London Inspiration, please!

[Daffodil101]

Off to London for a few days at Feb half term with daughters aged 10 and 14. We live up north but try to go at least once a year. Running out of ideas to entertain them...so far we’ve been to:

London eye
Tower bridge visitors centre
The tower
Concert at Royal Albert Hall
Musicals
Hampton Court
Churchill War Rooms
National portrait gallery
Camden Market
Borough Market and the South Bank
Covent Garden
Foundling Museum
Natural history museum
Westminster Abbey

Would also love a recommendation for dinner in the west end, or a great Chinese (we might take them for a bad one at the Wong Kei!) and the sort of afternoon tea that’s replenished without consisting entirely of fancy sandwich fillings that kids won’t eat.

We have tickets for Wicked and we’ve seen Matilda (four times!), Les Mis and both parts of the Harry Potter thing.

Thank you!

Denis Severs’ House
Greenwich including afternoon tea at the Fan Museum (go by boat)
The Mayflower Pub in Rotherhithe and the weird little Brunel museum
Walk across roof of O2 Centre
Tate Modern
Columbia Road Flower Market
Zoo
Fly a kite on Primrose Hill and have cake in one of the lovely cafes on Primrose Hill High Street
The postal museum and ride the post train
Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park
Hamley’s for a milkshake and a toy

Clink Museum and operating theatre museum are quirky

Thank you - husband would love the operating theatre museum in particular. Hadn’t considered primrose hill

Leake Street tunnels and a lovely Korean restaurant at the end of them South of the river, Comic Museum, Mary Quant exhibition in V&A if it is still on and Anthony Gormley exhibition if it's still on

We've just been and did the sky garden (free), the Tower of London, London zoo, and the Imperial War Museum. IWM in particular was BRILLIANT- we loved it.

Also went from Tower down to North Greenwich on the clipper, then crossed the river on the Emirates Sky Line, then had front row seats on the DLR back into the city (2 young boys here so they absolutely loved this)!!

We stayed in Holborn which is 10 mins from Covent Garden and ate at Belgo and Spaghetti House which were fab. I'm still dreaming about the Belgian waffles I had for pudding in Belgo, I've never had anything so yummy in my life!! Definitely recommend!

Science Museum
Science Afternoon Tea at The Ampersand
Skygarden
Lego store
Hamleys
Bodyworlds
Tutankhamun exhibition

The Wellcome Collection is good too.
Arabic meal on Edgeware Road near Marble Arch - loads of places to choose from.
Horse armour at the Wallace Collection
Go mud larking at low tide from the east end of the south bank

Book a tour round the houses of Parliament.
Victoria and Albert museum
Museum of childhood in Bethnal Green
London Museum (there's 2, one is based more on docklands)
Take a trip on the emirates cable car
Boat down to Greenwich and Greenwich market
Bank of England museum
Get some bagels from Brom lane for a lunch.

There’s a Tutankhamun exhibition on at the Saatchi Gallery.

Museum of London
Climb The Monument
Thames Rocket, speed boat ride
Imperial War Museum
Number 11 bus from Trafalgar Sq to the City

Wonderful suggestions thank you

Charlie and the chocolate factory afternoon tea a one Aldwych is very good if you have a sweet tooth and my kids loved it. Bb bakery afternoon tea on a bus is another good one.

If you like riddles there is a fun treasure hunt type thing you can do that shows you lots of quirky places you might not have seen in London. It's called in the hidden city.

Thank you

These are all brilliant suggestions!

Science museum

Walk over the O2

Emirates Cable car over the Thames

Skygarden (Free but has to be booked)

M&M World

Chinese has got to be in China Town

The Shard

V&A museum

Would they enjoy a ghost tour?

Trafalgar Square and into the gallery there, then a walk down to Buckingham palace, if you time it right, you could see the changing if the guard

St Katherines dock and a boat down the Thames

I think The Savoy has the absolute top top afternoon tea but recently had a very nice one (trad, with replenishing sandwiches) at the Covent Garden hotel for half the price.

Canal boat trip from Camden Lock to Little Venice passing the zoo (could combine with Primrose Hill)
St Pauls Cathedral
Greenwich Maritime museum
Climb the Monument
Geffrye Museum (though I think its not reopening til Summer 2020)
Kew Gardens (the treetop walk and palm house are particularly good)

I’m glad I’m not the only one who loves the science afternoon tea at the Ampersand - great to combine it with the Science Museum.

Greenwich is a great favourite for us - boat there, climb the hill, Observatory then Queen’s House then Maritime Museum and get the DLR back to Canary Wharf and Tube onwards from there.

St Paul’s is wonderful.

Your girls are at a great age for the V&A too.

And definitely the Museum of London - I particularly love wandering round the City during the weekend when it’s like a ghost town.

Sorry should have said both have done St Paul’s and the monument. Though I haven’t been to st Paul’s for many years.

I think they’d love a ghost tour. And the Museum of London (never been myself) and Greenwich with the market.

What’s in the V and A?

For some downtime and fun you might like Funscape which is a brilliant arcade on the river and within spitting distance you also have the London Eye, the Aquarium, Jubilee Gardens and Southbank.

namcofunscape.com/london

Thanks I’ll look at that. Is the aquarium any good? Walked past many times

More fun rather than culture, how about some crazy golf? Swingers in Marylebone I’ve been to (caveat, on a boozy night out) and there are loads more to choose from...

www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/the-best-crazy-golf-london-has-to-offer

I’ve not been to the Aquarium so can’t comment I’m afraid but I do love an Aquarium myself!