London at half term with 10 and 8 year old

[wizzler]

Am considering taking the DC to London for half term treat .... probably with one overnight stay... Would love to do Natural History museum... is this likely to be absolutely rammed with people ( 16th - 17th Feb?) ... any other suggestions ... ?

It will be busy so get there early. You can reserve slots for the dinosaurs by going on their website. Saying that, if you get there early enough you should walk in fairly easily.

At that age my dd was thrilled to go to the Monument at Baker Street, as they study the Great Fire of London.
you can climb up all the steps for about 3 quid, and get great views. Its near the Tower of London, not sure what the situation is with the poppy removal now?
They also liked just walking and seeing the sites you regularly see on the news - hses of parliament, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street etc. No need to go in anywhere else.

Thanks... I took them there before and it was the Whale that caused the fascination... just dont know if I can face fighting past loads of people... ..

Might try to do that and the tower of London... one on each day

We took ours to the Tower at October half term. By the time we'd done that and gone for dinner, that was a whole day out. It was great - I'm fascinated by the Tudors, I think I liked it the best!!

we went today, huge queues at front for NHM, however always less round side entrance ( opp v and a), however sceince is so much fun too, the launch pad upstairs top and the garden for smaller at the basement and lots in between....then go to NHM right next door to the side entrance and much clearer...it was bliss today, we actually saw dinosaurs, no queue, and no shuffling through to see them!

Hope it's OK to share - I've made a calendar of all FREE activities in London museums over half term. Might give you some ideas museummum.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/february-half-term/

Thanks all.. am planning NHM on tuesday afternoon and the Tower on wednesday... thought I might take them to Covent Garden to see the street entertainers on tuesday evening... .

Thanks for the tip about the side entrance Elf.. have reserved slots for the dinosaurs too knit.. and am hoping that as we plan to stay from lunchtime till it closes the crowds wont be too awful

We did NHM at half term last October and it was hellish. We queued for 45 minutes to get in the front door. The side door wasn't open ...

Pre-booking for the dinosaurs allows you to bypass the queue to get into the dinosaur gallery, but you may find that you still have to queue inside it to see the T-Rex.

The whole place was unpleasantly crowded, although it did begin to thin out about 3pm and by the time it closed it was bearable. Personally, I won't be going again in school holidays.

Museumworker, you are a star!

Quick update... we had a fabulous time... got to the Tower as it opened at 9am so had the Crown Jewels to ourselves and piccies with the Beefeaters before the rest of the world arrived at 10:30 ish..

The NHM was busy, but thanks to Knit we avoided all the queues for the dinosaurs ( but I felt very very guilty walking to the front). ..

Also used Exhibition road entrance (thanks again ladies), and queue was only 15 mins at about 1:30pm..

Kids loved it all.... they loved the Tube trains, they loved the Taxi drivers, they loved the Thames and they were so busy taking it all in they forgot to argue....

Thanks so much for taking the time to update. Am on the train down and gonna take all your advice. Thanks!

Will be busy! Used to live in the SK area when DS was a baby- gets crammed in the holidays so I would get there early. There are loads of cafes near the museum to have a light bite to eat.

Also very close by is the V&A. Free exhibitions are always on and the artwork is absolutely amazing- would check it out if your DC like that sort of thing.