Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Flip

Original poster

Day trip to London

15 replies

Kithulu · 27/08/2018 14:31

Help, I'm a right country bumpkin, i would like to step out of my comfort zone and take the kids to a day trip to London. I would like to drive up from the south west. Ideally visit the natural history muesum. What is the best way to do this? Park and ride? How do oyster cards work?
I've tried Googling but just get confused

OP posts:

Synecdoche · 27/08/2018 14:36

If you can I would recommend getting the train. You can use contactless debit cards on tubes and buses now so you don't need to buy an oyster for a day trip. Or you can buy an all day travelcard from a machine at a tube station if you don't have contactless. Download citymapper before you go to help you get around and use buses as well as trains- double deckers are exciting for kids and you get to see more of the city above ground.

AlexanderHamilton · 27/08/2018 14:40

How old are your kids? If they are under 11 they travel free on the tube & you can use contactless.

Maddy70 · 27/08/2018 14:41

I never drive. Go on the train. You don't. Need Oyster card. Use your contactless cards instead (same price) it has a daily cap on so don't worry museums are mainly free

MissLingoss · 27/08/2018 14:45

How old are the children?

What mainline station would you arrive at if you took the train? If it's Waterloo, there's quite a lot you could see on foot just by walking across the river.

Nat Hist Museum will probably be heaving.

Elderflower14 · 27/08/2018 14:46

It will prob cost more to park than go on the train!

Original poster

Kithulu · 27/08/2018 14:47

Can't really afford the train for 5 of us. Kids 17, 13 and 10.
Thanks for the tips on contactless. DH now having a wobble about driving that far - he's a bloody passenger i was going to drive!

OP posts:

corlan · 27/08/2018 14:50

We don't have Park and Ride in London but you could drive to a suburb on the edge of London, park for free and get a train into the centre. If you say what road you're using to get to London, someone can probably suggest a London suburb where parking is easy.

milkmoustache · 27/08/2018 15:01

You can save quite a lot on train travel if you get a Friends and family Railcard, three kids tickets for about £2, and adult tickets are much cheaper too

MissLingoss · 27/08/2018 15:04

Thing is, if you drive up from the south west and go to the NHM, you don't actually see anything of London. The only 'London' experience you'll get is (possibly) a ride on the Underground from wherever you park to South Ken. Which may not actually be underground, that far out of the centre.

HarrietSchulenberg · 27/08/2018 15:08

Drive to Ealing and park at the Broadway shopping centre:
www.ealingbroadwayshopping.co.uk/faqs/when-car-park-open-and-how-many-spaces-do-you-have-are-there-disabled-parent-and-child-spaces

Get the tube into central London from Ealing Broadway station, about 5 mins walk from the car park. It's on the Central and District lines, and zone 3 for tickets.

booklover21 · 27/08/2018 16:22

Would you be planning a mid week or a weekend trip? And would it be before school starts up again? Previous posters are right, it does get incredibly busy! We went during the school holidays last year and there was an hour long queue just to get into the museum. Are you only interested in the NHM?

Bollocksitshappenedagain · 27/08/2018 16:35

@Kithulu

Have a look at getting a friends and family railcard. I have just got one and I got the cost of it back in one journey.

Bollocksitshappenedagain · 27/08/2018 16:35

@Kithulu

Have a look at getting a friends and family railcard. I have just got one and I got the cost of it back in one journey.

Original poster

Kithulu · 27/08/2018 16:42

Thanks Bollocksitshappenedagain i will look into that.
Thanks for other replies too. I only thought RHM as a start, there is so much to do its hard to choose. Don't like the sound of queuing for a hour though!!

OP posts:

booklover21 · 27/08/2018 17:15

It depends what time of the year you're going. Mid week it's relatively empty with no queues. I went on a Thursday in June with my DS(3) to see the dinosaurs and just had the usual amount of tourists.

You'll have loads of fun in London! If you google a one-day trip itinerary you can pick which bits appeal to you the most. Try to stay in one area if possible or you'll waste a lot of time travelling. Central London is pretty walkable and tube connections are very good.

Park in an outer London station and then take the train in (you've had some good recommendations so far). I used to live in London but have recently moved further out. I just ask at the train station and they recommend the best option for my plans that day. I tend to travel after rush hour as it's off peak and cheaper.

Flip