Quiet spots in Central London

[BlueNell]

My autistic DS (17) has agreed to come with us to London for a few days as he is keen to visit the Natural History Museum. He’s only left the house twice this year so this is a pretty big deal. I’m conscious that he could become overwhelmed with all the crowds, buildings, and traffic.

I know there’s a few parks but which parks are best for potentially seeing wildlife (he loves birds) and are there any good quiet spots we could visit if he’s finding it a bit much?

If he needs time out in the NHM then they have a members room, I think it’s only 50 quid yearly membership for students or people with disabilities and if he has an autism diagnosis he might be able to have a companion with him for free. If you reckon he’ll want to hang out there a lot - and the science museum next door - it might be worth checking the website

birds can be spotted in Kensington gardens, Hyde park and Regent’s Park, and you can always find some space in them (St James Park/Green Park much more likely to be rammed)

Plenty of birds at London Zoo (helpfully on the edge of Regent’s Park).

If he likes space then apart from the science museum, try and get to the royal observatory in Greenwich, which is surrounded by a massive park. There’s an ecology park there too which has some wetlands etc

He also might like an open top bus tour and maybe also a boat ride down the Thames - both good ways to get away from busy streets … plus the sky garden (free but you need to book)

Hampstead health is nicely wild with good city views. Also Parliament Hill for that.

Ooh yes. The whispering gallery.

I hate crowds and live in fairly central London. I don’t want to put you off but I wouldn’t recommend NhM unless you can arrive as soon as it opens.
I really miss going around town but don’t go anywhere much these days because of all the people.

The NHM was horrendously busy last week. My autistic DD only lasted about 40 minutes.

I love this bakery and have been known to make special trips to town for the cakes. It’s called Bageriet.at Rose St. Sorry to hijack OP.

Yes re Battersea Transformers shop- also an apple shop, a cinema on the top floor which is pretty quiet, it’s a nice place to hang out.

I'm sure you know this, but if going to NHM or any London museum, get there before it opens to make sure you are the first ones in, head straight for the thing you are most interested in and be prepared to bail an hour or 2 later. I say this as a parent of neurotypical children who are Londoners!

Most of the London parks are lovely but I would definitely go to Hampstead Heath. We have lots of parakeets in South London and Crystal Palace Park is a cool one to visit to see the dinosaurs etc.

I’m a bit sceptical of people recommending Greenwich, yes it’s lovely and the park is great but it gets absolutely heaving in the summer, especially around the observatory. I say this as someone who lived there for 10 years but recently moved in part due to how overrun it has become. Your son will probably need a lot of his spoons for the NHM so I feel like the Wetlands centre or Richmond Park might be a better shout. If you’re there at the weekend, the City of London is great because it’s so much quieter and there are little nooks like Postman’s Park or St Dunstans in the East you can enjoy - plus loads of interesting little historical details everywhere (if that’s of interest). Or you could pick a section of one of the circular walks like the capital ring and do that.

We always go to the back door of the NHM and take the escalator up to the top floor- it’s normally quieter and we can work out way down through some of the quieter bits before deciding whether to attempt the mammals and dinosaurs on the ground floor.

also if you end up in Covent Garden- the Little garden behind the actors church is a little oasis of peace

www.nhm.ac.uk/events/dinotours.html

NHM is usually heaving on any given day. As are tubes, buses, parks, streets

That's great you're on South Bank as can take the boat everywhere. I wouldn't really recommend the tube it will be very loud, hot and crowded for the touristy stops.

I live near the park, there are a few bottlenecks but it's a huge park and outdoors so not really comparable to a museum. Especially if you go early it should be fine. It's also only 10 minutes by train from London Bridge whereas Richmond is a long tube ride I think?

@dreamingbohemian going to Richmond from the South Bank you can get a train from Waterloo then a bus from the station so it’s a longer journey than Greenwich but not too bad. My DD struggles with crowds so we had to avoid the Cutty Sark area and round the Observatory for most of the summer, better if you’re going by train but coming off the boat can be a lot. And both playgrounds were too just busy for her. I guess it also depends if having to endure a bottleneck is just too much for DC or if they can get through that bit to find a quieter corner. Although good luck finding anywhere actually quiet at the height of the summer holidays - might not be museum busy but still busy enough for sensory overload for more sensitive souls.

https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/nature-reserves/camley-street-natural-park
I took Wilf here... It's lovely and quietand near King's Cross Station ... He is autistic and he loved it.

If he likes space then the observatory in Greenwich is worth a visit

I recently ate my lunch in St George's Square/Pimlico Gardens on a sunny Saturday and it was lovely and peaceful. Plenty of shady benches.

Some of the Inns of Courts have their gardens open to the public from noon until 14:30 - I often spend my lunch break in Lincoln’s Inn gardens but there’s also Lincoln’s Inn fields and Grey’s Inn gardens and if you happen to be around Chancery Lane/Holborn/the City they’re a great place to take a sandwich at lunchtime for some peace and quiet

Probably someone has already mentioned it, but St James's Park is lovely, shady and surprisingly quiet given its location. It also has pelicans!

Oh, I see others have said St James's Park is very busy. I must have been lucky on the few times I've visited.

This is great advice! We went to the NHM in May half-term and booked for the earliest entry slot, planned what we wanted to see and did those areas first - by about 11.30am it was very busy so we left then and walked up to Kensington Gardens and found some peace and quiet there.

Have a look at the Wellcome Collection and see if anything there is of interest - it's much less touristy and busy, but really worth a visit.

I work opposite St James park and pre 10:00 it’s pretty peaceful. Lunch time horrendous though!

If he likes calm and quiet then transport is going to be a big issue. I would probably limit the amount you do. Uber to natural history museum, have a look round that, then get lunch from one of the South Kensington options and walk up to Hyde park to eat it.

Go to a relax ed session Access at South Kensington | Natural History Museum https://share.google/uDtlGDO9VLzQohohX

They do a thing called Dawnosaurs especially for SEN. Get on the mailing list for that. It's not actually at dawn! Just before public opening.