London for geeky teens - but free or cheap?

[notwhatineednow]

We're in London for the holidays and I have some days planned that are going to be pretty pricey!

Can anyone help me plan a cheap or free day to balance it out?

I'll have 4 DC with me that day, two 13 year olds and two 9 year olds.

Can anyone suggest anything for the 13 year olds to do?

They like tech, warhammer and other table top games, art, computer games, anime, science, history, music and they're good in museums.

(The 9 year olds are easier to entertain, but any tips for them would be great also!)

I assume you've planned a day to Camden markets? Cheap street food, very cool shopping and lots for reasonable prices, I could happily spend all day there just wandering!

The Tate modern has some good displays based on modern mass media and technologies that they might enjoy and it’s free entry

The obvious one is The British Museum - I could stay there all day with all the free exhibitions. You don't need to go in the paid exhibitions, the range of stuff on offer will satisy every taste (plenty of weapons/armour for the real-life Warhammer!) but visually interesting stuff that is really engaging. It's free though, as visitors can opt to give a donation but this isn't mandatory.

The Wellcome Collection / Museum just across the road from Euston Station is free & brilliant. Exhibits, permanent & themed, cafes, bookshop, lots of seats & nooks to explore.
Just up the road The British Library is great - plenty of chill out places, you may need to pay for exhibitions but the cafe restaurant on 2nd floor has really good food.

The Hunterian Museum (Royal College of Surgeons) is not open at the moment, but if you ever do a repeat trip in a future year it's amazing, full of specimens (like any historical collection, not all without criticism, but educational nonetheless), surgical equipment, and a room just full of skeletons ! Maybe not to everyone's taste but we really enjoyed it.

The Winton gallery at the science museum is free
Free creative sessions at the Apple shop in Covent Garden. Scroll down for the details www.apple.com/uk/retail/coventgarden/
Free ghost tours strawberrytours.com/london/tours/free-ghost-tour There are some other free tours on the same site.

@Barleysugar85

I assume you've planned a day to Camden markets? Cheap street food, very cool shopping and lots for reasonable prices, I could happily spend all day there just wandering!

I spent many a happy afternoon wandering round Camden markets as a teen.

But unfortunately my 13 year old doesn't understand the concept of window shopping and his younger sister is worse!

If I could leave the 13 year olds to their own devices for a bit and some money each, and go off with the 9 year olds to do something else, then maybe it'd work.

But I fear going to somewhere centred around shopping will end up either costing me loads of money or if I'm strict about not spending , then it'll mean me being badgered all day, which I'm not up for at all!

Draughts board game cafe

@NiceCardigan

The Tate modern has some good displays based on modern mass media and technologies that they might enjoy and it’s free entry

Ooh, I'll have a look, thanks! Yes, maybe a trip down the South Bank would be good. I'm sure they'd love the graffiti and the skaters. (I assume they're still there?)

The Old Operating Theatre Museum is quite interesting for sciency kids/teens and costs less that a fiver for a child’s ticket

Another vote for the Wellcome Collection

Also Greenwich for the Observatory, Maritime Museum and Cutty Sark - check ticketing, Maritime is free but may still need timed ticker booking, can't remember about other two). You can get there on the Thames Clipper, and seeing London from the river is worth it in itself. You could go back by DLR, and if time take in the Bank of England Museum (unlikely, as Greenwich will prob fill a day in itself)

Imperial War Museum and/or National Army Museum

Transport Museum and Postal Museum (inc ride on heritage section of the underground Mail rail)

Grants museum of zoology is fascinating and free.

I was going to say floor 5 in Harrods, my 13yr old techy DS absolutely loved it. Loads of gadgets etc to look at and try out. But after your comment about not getting the concept of window shopping, maybe not, its ££££ up there!!

Forbidden Planet is good. Museum of London is also great and free

Science Museum surely?

My teens love the automata shop which is very near the British museum/Holborn tube

www.novelty-automation.com/

@Aldehyde

The obvious one is The British Museum - I could stay there all day with all the free exhibitions. You don't need to go in the paid exhibitions, the range of stuff on offer will satisy every taste (plenty of weapons/armour for the real-life Warhammer!) but visually interesting stuff that is really engaging. It's free though, as visitors can opt to give a donation but this isn't mandatory.

The Wellcome Collection / Museum just across the road from Euston Station is free & brilliant. Exhibits, permanent & themed, cafes, bookshop, lots of seats & nooks to explore.
Just up the road The British Library is great - plenty of chill out places, you may need to pay for exhibitions but the cafe restaurant on 2nd floor has really good food.

The Hunterian Museum (Royal College of Surgeons) is not open at the moment, but if you ever do a repeat trip in a future year it's amazing, full of specimens (like any historical collection, not all without criticism, but educational nonetheless), surgical equipment, and a room just full of skeletons ! Maybe not to everyone's taste but we really enjoyed it.

Love the British Museum, and I want to see the Stonehenge exhibition, but we've been there a few times not so long ago, so I was hoping for something new.

Will check out your other suggestions, thanks!

@Fivemoreminutes1

The Old Operating Theatre Museum is quite interesting for sciency kids/teens and costs less that a fiver for a child’s ticket

Never heard of this, will check it out thanks!

I would second the National Army Museum - you would have to look it up but they used to have table top war / strategy games . Otherwise the Thames Barrier used to have a really nice visitors centre but it is a way away from central London - not possibly not too far from the Maritime museum & Greenwich

@SquirmOfEels

Another vote for the Wellcome Collection

Also Greenwich for the Observatory, Maritime Museum and Cutty Sark - check ticketing, Maritime is free but may still need timed ticker booking, can't remember about other two). You can get there on the Thames Clipper, and seeing London from the river is worth it in itself. You could go back by DLR, and if time take in the Bank of England Museum (unlikely, as Greenwich will prob fill a day in itself)

Imperial War Museum and/or National Army Museum

Transport Museum and Postal Museum (inc ride on heritage section of the underground Mail rail)

We're going there, can't wait! But those other two are ££! That's one of our pricey days out.

Entry to the Cutty Sark and Observatory is £100 for 2 adults and 4 DC. And if we want to see a show at the Planetarium (we do!) then that brings the day's tickets to £140 before we've even started on transport, food etc.

I was just looking at membership and if I've understood it correctly then we may be able to get that down to £80 but still, it's what not a cheap day!

We've not planned a boat that day though, I wonder if we could do that another day - what's good to combine the boat with?

Will check out those other museums too, thanks SquirmOfEels :)

@Fivemoreminutes1

The Winton gallery at the science museum is free Free creative sessions at the Apple shop in Covent Garden. Scroll down for the details www.apple.com/uk/retail/coventgarden/ Free ghost tours strawberrytours.com/london/tours/free-ghost-tour There are some other free tours on the same site.

The Apple creative events look great - but is it just for iPhone / iPad owners? (We're all on Android).

@topdot

I was going to say floor 5 in Harrods, my 13yr old techy DS absolutely loved it. Loads of gadgets etc to look at and try out. But after your comment about not getting the concept of window shopping, maybe not, its ££££ up there!!

Yes, definitely not going anywhere near Harrods on our cheap day!

[quote HorribleHerstory]My teens love the automata shop which is very near the British museum/Holborn tube

www.novelty-automation.com/[/quote]
Love it! But we went there last time, after a recommendation from MN! (Maybe it was you?)

Sky garden is free but requires booking in advance. YY to Wellcome collection, novelty automation museum (I have honestly never laughed so hard as when DH went on the frisking machine 😂) at Holborn and Science Museum.

There are several self guided tours freely available on the web including various blue plaque tours and graffiti/street art tours. Would it be easier if you set a budget limit for each DC, and when the money for discretionary spends is gone, it's gone?

Also if the weather is nice get some supermarket picnic items and head to one of the parks for a cheapy lunch.

Not completely free because you have to buy some unshelled peanuts, but if you do the parakeets in Kensington Gardens will come and land on you and let you feed them. Makes excellent photographs and you can have a lovely walk and combine it with a look at the outside of the Royal Albert Hall, the Albert Memorial and the Royal College of Music. The buildings round there are lovely. You could easily walk down to the Science Museum, the Natural History and the V&A. They're all free.

@GMH74

Not completely free because you have to buy some unshelled peanuts, but if you do the parakeets in Kensington Gardens will come and land on you and let you feed them. Makes excellent photographs and you can have a lovely walk and combine it with a look at the outside of the Royal Albert Hall, the Albert Memorial and the Royal College of Music. The buildings round there are lovely. You could easily walk down to the Science Museum, the Natural History and the V&A. They're all free.

Oh, I love the idea of feeding the parakeets!

I've been trying to avoid the Science Museum / NHM as we've been there lots of times, and do something a bit different but they are of course brilliant! We might end up going, anyway.