London visit and grottos

[Grange]

My DD want to have a weekend away in London for her 8th Birthday. This will be a weekend in December and she wants to visit Father Christmas. Can anyone let me know what the visit to Hamleys grotto is like? Or are there others worth looking at?Harrods? Also any other Christmassy attractions that are a must see? Ice skating? This may be the last year she believes in the magic so I'd like it to be special! Thanks

I'm not sure about Grottos but you should definitely take her to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park - Christmas markets, rides, ice rinks, shows etc. Ice skating at Somerset House is great and really magical with the big tree, I think you need to buy tickets in advance though.

Elf the musical will also be on, but apparently the tickets are extortionate so you might want to give that one a miss!

there will be lots of lovely xmas shows on - check out Time Out.

Harrods grotto is tricky they have made you be a member ( free) but you can only book tickets depending on how much you spend in store.

ie milions - you get first choice grotto tickets, the rest of us get 7am on a teusday sort of thing.

westfields is always highly recomended too not been though.

lego land is also recomened - in windsor, train richmond?

WW is lovely but plan to go early as gets v busy.

walking along south bank is really lovely - winter markets.

you can get tickets to ballett at ROH for very cheap, the nutcracker? ENO or ROH ....covent garden is lovely.

Thanks for the suggestions, there's some great ideas here. Sorry for delay in responding too for some reason it kept showing no 'threads I'm on' so I missed them.

We're going to see the Father Christmas stage show at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, then catch the tube to Hyde Park for the Winter Wonderland.

You could also try our MN Local site for Westminster & City, which has a talk board, plus thousands of listings including a What's On guide, which covers Christmas in central London. New events/listings are added all the time local.mumsnet.com/westminster-and-city

I've just been looking into something called The Enchanted Christmas House:

www.enchantedhouse.net

Depending on how Christmas focuses your DD is she might enjoy!

Wasn't that impressed by Harrods, never been to Hamleys but meant to be good - Westfields is brilliant and I quite liked the santa at London Zoo. Definitely go early to Winter Wonderland and take lots of cash. Ice skating in somerset house is also lots of fun (provided its not raining).