London at Christmas?

[Potentialmadcatlady]

Thinking of taking kids ( 14+ years) to London over Christmas weekend...any suggestions on how/what to do to make it an extra special Christmas after a very horrible year?

Can he use a bicycle? If he can, Santander bikes would be brilliant on Christmas Day.

If not, there will be a few taxis around, just in case.

BTW, in Japan, KFC is traditional Christmas dinner. So you could always have that and pretend you're doing a Japanese Christmas!

www.buzzfeed.com/eimiyamamitsu/did-you-know-that-kfc-is-a-huge-deal-in-japan-on-christmas?utm_term=.oaq1ZLwVW#.ol8RY9265

And if you're feeling worthy, Crisis always need volunteers on Christmas Day. I helped one year for a couple of hours, and it really was a worthwhile thing to do.

I appreciate that the circumstances of this trip might mean it's not appropriate. But thought I'd plug it anyway, in case any other Mumsnetters feel like helping out!

Worth checking out events/activities on some of the more central Mumsnet Local London sites too (as it gets closer to Christmas) - you could always flag up some questions on the Local Talk boards .

Hope you and your family have a lovely time, Potentialmadcatlady.

And on the subject of cheap veggie eats in Central London, I'm sure there's a Buddhist monks run restaurant/cafe in Soho that's likely to be open over Christmas. Hopefully another Mumsnetter will be able to provide less vague details ?

Yes bicycle is easier for him- he can go further than walking..however cycling in London terrifies me! But then it will be quiet?
I would love to do the volunteering,it's been something I always thought I would do when kids are older and don't need me on Christmas Day anymore and one of the teens volunteers during the year already so would be perfect for both of us but the other teen would find it way too stressful --so will keep that one for another year...I normally look after my Mum in nursing home on Christmas morning and go visit all the other ladies who don't have visitors with treats and little hand made presents..will miss that this year...
I think McDonald's for Christmas lunch would be funny and something to remember for us all ( and won't break the bank!)

Thankyou Local..will check that out... I have gone from completely despairing about how I was going to manage this Christmas to getting just a tiny bit excited

It will be deserted in Central London on Christmas Day. Christmas Eve will be manic, Boxing Day somewhere in-between. I think you need to pre-register online. And I think even the church services need a pre-booked (free) ticket.

I think this sounds fabulous - I'm really excited for you!

Aw Thankyou! There's a lot that I'm not keen to put on here just incase I'm recognised but th has easily been the worst year of my life....endless problems,deaths and constant bad news...there's more to come including something very stressful at start of December that is going to affect me and kids potentially quite badly...I want to replace what's going to be a horrible memory with a positive one for the kids , seeing them smile will be enough for me and worth every penny.....

And if we get snow that would just be magical!

You could give Mildred's a call and see if they are open on Christmas Day. Good veggie restaurant.

Also recommend Borough Market one lunch as you can eat for free just going around tasting things, even as a veggie.

Don't forget museums are free and will be very festive. I think both natural history and science nosey are great x

Plan was to dos museum in the mornings but they closed 24/26/26... Going to do the science museum on the 27th morning ..evening flight home so it should give us time to do museum and maybe shard or eye....
I will get it all planned and booked in advance so I can talk teen who has ASD through it all in the weeks before we go so he's all prepared..he's OK in crowds thankfully

Another question while I remember! Does a Sunday tube/bus service just mean service starts and ends a bit later/earlier? And is just as frequent? Compared to where we live it will still be much more frequent! I know Christmas Day it all stops but Christmas Eve/Boxing Day it's just Sunday service isn't it?

OK, snow might be pushing it! I can't remember when we last had a sprinkling of snow around Christmas, but I think I was a very little girl :)

Whereabouts is your hotel?

Christmas Day in London, you'll feel like you have the city to yourself. Joyous!

And if you do want something to do, Ripley's Believe it or Not is open on Christmas Day. I've never been, so can't vouch for it's quality, but it's open!

House of Parliament as the lights go on is a beautiful sight, BTW.

With 24 hour tube it's hard to say what it will be like but have a look at the tfl website nearer the time. This link refers to last year:

TFL Christmas

A walk down the South Bank at dusk is beautiful and magical. Most importantly it's 'on the flat' so good for pushing a wheelchair if required. It will take you about an hour-ninety minutes (at a leisurely pace) to walk from Westminster Bridge up to Tower Bridge but you take in a lot of history and sights along the way.

Maybe this will be the year for snow then! Yes have to do the Houses of Parliament, place, tower bridge etc- it's compulsory I reckon to bore the teens with that at their age!
Will look up Mildred's and borough market- one of the teens loves markets
Hotel is near Paddington station and Lancaster Gate- hope that's ok? Can be changed if needed.. Basic ( wanted to save money to do things!)

Palace not place

That sounds perfect Local- I would love that and if I bribe them with choc teens will do it

Thanks Middle- I will save link

Location is OK - it's a little bit west, so a bit of a walk to most things you want to get to. If you want a basic hotel that's more centrally located, there are Travelodges / Holiday Inn Expresses near Covent Garden or Oxford Street that might be OK price wise. Or the good Old Premier Inn Hub near Covent Garden.

If you're there then you can walk to Westfield which should have stuff going on too. Can be used on the way to somewhere

Ooh OP, you've inspired me . We have already booked London for 19th to 23rd, but I'm now thinking of extending it over Christmas itself - but my only slight issue is DD2 still believes in Santa and is worried that he won't find her! She is 9 (will be 10 by Christmas) so I think this may be her last year. All your plans sound amazing, hope you don't mind me stealing a few, and a slight thread hi-jack...

We are staying 20 mins away from Central London for Monday to Friday (family are there), but realistically I am assuming we would need somewhere more central for over the Christmas weekend as no public transport, although we would have a car. I am very much in premier inn land budget wise, can anyone recommend a central one that doesnt cost too much?

www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/hub-london-covent-garden.html?cid=KNC_Brn%7C_G_UK_UK_Eng_Enc_LO_hub-London_EX&mckv=sYDfKyy1l_dc%7Cpcrid%7C96233168605%7Ckword%7Cpremier%20inn%20covent%20garden%7Cmatch%7Ce%7Cplid%7C&gclid=CODJkNL1184CFVQo0wodR8sHBQ

Oops - pressed post too soon. Never stayed there, but we have people visiting our office who use it and say it's fine. I think it's as cheap as Central London gets.

There's this - ugly building, cracking location:

www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/318/London-Central-Covent-Garden-hotel?rooms%5B0%5D%5Badults%5D=1&rooms%5B0%5D%5Bchildren%5D=0&rooms%5B0%5D%5Bextras%5D%5B0%5D=&rooms%5B0%5D%5BroomId%5D=07esutb4kkjdnz

Queen I could kiss you! The price for the travelodge is half the price! I'm away to book it now..don't care if it's ugly as long as it's clean!
Jet cat- pinch away!