1 year old and 4 year old in London?

[NannyL]

we live a 1hour 15 min train journey away from london and was thinking of going for the day with my 23 month old and 4.5 year old charges? (and my nany friend and her 20 month old)
Are we mad?

Also we wont get to waterloo until 10.15 earliest and will need to leave ideally on the 1630 train, 1700 absolute latest (but will this train be packed with commuters) (was thinking getting some fast food tea as an extra soecial treat to give them tea on the journey home?)

Would go with my nanny friend, so we would have 2 buggys (I would take the phil & Teds, so a BIG buggy!)

Not been to london for a while... i know the science museam and natural history museum would be fun... are they near each other? are they near waterloo? or easy to get to?

also thinking of a thames boat trip? (appreciate we cant do it all in 6 hours, but these are some ideas)

we are happy to go on the underground a bit.... can you take buggies on the undground... i assume you can take wheelchairs (not done london under ground with pushchairs before!)

also rain forest cafe for lunch maybe for the novelty... or covent garden?

we wont have more than 6 hours there, and dont want to spend all day getting on and off trains.

any other ides of stuff to do near waterloo?

Am i mad to consider taking children to London, or do you think it could be a fun day out and somethig different to fill one of the many days during our 8 week summer holidays?

lots of questions .

leave no later than 1700hrs other wise you will get caugt with communters.

Science museeum and Natural history museum next door to each other .

would have to get tube from waterloo to them , could always nab a taxi ?

I have taken a buggy on the underground , depending waht line you are on you can get a lift down.

Rain forest cafe - ok but copuld get expensive and I think you may have to book ahead otherwise you may be disappointed .

If able take a packed lunch - could get expensive otherwise.

If limited for time then stick to the museums wher entry is free.

What about the aquarium and london eye .. within walking distance of waterloo.

The museums you mentioned are the west side of London and it would take a while to get there from Waterloo.

If you really only have six hours, I would stick to the South Bank and perhaps Covent Garden. London Aquarium? Even little babies seem to like the fish. There's the IMAX place but I don't know if that's really for older children. Tate Modern?

It will have its fans but the Rainforest place is, in my opinion, awful.

Agree with sticking to South Bank - 3 hours on train enough for small children, imho! Aquarium is always a winner with mine (currently 3 1/2 & 15 mths) - Tate Modern usually good, plus just walking along the river is fun - there are always loads of street performers/skateboarders to watch. There;'s a kids park next to the Eye, too (nothing special, but passes some time!

There are various kid friendly places just down from the BFI - Giraffe/Wagamama's are our 'usual's'

If there's any way you can use a sling rather than a buggy (would your 4 yo walk?) I would - we go up to town fairly reguarly, and I always do sling & walk ...

Yes, and do leave early - commuters are not super-tolerant of babies/toddlers, ime...

I do think you are a bit mad but go for it. But do your research beforehand and check the tfl website for disabled access which for you equates to buggy access!

Have fun!

Agree with FunnyPV et al - Aquarium works for all ages (including parents). London eye is next to it and fun to watch or ride on...as is the free playground. The walk across the millennium bridge over the Thames seems to fascinate DS (4 yrs), especially if there are lots of boats passing under.

Have fun.

The best place I have taken my little ones to at these ages is the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. They have just done it up and it is full of lovely things that the children can do - games, toys, cushions, puppet theatre and so on.

They also have a lovely child-friendly and 'organic style' cafe which has plenty of space and high chairs.

Highly recommended.

Near Waterloo - another vote for the Aquarium. We also love Imperial War Museum and found it v child friendly and interesting for DS even when he was v young. There's a small park outside too.

I agree - Aquarium, walk along South Bank - often in summer they have free things going on at the Festival Hall/ Nat Theatre for kids (checkout the website). Also they have a great fountain thing there atm which you can jump in and out of. Tate Gallery also good as lots of space for roaming around & have activity packs for kids if you get there on the right day (again check website)

DS used to love Imperial War Musuem with a passion when he was 2 (airplanes hanging from ceiling and a submarine things with bunks to lie on/ ladders to climb) but DD not so keen & since DS has got a bit older I haven't been there so much due to not wanting to talk about guns all the time.

If you want to do boat trip you could do a short one from say Festival Hall to Tower of London.

Loads of cafes & restaurants along SB. Pizza Express behind Festival Hall is great for kids.

Have lots of fun.

Thomas Coram Fields is a nice playground for children & parents/carers only. In the summer the paddling pool is filled. The park is on Guilford Street, off Russell Square.

Thanks for all this helpful advice!

maybe it would be more sensible to stay near waterloo... sounds like there will be enough there to keep us all happy...

any idea how long it would take to get to science muceaum area in a cab? or how much a cab costs?.... and would we be able to get 2 adults, 1 4 year old and 2 buggys each with a toddler in in 1 black cab do you think? (bearing in mind it will not be ideal to fold up the buggies!)

the more i think about it the more the london underground + a phil and teds buggy + 2 kids all being my responsibility concerns me!

I have looked at the rainforest cafe website and decided it really was super expensive and that we should wait at least until next year, so that at least then the little one being nearly 3 years next year, may appreciate it and remember it!

Black cabs are roomy and can probably take you all but it's a fair distance. I'd be hard pushed to guess price or distance but I think it's true to say that if you lived in London, you wouldn't take a cab for that journey (unless it was on expenses.

Re: the Science Museum, it's excellent for children and you could easily spend six hours there. My advice would be to stick with one area and enjoy it fully.

well it will be on my expenses....

but even so i dont spend money for the sake of it. It would also be on my nanny friends expenses so if we spilt the cost in half maybe it wouldnt be that bad!

I do try not to waste my bosses money

maybe we could use the tube one way and a cab the other?

one tube journey seems more bearable than 2 journeys! especially as the 1st tube journey will be a novelty (for my trian and underground earny obsessed 4 year old!)

The Science Museum is impressive. Very clever stuff well thought for small children. It's excellent really. The Natural History Museum is less good. It's still a bit of a Victorian museum and although the dinosaurs are fascinating, the rest of it is a bit formal and tired.

You could walk from the Science museaum to Hye Park and onwards to the Diana Playground which has a pirate ship and is very nice indeed.