Best location for a family week in/around London

[SecondUsername4me]

We live in the Scottish Borders, and my dc are desperate to visit the Harry Potter Studios. They also fancy Tower of London, my son wants to see "where the King lives" and my DH hasn't been to London himself since he was a teen.

So we figured it given the distance, and wanting to see a fair bit, it might just make sense to do a full week and drive down. This gives us the car for the Studios, and gives us the option to drive out to places outside of London.

So we would need somewhere with its own parking, outside of the centre, and I assume on the northern side as we are coming that way.

Can anyone recommend a good base for ease of access with a car, tube line access into Central London, and some nice green space nearby the accomodation for park walks etc. I think an air bnb would be better than hotel as we will probably come back for dinner each evening.

Any suggestions greatly welcomed! Oh and also some good day trips outside of Central London, maybe up to an hour drive. Dc aged 9 and 12. Oh - best Theme Parks in that area would be good.

Watford isn't a bad shout. The Holiday Inn Express has a big car park and is very nice. Super convenient for Harry Potter and there are trains into Euston which are as quick as 20 minutes (don't get a slow one by mistake!).

From Euston you can hop on the Circle Line (civilised and air conditioned) for the Tower of London or Victoria Line for Buckingham Palace. Both take about 20 mins from Euston.

About a 40 minute drive to both Legoland and Thorpe Park.

Or the Premier Inn in Chingford is cheaper and is alright transport wise as you have the Overground into Liverpool Street or can switch to the Victoria line at Walthamstow which is 10 minutes away. Longer drive to Harry Potter and the theme parks though.

Sorry missed you want Air B n Bs, but may be worth looking in those areas. But I would say make sure you are really close to a station or the walking really adds up.

Or leave your car in a residential area outside of London then travel in to stay more centrally for the central London dogs and get somewhere cheaper further out for other days.

Ealing Broadway? Good transport. Very fast into central on the Elizabeth line. Easy to drive to Thorpe Park from there, and Harry Potter World. Nice parks and places to eat etc

We stayed in a nice ABNB in Windsor a couple of years ago. Bit further into London but the King certainly has a castle there!!

It's not in North London. But you can hire a glamping pod in Abbey Wood south east London. This will give you the green space- I loved coming back here after a hectic day in London. The site is 10 mins from Abbey Wood station which is on the end of the Elizabethan line - it has superb links to the tube network and is so easy to get around- especially for east London. The pods have a small kitchen and bathroom, and there's a big Sainsburys by the station, as well as a few cafes like Greggs etc. You would need to consider if your car would come under the ULEZ scheme, but it should only count on the days you use it in the zone.

It could be worth thinking about a hotel for the studios, and then this accommodation, and possibly another hotel nearer to Thorpe park/Legoland all as part of a week to help with travelling around.

I would check the price for a Premier Inn family room in Central London. You don't want the car for the Harry Potter studios. You get a train to Watford then get the special Harry Potter bus.

But wouldn't that mean travelling into the centre to stay over to then travel back out? I couldn't do a full week in a PI family room - we would need to be able to cook at least a few breakfasts and dinners.

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This. I don't think you want a car near London, and I think London has more than enough to fill a week, including some of the best most expansive green spaces of any city in the world! You can spend a day getting lost on Hampstead Heath or Richmond Park, and you can visit your fill of attractions, museums, palaces, cathedrals, galleries, theatres, restaurants etc before you even left Zone 1!

I think your day trips outside of London sounds like another separate trip to me.

If you must drive I'd park outside London, then get a train in and stay centrally. Or get the train down.

Stay in an Air Bnb in an area near one of the green spaces such as Greenwich Park, Hampstead, Richmond?

Goodness just seen the prices for Airbnbs for central London and they are min 2x or 3x the price of staying nearer Watford etc. 400 a night??

That's because Watford is not a holiday destination - it's grim!

Sorry I was just using that as an example of a base. Can I really do more than say 3 full days in Central London? That's the appeal with the car.

3x days in the centre (tube in and out). 1x day Studios. 1x day at a theme park. 2x days at other places, maybe Oxford/Windsor etc.

Can I really do more than say 3 full days in Central London?

What do you mean by this? Do you mean can you cope? Or is there enough to do? If it's the latter then yes of course ! "When a man is tired of London he is tired of life", after all.

There are so many places to see I wouldn't know where to start other than suggest buying the Lonely Planet guide to London.

"Central" London is made up of numerous places, it's not just like a large town.

I just mean all the major tourist spots.

I've no doubt I could entertain myself there for a lifetime. But my children want to hit the "highlights". The main tourist traps.

We recently did Harry potter studios tour along with two days in London and stayed at a premier in near Elstree/Borehamwood station, might be a good area to look at air b&b's etc. While not on the tube trains were v regular and about 20 minutes to St Pancras via Theamslink, we used a family day travelcand I think it was £20 and could be used on tube and buses too.

We were originally planning on going direct by train but there were train strikes on our traveling days so had to look at other options. I've done harry potter studios by train previously and used the bus from Watford which was great, but driving is fine too and 20 mins from elstree/borehamwood.

What's your budget for the 4 of you? Here's a nice Air Bnb in an ideal location for quick tube to central London, easy for Euston / Watford connection plus a 5 minute walk from one of the most beautiful green spaces in London.

abnb.me/qz0b3LPcNDb

If they are teens / preteens wanting the big sights there will be more than enough for them to fill a week.

Buckingham Palace
Westminster / Big Ben
Westminster Abbey
London Eye
Shard
Tower / Bridge
Natural History Museum
Science Museum
St Paul's
Tate Modern
Covent Garden
British Museum
St James Park
Madame Tussaud's (don't bother imho)
Piccadilly / Piccadilly Circus
Regents Street / Mayfair
Cutty Sark
Camden Town
Spitalfields
Kensington Palace
Hyde Park
O2
Thames boats
Southbank
Shakespeare's Globe
Borough Market

Just the off the top of my head suggestions to begin with!

£200per night if staying a full week. We are tied to school holidays so that cuts options down as rates are higher.

Tbf Watford is rather boring and souless, but fine if all you're doing is sleeping there and walking 5 mins to the station.

I think 3 days in London would feel rushed. E.g. if you're doing the Tower of London it would be nice to get the boat down to Greenwich for the Cutty Sark, explore the market and perhaps Greenwich Park and the maritime museum, build in the Emirates Sky Line. That is a whole day.

Make time for a show if you can. Matilda, Lion King, Wicked and surprisingly Frozen are all great for those ages.

Ok, well you can hopefully still find a few options for that budget... 🙏🙏

abnb.me/EcHetLffNDb

abnb.me/XMewfWifNDb

abnb.me/PMUY9msfNDb

Or in Richmond... (less convenient than Hampstead for Harry Potter and travelling into central but equally good for green space and quick to West London museums).

abnb.me/EjpH8zSfNDb

Richmond would appeal to the Ted Lasso fan in me

We had 3 nights in an airbnb in Dalston at the end of summer for £540. Parking space, ten minute walk to tube and 20 minutes on the bus to London Bridge. Large 2 bed apartment, basic but clean, I'd stay again. Was cheaper than Premier Inn etc plus better to have separate bedrooms for the kids.

Dalston isn't close to spectacular green space though, which the OP wanted to incorporate in their trip.

Hampstead village is the ideal base for you as it's safe, green and quick to get centrally or to Euston (for Watford) / King's Cross on the northern line, plus walk to Hampstead Heath / Parliament Hill etc. You could also walk across the heath to Primrose Hill, Camden Lock / Market and the zoo from there one day.

If you're a Ted Lasso fan then I'd plan a half day visit to Richmond, river walk to Richmond Park, have lunch at the White Cross then visit the Natural History Museum / Science Museum / Hyde Park / Harrods on your way back through west London.