Anyone up for helping me plan a weekend in London with kids as the family Christmas stand present?

[Banjaxx]

I’m just getting over surgery and lying in bed thinking of nice things to take my mind off the pain and thought now’s the time to plan the family Christmas trip!

we’re not buying physical presents this year as the kids honestly don’t want anything. We’ve asked them endlessly but they either say nothing or just offer up some tat which on questioning for further details admit that they don’t really want it, they just wanted us to give over hassling them for ideas! So I’m going to plan a wonderful weekend for us in January, fly to London (we’re in Ireland) on the Friday morning, and fly home on the Monday.

im thinking Harry Potter tour and maybe tickets to see Matilda which I’ve been dying to see for ages. It’d be me, DH and 2 kids both 8 (yes twins… and no I ’m not a twin troll 😂)

budget can be flexible, I know it’ll be expensive but the kids have never been to London and never been on a plane so happy to splurge. it’s been a really hard year for lots of reasons so I want this to be special.

does anyone have any suggestions? Hotels that would be good for getting between those locations? Other shows that are on I might not have considered? Tips on how to get the moneys worth out of the Harry Potter tour etc?

all suggestions and distraction most welcome and apppreciated

I'd go Premier Inn at Southwark near the Tate. My kids love a Premier Inn breakfast and we've always had good stays in every one we've stayed in. It's a good location for underground, wandering along the south bank, going across the millennium bridge to St Paul's. Great fun when it's dark and you see all the lights.

Check out walking across the top of Tower Bridge. Mine loved that.

Tate Modern is great for kids.

You'll need a whole day for the Harry Potter studio.

Fab thanks @soupmaker maybe we should fly Thursday then and spend Friday trekkkng about London.

or maybe Fridays a better day for going to Harry Potter, I assume it’s much busier on the weekend?

There is a premier in. / Travelodge at Waterloo where you can get bus to west end from outside.

Walk round Covent Garden. Somewhere like amorinos / Hansel and gretel / milk train for ice cream.

Hamleys.

South bank could be good for a wander.

Carnaby street for lights.

What about a boat trip on the Thames? One of the operators is part of TfL*, so you can travel quite cheaply.

*Sorry I'm pretty hazy on the details...I think I remember correctly though....

Although train to HP goes from Euston so maybe easier to stay near there. Again we have stayed at premier inn on Euston road and that was fine.

Oooh how fun!

Tower of London is great
Hampton court Palace is further out but it's a brilliant day, loads to do
Harry Potter world is brilliant
Boat trip down to Greenwich can be fun, couple good museums there

Thames clipper, cable car across from o2, sky garden (free but you need to book), Covent Garden, south bank, m and m store at Leicester Square.

Matilda is brilliant but be prepared for £££, alternatively take them to the cinema at Leicester Square to see it:)

If they're into it my kids are obsessed with Carnaby street for Korean hot dogs.

Take them to Hamleys for a good look round and an hour or two in the Natural History Museum and Science Museum next door . I would second Premier inns .. you know what you are getting and the breakfast buffet is very popular with kids . I would also try and get down to the Tower of London to see the river at night when it’s all lit up .

Lion King is also amazing

Thanks so much for all your comments, this is definitely keeping me busy! Just looking at the costs and weighing it all up. Premier inn is definite the way to go! Re Matilda, yeah I know it’s mega bucks but I love the theatre and don’t mind shelling out… it’s a hell of a lot less than the cursed child, my god how do people afford it? 4 tickets for the dates I’m looking at are basically a grand 😵‍💫

London Aquarium and London Eye are also close together and also close to boat trip jetty . A friend also took her daughter on a horrible history boat trip recently which they loved

Matilda is fab. I've seen it twice on the west end.

To balance the books after an expensive theatre trip you could go to the sky garden. It's free, great views. Just need to book 3 weeks in advance (keep checking the website as it gets booked up quickly when slots are released).

We also enjoyed the horrible histories boat tour. About right for 8 year olds.

Tower bridge is good..

Also like wandering around Covent garden and Trafalgar Square.

The cable car is worth a trip if you have time (O2 to the docklands - can stay on for round trip)

Ooh horrible histories boat tour is a great shout!

what day do you all reckon would be best for Harry Potter world? Friday Saturday of Sunday? I’d prefer to go when it’s a bit quieter rather then rammed if possible

Every day is busy. We've just booked for a Sunday in February and could only get a 5pm slot!

Cursed child was very good as a stage production but 8yo would def prefer the film studio experience. It's definitely a full day out.

Family came to London from Ireland and spent a small fortune cramming in all the sights. Madame Tussaud's, west end show, London-eye and so on. When asked 6 months later what they enjoyed most the kids (9 & 11) pondered and then said..... the Tube. 🤦🏼‍♀️

My advice, do one or two big things at most and leave plenty of time for wandering past the palace, take pics at Big Ben. Take the Thames Clipper down the river and see Tower Bridge.
Build a plan for the next time.
If coming at half term you will need to book tickets for the museums.

Well, Harry Potter studios aren't in London... it's a bit of a hike & there is plenty to do in the city without travelling so far out.

Look at Citadines apartments as an alternative to a chain hotel, perhaps?

@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams 😂😂😂 that’s so typical! We had something similar earlier in the year, went to Dublin for the weekend and despite the zoo, the leprechaun museum etc the highlight of the weekend and was the fact that they had instant hot chocolate sachets at breakfast 😂

The River Bus is fab. Get on at Westminster and cruise up to Greenwich. Lunch at Greenwich market. Stand either side of the Greenwich meridian for free and get fab city views from the park. Then bus or walk to the cable car across the Thames, then DLR back into the city. Mine loved that trip.

I’m booking The Big Bake off as a Christmas present.
www.thebigbakes.com/about-us?_gl=1xg14xk_gaMTk1NjQ4MzQ0MC4xNjY4MDE3MzI3_ga_BQXMQHZ3K8*MTY2ODMzNDAwNC41LjAuMTY2ODMzNDAwNC4wLjAuMA..

Check availability for HP studios as I don't think there are any friday-monday dates left in January

8 year old children don’t want anything for Xmas at all? That’s utterly baffling

im very familiar with this age group

so are they not getting a single gift?

@Hbh17 has to be a hotel rather than apartments, that’s part of the treat for the kids, we always do self catering and I’d far rather be clmore we to the west end to reduce travel time to the theatre if we go to an evening show, I don’t mind a bit of travel time during the day, but evening travel with tired kids strikes the fear into me!

@Quitelikeit yeah I know! But that’s we’re we’re at. One of them has a few things that are fine but the other one literally doesn’t want anything other than some Pokémon cards 😂

Matilda is amazing
Ice Skating is fun over xmas and plenty of places in london, a wander through Covent Garden. My DC and I always head to Hamleys, regent street and carnaby, Bodeans for food and then off to the palladium for the panto.

Premier inn Waterloo is a great location, opposite Houses of Parliament and by the London Eye. You can also walk along the river. We always stay here. Re Harry Potter you may not get in now and you would need early tickets to make the most of it. Although I hate it the kids loved M and M world and china town is fun for a walk around. I personally do not love Hamleys and dc have always liked Harris’s for toys and food hall. Also look at museums.