London hidden gems for children

[Snuzzle]

Taking my 8 year old to London soon and just wondering if anyone has any suggestions of places to visit or things to do beside the usual tourist attractions

Some of these suggestions are amazing. Great list of things for the holidays. Thanks all

Treasure Trails are great for exploring new places.

The transport museum is great for kids who like trains and buses.

Mine were into Annie at that age and a trip to the foundling museum combined with coram fields and granary Square fountains was a good less crowded, day out- especially when meeting friends who come into King's Cross Station

Following.

Holland Park adventure playground is good, if you're anywhere near it.

Boat trip up and down the Thames sure to be popular. You can combine with sightseeing.

Go boat!

If you do Coram fields (which I concur is a good choice) you should pop into the Foundling Museum round the corner (especially if your child has read Hetty Feather or seen Oliver.)

The cable car is a good option and part of TFL so cost-effective compared with something like the London Eye. I've not been to the Museum of London but my DH says it's very good.

If you want to get out of Central London somewhere like Hampton Court might be good, but it's expensive to get in.

This is brilliant thank you everyone
We’re staying a week and have tickets booked for a few places already and we’re doing an evening open top bus tour as well.
We’re staying in Kensington near the museums so Holland Park looks like a brilliant idea and just the sort of playground she’ll love.
Will definitely visit monument too as she’s already learnt about the great fire and is really interested in it.
Can anyone recommend ideas for evenings? We’ve got the bus tour booked and planning to go to Hamleys one evening too. I was hoping to book to see frozen but can’t really justify the price and we’re just missing out on kids week tickets unfortunately

The today tix app still has reasonably priced tickets for Frozen, right through the summer. Might be worth a look.

My two always loved just watching the entertainers in Covent Garden. Even now as teenagers they’ll still ask to sit and watch them.

I wouldn't go for miles across london. Focus on one area and see lots.

Portabello roads/market's/west Bourne grove/Holland park park /play area.
Kensington
..I'd go up ken roof garden rather than the other one.

Museums of London has a good part on great fire of London.

Harrods toy dept was always better than Hamleys but we haven't been since it moved.

China town/stroll through 7 dials to covent garden at night?

We enjoyed the Golden Hynde. Its an armada type ship and the tour is great fun. It was pretty reasonable if I remember approx £5-£8

The staff are dressed up and its a very interactive experience, with tall tales and excellent history lessons.

For being quite a small boat we were there for over 2 hours (possibly due to pirate obsessed DS)

It is very cramped so unfortunately not a choice if you have mobility issues.

It's just up a bit from HMS Belfast, which is another suggestion - we haven't been but hope to on our next trip

Hamleys is better for the toy department but DS prefers Harrods so he can see all the really expensive stuff and we pretend that we are obviously rich enough to buy it all. Like the £16,000 phone case we saw last time.🤑

Worth looking at the Unicorn Theatre (London Bridge) and Little Angel Theatre (Islington) for children’s theatre things. They are also doing 101 Dalmatian’s at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Not quite as headline-y as Frozen, but the first two are certainly more reasonably priced. We took an eight year old to Cirque du Soleil and she loved it - not cheap, but a bargain compared to Frozen (which we were trying to get tickets for).

The Granary Square area around King’s Cross has got some nice, less formal restaurants/pizza places - and the fountains!

Museum of London is better for children than the Docklands branch, I think. The Postal Museum is absolutely brilliant - I think at 8 you can still use the immersive play bit? But even without that it’s super.

After all of the MN love, we were distinctly underwhelmed by Coram Fields. It's a dusty patch of grass with a few swings and other standard municipal playground bits. I went back on another occasion without the DC and had a stroll around the area in case I'd missed THE Coram Fields. I hadn't.

It’s not really a hidden gem but if you are in London on certain dates Udderbelly has some fantastic kids shows (like Bubbleman) and the tickets are usually reasonable. The shows are either in Earl’s Court or Cavendish Square (behind John Lewis on Oxford St) .

The orbital slide is great fun - I found discounted tickets online.

You can go on the arcelormittal orbit at 8 as long as you are 1.3 metres. And the DLR (no drivers) is great for getting about especially if you can nab a seat at the front.

Go and watch the changing of the Guard?
This makes it look as if you have to book / pay, but you don't - This gives dates, details - scroll down to the bottom of the page with the times where you can just turn up and watch. changing-guard.com/dates-buckingham-palace

The South Bank is great - loads of free activities. This interactive fountain installation is always a favourite - she might get wet though!! www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/jeppe-heins-appearing-rooms

Most kids enjoy watching the skateborders - walk along the S bank until you fond where they are, in the undercroft.

Polka Theatre in Wimbledon has a play for your age dd, The Pirate, the Princess and the Platypus. They are a dedicated Children's Theatre and prices are nothing like W End.

Or www.underbellyfestival.com/events-display/chores

Evenings: An evening eating in Chinatown and have a Bubble Tea. An evening on the S Bank, overlooking the river. A show.

The love for Coram’s fields is because it is a proper playground in Zone 1. Useful if you are on Oxford Street and your kids are bored/tired. Not because it is anything special in itself! I definitely wouldn’t travel to London purely to go there (much like Crystal Palace and the Horniman - I live locally and they are great, but not “travel for two hours each way” great).

The aquarium and London Eye are good. And you can use Kelloggs vouchers for them (if you book on line, you can use the same kelloggs voucher for both, though you probably aren’t meant to). DS loves Greenwich and the planetarium, with a trip back to central London on the clipper. The zoo is great. The Southbank is good on a weekday - DS really likes riding his bike along there.

Elephant Springs (small water park in Elephant and Castle) is a nice way to cool down if you are in Westminster, London Bridge or Southbank and want a chilled afternoon. Good pizza place next door. Also not worth a special trip to London.

Another vote for the Foundling Museum, especially if you have a Hetty Feather fan and the Army Museum in Chelsea (it's free too).

They like the playground in St James' park.

When I was based near London Bridge I used to sneak out of the office to watch Tower Bridge lift. If you are going to the City of London then see if you can catch it. Standing on London Bridge gives you a good view.

You can find bridge lift times here
www.towerbridge.org.uk/lift-times