Travelling to central London and sightseeing without an adult

[HappyBinosaur]

Obviously this scenario would be completely different if the child lives in London as they may be much more familiar with public transport etc.

How old would you say is ok for a sensible dc to travel by train to London with their friend? They will be there all day sightseeing and then get the train back.

DC has been to a couple of our local large towns on the train with friends and I grew up in a big city and remember being fairly young when I started travelling there with friends.
I think London feels different to other places because it is so big and if you’re not from there or don’t visit often then it can be hard to navigate yourself.

I did at 15. 3 friends, the worst that happened to me was awful blisters from highly inappropriate footwear. It was 2 hours on train to get there. To be fair that was 35 years ago….

I'd say 14 if they are already adept at travelling on trains/buses and coping with cancellations etc.

15 or 16.

14?
DS and his friend go to London for the day regularly.
Ask them to plan where they want to go beforehand. Stay in central London - no wandering off the beaten track.
The tube is easy to work out. If tourists who don't necessarily speak English can manage it, then a pair of sensible teenagers will be fine.

I think London feels different to other places because it is so big and if you’re not from there or don’t visit often then it can be hard to navigate yourself.

I think it’s the opposite - it may be big but it’s the most visited city with people from all over the world having to navigate themselves, so it’s very well signposted and getting around is made very easy for everyone.
Definitely easier to get lost in smaller cities I think.

I was doing that at 13, but my parents worked in Central London (we lived Zone 6) so there was 'back up' but not close supervision. We got given a parents mobile for the day while we did it. (And were well versed in terrorist protocols... tail end of IRA era)

All day sightseeing I would say 14.

My dd was travelling in from Ilford with a friend at 11, her friends nana would give them a picnic of jam sandwiches and swiss roll, give them money for the bus and tell them which numbers to get for free attractions, they had a whale of a time, I was horrified when I first learnt about their 'excursions' but it honestly gave them such freedom and confidence. By the time dd was 14 she was travelling across London alone with no issues.

14/15 is fine I think, you could show them a tube map and explain the basics before they go if that would help you feel better about them getting about? Also get one of them to download Citymapper.

Thanks all. You’ve all said roughly what I thought and it’s been really helpful to see your replies.

DS16 has only recently started going into London with friends but that was because he’d never wanted to before rather than not being allowed.
DS14 mentioned going with friends and my gut instinct was to say yes but thought I’d get a range of opinions first! We are not too far from London so it’s an obvious place to go for the day.

I live in zone 5 of London so on outer edges however I wouldn’t let my 13 yr old spend the day in Zone 1 even with a friend. It’s not getting lost that worries me but potentially other teenagers, mugging, knife crime etc. He is a very sensible 13 yr old with excellent nerdy knowledge of London transport. Has travelled on holiday a lot with us but I still think too young for central London for the day. He does take tube to school (zone 5 to zone 3) but a day trip even if monitoring his location is too much. Could potentially take an hour or so to get to him if in trouble,

If they've got Citymapper and a plan then I think they're set from 13/14. The tube is very easy to navigate. Buses are slightly more complex I think although I am sure others will disagree. A cancelled train home is the worst thing that can happen. Where are they travelling in from OP? If, if the worst should happen, you can get them to travel to the end of a tube line and you can pick them up from there, then that's not so much of an issue either.

London is a doddle compared with other cities - nice big helpful tube maps everywhere! A competent 14 year old should be fine.

Those things are maybe a risk if your child is asking to go hang around in a central London park for a day, but not really if they're doing the attractions. No one is getting mugged at the Tower of London or London Dungeons.

DD started this year at 17 but probably would have been earlier had it not been for the pandemic.

Providing they know how to navigate and are with reliable friends I'd say 15 would be OK.

That said I've been taking DD to London regularly since she was 5 and getting her to navigate and work out tube routes since she was about 8!

A sensible 14 year old should be fine. If concerned, do a trial run where you go up together for a few hours but the child has to do all the navigating.

I wouldn't allow it until 16 but that was because we live at least 4 plus hours drive away and I've been in a situation myself where trains were cancelled due to inclement weather.

If we lived closer (within 90 minutes drive away) I'd have had no problem from 14/15 onwards.

He's more likely to get stabbed or mugged in Zone 5 or Zone 3 near to school than in Zone 1 at the main tourist attractions!

I'd say probably 13 or 14.

However, I would tell them to be careful of mobile phones being used when out in public. Where I work 2 days a week near Fitzroy Square (Goodge Street area) there have been a lot of mobile phone snatchings recently.

Same re debit cards/cash. Be careful.

I'd advise them not to go anywhere strange and to be careful even around tourist attractions. Yes, a PP says they won't get mugged around Tower of London etc but people do get mugged around there.

I would expect this to be fine for most 14 year olds as long as they feel comfortable to do it and are reasonably sensible.

I'd say 14 or 15 . I don't live in London, but to me it feels easier and safer than many other big cites in UK, especially if you're in the tourist areas.

I went with friend back in 80s at 13 all the way form yorkshire. We stayed with my GPs in kent for 4 nights travelling up to london by bus each day then using tube.
id been to london before lots due to family in Kent. She’d never set foot outside yorkshire. We were both reasonable sensible, stuck togther and managed just fine.
we didn’t have mobiles in those days so it’d be easier now
getting lost in london is actually quite hard 🤷🏼‍♀️…you just get back on tube and retrace your steps. Day explorer tickets mean you can literally just hop on and off. A lot easier than getting around yorkshire 🤣

I think the biggest issue they are likely to have is something going wrong with the train home again, and the panic of feeling “stranded”, so make sure they know what to do in that situation/any alternative routes.

I’d also give them a back up paper a-z of London, but I’m probably paranoid after being lost in Peckham when O2 lost all signal in London and I couldn’t get onto any wifi hotspots.

Oh jesus, London is not full of muggings and knife crime. Please don't instil this irrational fear into your children. The world is nowhere near as scary as you think it is

OP, a sensible 14 would be absolutely fine.

Most secondary school children in London are not escorted to school by Mummy or Daddy, they make their own way on tubes, buses and trains, often a combination of several with changes between. So locals are travelling around London from 11. They were no more born with the knowledge of how to do it safely than 11-year-olds from, say, Thurso; they had to learn.

The TfL website gives step-by-step instructions on how to get from A to B, and Google maps shows the bus stops with which numbers stop there.

As PP say, most muggings happen out in the suburbs which are not a tourist draw. Pickpockets are a thing though, so they need to know to keep firm control of phones, valuables, cards and money. In a zipped pocket for preference. And always have their backs to a wall if checking their phones. All of which is sensible in any town.