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!

There's still one at Euston! I last used it in October.

I’d stay near Paddington to get the Heathrow Express easily in the morning. Train to KX, short tube journey to Paddington, dump your stuff.

Easy tube ride to Westminster to check out Big Ben, get the boat to the Tower of London. Or, if you don’t have bags of time, visit Tower Bridge instead.

If you get Universal Credit you can get into the Tower of London for £1 each, which is a huge saving as it is quite expensive.

Might make it easier to pay if its going to be a speedy visit.

Though I agree with PP

I would either do both the NHM, science museum and then possibly Victoria and Albert ....if your kids are really museumy like mine. Or maybe walk/bus on down to gape in Harrods.

Or I'd get the Tlr river boat down to Tower Bridge, see the Tower of London, Big Ben and possibly HMS Belfast on the other side of the Thames

Children travel free on the Heathrow Express, it is the quickest way to travel to Heathrow from Paddington.

I would consider an open top bus tour if not too cold

From Heathrow, take the Elizabeth line to Bond Street, then the Jubilee line to Westminster. Look up at Big Ben. Then take the Uber boat from Westminster pier down river to the Tower of London (I wouldn’t bother to go in with kids on a day trip - long queues and rather crowded). Then Circle or District line to South Kensington from Tower Hill and spend the rest of the day there - or do the Science museum as well. There are plenty of places to eat . Back to Heathrow via Piccadilly line from South Kensington. Book tickets in advance for the museum.

Despite what some are saying, there is a left luggage store at King's Cross, and the Stasher app is also a good one. The easiest way to Heathrow is the Elizabeth Line if you've left your luggage at or near KX

@LoserWinner The best bit is going into the Tower of London! Traitors gate, Yeoman of the Guard, the prisoners held there and the Crown Jewels etc. Why just do a float by? Same applies to the natural history museum. It takes time to enjoy it.

Hmmm. You queue for 30-60 mins to get in and well over an hour for the Crown Jewels. I wouldn’t want to do that with primary school age kids who have been travelling a long way already and are travelling again the following day. Better to save that pleasure for a separate trip. And many kids don’t tend to linger in museums as adults do. But I guess the OP will be able to decide what works for her offspring - I was just offering an opinion/ suggestion.

Use Citymapper to work out how long it will take you to get to Heathrow. If you want to be there at 9 you will be travelling in rush hour if a weekday. Wont be pleasant!

What time would you arrive at Kings X the day before?

But they'd be going against the flow of traffic - it's much easier to get out of London in the morning than into it, and even if they were on a busy train, they'd only have to stand from Farringdon to Paddington - though if it were me, I'd stay near Heathrow

@LoserWinner They will have the same tiredness issue at the NH museum. Yes, you queue to go in but going back on the Thames is good. Personally I’d do neither! The British museum is so much nearer! Or go into Westminster Abbey when in the HofP area. Going far east and then west makes little sense to me. Too much travelling! I’d save those for a proper London holiday.

Personally, with kids, I would stay at the hotel near Heathrow. An 11am flight would mean being at the airport at 8/9am, so on the tube at 7/8am, so will be busy if a weekday and probably a bit stressful for you.

Leave your cases in left luggage (there are a few around Kings x). If you do Tower of London you can easily follow this with Big Ben by boat. Don’t spend time queuing for boat tickets, get the Thames Clipper (Uber boat) and pay by contactless card on the dock.

The NHM has the wow factor going in and is great, if they are dino fans, but it’s in the opposite direction to the other two attractions and queues can take a while, even with pre booked tickets. If you chose this, you could tie it with a stomp around Hyde park/Kensington gardens which has the Princess Diana memorial playground if kids are on the younger side. It’s closed for refurb at the mo, but reopens summer this year.

NHM is a better day out than the ToL.

Plus it's free entry - but book tickets to get the early entry and quick entry.
Personally I'd do NHM first. It's better if you are in early, especially for the dinosaurs. You can do a full day there but honestly 2 - 3 hours max for primary kids. DS is a wildlife nut and that's always enough for him. You probably won't manage to see everything. Tbh don't try.
Then I'd get the tube to the ToL and Tower Bridge because it's a sight - and take the UberWaterTaxi to Big Ben as it's a nice trip. You will be tired at this point and you are then sat on the boat.

I agree with others - stay at Heathrow. It's just less stress in the morning.

I would also stay near Heathrow, but it depends exactly where. Some hotels are close but not that easy to get to compared to others.

Google 'stasher' for left luggage sites

Fair point...if your hotel at the airport is at the extreme end of a Hoppa route (or not quite on one) you can end up with an extended bus journey or hiking some of the way...

TBH I don't think there's a perfect answer to the question posed by the OP, the one thing definitely to avoid is doing three trips between town and the airport..

There are good left luggage facilities at St Pancras, right next door to King’s Cross.

l travel a lot for work and in recent years l’ve been stuck on the motorway and stuck on tube/train (different occasions) so l would certainly stay at Heathrow rather than further afield, then when you wake up the following morning you are relaxed, rather than mess about in what may well be rush hour.

From Kings Cross you can take the Piccadilly line as others have said but that feels like it takes forever. Other faster options are the fast but overpriced Heathrow Express from Paddington or the Elizabeth line from Farringdon; one stop from Kings Cross after you pick up your left luggage.

Finally, check which Heathrow station is neatest to your Prem, the terminals are very spaced out.

PS: OP, following on to my comments up thread, you may find this useful
https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/