London for 2 days - suggestions?

[MunchMunch]

I'm passing through London Kings cross on my way to see ds1 so I've decided to have a couple of days in the city!

What are your must see/ must do's/ where to stay while there? We are a family of 4 (dc 12 & 14) and I've got a bit of a dodgy knee.

I don't really have a budget but would still like to not spend a fortune (from the north east so I may have a slightly different idea to a Londoners idea of a fortune 😁)

Ill be reading this thread when I can but I might not be able to reply for a while so if you have any suggestions or hints and tips I'd be very grateful.

Thank you

We are planning a similar trip. Watching with interest….

Totally depends what you're into, but on our last trip we did Kew gardens on one day (a whole day) and then the next day went to borough market and walked along the river afterwards. Best trip to London we've done in a long time!

We went to London for 3 days last week and left just before the jubliee. It was a great trip!

Madam Tussaud
Seaquarium
London Eye
The river thames cruise
tower bridge
National History Museum
Science Museum
Hyde Park
Buckingham Palace(gutted we couldn't get close as they were already preparing for the jubilee)
Big Ben
Kensignton palace

We ate out everyday but had breakfast at the hotel we stayed at Premier inn Kensington.

Its was only 3 of us but we spent a fortune LOL, we could've gone abroad with what we spent but I enjoyed it and would def do it again!

London is smaller than you think. Last week, we walked from Tralfager square to Leicester Square, Piccadilly circus, Chinatown, The Mall and Buckingham palace - all the major tourist sites within one evening.

Harrods is always fun, especially the food hall and seeing the expensive items they have.

Camden Market or Covent Garden are another two places which are good to look around.

All the above are free as well.

Maybe consider a bus tour or boat trip if you don’t want to walk.

Very weird comment but good for you.

That is just a small part of London! London is much bigger than you think IMO.

OP - have you spent a lot of time in London before. Personally I prefer the slightly less busy areas of London as Leicester Square/Oxford St etc are horrible and usually too busy. If you are with children the parks are always lovely to walk around - if you want to do Science Museum/Natural History wander over to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The Diana Fountain is lovely on a warm day - the kids can play around for hours.

Good areas to explore - Chelsea, Marylebone, Shoreditch, Barbican, Kings Cross. There are Treasure Hunts you can print out which are for families and good for seeing areas you might not have explored before. Trickier if you can't walk for a long time but it can be broken up with stops for drinks, lunch etc.

Oh and I always stay in Premier Inn hubs as they are cheap but very clean and modern. I like the Covent Garden one (close to Soho and Trafalgar Square - it's right in the middle of the two) and also St James (right next to a tube station)

If you want to stay in the Kings Cross area for some of the time, and not walk miles with dodgy knee, I recommended the Wellcome Collection; Grant Museum of Zoology and Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology both small and crammed full of stuff. Judd Street near the Euston Rd Premier Inn has nice cafés. Also Russell Square nearby has a nice cafe and leads to the British Museum. All these museums are free so pop in, don't feel you have to see much, then head off.

We love Borough Market because we love food so if that's what you like then def there, with a bit of a South Bank wander, Tate Modern if you like that kind of thing.

A trip on a Thames Clipper rather than a tour boat. So after the above you could go London Bridge to Westminster pier, take a look at the sights there then head back.

Wow thanks for the replies, lots of ideas to look up!

Although I was born in London (Lambeth) and lived there for my first 3 months before my parents moved back home to the north east but I've never been to London for any kind of trip or holiday.

My dd is a K-pop fan and apparently there's a shop that she wants to visit and ds2 wants to go to Mr Beast burger. I'll have to get a map and plot everything out.

I generally don't like busy places but I'll suck it up because it's London in August 😁

I like the idea of a bus tour so we can see the sights but my poor knee gets a rest!

Thanks again, off to google...

You could do one of the afternoon tea bus tours - they look fun.