Does anybody know London and can help me?

[cloudyrainbow]

I'm taking my 6yo to London on Monday - there are a few things I want to do but I don't know the best order to do them in and can't work out timings etc. So stressful! Everything needs booking because of COVID so can't just go with the flow.

I have ADHD and dyspraxia and I'm bloody terrible at organising things, working out directions and how long things take, so would really appreciate some help if possible!

We'll arrive at London Victoria at 11am.

I've promised we'll go to:

The Science Museum
Terrible Thames boat trip, at Tower Bridge Quay
Hamleys

If there's time and fits in location-wise with the above, we'd be interested in going to any of the following:

Natural History Museum
Diana Memorial Playground
Buckingham Palace (to see the guards)

Would anybody in the know be able to write out a rough itinerary for me, please, so I know what times to book, in which order? Never been to any of the museums so I don't know how much time you'd normally spend there. I have a train ticket that includes both tubes and buses. Also, any recs for lunch? I might need to book this in advance too.

Thanks so much in advance!

I’m exhausted even thinking about your itinerary! Could you stay overnight in a Premier Inn or similar? We easily burned through 3.5 hours of an afternoon at the Science Museum last week - including an IMAX 3D film on Antarctica and the new interactive Medicine gallery - and that’s after visiting it a multitude of times before.

Hope you have a great trip, whatever you decide.

I'm coming from near Brighton so it's definitely not out of the question going again soon & we will! The cost of a train ride from Brighton to London is just horrendous considering the distance IMO (and always has been - not a COVID thing), which is the only reason we don't go a lot more often. But the one I got at least has all tubes and buses included, so that's a bit of comfort

hamlets is crap

Not for a kid, it isn’t.

re boat trip -there is TFL boats that go along the river & are a heck of a lot cheaper www.thamesclippers.com/

@cloudyrainbow

Her mate told her it's the biggest toy shop in the world and she's now obsessed and has been saving all her pennies and doing chores like mad. I've told her everything will be v expensive there and she'll get more at a normal toy shop but she has her heart set on a visit, unfortunately!

Me take her if she dreams of it So museum Lunch in museum or near Bus to hamleys

Boat if you up for it

Take the number 9 bus from museum sit up top
(Use Google maps or city mapper)

@BoredZelda

hamlets is crap

Not for a kid, it isn’t.

It is if their parents won't let them buy anything

Have you got family rail card?
Have you checked cheapest deal on train thameslink vs southwestern

Because their stuff is too expensive

Set limit on hamleys eg £5 there will be some plastic tat she will be happy with

Not read whole thread but can see you've got some advice here. Just wanted to say my DD used to LOVE the Science museum at that age. If it's still running try and go to the Bubble Show there which you don't have to book. Hope you have a fab day whatever you end up doing!

I wouldn’t book a special boat trip. Just catch one of the normal Thames clipper riverboats, Embankment to Greenwich and return is a nice outing, you would go past St Paul’s (have to be quick to spot it) Tate, Globe Theatre, Tower of London, HMS Belfast, Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf. They are nice boats, have toilets etc, and a lot cheaper than the tourist boats.

There are lots of places to catch the boats, I just said embankment because it’s quite central. If you wanted to you could then walk up to Trafalgar Square, walk down the mall to Buckingham Palace . Though come to think of it you could do that in reverse from Victoria!

Afternoon teas:

Science tea: The Ampersand is by the Science Museum

Prince & Princess: The Rubens is by Victoria/Buckingham Palace

Rock & Roll: The Gore is between the museums and Kensington Gardens (5 mins walk). It's a bit grown up though. Better for cocktails in a decade or so!

The ice cream parlour at Fortnum & Mason is nice but less of an "event". It's close to Hamleys.

Potion Room: Brewer St is close to Hamleys.

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory: One Aldwych is not too far from Hamleys (a couple of stops). It's also handy for Covent Garden. It's also near here:

www.novelty-automation.com/

Definitely worth a visit, if you are in the area. Definitely worth a visit anyway. It's tiny and very quiet, you might get the place to yourself. You could easily spend an hour playing around, even though it is miniscule.

I would do Victoria to South Kensington on district line only 2 stops.
Underground tunnel walk from tube station to museums.
Underground South Ken to tower Hill (go to TFL for a journey planner and changes) then walk to quay for boat trip.
Then tube to Oxford Circus for Hamleys in regent street ( it's open till 8pm)
Buses will take a whole lot longer.
I'm not sure you'll have time for any of the others as museums and boat ride are opposite sides of London.
Not sure about eating places for kids but the museums have cafes.

OP - do you have a family railcard for your train travel? Might make things more affordable if not and can be used again if you are coming back?

@chesirecat99
What time is the Changing of the Guard please?
I have two kids in London Thurs 5th Aug and they want to see it
(sorry to jump in OP but @cheshirecat99 sounds like she might know)

Other thing was a Walking Tour of Kings Cross area that doesn't focus on it's old red light scene? I saw one called 'Steam to Microchips' or something similar but can't find it again. Does anyone know about this please (a bit niche I admit).

OP I hope it goes well. I too am in the I-don't-really-know-London-but-am-trying-to-squeeze-value-out-of-a-rare-day-trip mode... :)

@52andblue changing of the guards (as in the ceremony) isn’t happening at the moment, instead the next guard just walks into position and the old one leaves, I’m not sure when it is starting up again.

Been three times to Hamleys in past 4 years, each time seen multiple mice running across the shop floor. Staff shrug it off as a common problem - it really isn't on the main shop floor anywhere, even down by the Thames where the buggers are rife.
It used to be magical, but is a complete dump and solely relies on it being a large toy shop. There are larger and better almost anywhere else in the country.
The museum shops are amazing get your dd to spend her pennies in there.

@korawick12345

11-11.30 travel to science museum 11.30-1.30 science museum 1.30-2 lunch near station 2 - 2.45 travel to hamleys 3.15 - 4.15 travel to tower bridge 4.45 boat trip

Catch from Embankment pier rather than schlep to Tower Bridge, closer to Hamleys and better river ride. Have dinner by National Theatre on way back then back on the river clipper if needed.

You could see if cheaper train tickers very early in morning? A long day but might be do-able if you take a decent break for lunch and a rest.

Hamley's is open until 8pm so you could try leaving it till last. Yes it's rubbish but people saying not to go should try telling that to a determined 6 year old!. Been many times with visiting kids and they can't be told it's not worth the hassle.

Are you OK with using the tube/buses and navigating the routes? If you get tired a bus can be a good rest break and a ride on the top deck usually goes down well with kids. Download the City Mapper app to your phone as well as the TfL for the journey planner.

The specific boat trip she wants to do goes from Tower Bridge Quay not Embankment she doesn’t just want to do any old boat trip

Always use Citymapper over tfl it’s much more reliable in my experience

Seconding The Ampersand for afternoon tea near the Science Museum.

If you go to the Science Museum, try to go to The Garden.

Have a lovely day, OP. (I disagree with all the Hamley’s naysayers, whilst it’s noisy and bonkers it’s also quite something and worth going once, if you get there and are underwhelmed you can always leave.)

Thanks so so much everyone, this thread has been so useful to me.

The Ampersand is fully booked looks amazing!

Mayfair is close to Hamleys, from what I can work out? Thinking about booking this sweetie afternoon tea between 3-5pm, and then going to Hamleys after? They've got 25% off so not as mentally expensive as the other ones.

chesterfieldmayfair.com/dining-and-drinks/afternoon-tea

Sorry, will look into a railcard - we just really don't get on a lot of trains so not sure it'd be worth it, but I'll check it out, thank you!