Anyone know London and can offer travel advice?

[CountryBumpkin22]

Later this year I’m travelling from Heathrow airport. It’s a long distance from where I live, so I’ll be arriving by train (Kings Cross) the day before. I’m bringing my two (primary aged) children and I’ll be the only adult. Ideally I’d like to visit Big Ben, Tower of London and/or natural history museum. I’ve found a premier inn near the airport so then need to get there for the overnight stay.

Basically I need to know, is any of this possible? I don’t know London at all, so no clue about transport etc. I just need someone who knows London to tell me if I’m trying to attain the impossible? Thanks!

What time will you be driving in London? Will you need to drop your bags somewhere?

Not at all. The underground is fabulous and will take you to all the sites, including to Heathrow Airport

As you're arriving the day before your flight it's better to stay the night at an hotel near Kings Cross. Then you can see the sights, stay the night, then get the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow the next day.

yes it is possible.

however having your bags with you will be annoying. There used to be left luggage places at the main stations but they went a long time ago.

you will easily be able to do those by underground however there’s a lot to the natural history museum and the Tower of London so you might be dragging your kids away while they are still interested if you see what I mean.

Yes, better to stay at kings x the night before unless your flight is very early? Will you have suitcases etc with you?

What time is your flight? I agree it would be better to stay near Kings X, dump your luggage, spend the day sightseeing (get Citymapper app and it’ll tell you how to get the tube to the various places) and then hop on the Piccadilly Line from KX to Heathrow on the day of your flight. Obviously that works less well if your flight is at 6am.

Or the Elizabeth Line or Heathrow Express from Paddington. The Piccadilly Line to Heathrow is long and slow.

Getting to LHR from Kings Cross is fairly straightforward (e.g. tube - Piccadilly line) but takes ? an hour ish and then you've got to get to the hotel...

As a result I agree with some p ps, you might not want to go out to LHR, then back into town, so a lot depends on timing and whether you can find somewhere at/near Kings Cross to hold your bags while you sightsee.

There are several left luggage companies at Kings Cross. I’d leave my luggage, explore for the day, then head back to Kings Cross to collect my bags and get the Piccadilly line all the way to Heathrow. I’d go to the Tower of London in the morning, get the tube to Westminster for Big Ben (Central or District line) then the tube from there to the Natural History Museum. Would be a full on day to do it all though, especially for children.

Central London is very easy to get around and kids that ages should be free on the underground (do double check as you’ve only said primary). However a few things to consider:

1. What will you do with your luggage all day? I think there’s a left luggage company in St Pancras (next to KX) so that could help
2. A walk by Big Ben and NHM or Tower of London is doable in a day, but a lot would depend on what time you’ll arrive into KX in the first place? Tower of London is pricey whereas NHM free so that could swing it?
3. where exactly is the Premier Inn at Heathrow? There’s one “near” T5 but it’s actually outside the London taxi zones and is a complete con in terms of costs to get to.

Pending answers to the above, I would leave luggage on arrival in London, tube to Westminster to see Big Ben, tube to South Kensington for NHM, tube back to luggage, tube or train to hotel.

Yes, as pp said travelling to Heathrow to drop your bags and then coming back into central London will take a long time. Better to either leave your bags somewhere central, or stay central overnight.

in terms of visiting places - you can easily travel to all of those places, but it will be a busy day as both the natural history museum and the Tower of London take a couple of hours to get round. They’re all central but none are walkable from each other - you need to allow 30 to 45 minutes for travel between each one.

Big Ben is nice to look at but there’s nothing to do there. If I was you I would choose to do that plus one of the others. Maybe go to the tower and then take the boat up the river to see the Houses of Parliament? You could get off at Vauxhall then nip back up to King’s Cross on the Victoria line if you decide to take a hotel there.

Yes. I know London is a shit hole. Take my advice, don't go there. Go to Bath, or York, or Edinburgh instead.

What?

Good idea! Admittedly Edinburgh to Heathrow is a bit of a commute, but worth it for how much nicer it is than London.

Well know for their proximity to Heathrow 🤨

What time do you expect to arrive at King's Cross/
What time is your flight the next day?

I don't think you can do all those attractions in one day. But if we know your timings we can advise on an itinerary.

Your children can travel free on the tube - you just walk them through the wider barrier for people with luggage.

All of which are so convenient for Heathrow.

York has always been one of my favourites but I was really disappointed last time I went, overtourism and underinvestment have ruined it.

OP, London remains great and so easy to get around. Just let us know your arrival timings and we'll get you a brilliant itinerary.

Is the airport hotel non-negotiable? What time is the flight the next day?

Big Ben and the Tower are at opposite ends of central London. It's true the Tube will easily take you from one to the other, and to the museums at South Ken, but you might find you spend a lot of time travelling around with not much time to see things, especially when you factor in time to eat.

How much luggage will you have? It'll be a pain carting it on the Tube and the museum probably won't let you in with anything bigger than a (very) small backpack.

Your primary age children are likely to be tired if they've already had a long train journey to KX and might not get much benefit from the sightseeing.

What time of year will it be? Spring/Summer gives you more options than winter.

I don't know if KX has a left luggage. St Pancras next door has, but then you'd have to go back there to collect it before heading out to Heathrow.

^ this

Ideally get a hotel accessible to Kings Cross (the Russell Square area is near & has some hotels )

Or if that’s not doable financially, you can leave your luggage - use luggagehero.com to find a shop that will keep your luggage for you near Kings Cross

You can do Big Ben & Tower etc if weather good, Natural History museum if not (I say choose one or the other, & both attractions have plenty of other things nearby) - both max 30 min on tube from Kings Cross

Then go back to get your bags and go on to your hotel

PS - Tower of London is expensive and a full day out, but you can get 2-for-1 tickets if you come to London by train

Big Ben is more walking around/seeing the sights, but also close to London Eye and other attractions on South Bank

Natural History museum is a different area (South Kensington, also easy from Kings Cross) so any of the 3 is a good option and if you have time & energy you might be able to do 2 in 1 day

Book earliest entry tickets for NHM you can get. 2-3 hours there. Have lunch there. Get the tube to Tower of London. Do that in the afternoon. Get the Uber water taxi up to Big Ben. Go back to hotel for dinner.

It's doable.

Personally I'm not sure it's work doing both the ToL and NHM in one day. It's A LOT.

But might be work going to see it outside and then doing the water taxi. Otherwise the kids will be in museums all day.

You then have a nice potter around Big Ben etc too.

Maybe stay at the Premier Inn Paddington Basin, leave luggage there and take tube to South Kensington for NHM and take it from there. You won't be able to fit in all three in a day. Next day you can get a train directly to Heathrow (depending on flight time).

Do tower or natural history museum.
And the uber boat from Tower to embankment for Big Ben etc is good fun.

Thanks everyone. It sounds like a hotel near King’s Cross is the best idea, I hadn’t even thought of that! I’ll start googling now. Flight is at 11am so there’s plenty of time to wake up and travel over in the morning. It sounds like a choice between Tower of London or natural History so I’ll have a look at prices and get booking. Then we can squeeze in Big Ben if there’s time. Is it best to get the tube from kings cross to Heathrow? Will it be easy when stressed with two cases and two kids? Thanks!