Weekend before Christmas in London- what to do?

[ZandraPlackett]

My daughter has a grim hospital appointment in London on 17th December so I’ve arranged to stay for the weekend and make it special so she has something to look forward to as well. ( we live several hundred miles away).
She is 20( but quite young in many ways) and and she uses a wheelchair, so activities need to be accessible.
I’ve booked Afternoon tea at the shard and we have tickets for Matilda but would love some other ideas. She has mentioned a night time bus tour, but I’m not sure whether they are accessible. She loves Japanese food and we’ve seen some fab restaurants as we’ve walked around Soho previously but recommendations would be great ( especially with quirky desserts). Any ideas gratefully received!

Were heading to Covent Garden that weekend, very christmassy and magical with fake snow falling on the hour. Huge Christmas tree etc. We’re also going for the Disney Frozen themed thing they have on but our DD is 4 (not sure who’s more excited though me or her )

The monopoly game experience thing on Tottenham Court Road. Sorry I’m not good at linking but you will find it if you Google . It’s new so I imagine it should be accessible.

It’s called monopoly life sized.

The Monopoly looks great!
How busy will Covent Garden be? I think it would be great but only if we can move!

@ZandraPlackett
I would imagine pretty busy but there’s quite a lot of open space so hoping it’s bearable

We are going to Christmas at Kew, we stay centrally but go by tube, not sure this would work for you but it’s a lovely way to spend an evening. The trail from memory is flattish. Room to move, nice atmosphere. We also like Spitalfields market, lots of nice stalls. We tend to avoid Covent Garden as it’s so busy.

Covent Garden/West End lights, Borough Market to stock up on cheese for Christmas, check ice skating at Somerset House- some rinks are wheelchair friendly.

Hyde park winter wonderland will be on - gets very busy but youngsters love it, plus the Albert Hall usually has singalong carols which are brilliant (you have to buy tickets and there are accessible areas) - The nearby natural history museum has the rink on for the last time this year too (not sure if accessible to skate but lovely to watch. The V and A is accessible and has plenty to see. This is an alternate I suppose to busy shopping areas. Otherwise SouthBank is always very 'London' so much to see, accessible, and will be very christmassy and you can both have some mulled wine !
You could do a Thames boat ride if the bus is not suitable as these boats are mostly accessible. Have a bloody brilliant time with your girl and good luck with the op.

one more! in Soho the young un's love this place for food and cocktails, very lively and lots of choice...
www.carnaby.co.uk/food-and-drink/kingly-court/

@Booksandwine80 Theres a frozen sign with some fake snow falling and a very small light tunnel. Although I know there is plans to have ice sculptures down there one day, I've not seen anything else around there recently?

She has mentioned a night time bus tour, but I’m not sure whether they are accessible. She loves Japanese food.

I'm not sure how accessible the bus tours either are but what about going on a Transport for London bus route that goes past some nice touristy sites at night? All TFL buses have ramps and wheelchair spaces. For instance, the 11 bus goes from Fulham to Liverpool Street.

tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/11/

The bus will go through Chelsea and Sloane Square (sparkly), Westminster Abbey, Horse Guards Parade, Trafalgar Square (The Norwegian Christmas tree) and St Paul's. You use a contactless card and can get on any bus you like for an hour so it's ideal to hop on/off. You just swipe your card each time you get on the bus and it 'knows' you have paid for that hour.

I know Wagamama is only a chain but there's a Wagamama on Ludgate Hill (just before St Paul's) so you could have something to eat before or after the journey.

All the buses have announcements and indicators and you can follow the route on your phone so it's impossible to get lost!

I hope the hospital appointment goes well and that the weekend makes it more bearable.

Sorry meant to add that the fare is £1.50 for each journey made during an hour.

Hi OP
I wouldn’t do winter wonderland. Though it’s paid for entry this year two years ago there was lots of mud and some of the steel walkways sunk into it! It was very pram friendly with all the mud.

All TFL buses are wheel chair friendly but there is only one space for wheel chairs. Though buddy users should leave if they see a wheel chair it doesn’t always happen. Oh and they now cost £1.55 a ride.

Christmas at kew is accessible but you might struggle to get tickets.
Carnaby street is always lovely.

Personally I love the southbank. You can walk all the way to Waterloo, via the market then stop off at borough market for good then down to London Bridge.

More expensive option would be to get a cabby to give you a Christmas lights tour? The new electric cabs have a glass roof.

It all depends where you’re staying. Two year ago there was a awesome Christmas light somewhere in Bermondsey that was super accessible. Not sure if they are running it.

Nutcracker is always ace and I think evening show tickets are still knocking about.

There are a couple of immersive theatre experiences around too which are always great. I went to a jail one a few months back with was absolutely brilliant. But that needs to be your thing…

@alrightfella
www.coventgarden.london/experience/things-to-do/frozen-in-covent-garden/

@Booksandwine80 all I saw was the frozen sign with the trees. Can probably add a photo of that one as my dd isn't in the photo.

There is a light tunnel with let it go neon sign at one end and the cold never bothered me anyway at the other. It's a short light tunnel. I'll see if I can scrub dd out.

I certainly didn't see anything like that photo of Elsa on the steps unless we missed it.

Don't get me wrong Covent Garden has a lovely huge Christmas tree and is lit up beautifully with lots of lights and decorations but I would hate for you to think that the frozen thing is more than it is.

I know there is going to be ice sculptures one day but I don't know how long they'll stay - presumably only that day.

The trees

The Geffrye museum does a lovely Christmas exhibition every year. Good cafe too and I think it’s all accessible.

This is the light tunnel (old pic from google as it's been there before). They have added a sign at each end and it now has a frozen carpet

As I said it's lovely but not some huge frozen event. Are you seeing the show? If not if you walk upto the theatre in drury lane (in Covent Garden) they have some of the costumes on display in the theatre foyer. It's a really beautiful theatre.

She’s 4 and obsessed so will probably kill a couple of hours for us!

Well Covent Garden itself is lovely in the evening with all of the lights too. There's loads to see by just wandering. The Christmas tree is huge too.

This is all great Thankyou - lots of great ideas.

Just to note - Japan House in High St Kensington do an afternoon tea with little Japanese cakes and sushi in their posh-ish restaurant. I know you already booked somewhere else, but could be an option to kill two birds with one stone and be really different? They also have a shop and exhibits.

Check out 'london on the inside' or 'loti'. They are always sharing new activities and food. Today on IG it was a new ramen restaurant

I know this isn’t a cheap option but some of the the new style electric taxis have a glass roof. I am sure they would do a tour of the lights. The glass roof would mean you get a good view of the lights.

Another option is the Thames clipper www.thamesclippers.com/plan-your-journey/accessibility A trip down the river from London Bridge (by the shard) to say Westminster would give you a different view of London.