Can anyone who knows London advise me please

[hungryhippo25]

Next week dh and I are taking dc to London for the day. Neither of us have been before (never even been abroad) so we are not the most savvy of travellers. I'm trying to create a bit of an itinerary but am struggling to gauge the distances and practicality of what we've planned.

Our plan is to hop straight on the underground to green park so we can walk to Buckingham palace. This doesn't look too far to walk. We were then hoping to walk up to Covent Garden from here, stopping via Trafalgar sq. Google maps says this is a distance of about 1.6 miles which isn't far but I'm conscious that with the crowds and heat and not knowing where we're going it could seem longer. Is walking practical? Is it a straightforward route? And if there are any other travel tips you may have for total tourists it would be greatly appreciated. I know we each need a contactless card for the tube (kids have Go Henry cards which I'm hoping will work).

Check out the Roman amphitheatre (free) and the Roman Temple to Mithraeum (free but need to book)

There are some roof top gardens which are free too such as 120 Fenchurch Street.

The river bus gives a good view of the main sites of London.

That's just what I was going to suggest.

OP, what you suggest is an easy walk. Walking is a very good way of getting around London.

If you are pizza fans, I can't recommend pizza pilgrims enough. There's one on the corner of shaftesbury Ave and one near Carnaby St.

You queue for a table.

Yes don’t get the tube at all for everything in that area as it’s all walkable - Buckingham palace, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadilly circus, soho, Oxford street, south bank, St James park (my favourite place in London), Hyde park - all walkable and far more pleasant than a hot, packed tube. Enjoy, I live 30 mins out of London into Surrey and I’ve been here 20yrs and still absolutely love a day in town even though I do it a lot

They are amazing, as are all the wildlife there. My daughter and I spent hours there.

The Bank of England museum is worth a visit. Sadly the clown museum closed down 🤡

If you want to avoid the big queues, check out the Grant museum of zoology rather than the natural history museum.

The Welcome Collection tends to be thought provoking, as does the Satchi gallery.

If you do use the Tube, stand on the right on escalators!

The open top bus is a great way to see the city and get your landmarks.

Ordinary red double decker is just as good! No 11 or No 15 going east from Traf Sq.

If walking up Whitehall, don't forget to pause at the Cenotaph.

You won't manage a fraction of all the things there are to do.

There's a big Waterstone's in Traf Sq.
Walk down Villiers Street to the Embankment, or up on to the bridge and look out over the river.
If you have time for a river trip, take the Thames Clipper (Uber Boat) not one of the tourist boats.

You'll find M&S Simply Food, Tesco Express etc dotted around for buying drinks and snacks. There's a M&S inside Charing X Station, I think.

You need to be a London resident to be eligible for a Zip. 11-15 year olds who are not eligible for zip cards can get young visitor discount.

Kids are free on all TfL under the age of 11.

If you like steak Flat Iron in Covent Garden is good value.

No, you don’t. The link say says those outside London can have one. But you need a passport to set up photo ID, and if the OP and family haven’t been abroad, they might not have one.

Zip cards cost £15, probably not worth it for the discount.

@Neverseenbefore

Sorry - I'd forgotten that was possible but it's a total ballache though. When my nephew comes up and he's travelling with me I just buy a child ticket (he's 14). Or if he's travelling with DD (also 14) I get a 1 day child travel card.

You can get a normal oyster card for the kids and a member of tube staff can put a youth discount on it for the length of your stay

Ooh you will have a great time! I grew up in London, adore a day there now .Live sc now.route sounds good .have a lovely time

If you come by train and have a railcard, you get a discount on the tube. But you need to have an Oyster card for that, and a staff member will apply the railcard discount to it.

If you get a chance do go on the river uber boat. Go from Greenwich up to the strand. London is really interesting from the river particularly the tower of London.

Have a great time.

I've done that so many times with my DC - you can tell I live here by my user name.

Green Park tube has an M&S inside the station (head for the Piccadilly North exit and you can't miss it) if you need to pick up supplies. Then head back through the station to exit directly into Green Park. Walk straight across the park to Buckingham Palace. There is a smallish museum at the Royal Mews behind the Palace that has some of the carriages and horses on display which I'd recommend over the Palace itself if you were thinking of visiting.

Unless you intended to go to the National Gallery or the Portrait Gallery (the latter is better for teens) then I'd skip Trafalgar Square as a PP said. Instead cross the Mall into St James's park and walk along the lake (look for the Pelicans) towards Horseguards and then from there into Parliament Square for Big Ben. Head east on the Embankment, turn left up Savoy Street (Henry VIIs Chapel Royal on the left as you walk up it) cross the Strand and walk up Burleigh Street into Covent Garden.

My teens strongly recommend Miscusi a pasta restaurant in Covent Garden https://miscusi.uk/restaurants/covent-garden or LeBab (Lebanese) https://www.eatlebab.com/covent-garden

The Opera House in Covent Garden run behind the scenes tours - you need to pre-book but they are amazing if you have a theatre or ballet mad teen.

Go on a boat tour

A lovely idea, OP. Lucky children! I hope you all have a great day.

Take drinks, snacks and sun cream; wear trainers. Starting at Green Park/Buckingham Palace walk through St James’s Park, through Horse Guards Parade (see the Guards), then go down to Parliament and see it and Big Ben, plus Westminster Abbey is just across Parliament Square. Go back on yourselves up Whitehall and stop at the Wetherspoons (cheap) for a drink and a rest, or one of the other Whitehall pubs (Red Lion, Walkers of Whitehall or Silver Cross) then walk past Trafalgar Square.

Passing though Trafalgar Square you’ll see Nelson’s Column and the National Gallery (worth going in as it’s free and has some of the world’s most famous paintings). Then walk up Strand and turn up one of the side streets for Covent Garden. Stop for a late lunch. Enjoy! And if budget stretches to it I really recommend an open top bus route.

Don’t miss strolling down to see the river Thames at the Embankment too- you’ll see the London Eye across the river and it’s a great view. Have fun!!

From Buckingham palace you can walk down through st James park to trafalgard square (10-15 min) or back to tube and walk down Piccadilly (you can either pop in to fortun and Mason shop if girls or go to Mayfair to see Bentley,Ferrari showrooms for boys) to leister square/China town (lego shop,have Chinese) and then trafalgard square. Personally I’d take them to Camden Town (tube from trafalgard) or you can go to Covent Garden. Tate modern, south bank are nice to visit too. Then you can take boat ride or go to madam Tussadus.

Sorry if this is a repeat- Citymapper will give you good walking routes. Avoid running Oxford Street and walk through the back streets from Palace to Covent Garden. I say back streets , lol, but the ones without any shoppers on. Entertain your kids by getting them to look out for blue plaques on houses saying who " of note" lives there. Longer and windier , but more fun. The townhouses of the west end are amazing and the historical pubs you might find on the way. It's not a long walk at all. St James' park is also close and the swans etc.

Madame Tussaud's is expensive and not very good IMO. There are better and less expensive things to do.

The Portrait gallery (just off Trafalgar Square) has just reopened after a 3 year refit and is worth a wander (it’s free except for special exhibitions). I tend to keep museum/gallery visits short and to the point - there’s just too much to see it all in one go. See a few rooms and move on.

the crypt at St Martins on Trafalgar Square has a nice cool restaurant under the church if it’s hot .

The river is lovely to walk along at almost every point. And the bridges are great to walk across. Tower Bridge Museum has a high walkway which is fun. (One of my
favourites as they love dogs to visit too!)

The Covid heart wall opposite the Houses of Parliament is very moving to walk along.

Tower of London is a big visit but nice to walk past it and get the feel of it.

I agree a waterbus is a brilliant way to get the feel of London - touch on and off with contactless. Up to Greenwich and back maybe?

Be really careful with wallets/phones etc. lots of snatchers on bikes reported on my local NextDoor page. If you’re sensible you should be fine.

Have fun!

Another vote for CityMapper app (you can also use it on a browser https://citymapper.com/webapp) and for the Thames Clippers ferries. Also Google Maps streetview option lets you 'walk' the various routes in advance, using your mouse to push a cursor through the streets. It's really useful. Here's a short vid showing how

The bit of London you've chosen to visit is full of gas lamps, as in still lit by gas, effect is considerably less dramatic in daylight though :)

Each red dot in these Instagram pics is a gas lamp (there are 275 in the borough of Westminster, around 1.5k in London overall.

• Covent Garden: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClI-x25IJ-6/
• Horse Guards and surrounding areas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CukGhnENZeM/
• Green Park: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cuore4Ft5_Z/
• The Mall https://www.instagram.com/p/CvEu5M0NSZN/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvEu5M0NSZN/

While the 1.6mi walk isn't long it'll probably feel quite long as it's a pretty straight route. I agree with the suggestion about going through the park.

If you do end up at Trafalgar Square there is an M&S inside Charing Cross, and a Co-op on the opposite side of the road from the station.

There are plenty of ways to get from Strand to Covent Garden. Southampton Street is pretty good but before you turn left onto it have a look over at the Coal Hole pub. Next to that is another gas lamp and there's a more famous one down the steps on Carting Lane - London's last sewer gas destructor lamp (lit by regular gas and also burns off methane effluent from the sewers!).

If you happen to carry on up towards Aldwych there's a Tesco Express at the corner of Strand and Lancaster Place (which becomes Waterloo Bridge). Also Prets and Costas and other things around.

Have fun :)
Jo

National Portrait Gallery is worth visiting as noted, if you pass across Leicester Square, Chinatown is only a short detour.