London a beginners guide!

[Iwasjustasking]

I have never been to London and neither has my dh, we are finally taking the children (12 and 6) in half term, for one night two days. I don’t know where to start! We want to see

Houses of Parliament and 10 downing street
big ben
covent garden
Buckingham palace
Covent Garden
London bridge and the Thames (perhaps some kind of boat trip)
Hamleys and Harrods

i have no clue where these things are and what tube lines I need to get on and what order to do things? Can anyone help and anyone have any more must haves? Hotel is @ London Euston and that’s where the train will drop us too.

All the bus tour companies have hop on off buses that will do these routes. It’s a great way of seeing it all without walking little legs off. Download citymapper as it’s great if you get the tube for telling you which exit of the tube to head for. But you probably don’t need to use the tube.

The first four are all walking distance to each other then you could get Uber boat to London Bridge and Tower of London and could walk back or get Boris bike back to Westminster. No need for tube

If you get the river taxi it will take you past all the sights like Big Ben.

London is big and quite confusing so give yourselves enough time to get to places. As you are staying in Euston you are central and you can walk to Kings Cross for all the eateries. The British Museum is on the way.

You may like to see The Tower of London and explore the city district and the east end. Brick Lane has a market and lots of Indian restaurants.

The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Covent Garden is doable in one day.

The tube is relatively easy and reliable. Maybe have an Oyster card each. You can use that on tubes, buses and the water taxi.

Oh brilliant I will download citymapper, I didn’t know you could get bus tours that would be excellent, i was a bit worried about navigating the tube, thankyou. I had read about the Uber boats on here and that would be perfect for a little trip on the Thames, thankyou both!

Are you sure about London bridge? It is a boring bridge built in the 1970's

Tower Bridge would be much more interesting

My Youngest dd has been learning about London at school and said London Bridge but if tower bridge is better we can go there, I’m open to all suggestions and places to go!

London Bridge has a good view of tower bridge! But the best views are on Westminster bridge I think?

i would agree with the pp who said walk to the first four and then get a boat up to the tower.

London tour bus is from £32!! Just get normal buses!

London Bridge does have the monument to the fire at the north side which your dd may like to see if she’s learned about the great fire? Tower bridge and the tower is a few minutes walk from there.

Uber boat
Emirates cable car

Science Museum and Natural History Museum both free!
The nearest tube station is South Kensington. This is on the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines and is a 5-minute walk from the museums.

You should definitely add Tower Bridge and The Tower of London to your list if you can. Maybe start there the second day and get a boat back towards your hotel, and do Harrods and Hamleys after.

book the Sky Garden - it’s free but you have to book a slot the week before, it will get booked up at half term great view all over London , you can walk across London Bridge to get there and go up the Monument, where the Fire of London started.

skygarden.london/

Battersea Power Station is worth a visit and you can walk into the park - there’s a little zoo and a Go Ape activity there.

I think your list is great, but you're probably thinking of Tower Bridge, that's the famous one. The Tower of London is also brilliant but with only two days and one night I don't think you can add anything else. Also maybe miss out Covent Garden this time, and concentrate on the really big sights that you've already got on your list. You'll be surprised how tired you get, although it's quite compact and easy to get around, you still end up walking miles! A river trip is an excellent idea, great way to see lots of interesting things you wouldn't otherwise.

I wouldn’t bother with bus tour, they are expensive tourist traps.
You can combine a boat trip and cable cars which are great fun!
www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/44124004-ifs-cloud-cable-car-and-thames-clippers-river-roamer

The Greenwich Maritime Museum is great, and so is the Cuty Sark. The parks around there are amazing for picnics too.

You could then hop back on the boat, or you could take a long walk along the Thames, and you will eventually be by the Tate.
The Southbank is always good, performers are out, and lots of food options.

If you don't mind walking lots of London is hear each other. Big Ben, Downing Street, buck palace, Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden are all near each other.
Then tower bridge, Tower of London, London Bridge, monument, sky garden at the other end near each other.
If you want to explore further get the train from London Bridge to Greenwich or go on
The dlr from
Bank or get the Uber boat there. Citymapper is your friend.

Also agree about avoiding Covent Garden, is so busy and you are just pushed around. Only worth going that way if you are around to see a show.
Same with Leicester Square too busy!

all of these are within easy walking/bus/tube distance as the op posted .I’d recommend the route 24 bus as it goes by Westminster etc and is a good bus to see the sights.
You don’t need to buy oyster cards to travel, you just need a contactless card for each of you.Only the 12yr old will need to pay on bus and tube, the 6 year old boards or goes through tube gates with you.(u16s only get free travel in London if they have a zip card) .definitely download the citymapper app and type in where you want to go and it will plot your route for you.At Euston you can hop on x2 short tube journeys to Tower Hill where it’s a short 9 min walk to tower bridge.Tower bridge is the one most children confuse with London Bridge.
If you get chance or weather naff , head to one of the museums , although they are very busy in the holidays.HTH

If you search for these places on google and then apply the public transport filter it shows you the nearest tube station with the line colours also shown for the tube line. Whatever you do do not come out Covent Garden station as it has a million steps - come out either Leicester Square or Piccadilly which are within walking distance.

Always use the normal buses instead of the hop-on/off buses.

You can use your debit/credit card for tapping in and out of stations and buses. There is a daily cap of around £7-8 so once you've hit that you won't be charged more. Grab a tube map or download the tube app to your phone. The Citymapper app is also helpful to show you different routes.

Walk along the southbank - start at London Bridge and walk up to Waterloo along the riverfront.

Go to Borough market - just outside London Bridge station. Bridget Jones "apartment" is also there if that interests you.

Covent Garden has lifts , you don’t need to do the steps!

Look up the places you want to go on a map and see how close, or not, they are. If you have a Google account you can plot them on Google map to look at later.

Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Downing Street are near each other and can be seen in a walk, eg from Trafalgar Square, depending on far the children can walk. My favourite is start in Trafalgar Square, through Admiralty Arch and down the Mall towards Buckingham Palace. Walk through St James Park, through Horse Guards, turn right down Whitehall, past Downing Street (it’s gated so you can’t walk into it), down to Parliament Square for Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Check out the opening times for Tower Bridge here - www.towerbridge.org.uk/lift-times.

You might be able to time your visit with an opening, which is always impressive!

Yes to Citymapper

No to natural history museum and science museum (you're only there two days)

Yes to a walk from Trafalgar Square past all the major sights you listed: houses of etc @Plexie has a good walking route.

Yes to Covent Garden and a mooch near there. Best bet there is to get to Leicester square tube and walk to C garden (short walk)

Buckingham palace if you must but a walk through Belgravia is nice and vey 'London'

Personally I think Harrods is boring but I guess you're just having a look rather than shopping (I prefer Fortnum and Mason for a real treat).

London Bridge a waste of time. It's a 1960s bridge and not very exciting. Tower bridge the pretty one and you get a good view from Westminster bridge anyway.

Tower of London good but you only have two days so I don't think that's doable time wise unless you dump something else.

A walk along the south bank is good if you don't want to take a boat trip

Avoid the tourist buses IMO.