Bringing dd1 to the Big Smoke for the day - what shall we do?

[Moomin]

We're driving to London for the day at half term for dd1's first visit to the Capital - where to park for the day that's not too expensive and we can catch the tube from? We'll be travelling in from M40 Midlands.

She's 6 and we want ideas for at least 2 activities (and maybe London Eye). We want to do some touristy things but not be ripped off for lunch.

if you are doing london eye then the aquarium is right next to that and for lunch why not make a picnic and find a spot by the river. enjoy

well museums are free. natural history museum is ace, as is the british museum.
I am not from LOndon though and am crap at knowing where things are, so they may be out of the way

maybe park in ealing and take the central line it?
southbank is a lovely walk - aquarium, eye , tate modern and a great pizza place for lunch at gabriel's wharf further down the southbank

or a trip to hamleys?
buckingham palace?

Ealing - good call.
South Bank - ditto - that way dd will see Big Ben and all that
Thanks for lunch rec
Hamleys! OMG I remember my dad taking me and db there when we were young. We thought we were in Heaven!

we've just been recommended a trip on the no 11 bus - from near liverpool st to st pauls, trafalgar sq, westminster, to beyond victoria.

could be a good way to see some of the sights?

ooo fab idea!

I would love to take my 6 year old dd into london for the day as well.....without her 2 yougner sisters......maybe dh will take a day off during half term...........

There's a Giraffe restaurant a few mins walk from the Eye, which is very child friendly (I went with some other MNers and lots of messy children!).

Here's their kids menu.

Thanks a lot CSWS (did you get your name from my dd2?)

Am getting all excited about this now!

bump

any more ideas?

OOh we tood ds whi is 5 last month for teh weekend and he loved it. We did NH museum which is free and fab, however ds loved The atmosphere down on South Bank the best what with all the street entertainers and fairground rides, and of course the london eye.

Kensington Palace Gardens have a fab childrens playground - it's teh Diana memorial one. We spent nearly 3 hours there!! It's walking distance from the NH and science museum.

Covent Garden is a lovely place to wander around with kids. My girls like to watch the street performers. If you are there you could go to belgos for luch, kids eat free!

You can get a boat from the Eye to the Tower of London and go in there. It's fab.

Agree re. Giraffe - it's a great place to take kids.

Natural History, Science and V&A Museums are all on the same road in South Kensington. You can get the District line from Westminster straight there (just walk across Westminster Bridge from the Eye to the station).

The zoo in Regent's Park is brilliant and well worth a visit. Again from Westminster get the Jubilee Line to Baker Street and the park is 5 mins walk from there.

Not a suggestion, but in case anyone's interested, I was looking at one of the southern trains "day out" brochures on the way in this morning, and there are quite a lot of good two for one deals if you go into the city by train (including the aquarium). Seem to apply to all train companies, may affect where you decide to "park and ride" from!

www.2for1entry.co.uk/Attractions.aspx?County=London&WithOffers=True

legalalien we use those offer quite frequently and have saved a fortune but you need to travel by train.

Even more fab. Thank you so much for these suggestions.

How long would the Tower of London take to do to make it worthwhile but not be exploring every crevice (in other words suitable time for a 6yo)?

Try buying the book Katie in London by James Mayhew. Gorgeous story about a little girl's trip around the London sights on the back of one of the Trafalgar Square lions. You could almost copy their route and use a bus rather than a lion! Good luck.

ToL has a lot to it so you could spend all day in there, but everything is separate so you can spend as little time as you want. You can go on a Beefeater tour (no extra cost) where they tell you about the history and the ghosts. They're great. I would join one of those until you get fed up, then head for the Jewel House and look at the Crown Jewels. In there scoot past all the videos (boring) and head straight for the cases with the jewels in.

If you do park in Ealing you can get the train in to Paddington and if dd likes buses no 15 takes you to St Paul's. Cross wobbly bridge to Tate Modern. Ds1 (3) likes that. (I think 15 or 23 bus takes you to Tower of London too...)

Another place to park: Queensway. Handy for Hyde Park and the Princess Diana memorial playground and yummy dim sum lunch.