Trip to London with the DC's very anxious, tips please!

[MumbleCrumbs]

I will be taking my two DC's (13 and 10) to London early next month to meet a long standing pen pal of DD's and her family but will be arriving a day earlier. However, I am so so stressed about it now the date has drawn closer. I'm a bit agoraphobic after lockdown and the idea of managing the tubes with both DC's is making me feel really panicky. I don't want my anxiety to ruin this for DD as she has been looking forward to it for such a long time.

So if and London mumsnetters could give me any tips to make a weekend in London manageable and provide any ideas on things to do with DCs that will be fun and not too busy/overwhelming I would really appreciate it. Also any help on what sort of tube tickets we'd need for the weekend? Thanks!

In your situation I'd be tempted to stick to buses because it's less stressful and crowded and cheaper and you see more but it depends how far out you're staying.
Download CityMapper app and/or TfL Go. It'll make the buses foolproof.

Where are you staying? What do DCs want to see?

I was also going to suggest getting buses rather than tubes if you feel like you're not able to handle them and on the plus side their cheaper.
Whereabouts are you intending to meet/stay when you get here?

I think the tube network is much easier to navigate than the bus network. There are detailed tube maps everywhere in the stations and the lines and stops are clearly marked everywhere. If you go wrong, it’s easy to backtrack or find another route to your destination.

Buses or walk. I rarely get the tube in London. Only if I’m going for business and am on a tight schedule.

Using Google maps you can search the journey and it will give you the bus route and location of the stops.

Walking, especially through tourist areas, gives you the opportunity to see so many things.

I agree buses better than the tube if your hotel and other destinations will allow and the clippers (commuter boats) are a really nice way to travel longer distances down the river, whilst seeing some of the sights. There is a lot of variation between how busy tube lines are too, if you hate crowds I would limit time on the central and northern lines.

Children under 11 are free on buses and tubes. Technically you are supposed to buy a zip photo card to prove this (available online) but unless your child looks older most station staff will let you take the younger one through the wide access gate on your own ticket (or bank card which is the easiest way to pay). The older one will need a ticket. An 11-16 zip card gets the cheapest fares and may be worth the investment (£15) if you’ll visit again, otherwise I think I’d buy a day ticket or give them a bank card to use (must be a different card to the one you use for yourself).

If they are 13 and 10, then managing the tube won't be that hard - they are old enough to know to stay with you, and to understand a plan that you agree on if they get lost for some reason. Does the 13 year old have a phone? If you can go outside of rush hour, then it won't be that crowded. Make sure they know what stop you are getting off at, and what the stop before is called. When you get off the tube, just get out of the way and wait til the people in a rush have gone, and it will seem much more pleasant.

I prefer tubes to buses as I can more easily tell where I am and where to get off, and how all the different lines interchange.

Many of the central sites are close enough you could actually walk between them instead of getting the tube, if you'd rather.

Is the problem the crowds, worrying about a child getting lost, or worrying about which tube to get?

@ChewChewPanda Children under 11 don't need a zip card to travel for free if they are accompanied by an adult
tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/5-10-zip-oyster-photocard?intcmp=55572

For aged 11-15, you can buy a Visitor Oyster card and get the young visitor discount added to it at any tube station tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card

The Bakerloo line is usually not v busy, even at rush hour

My personal tip would be to give yourself more time than you think you need to get anywhere and try and just enjoy the journey and atmosphere and sights - all of which is easier on buses than tubes but will also take longer. I'm a Londoner and I love it but honestly people who are used to London dash round - especially within the tube system - at a fearful pace and I've taken non-Londoners to London who have been just bewildered. I don't live there any more but I visit frequently and I feel myself either going into another, faster mode of consciously slowing down and deliberately not being caught up in it.
Must tube platforms have places to sit. Don't feel you have to leap up and get on the first tube - there'll be another in two or three minutes and another and another... give yourself enough time to get your bearings and don't get caught up in everyone else's rushing around.

I'd say get an Oyster card but I don't know how that would work with more than one child so take further advice on that, but if you can get more or one Oyster it takes a lot of the stress out of it because you just swipe in to tubes and out again and into buses (but not out, just the one swipe).

London is fabulous but don't let it overwhelm you. Stop and breathe - stop for a cuppa (there are cafes everywhere, in Trafalgar Square you can practically spit at about four Prets!)

So try not to do too much. Do at least one amazing thing though - Science or Natural History Museum? Where are you going to be staying?

faster mode OR consciously slowing down... sorry!

I lived in London for years then moved away and became claustrophobic. I've now developed anxiety around using the tube. I hate that I have this and really want to work on it. But in the meantime using buses is a fab alternative. It is also a lot less stressful and you do see more.

I'd also advise not planning in too much and making sure you have lots of rest breaks as it's easy to want to cram loads in.

Do your research beforehand on travelling and maybe group activities together. Sometimes things can seem far apart but ar a 30 min bus ride as thees a direct bus so play around on Google maps and the tfl website.

You really need a plan for what activities you are going to do, then ask Mumsnetters to work out the best travelling routes between them. Quite a lot in central London will be easily walkable.

Have you been to London before? What sights do you want to see? You could fill a month with new activities every morning and afternoon so best to narrow it down before you come.

For 13 and 10 year olds I would suggest the Tower of London, Covent Garden (just for the shops and street theatre), maybe the London Eye if budget allows, Houses of Parliament, Whitehall, Horseguards, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace. Then there's all the parks and everything else! You will have a great time. Londoners are the friendliest people who will help you with anything.

Oh also the clipper or uber boat as I think it's called now is fun and stress free way to see London from the river and get around. You can even get a cuppa on board.

You just use contactless for the tube and it caps the daily spend I think now? It's much easier than the buses IMO.

Plan activities based on where you are to minimise travel. Where are you staying and which station do you arrive into? Maybe someone can plot out that first journey for you.

Book tickets to the sky garden, it's free but you need an entry time slot. Nice cafe up there too.

The National lottery days out have a free £25 at the moment and there are Thames boat trips or all of the Merlin attractions included. With 3 email addresses you could all do the London eye for the cost if 3 lotto tickets. Same for the dungeons or sea life.

London is just a place, like everywhere else, not another dimension

I bet your 13 year old will very quickly get the hang of planning a tube journey and following the signs. Put her in charge, as an adventure.

It doesn’t matter if you go wrong, just get off and go back. No extra charge!

Use your contactless for tube and bus (use the same card so that the system recognises the capped cost of the Travelcard for the day). Get a Visitor Oyster with the child discount for your 13 yo, and walk your 10 yo through the wide gate.

Give the 13 year old her oyster and tap in and out through the gate she uses. Don’t try and get all of you through the wide gate. You will mess up the tapping in and out of either her oyster or your contactless and if the system doesn’t see an in and out tap it will charge you for the longest journey. Anyway, a 13 year old can manage very well.

Have a lovely time

Book a visit to the sky garden now. It's free but you have to book in advance.
Do that as your 'central' thing for your friend-free day.

Arrange other things around that.

As previous poster said, do less; slow down; allow time.

You'd never dream of trying to cram a million things into a 'nice' day at home - so why do it to yourselves on a visit to another city?

After (or before) the sky garden, do something fun and low-stress: a walk around Soho/Covent Garden - with lots of stops for food and coffee.

And you could book a musical in the evening.

Remember: it's meant to be fun.

I think, in all honesty, buses are tricky (unless it's a straightforward trip past the HoP or down Oxford Street). They are confusing in a way the tube isn't.

The tube really is very straightforward. As a previous poster said, you can just let a busy tube sail past and catch the one behind.

If you are really panicky, have an 'if we get separated' protocol: getting off at the next station and standing by the wall to wait for other family members to come and fetch you.

But you won't get separated. Your two are pretty grown up and it will be fine.

There's a shop selling just pasta de nata in Soho, just around the corner from a shop selling amazing sushi rolls. It's just behind Foyle's and over the road from a tiny, hidden pocket park.

Load google maps onto your phone and have fun. ❤️

My dc used to love Harrods food Hall and the entertainment around Covent garden.
There are also some quirky shops.
Will you have to wear masks on the tube still?

It would help if you could say where you are staying and where you are meeting your friends.

It could be that you could do the whole trip just walking around.

(I'm in Zone 1 and I walk most everywhere.)

But there are definitely tube stations and lines that are less busy.

In order to answer your questions it would be helpful to know where you are staying, if there are any things you plan to go to and then can offer more detailed help.

One thing I recently discovered (live in London but hadn't been to museums post covid) is that the Science Museum / Natural History / V&A etc make you book timed slots still for admission. So if you want to go to a specific museum then its worth getting that booked in.

Download the free app 'TfL Go'
This will 'locate' you and allow you to plan your route to wherever you'd like to go, by Tube or bus. It gives live timetables and will let you know how busy services are in real time.

Similarly 'Citymapper' will give you routes by all modes of transport including walking in case you get a bit overwhelmed.

Londoners are lovely and will be happy to help.

Have a great time!

Some tube stations as other have said are much busier than others. Kings Cross is busy and you have to walk a long way between interchanges. Farringdon is above ground (possibly less claustrophobic) and easy to change between tube and mainline trains (although perhaps not convenient for tourist attractions)
The Northern line is the deepest tube line and often requires going down multiple escalators so possibly avoid that if you can. A lot if the metropolitan line and bakerloo line are above ground (although once in zone 1 almost everything is underground)
Also lots of places are pretty close to each other to walk in zone 1.
This link shows how close the tube stations are.

www-theverge-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2015/11/11/9712376/london-walk-tube-underground-map?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16340290438161&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2015%2F11%2F11%2F9712376%2Flondon-walk-tube-underground-map

If you post your plans we can help plan the routes.

Wow thanks all for such great advice so far. The sky garden looks fantastic DS will love that. We're staying in Piccadilly. As much as I would prefer to get buses, we will be with another family over the weekend who will want to use the tube to get around I don't think I can avoid it, so some kind of weekend family tube pass would be good if they exist?

I'm thinking of a museum for the Friday and DD wants to go to Camden to see the sweet shops .

Honestly even as a seasoned Londoner I never go there without a written itinerary now. E.G. starting point Piccadilly - leave hotel at x hour catch tube to x change at x aim to arrive at x hour. Lunch at 12.30 at x cafe leave cafe about 2.00 get tube at x to x changing onto x line - I know it sounds horribly anal but it makes life so much easier and you can be spontaneous and change things but at least you know where you are and where you're going.

If you're staying in Piccadilly, you can do sky garden by tube & just walk to Soho - wander, then cross over Charing Cross Road at Tottenham Court Road and wander around Covent Garden.

Put Google maps in your phone.

You are very central!