Cheap things to do with a 14 yo boy in London

[TheLovelinessOfDemons]

DS 14 is coming to London for the day on Saturday. I work part time on minimum wage and receive Universal Credit, I'm really struggling to find something to do that won't cost around £150 for myself, DS and possibly DM.

Does anyone please have any ideas? Or will we end up looking round JD Sports and going to KFC, which we can do anywhere?

They have free entry to Hendon RAF Museum which is a fabulous day out

www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/

What are his interests?
Apparently there's a Samurai exhibition at the British Library (I think) at the moment.
I don't know much about it - my husband mentioned it this morning.
Edit: sorry it's British Museum...not Library.

what is he into? My 15 year old always wants a visit to the Natural Hostiry museum but he is obsessed with fossils and dinosaurs!

Science museum is also free.

Watch the street performers in covent garden

Graffiti tour, Camden lock? Watch the skateboarders at south bank.

Really? I live in London with 4 kids and never spend that much on a day out other than birthdays and thats for all my kids. Where are you looking at? Museums are mostly free, and other places like London zoo Tower of London etc do universal credit tickets.

Lots of museums are free in London. You will find something to do. It will be more likely costly to pay for London transport!

The IWM is fascinating.

As PP have said, many of the museums are free - Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum (those three are all side by side) and the British Museum. Special exhibitions cost more though and have to be pre-booked, eg the Samurai exhibition at the British Museum PP mentioned or the Wildlife Photography at Natural History.

If museums aren’t his thing, I agree Camden Markets is a good suggestion. They are massive and they aren’t chi chi clothing and cushions, but very much more for edgy young people. Or if you are more central, a walk along the river and over a couple of the bridges is always nice.

Sky garden is free and worth a visit. ( you have to book a slot)

As well as museums, galleries like the Tate Modern are free as well. Could do something like sightseeing at St Paul’s, walk over the Millennium Bridge, into the Tate Modern and then walk along the South Bank (my kids always love seeing the skateboarding by the National Theatre).

There’s a lovely gelato shop near Piccadilly Circus which is much more reasonably priced than other ice cream shops in the vicinity. Gelupo gelato on archer street, W1D 7AU.

Camden on a Saturday is good for teens who don’t mind crowds but he might be tempted to spend! There’s a Wetherspoons there for cheap food and drinks or hundreds of food stalls. Buses are cheap and you can take multiple buses within one hour for the price of one journey £1.75. Regents Park is a short walk away where you can glimpse some of the London Zoo animals through the tees including the giraffes.

Natural history and Science museums are next to each other in South Kensington and are also free.

Video games mostly. Usually when I visit him we go to JD Sports and KFC, or sometimes the cinema, but, as I said, we can do that anywhere. He has ADHD and usually gets tired after about 3.5 hours.

Thanks for all the suggestions, we've decided on Gravity.

Leake Street Arches are old railway tunnels full of awesome graffiti and they are just behind Waterloo station. Great for wandering round with a coffee for half an hour and taking cool pictures.

The clipper boat isn't too expensive and the cable cars are pretty cheap.

Forbidden Planet in Shaftesbury Avenue? You might end up buying something, but can spend quite a long time browsing.

Another vote for the clipper boat. You could get off at Greenwich and have a walk round there.

Skateboard tunnels at Waterloo