London mumsnetters, I need help!

[Madwife123]

We are visiting London this December (first time) and finding it hard to work out via Google what is close to each other to work out activities.

If I list what we plan to do can a kind mumsnetter tell me the best way to plan them to make the most of being close by?

Friday - Arrive. Hotel in central London. Going shopping, is London eye near shopping area?

Saturday - Hyde Park. Is Buckingham Palace near? If not how about London eye?

Sunday - Harry Potter studios. Free afternoon so anything child friendly worth visiting?

Monday - Either London dungeons if kids will brave it or wax works if not. Head home

That’s the rough plan but I don’t know if that means lots of back and forth and it’s better being re-jigged?

Ps forgot to say while on Oxford St do Selfridges!

Have a fab time and apologies ok behalf of London for any negativity on the thread. I reckon your airbnb looks pretty good and Finsbury Park station is on good lines. Just be a bit careful walking around at night near Finsbury Park as it has its crime issues, not terrible but worth being careful.

Pps When in London don’t use your mobile phone on the street, find a spot (eg in shop/cafe/park) to do it where motorcycle muggers can’t drive by and snatch it, this is a bit of a problem.

Ppps book in advance for as much as you can. Entrance to the museums is by timed tickets but they are free - don’t be tricked by all the payment desks at the entrance these are for donations.

Booking for pizza express helped me walk past a 40 min queue 😀

If you do Shard or basically anything, book!

I live in north London, op, not a million miles from from Finsbury Park, and we always drive when we go to Harry Potter. It’s very quick and easy as long as it’s not rush hour. Watford really isn’t far- I’ve even taken DC there for birthday parties.

Finsbury Park is brilliantly connected for transport and is indeed in the borough of Islington (which confusingly isn’t the same as the part of that borough that people locally refer to as Islington). If you’re looking for any recommendations local how where you’re staying, I’m happy to help.

Have a great trip!

This is what worries me.

I’m used to waiting for a cow to cross the road but not heavy traffic. I expect we will drive to the air bnb and then use public transport all weekend. Kids will enjoy the tube. One has never been on a train before so is very excited.

@Feysriana That’s an absolute no to the dungeons then! Which I had already thought really. The older one liked Blackpool dungeons but the youngest one wasn’t with us then and she’s quite sensitive.

Yes definitely get an Oyster card it’ll save money.

On reflection I agree with the previous poster to get the train from Euston to Watford rather than driving. It is difficult to explain quite how horrible driving in that area is. I’ve personally seen two hideous accidentabon Euston riad and nearly caused a third trying to drive there. I will never take my car there again!!

You’ll have a fab time.

To put things in perspective for you op, I now live Surrey/SW borders. It can take me 90 minutes when the traffic is heavy to drive about 11.5 miles to the Thames.

The part of Finsbury park where the air BnB is literally in Islington though.

My DD lives in Islington, right next to the Arsenal Stadium. As others have said, it's a big area and have lots of transport links that go in all directions. If you are hanging out there for any length of time, the Highbury end is really interesting.

I wouldn't recommend getting the bus into central London unless you seriously need to chill out.

The main shopping area is Oxford Street, but it is mainly chain stores that you find in lots of cities. And it can get packed.

I would think of going somewhere like Camden Market (easy from Islington).

London Eye and The London Dungeon are by Westminster/Waterloo. You'd really want a nice clear day for the London Eye. Parts of the Dungeon are quite grotesque. Would your DS be happy to wear ear defenders for certain rooms?

You can easily access Buckingham Palace from Victoria Station. If you want to go after your trip to the London Eye, you can walk across Westminster Bridge, past Parliament, and then onto St James' Park. The walk through St James' is lovely with many interesting species of water fowl. You can also go down Whitehall from the HOP, past the Cenotaph, Downing Street, Horseguards and into Trafalgar Square (National Gallery), through Admiralty Arch onto The Mall.

My goto thing for visitors is a boat trip down the Thames, from Westminster to Greenwich. It takes about an hour and the commentary is amazing. Have lunch and mooch around the market, then take the DLR back into the City. You get a good view of Canary Wharf, and then get off at Bank and see many famous buildings. A bus will take you to Trafalgar Square, past the Old Bailey.

Don't worry, it'll be fine. Most of the really great things to do in London are free. The river walks, the escalators in places like Kings' Place, the Royal Opera House, John Lewis (I love an escalator), St Pancras Station, the skyscrapers in the City, the old medieval roads, walls and gates, all the national museums...it'll be awesome! Finsbury Park is not posh but it is well connected and kind of fun in a slightly grotty, pungent and sticky way. The actual park is nice too and you can get food at all hours.

When in London don’t use your mobile phone on the street, find a spot (eg in shop/cafe/park) to do it where motorcycle muggers can’t drive by and snatch it, this is a bit of a problem

oh don’t be ridiculous. I’ve lived in London all my life and don’t know anyone this has happened to. Yes it happens occasionally but it’s not like a common occurrence unique to London! Actually London has lower crime rates than most major UK cities

@Feysriana legoland for the PM? It’s about £100 per person and takes at least a day, probably two, to do it all.

Finsbury Park is in the borough of Islington but it’s not Islington the place.

Finsbury Park is brilliantly connected and the eponymous park is great too - a real green lung.

I think it will work great for you OP and the drive to HP will be ok as well- all the naysayers haven't read your posts properly.

(To be clear there is a lot of traffic on a Sunday evening on the Holloway Road but it is what it is)

That might account for the driveways then.

Although as the OP says Finsbury Park is literally in Islington.

Might not fit with the Blair/Brown dining in Granita concept of Islington though.

It's in the Borough of Islington, not Islington the place. It's like saying you're staying in Durham but you mean County Durham and not the city itself.

You can walk and see lots in London. You could walk from Buck Palace to the London Eye. Walk from B Palace through St James Park (beautiful) toward Houses of Parliament (Big Ben) and then across Westminster Bridge. You will see the Eye as you cross the bridge.

I love the walk on the north side of the river through Westminster gardens and Embankment Gardens.

Citimapper app good but also TFL.

A trainee at work had a phone snatched off her at a bus stop by a guy on a motorbike last week. School leaving time. It's certainly not an everyday hazard but it does happen.

The advice up thread to have your Oyster in a lanyard and not to wander round with your phone in your hand, not looking too obviously like a tourist, is sensible in any big city. Dropping things is a more obvious risk. I'm on my third debit card this year. It's all to easy to mislay them using contactless a lot.

Not sure about this advice tbh - don't think there is anything that would scream tourist louder than wearing an oyster card in a lanyard 😂

An oyster won't save money for an adult, it's the same price as using a contactless credit/debit card and you have to pay a deposit on it. The only benefit is that it's less worrying to keep waving around in a crowded tube station.

Only the twelve year old would benefit from an oyster and even then it's probably not worth the set-up cost for three days.

I would advise doing the Lego store and Hamleys on Monday if poss, the queues/crowds will be hellish on a weekend pre-Christmas. It's an eleven minute walk from one to the other, and goes via Piccadilly Circus which is an exciting, if grubby, place to see. While you're at Hamleys I recommend checking out the Xmas lights at Carnaby Street two minutes walk away, and the windows at Liberty, maybe go in and get a bauble from their Christmas department, it's such a gorgeous store.

You've already had some very good advice about checking out the lights on Bond Street/Piccadilly.

Oh you are just round the corner from us. It's not super central but it central enough and it's very quick on the Victoria/ Piccadilly line to everywhere you need to go.

I'm probably 50:50 on driving to Harry Potter. If you get up early on Sunday morning the traffic will be fine but coming back down Holloway Road on a Sunday is a bit of a drag. It's also quite expensive for all the trains, shuttle tube etc so driving maybe a bit cheaper. If driving in to London stresses you out then I wouldn't bother.

WW is really fun (if a bit pricey) I really love the ice sculptures. It does get really busy at the weekend though. I'd probably combine it with a trip to the natural history museum and then get the tube back from South Kensington. You could also walk down Oxford street from here.

For your other day the London eye and some time on the south bank is good. Maybe walk down to borough market. You could also get the boat to Greenwich and do cutty sark/ maritime museum.

Or you could go to the Tower of London which is really good.

Some good places to eat fairly near where you are staying:

Westerns Laundry (quite fancy, maybe not for kids)
Zia Lucia- Pizza Pasta
Sambol Shiok- Laksa
E. mono does a really good Kebab
La Fabrica- tapas

They have also opened a load of new chain restaurants by FP station.

You are close to the Arsenal stadium so check for fixtures/events as it's a pain when there is a match on. You might be ok because of the World Cup though

@mileenderr

That and wearing your backpack on your front 😆

She doesn't have to be a dork about it! Losing a travel card or phone on a short holiday trip to a large unfamiliar city is a hassle.

I have lived in London my whole life and always wander about with my phone in my hand and have never had anything snatched, stolen or lost travel cards. Oyster cards are being phased out