London with children

[Sceptre86]

We are going to London for the Scottish October half term holidays with 3 children 6, 5 and 1. The older two have been to Paulton's Park (aged 4 and 3 previously) before but would like to go again. Would you recommend it for their age group over places like Chessington? We went to Legoland in July of this year and it was insanely busy so would like to avoid going there again.

My eldest would also like to visit a Palace and we are torn over Buckingham Palace or Windsor. Any recommendations, bearing in mind the baby will be with us too?

Is there any other attractions you would recommend for their age group? We have seen Big Ben, been on the London eye and have enjoyed a Thames River cruise previously.

Thank you in advance.

Chessington is great for that age group, lots of rides they can do and the animals too. I’d check against the other areas school holidays though as it’s really busy when it’s busy.
If they want to actually go into a palace Windsor Castle is a better idea than Buckingham Palace, more to see.
Both are a reasonable travel out of London though (I live about half way between the two) where will you be staying? If north London both would require a lot of travel.

I don’t think you can visit Buckingham Palace in the autumn unless the new King will change that. More to do and see at Windsor anyway.

tower of London might also be interesting for the kids, especially if they like Paddington at the Tower. London Zoo combined with Regents Park is nice.

The Garden in the science museum
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/garden and Kew Gardens www.kew.org/kew-gardens/families

When is Scottish half term? English October half term is generally either w/c 19 Oct or (mostly) w/c 26 Oct. So if you are outside those dates it could be a really good time to go to places like Legoland that are heaving in English holidays.

Buckingham Palace is in London whereas Windsor is a longish trip out so depends how much time you want to devote to it. What about the Tower of London, Kensington Palace or Hampton Court? Hampton Court and the Tower have lots for children to do although they aren’t current royal palaces. Kensington is a palace, less for kids but has the Diana playground close by.

Yes definitely recommend the Garden and Wonderlab in the Science Museum. The Natural History museum is worth a look too for dinosaur bones etc.

What about theatre - there are lots of Julia Donaldson story based shows that are fun for this age group.

Transport Museum and the Postal Museum are both good for that age. Not free though. Museum of London is also good (and free).

Windsor is much better than Buckingham palace. Transport museum is good; Museum of London is free and good. HMS Belfast is good but not for pushchairs, take a sling. Kew Gardens if weather is nice and has a good playground.

I'd go to Hampton Court, it's more impressive to look at, it's got the maze, a great playground and they often have people dressed up/re-enacting stuff.

Diana playground is lovely and can combine with Hyde Park and a pedalo ride (although not sure if you'll be able to take the baby), but there is a boat too.

Science Museum and NHM.

Kew is nice if you're nearby, but not worth a lot of travel imo.

There are various child themed bus tours (Peppa Pig, Horrible Histories etc).