couple of days next week, probably staying in the Greenwich area.

I’m not a nervous traveller but do like to get good value for money!

Any top tips for what to do, where to go, eating out and especially how best to pay for tube journeys would be very gratefully received!

OP posts:
cactusthief · 23/10/2019 16:48

Have you got Contactless? You can use that.

But an Oyster card in one of the stations and you can get someone to apply a visitor discount to the card so your DS gets half fares. When you leave you tap for a refund and you will get any remaining credit plus the fiver deposit for the card back.

cactusthief · 23/10/2019 16:48

*buy an oyster

Original poster
Muchtoomuchtodo · 23/10/2019 16:51

Thanks
Can I get an Oyster card at any station?

OP posts:
barristermum · 23/10/2019 17:13

Greenwich market is touristy and nice to potter around, the maritime museum and observatory are great.

You can get a boat from Greenwich into Westminster with tourist commentary which is fun for a bit of easily digestible history.

London Monument is good for a cheap view of the city - certificate given for climbing the steps, gives you a sense of scale in the way The Shard and other more expensive alternatives don't.

Tower of London is genuinely a fabulous day out - Can be paid for with Tesco Clubcard day out vouchers worth 3x their value. Take a Beefeater tour (free) for a very entertaining bloodthirsty potted history and then there are galleries on warfare, military, the mint, prisoners, which can appeal to the young mind - my godson even enjoyed the travellator past the Crown jewels!

WWhar
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barristermum · 23/10/2019 17:14

Sorry for the stutter end there - I meant to ask what his interests were - to recommend other museums or experiences...and how adventurous an eater he was for food...

WingDefence · 23/10/2019 17:33

@barristermum said what I came on to say - definitely go up the Monument! I work from home but my office is based in the City so when we visit London we often take our children round that part of the city, which is often overlooked. You could spend lots of time just on the Fire of London which is fascinating - the Museum of London is free and fantastic for that (amongst a great section on prehistoric London and other exhibitions right up to modern times. St Paul’s is also a good visit but you have to it unless you’re worshipping I think.

The DLR is fun to use as well - try to sit at the front of the train and it’s like you’re the train driver, plus going down into tunnels and up out again into the light is so much fun at the front 😀

WingDefence · 23/10/2019 17:34

Wow sorry for so many typos. Hope it still makes sense Confused

30to50FeralHogs · 23/10/2019 17:43

You can just use your phone to tap in and out of tubes. There's a cap on the amount it can cost per day, so if you do lots of journeys it will still cost less than buying a travelcard, which is a daft system but there you go! Think the daily cap is about £7-8 depending which zones and which times you're travelling.

We also used the Thames clipper boat to get to our hotel in Canary Wharf, which was so much nicer than the tube, but was about another £7-8 on its own. However, as a boat trip, that's pretty cheap!

It looks like you'll be near the Cutty Sark and Greenwich Park and the observatory, so I'm sure you can find lots of nice things to do on that side of the river. If you venture over to Canary Wharf its so nice and open/clean over there, I much prefer it to regular central London. There was a great looking BBQ place called Big Easy which we wanted to go to, but it was fully booked. I can imagine my DCs would have loved it!

Have a great trip.

Reallybadidea · 23/10/2019 17:48

Google maps is great for telling you the best way to get from A to B. Sometimes the bus is faster and it will tell you exactly which buses to get, from which stop, where to get off etc. You just tap your card when you get on the bus - it's a flat rate of £1.50 per journey, including changing buses within a 1 hour time period. It also counts toward your daily capped fare.

Reallybadidea · 23/10/2019 17:51

Look at Groupon for meal deals. If you want to go and see a show while you're there then you can get last minute tickets from the tkts booth at Leicester Square. You usually pay about half price and can get amazing seats. I particularly recommend The Play That Goes Wrong, The Comedy About a bank robbery and Big the musical.

formerbabe · 23/10/2019 18:01

If you're in Greenwich, I'd recommend getting a boat up the Thames. Also a trip on the cable car. The Royal Observatory and Cutty Sark are also worth a visit. Greenwich town centre is packed full of restaurants...lots of independent ones also nandos, noodle bars, pubs etc...you won't be short of anywhere to eat!

Shoutymomma · 23/10/2019 18:05

Agree with WingDefence re Museum of London - it’s terrific and not as overwhelming as the big ‘uns. Take the river bus if weather good. Check out Wowcher type sites for entry into paying sites, or use your Clubcard. Contact your MP’s office if you want to look at Parliament.

fishonabicycle · 23/10/2019 18:08

If the weather is fine, a walk along the south bank (from London bridge to Waterloo) is nice. You pass the London vaults (?) - scary, an old boat, old Vic, Tate modern. Sorry my memory is letting me down! Loads of food at borough market.

spiderlight · 23/10/2019 19:14

My 12-year-old DS had the Best Time Ever a few weeks back at Myrtle Avenue watching the big planes come in really close overhead as they landed at Heathrow.

cactusthief · 23/10/2019 19:19

Myrtle avenue is a good shout but only if you have bags of time because the tube is almost an hour from central London to Hatton Cross. Also you only get aircraft landing either from 6am-3pm or 3pm onwards, depending on the runway rotation, if the wind is the wrong way you won't get them landing over myrtle at all so definitely do your research if you head out the Heathrow

cactusthief · 23/10/2019 19:22

This week the landings are over myrtle 6-3 and next week from 3pm onwards - but as I said, it's wind dependent, if they switch direction there will be no landings that way.

RickOShay · 23/10/2019 19:27

Covent Garden has endless street performers who are amazing.
Definitely worth watching.

Original poster
Muchtoomuchtodo · 25/10/2019 08:10

Thanks everyone. I honestly feel so out of my depth in London this is all very useful.

The monument sounds like a great idea as I had no idea how long the queues could be for the shard, even with a pre booked (pretty expensive) ticket.

It’s great to know that there’s so much choice of good eateries in Greenwich.

I’ve never caught a London bus and am completely perplexed about how you know which one you need so the google maps tip is fantastic - thanks for that.

Does anyone know if you can get up to the dome in St Paul’s cathedral at the moment while the whispering gallery is closed?

OP posts:
Crawley65 · 25/10/2019 08:17

If you are going to London by train look out for 2 for 1 booklet. Gives you savings for lots of places.

London Museum and Bank of England are interesting. Number 11 bus goes from the City towards Trafalgar Square and passes lots of highlights.

Wigeon · 25/10/2019 08:26

I’d definitely use a contactless debit card for you (on buses, tube and the DLR), but get a visitor oyster for your son. That’s because an Oyster costs £5 to buy, before you’ve put money on it to travel. But worth getting one for your son so he gets child fares when he uses it - you should save the cost of the £5 if you are making several journeys.

This link suggests getting it posted to you before you come to London, then getting a child discount applied to it when you get to London (not sure why they won’t post you an Oyster with the child discount already on it, but there you go!).

Wigeon · 25/10/2019 08:28

Re St Paul’s, this says two galleries above the Whispering Gallery are still open: www.stpauls.co.uk/sightseeing-times-prices

Wigeon · 25/10/2019 08:33

Re what to do which is value for money, there is plenty which is free, eg most of the big museums (British Museum, Science museum, Natural History museum, V&A).

Also free to watch the performers in Covent Garden, walking along the Southbank (perhaps the over the Millennium bridge to St Paul’s?)...

A nice free walk is wandering around Westminster: Buckingham Palace, St James’ Park, Horseguards, Hpuses of Parliament and Big Ben (although Big Ben is almost completely covered in scaffolding apart from one clock face), Number 10, Trafalgar Sq, National Gallery and National Portrait gallery.

formerbabe · 25/10/2019 08:34

I’ve never caught a London bus and am completely perplexed about how you know which one you need

Op, if you type into Google where you want to go and your current location, it will show you all the possible ways and transport you need. If it tells you that you need a particular bus, you can go on the tfl website (theres an app too I think) and choose that bus route. It shows you the route and every stop. The bus stop you're at will have a name/number so you can find out how long the bus will be? Make sure you choose the correct direction of travel though. Many bus stops have screens which will tell you how long it will take for the bus to arrive. Hope that makes sense. It's quite user friendly.

Original poster
Muchtoomuchtodo · 25/10/2019 08:41

That’s very useful formerbabe, thanks.

I grew up rurally where we had 1 bus an hour, I learnt to drive at 17 and now rarely use public transport so the options in London are mind boggling!

I’m sure we’ll be fine once we’re there!

OP posts:
Charles11 · 25/10/2019 08:42

Look up ghost walks. There’s one where children are free and £10 for an adult I think. My ds really enjoyed it at that age and is all about the supposed hauntings in the area and the history around it.
Trafalgar Square has lots of performers too usually. Pop into the national gallery and look up a particular artist or painting you might know while you’re there.