To blanch at the cost of UK attractions

[Monket]

Thinking ahead to the summer holidays, entertaining a 4yo and 6yo (and newborn) in London, and everything is so expensive… I appreciate we can do some free activities, park/picnic etc, but I’d like to take them to some more attractions eg. the Aquarium, London Eye etc. The reviews of the Merlin passes are very poor, so not inclined to purchase one.

Aibu to think prices are crazy, and to ask for tips and tricks to get cheaper entry?

We also found this and were really surprised as it's an offer that seems very popular and is often suggested to parents on Facebook and here but we thought it was a complete con when we discovered this.

It's ridiculous. £130 for 4 of us to go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. 2 of us won't be going on rides. I don't understand why they don't do a lower cost, no ride, ticket.

Life long Londoner here.

High ticket items are for tourists. The natives do all the free / cheap stuff.

I nearly fainted when I priced up HMS Belfast recently. When my parents took us I swear it was free? Granted it was circa 20 years ago.

We have annual zoo passes and go about once a month but other than that we only do expensive stuff if we have visitors or it's a special occasion. We are a "packed lunch, jump on a bus" type of family.

You're not talking about "UK attractions" really though are you @Monket , you're talking about central London attractions. Which cost an arm and a leg as they are catering for tourists. It's the same in Paris (adult ticket 32 euros for Versailles) and in New York where it's $44 to go up the Empire State Building.

We are incredibly lucky in this country to have so much free in terms of museums and galleries, many of which put on events for summer holidays. Also things like annual passes work out good value - we had annual passes for Edinburgh Zoo which was £45 for a child compared to the £15 standard price, well worth it if you're a regular visitor and it lets you into several other zoos too.

Haven't read the full thread but just in case it hasn't been mentioned, there are lots of things on TikTok detailing free attractions in London. Might be worth a look?

National trust membership is great if you drive and can get out to kent,surrey etc. That does fill a lot of days for us.

We were looking to take the kids to London for 2 nights for their dad’s birthday. After a bit of researching I’ve booked Spain half board for 3 nights as it worked out cheaper!!

We have Merlin passes and use them loads. Not great for kids in London if only a single trip as things like the dungeon etc aren’t suitable for that young (and I wouldn’t do it either 🙈). We live 30 mins from London by train so we’ve done the sea life and shrek adventure on one day (they are 2 mins from each other). We are an hour from Legoland though and do that loads; we also have Chessington, Cadbury World and the other Birmingham attractions within 90 mins. We plan a trip to Alton Towers in the summer etc. Haven’t done Madam Tussaud's yet though. So if you can use for more days out at other times in the year then it’s worth considering. We also have ZSL membership as Whipsnade is super close to us and London Zoo is quite close.

Check out what shows are on at the Southbank Centre as they do lots of kids ones. There is also a nice park between there and the Sealife (behind the London Eye) if you just need to let them run off some steam!

In the basement of the Science Musuem there is something called the garden which is fab and interactive and also a bit at the very back of the ground floor, beyond all the space and transport bit.

You have a lot of free stuff to do on your door step but yee pay for for attractions are so expensive

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but if anyone is on UC/TC/WTC, historical palaces and Kew Gardens have entry for £1 each. It’s at the bottom of the ticket pages. National Rail also have 2-4-1 if you look at the Days Out Guide website.

@Monket

www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/family-activities/31-free-things-to-do-with-kids

I’ve just looked and London Zoo also has cheap UC/TC/WTC tickets. A - £6 C-£3 They’re sold out for this half term but not for next.

https://zsllondonzoo.seetickets.com/zsl/zsl-london-zoo-universal-credit-admission?_gl=111vdo5c_gaMzMwNzQwMDM2LjE3MTE5MjEzNzc._ga_MWZNHV9X89*MTcxMTkyMTM3Ny4xLjEuMTcxMTkyMTQxOS4wLjAuMA..

You don't even have to travel by train, TBH. We've been to attractions while driving on holiday as a family, and just bought cheap train tickets from a nearby station for the offer. Don't tell anyone though! 😄

there are so many great things to do in London that don’t cost that much. The queues at the aquarium are horrible.
go to the Horniman museum and gardens - pay a very small price and see the (small) aquarium there. Enjoy the gardens.
Go to the Diana Memorial Gardens. Natural History Museum. Ahoy play Area in Greenwich Museum. Get a family pass for Greenwich museums - and visit the Curry Sark and Planetarium as often as you like. Visit the deer park in Greenwich park.
Take an Uber Boat. Book a cycling session for kids st the Velodrome. Lots of small theatres across London offering children’s shows for a fraction of the west end. So much to do if you just stay away from the big expensive things.

Merlin pass is fine. The bad reviews are probably post Covid when numbers were restricted and passholders struggled to book (but you could still buy full price tickets). They changed this so you can always book (unless it’s sold out). They are not cheap. Look out for a sale when they remove the joining fee.
We did all the London attractions. Shrek was fun but the rest (seaworld, eye, Chessington) not great for that age. We now just have Legoland passes which for your little ones is perfect. Half a day at a time in the summer, when the fabulous waterpark area is open, is perfect.
Again wait for a no joining fee offer and an annual pass will be £99 each (free parking and 20% off food).

Have a look at free options or cheap options. My children loved the Sky Garden (free) and going on the Clipper (cheap), they love the science museum, the natural history museum and the British museum (although that's better when they're a little bit older). Walking the sites, seeing Buckingham Palace, going to the parks, seeing the pelicans, look at Lidos (theres a lovely one not far from Brixton type of area, can't remember where exactly). My kids also love getting one of the central buses and sitting on the top deck to see the big sites for the price of a bus fare. Then I'd do a couple of the tourist options but on tesco club card or cereal box/cadbury vouchers which are normally 241. You could also get the train to Brighton for the day, have fish and chips on the beach, or Broadstairs. There's a lovely modern art galary in Margate by the sea. I personally think the big Merlin attractions can be a bit too busy and plasticky anyway, we never enjoy them as much as I think - the only 1 they really loved was legoland, and Chessington was a good all in one because they have a zoo and aquarium as well as rides. We went to Eltham Palace the other day and I don't think that was expensive but it had a lovely playground and was really interesting inside

I think it might be attraction specific. We definitely booked the london aquarium in advance via a special website that was on the cereal box. It was a lower starting price than via the normal website plus the 2-for-1 on top. Maybe other attractions don't offer as generous deals.

@23NameChange
Ah ok. Both chessington and sealife Brighton when we went to the special website the price it was offering us (after the 2 for1) was exactly the same as if we had booked ahead on the normal website.

It is worth a look at the app Kids Pass - you can trial it for one month for £1 or monthly for £3.99 or an annual plan which is currently £25.
Investing in one of these gives you discounts at Cinemas, Days out, Indoor activities, shopping, dining even hotel/holiday accommodation.
It does not include museums but is great if you want things to do near where you live.
If you are doing London - there is loads that is free. You can even start on the top floor of Hamleys and wander down floor by floor playing with all the display toys!! Or take yourself to Covent Garden to watch the street entertainers.

Forgot to add the London Pass might be worth investing too as you can buy a pass for each person and then spend the day/week visiting several venues already included in the price of the pass. @Monket

I’d highly recommend annual membership of Royal Museums Greenwich if you can use it often enough to make it worthwhile (there is plenty to do at the Maritime Museum for free anyway if not).
You have the Cutty Sark, Observatory, Planetarium shows for free with membership, so you can dip in for as short a time as you want, and then come back another day. You can travel there by boat for a fun trip, or DLR or regular train to Maze Hill. The park is free, of course, with a great playground. It’s been great value for us.

Use the Kellogg's 2 for 1 pass. Just Google it

Isn't that on gate price only though? So barely a saving on the online price?

There's a sale on Merlin passes right now

This! It keeps getting recommended but it isn't a deal!