Buggy in London

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We're off to London for a long weekend with our 4 and a half year old DS. At home, we try not take the buggy anymore as we think he's too big for it but I'm not sure I can cope with 4 days of having to carry him on our shoulders to get round. Would you take one for a trip like this?

I think you'll find a buggy more of a hindrance than a help if im honest.

As others have said, everything is easily accessible (apart from tubes with no lift access) and there are plenty of parks and open spaces or coffee shops etc for having a rest. We used to go into John Lewis as kids and sit on their sofas for 10 minutes whilst our Mum browsed!

Londoners are indeed very helpful with buggies though, plus directions if you get lost! Have a wonderful time

Oh and despite what you get told on here and in the papers, someone will always give up their seat for a child to sit down.

I don't see why you would need a buggy/to carry him. There is plenty of public transport and the bits that you would walk are hardly rough terrain. You often find that pavements there are too narrow/crowed for easy buggy use. You'll just end up feeling frustrated by it I think.

For those of you saying there is plenty of public transport, yes, this is true. However using it can involve a lot of walking. I recently needed to change at Victoria where all the bus stops have been moved for roadworks - we ended up walking all around the outside of the station amid swarms of equally confused tourists- without the buggy it would have been a nightmare.

It really depends on your specific journey,

Yes - I certainly still used my umbrella buggy when my dgd was 4. If the street is crowded for a buggy, it's even worse with a child hanging on to your hand. I never had any problem with buses outside of the rush hour and it's easy to fold a lightweight buggy if you need to. You can hang the inevitable bag from the handles.

TFL website, Plan your journey, is v.g. for travelling with a child. You can set it for walking, no steps etc etc.

My son was 4 when we went to London. A friend had a buggy on hand to lend if we needed it, luckily we didn't but it was good to know the option was there.