to think some London tourist attractions are a complete rip off?

[glasg0wmum]

Taking the kids to London for a few days in the holidays. 3 kids aged between 8 and 14, 2 adults. Family ticket to the Tower of London which I estimate would take about 3 hours to go round = £52. Family ticket to Harry Potter thing at Watford which is at least 6 hours = £120.

Family ticket to London Eye, which takes 30 minutes = £96. REALLY????

The cost of days out is totally ridiculous. We tried to find something to do with friends who were visiting us and all the big attractions near us are about £50 for a family of four. Given we all have young children we wouldn't get good value for money out of any of them as they'd all be knackered after a couple of hours.

The NT gets my goat though - I thought they were really quite well off but they charge extortionate amounts to get in, making their sites self selecting for rich middle class types, and bollocks to outreach/inclusivity.

I took a group of mid-teenagers to Madame Tussauds and we got a really cheap deal booking for later in the day. I think it was half-price or even less. I wasn't that fussed about going, but the youngsters really loved it. The other thing they particularly enjoyed was a Jack-the-Ripper walking tour (it began outside the Tower). This was my colleague's suggestion and I was rather sceptical, but it was extremely educational and the kids learned a lot of social history. They loved going on the double decker buses, too. (Perhaps not such a novelty for Glaswegians, but very much so for a bunch of Bavarians!) We went to a sung evensong in St Paul's Cathedral and they were as chuffed as chips to be allowed to sit in the choir stalls. Afterwards a curate spent some time showing us things (we couldn't go to the galleries, but he showed us a lot in the main part of the church).

The trick is not to just turn up and pay the price on the door, Google it first. Most of the ticketed attractions are 2 for 1 with various offers.

I enjoyed the London Eye both times I've been on it. I went the other week and spent an hour (two rotations) during sunset with cocktails provided. That cost me £15 and I didn't have to queue either. (It was some kind of Groupon thing).

However IMO you're better off going up the Shard - but instead of paying for 'The View', go to Aqua bar and pay for a cocktail. It'll set you back about £20 but it's cheaper than a View ticket, plus you get a seat - and a cocktail!

There are so, so many amazing free attractions though. Natural History Museum, Tate Modern (well, all the museums and galleries really), Sky Garden, the parks, city farms, all the markets, just loads.

The national trust is very reasonable if you buy an annual pass though. I think it's about £130 ish for a while family but that's unlimited access across the whole of the U.K. So you can go as much as you like making it very economical over the year

London is insanely expensive, but I will say the Harry Potter Studios is well, well worth it. I am a mad HP fan (in my twenties) but I did cry twice on the way round! The digital guides are fantastic too.

I frankly wouldn't pay £96 for the Eye, I'd much rather go in the aquarium instead! That's far too much for a half an hour trip which actually only gives you about five minutes worth of things to actually look at.

The London Dungeons/London Bridge Experience (very similar things) are pretty good and you can generally get a deal with train tickets or by chatting to the staff outside.

The museums are of course free, and the big four are always worth it (Science, Natural History and V&A are all next to each other in South Kensington. The British Museum is further away but you could do a whole day there easily!), check out if any of them have anything special on during your trip.