Ideas for a day in London with a partially sighted teen

[DelinquentSnails]

Good morning 🙂 Yesterday DD16 suggested her and her friend would like to have a day in London together as a birthday treat. Her friend is partially sighted and uses a stick. She has visited London but never without her mum, but she’s up for it and her mum is happy for her to go. DD has done training with her friend’s PA college and so they navigate our local town well together. I’d obviously go with them, although I think they’d like a bit of independence when there.

Any thoughts about locations, activities and transport options (Liverpool and the Lizzie Line are our easiest routes)?

i know Central London very well but that’s different to knowing it from a partially sighted perspective. I’m sure there are considerations that wouldn’t even occur to me.

They both like sci-fi, music, fashion and media and good food (especially Asian).

I took a visually impaired relative to Frameless. She loved it. Something about the way the images move in 3d meant that she could actually see most of them as they moved across her limited field of vision. She could not see enough to self-navigate between the galleries, but within each gallery she felt like she had vision again.

It’s in Marble Arch, next to a Wagamama. Maybe worth investigating?

Could you/they afford to end the day at the opera? (Obviously less expensive if booked way in advance.)

https://www.rbo.org.uk/

https://www.eno.org/

It depends on what degree/type of VI she has, and also what do they like to do?

Do they want to do touristy/museumy things, or hit the shops, or walk around...

We want to Battersea Power station over Christmas, and it had a lot of great shops without the crowds so may be easier to navigate. Pl us you can take the river boat to get there which is fun.

@NorthFaceofthelaundrypile Thats a good idea. They’d both like the river boat. Or maybe a river cruise with a commentary.

Denis Severs' House?

It is an old building so uneven floors, steep stairs and so on, but if you think she could be helped to navigate it safely, each room is a tableau with curated smells and sounds as well as decor so it could be a way for her to experience a historical building in an immediate way.

Actually that said, maybe St Pauls (or just popping into a Wren church) to experience the sensory differences between the city and the interior - the way the sounds change, the smells and the chill. It would be a very London experience.

St Paul’s is very expensive

I don’t recall having to pay to attend choral evensong at St Paul’s. Maybe that’s changed, but it is a church, after all.

Have a look here and filter by "London" and "upcoming" https://vocaleyes.co.uk/whats-on/?eventType=any&region=london&when=upcoming&search=

They do lots of audio described tours at museums, exhibitions etc. They are amazing for sighted people in the group too as you normally get really close to objects and often have the chance to handle them or get the inside track from the experts at the venue.

You might be fine on the tube, but if you feel you need it, e.g. if it is mega busy, just ask a member of the staff for VI assistance at the gate. They will help you get down, get on the train and then radio ahead to your destination for assistance at the other end.

St Paul's is £37.50 for a 1 adult + 3 children (u18s) ticket

Disabled people plus one carer are admitted free, so I think OP's party would just be £10.50 for an u18

@Tiptopflipflop Thanks for the heads up about audio described exhibitions. That’s a great idea.

The Old Operating Theatre and herbal apothecary is similar. Lots of herbal smells from old fashioned remedies. https://oldoperatingtheatre.com/ it is awkward to get up there but the website says that there is an easier access.

Not if you attend an evensong, and you get a really full sensory experience.

Cheaper than the opera!

Would she like the Museum of the Home? I'm not sure how close you can get (but the rooms are small, or that's my memory from when it was the Geffreye Museum).