Recommendations for 48 hours in London with an almost 6 year old

[Spareincoming]

Inspired by another posters post; please can I have some recommendations of things to do with an almost six year old in London in late August.

I’ve never been a tourist in London, only ever there for work and myself and DC are coming down from the borders to attend an event which offers 2 nights significantly cheaper than usual accommodation and rail
travel so would like to take advantage!

Thank you!

Depends what your child likes... national history museum.. aquarium..zoo.. big toy shops.. many things in london, just depends

The TFL uber boat from Westminster to Greenwich is cool, you'll see tower of London and sights from another perspective. Then come back in on the DLR from Greenwich to Bank, also fun

Museum of London Docklands near Canary Wharf is free and has lots for kids and adults and is usually much quieter than the South Ken museums.

I haven’t been yet but have had The Paddington Bear experience repeatedly recommended (and have booked to go in a couple of weeks with my six year old). Reasonable price and plenty of availability currently.

Lots of lovely parks. When my kids were a similar age, we would often do either Natural History Museum/Science Museum followed by Diana playground which has water play.

Or British museum to see Mummies and then Coram's Field which has a paddling pool and lovely playground.

It doesn't exactly scream summer but I always recommend Frameless at Marble Arch. It's an interactive art installation that uses lights and music. It's really great. My 5 year old loves it.

Thanks folks, there’s a lovely variety of suggestions so lots to research and DC will do some choosing!

If he likes space then Greenwich is lovely.
Book a planetarium show, walk up the hill from the maritime museum.

The postal museum is fantastic!

You can hop on a boat here from London Bridge. Lovely way to get there 👍

I did a Duck tour years ago. That was fun and saw quite a bit of London. I would like to do the Terrible Thames boat trip - a tour of the river with info written by the people behind Horrible Histories.

Lots of excellent museums already mentioned - would add the Transport Museum to the list. It's in Covent which is fun to walk around too.

It's a bit out of the centre of town but the RAF museum in Hendon is fun too. Well laid out, interactive. Was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

Ah apparently the Duck tours don't operate any more (after a sinking) so it must have been quite a long time ago that I did that. Anyway, a tour of some sort is a good way to see London in a short time.

Yes postal museum and rail mail just brilliant for this age!

Things my DC loved at that age:

Kids section of the Science Museum - very hands on
Toddlers section of science museum (if it is still there in the basement) - also very hands on

Kids section of Docklands Museum (as PP says, good and quieter than the bigger museums)

Cutty Sark and Golden Hind ships, especially if they like dressing up as pirates.

Uber boatride along the Thames to see the sights: Big Ben, London Eye, Tower of London, Tower Bridge.

London Zoo or Aquarium and/or one of the many City Farms: Hackney, Vauxhall, Mudchute

Not tried but would have if possible: Kidzania in Westfield, Diana playpark in Kensington Gardens (always had a massive queue to get in when we were in the area.)

Oh yes I forgot that - they loved the weird train ride under the city.

Ooh, I want to try that myself. Is it just for children?

Is Harry Potter world still open? That was worth the trip. DC adored it. But it would take most of a day.

@Meadowwild Not at all! I've sent so many people there of all ages. I love it myself and could stay there for hours.

If he likes dinosaurs then the natural history museum has moving life-size ones, including a t rex. I would say natural history and science museums are better for that age than the British museum.

Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green
Hamleys

Depending on interests - Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Transport Museum, Imperial War Museum. Even something like the National Portrait Gallery, it's free so doesn't matter if you just pop in for twenty minutes to get some of the vibe of it, play a game like what's the strangest looking dog you can find. Make sure to wander past Parliament and Big Ben, St Pauls, Buckingham Palace etc and take a walk on a bridge across the Thames, just to get the "vibe" of touristy central London.

If you want to do a bit more of a walking tour esque thing you could do a Treasure Trail - like a scavenger hunt, great for picking up bits of history https://www.treasuretrails.co.uk/collections/london.

At 6 I’d think about flexibility. Nothing worse than booking something that requires a six yr old to sit down and listen for an hour only to find they’re bored ten minutes in. We had mixed success with the planetarium, aquarium, British museum and boat rides with dd at that age. Better when she was older.

The free museums are great but very busy in school hols. You might plan to pop in but end up queuing for ages so have a back up plan. The transport museum is really good, but not free. The Tate is good, as free but has lot more space for kids to run around. Southbank generally is a good area to wander, grab snacks, sit and rest etc. Sometimes free events set up for kids in school hols, have a look on the website.

If the weather is good you can’t beat the parks with playgrounds - free, flexible, ice cream is always a hit.

iIf it’s very hot have a look at which areas have water play - eg there are fountains in Granary square near King’s Cross, lots of seating and places to buy food. There also used to be a water play courtyard at the V&A museum, check if it’s still there as was lovely rest from mayhem of museums.

London can feel really hot in even early 20s temps.

Have fun, it’s a lovely age. I miss it now dd is a stroppy teen.

Check out the kids week website for theatre tickets, child ticket is free when you buy an adult ticket, they went on sale in June but might still be some availability.