London with a 5 year old

[BigDogEnergy]

Hello

We are going to London tomorrow - arriving Friday afternoon, leaving Sunday afternoon. We are staying fairly centrally, near Waterloo. Travelling by train so limited to public transport.

What would be your must-dos with a 5 year old? He's autistic but we're well versed in scouting out accessibility options, have a sunflower lanyard, access card etc.

Is the London Eye worth it? Will it be horrifically busy?
Is the science museum age appropriate for a 5 year old with the attention span of a flea?
Any lesser known must do activities, parks etc.?

Beginning to have second thoughts 😬

The postal museum is good.
Playground by the London eye, princess Diana memorial playground at Hyde park. Take a London bus and ride up the top.

You won't get into any of the museums at a decent time. All free ticket booked in advance only and it's too short notice now.

Does he like transport? The London Transport Museum is walkable and pretty good for children. My 4.5 year old also loves Frameless at Marble Arch which is an interactive art exhibition but I don't know if it would be too overwhelming. One thing my son liked is getting a boar from Embankment Pier to Battersea Power Station. You can then book to take a lift up one of the power station towers which gives you a great view of London. It's not far from the zoo in Battersea Park if he likes animals too.

Science Museum,yes, but it's likely to be busy.
London Eye is very likely to be incredibly boring for a child of that age, it's so slow and hot very interesting? I'd swerve it personally.
The outer net at the entrance to Tottenham for road Station is a free interactive computerised screen that's all around you. Children like wandering in there and it costs nothing. They all seem to like riding around in to if a normal double decker bus and going on the DLR or a Thames clipper boat. Pick one up at somewhere like London Bridge and ride along a couple of stops past the tower of London etc. The parks are nice for a run around if it's sunny. Depends what you are all interested in generally m

It's half term so everything is going to be horrendously busy. It depends a lot on how you/he deal with crowds.

The science museum and NHM are right next to each other and both worth a look (and free so it doesn't matter if you need to bail after half hour). You will need to pre-book for both and may well find they're already fully booked.

Something ticketed like Frameless or Dopamine Land might be good, both good for that age.

Tower of London is a good day out and generally less busy than the free museums.

Otherwise I'd try and be outside. The Diana Playground is fab. Trafalgar Square, Buck house and St James Park are all close together and a nice, very 'Londony' thing to do. Covent Garden for the Street Entertainer and a transport Museum.

The Imagination Festival is on at South Bank too and always worth a look. Loads of free stuff plus ticketed stuff, street performers, Big Ben, see the eye even if you don't go on it (not worth it!), there's a playground and no matter how busy it is you can usually find a quiet spot somewhere. I'd definitely head to South Bank at some point.

There's tickets from 10am Sunday for the science museum (and all day by the looks of things), was going to do a museum on the Sunday before we leave because we can use the cloakroom service for our bags 😊

On the South Bank near where you are staying is Sealife and Shrek Adventure, both great for that age and a playground too. Wouldn't bother with London Eye at that age.
You could walk over the footbridge to the West End and go to the Transport Museum in Covent Garden.
Princess Diana memorial garden is the best park for kids in London imo. It's Kensington though so you'll need to get a tube.

Natural History Museum and Science museum are both great for that age and near the Princess Diana memorial playground.

Transport Museum is great for that age

Don't do the Eye. If he doesn't have much of attention span then he will be bored before you've even left the queue.
Transport Museum is a good one for that age.

Honestly, my chief tip (I was often in London with DS for a weekend at around that age) is to dial way back on expectations for ‘doing stuff’. To even a NT 5 year old, London is a bit overwhelming, and getting around on public transport still involves a lot of walking, so they can be tired before they get to an ‘activity’. London itself is the main draw, and it’s good to be open to what turns out to intrigue your child.

I just asked DS (now 11) what he’d liked most when younger, and he said watching the skateboarders on the South Bank, going on the tops of the double-decker buses (choose a good route and this is interesting for you too), going on the river, the DLR, the Transport Museum, Camden market, the Coram’s Fields playground, and running around in the fountains in Coal Drop Yard at King’s Cross. He also loved the steep escalators at Angel after I showed him YouTube footage of people skiing down them. He was never very interested in either the Science Museum or the Natural History museum, apart from the earthquake in a supermarket simulator.

Wonderlab at the Science museum is great, loads of stuff for them to flit between and there are giant slides for getting energy out. If you can get a slot it won’t be too busy either since they cap the ticket numbers. Battersea Park is good, the playground is amazing, better than Diana IMO, and there’s a small children’s zoo that isn’t too expensive. You could combine with the Power Station for the lego store, the viewing thing, and lunch at the fancy food court. The Army Museum in Chelsea also has a great play centre. My kids love Harrods for the toy department and the chocolate room, there’s also a cool giant drawing wall in the kid’s Ralph Lauren- so it’s good for a rainy day!

HMS Belfast is near Tower Bridge and is a great walk along the Thames from Waterloo. He would probably have a whale of a time exploring all the nooks and crannies of the ship.

I second suggestions to go on a bus and maybe a quick boat trip, factor in a lot of playgrounds, and a lot of sausage roll/hot choc stops!

My kids love London but the first time we took them I was surprised how quick my they got worn out - walking in a busy city is actually more tiring for them than long muddy walks on the moors, which we do all the time, because it's so much more interesting!!

Check opening times of the Princess Diana playground - the only time we tried, it was closing just as we got there.

To be honest, mine enjoyed her NHM but didn't want to spend more than an hour there overall. They preferred the Science Museum, as I think there's more interactive stuff there. They also liked the V&A as it was quieter - it's less obviously child-friendly but has that nice inner outdoor courtyard and a good costumes/theatrical display bit.

Honestly though, at 5 yrs mine would have wanted the top deck of a bus, Wagamama and playgrounds 😂 actually there was a Golden Hind replica near Hays Galleria somewhere that they liked!!

We have fairly low expectations to be honest, and are fully anticipating the highlight of his weekend to be the escalators at various tube stations! Unfortunately he's one of those duracell bunny kids who is on the go constantly on just a few hours sleep so I'd welcome him being worn out!!

The London eye pods aren't overly busy and you can queue jump but a 5 year old may get a little bored after 10minutes.
Mine liked the aquarium and you can get a carers ticket.
Street performers at Covent Garden were a hit.
You could get a boat down to Greenwich - lots to see and do there with space to run & have time out too.
Tbh getting the tube is exciting if you haven't done it before but ear defenders are a must on some lines for those who are noise sensitive.

Go on the DLR and get a seat at the front so he can 'drive' it.

The Young V&A might be a pain to get to on the tube but it's free and aimed at kids.

South Ken area is absolutely heaving at half term as is Southbank.

Boat down the Greenwich to explore. Then
DLR it back to either bank or tower bridge. Could take in the sights at Canary Wharf on the way.

@BigDogEnergy I think it's Waterloo Underground that has a flat travelator rather than an escalator.
My daughter used to love going on that 😂

The basement at the Science Museum is lovely for little children and it’s free. It can be a bit overwhelming but feels nice and safe and happy. There is an exhibit next door to it which is of the home, that I personally find interesting and when my son was 5, he would enjoy finding buttons to press for long enough.
the Wonderlab used to be amazing, but it’s getting a bit tired and too busy in my humble opinion.
I agree that the transport museum is super for 5 year olds but also very busy.
I think the London Eye can be saved for another day - but I really like it and there’s a playground nearby.
Tate Modern is nice and airy and there’s always something good happening there.
I hope you have a lovely time.

There's a thing called dopamine land near the museums that looks like it'll be loads of fun. I took my 5yo to the museums a couple of weekends ago. We went for the dinosaurs and didn't really explore much else in the NHM. We were able to book into the science museum on the day and got 'tickets' for 2pm. DS liked the astronaut bit and the pattern pad thing for under 8s. Wonderland costs extra and I wasn't bothered by that. There's London aquarium too which I always liked but it's been donkeys years since I've been so don't know what it's like now

The basement at the Science Museum is lovely for little children and it’s free.
The Garden? It gets so busy! Frequently it’s 1 in 1 out at weekends with a huge snaking queue. If you’re in there anyway and by chance it’s not busy then by all means check it out but I really wouldn’t recommend queuing for it with a 5YO as it’s very obviously aimed at toddlers/preschoolers eg it has stuff like those letter puzzle foam floor tiles you push letters and shapes into, giant foam duplo bricks and a mini water play area. My 6YO gets dragged in there a lot as her little brother loves it and we live nearby, but she has had no interest in it since about 4 years old. She loved the new music exhibit though, that’s another paid for one but brand new and very well done. We had the first slot and it was only us in there last time we went! Even the 2YO liked it so plenty for kids with limited attention spans 🤣

The park behind the London eye is fab! My 5yo would happily spend hours there!

The sea life museum is great for a rainy activity.

A tour bus is great fun.

Tower Bridge is brilliant. You can over the top and there are glass panels in the floor. My older two loved that!

The Lego shop is great!

Just walking and finding parks is great fun x

There's a nice childrens playground by the London eye