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).

Avoid the tube, you go underneath so many interesting places and miss them.

Tickets to the Sky Garden are also free and worth a visit- must prebook in advance though. You're then close to Tower Bridge, Tower of London and HMS Belfast too.

Open top bus expensive and a waste of money IMO.
If you're doing any paid for attractions check out 2for1 London which has half price for lots of things.

Thank you all so much this is incredibly helpful. Looking at the map I can see we could see Downing Street without too much of a detour which would be fab. Forgive my ignorance but the horse guards, where are these exactly? Is it a building?

Download CityMapper. You plug in start and finish locations and it gives you the best public transport routes with times, directions etc.

London is generally quite safe. Just don't walk around with your phone in your hand.

I agree with everyone and walk as much as you can. The tube is boring and hot. My ds weirdly likes canary wharf.

Horseguards is a parade ground and associated buildings just off St James's park. It's a lovely Georgian building and open area (site of the beach volleyball in the 2012 Olympics) but nothing special on its own. If you have army mad DC then the GUards Museum on Birdcage Walk (runs along the bottom of St James's park from Buckingham Palace to Parliament Square) is better, or the CHurchill War Rooms on the East side of St James's Park.

Given everything that's been said and the fact that it's only a day trip, I would say also don't get obsessed with having to do it all. Let your kids set the pace a bit, if they want to spend a while looking at a street artist, don't feel like you have to rush off because you 'must' see the next thing.

You will never do everything there is to do in London in a day (or a week, or a month!) so just focus on enjoying what you are doing and leave the rest for another time if you don't get to it. It's easy with tourism (specially for unseasoned travellers) to get into a checklist mentality which means you rush from thing to thing and end up stressed. It's meant to be fun.

Have a great time!

It's easy to do Buckingham Palace/Trafalgar Square/Covent Garden in a day. You walk up the Mall from BP to Trafalgar Square, have a photo with the lions, and then it's just up the road to Covent Garden.

Leicester square is good too: Cupid fountain, Lego shop and M&M shop!

If you get the tube, let people off first. Do not get to the top of the escalators and then stop. Do not try the stairs at Covent Garden. And you can't get the tube from Covent Garden, only to.

Milk Train in Covent Garden is a fab ice cream shop your kids might like - they do ice creams with added candy floss!

Hope you have a great time OP. If your children have any niche interests / food / shopping preferences let us all know as I’m sure we can make other nearby suggestions.

Don't pay for your children on the tube - use your credit card to go through one of the big gates all together.

London has loads of hidden gems. On your way to Covent Gdn, go vis Goodwins Court, off St Martins Lane. It was used in one of the Harry Potter films. Befire you go look at Joolz Guides on youtube. He has a brilliant walking guude on Covent Gdn. He does talk about some adult themes. Si take care with your children.

Here you go 8

An alternative option would be to get the train to London Bridge, look at Borough Market, then walk along the South Bank to Waterloo. You go past the Golden Hinde, the Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge (featured in Harry Potter), the Globe Theatre, St Paul's, the OXO tower and there is often a little book market by the National Theatre. It's a nice relaxing walk, as there is no traffic.

At Waterloo, you are right by the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament. If you cross the Golden Jubilee footbridge, you are close to Trafalgar Square (National Portrait Gallery) or cross Waterloo Bridge for Covent Garden.

Alternatively, you can rest your legs by getting a boat at Waterloo - Thames Clippers to Greenwich are great. Or there is the Terrible Thames boat.

If you're not used to London, I think this area is a bit more relaxing just because you're not dealing with traffic and there's more space. Lots of restaurants and picnic spots along the way.

If you happen to be going on a Thursday, St Martin's-in-the-field church in Trafalgar Square has free concerts at lunchtime. They only last 30 mins (just as well as the pews are painful!) but I love them because it's a beautiful, cool and airy building to sit in and takes you away from the noise and chaos of central London.

Then, continue on your way to Covent Garden. 🙂

I love an open top bus tour, I try and do it in every city I visit

Another vote for Citymapper. I've been visiting London for years and always used the tube (for longer distances) or walked. Citymapper makes using the bus a piece of cake and opens up the city in a whole different way.

Get the Citymapper app, it gives you all options for walking, bus, tube etc so you can see which is best. Walking generally quicker for most of central, and you see more

Buses are seriously underrated in London. If you've got Citymapper, you can't really get lost, and hopping on a bus gives you a nice sit down for a while, with an upstairs view. The traffic never moves fast enough to sweep you very far away, and you get a better sense of how one area leads to another than you do on the Tube.

Yes, you do. The OP’s kids are over age for free travel.

You can’t get the tube from Covent Garden? Since when?

I was going to come on here to recommend 120 Fenchurch Street . I was up there last week because the sky garden was fully booked . Queued for about 10 mins and the views are fabulous. We had a cocktail in the bar one level below and it wasn’t too expensive!

You can’t get the tube from Covent Garden? Since when?

Every time I've been. Maybe it's just when it's touristy to manage to crowds. You have to walk down to Leicester Square.

Do not try the stairs at Covent Garden.

Oh God, yes, don't try this! I did this when I was 15 and there was a big queue for the lifts and I couldn't be bothered to wait. I was a very fit girl so thought I'd be all right. Part way up my legs started to wobble. I had to sit down and rest at one point and wondered how I would every get out without crawling. I made it in the end but I learned my lesson. There are warning signs at the bottom but like a teenager, I ignored them.