from Devon to the big smoke! What to do for a few days in London?

[yogabird]

dh, dd's, 6 & 4 & I are venturing up to the big city by train for a few days at half term. What shall we do whilst there? Any tips for surviving in the big smoke, without spending a fortune and having a good time would be gratefully appreciated.

anyone at all? Making any kind of suggestion?

the London Eye

Natural History Museum

any other museums, eg Science Museum - look at their websites and see if they match up with anything your dcs are into

my nephews (6 and 8) just love riding on red London buses and seeing the Thames but I guess they are easily pleased!

Get yourself an Oyster card. Don't forget kids travel free on buses and tubes.

Another vote for the London Eye and the Museums.

Tube travel is fun if you have strong nerves (all those escalators eek).

Oxford Street can be very stressful as it's so busy, wandering around Covent Garden much nicer.

If you can offload the children and husband for a couple of hours get to Rigby and Peller and treat yourself to a new bra

There was a thread like this a couple of days ago. Top sggestions were the Duck tour (google it, it's bus that becomes a boat and goes along the water); London Eye and all of the South Bank - good buskers etc; Science Museum; Natural History Museum.
All the museums will be busy at half term so get there early (but they're free).

You can easily spend a day doing the Zoo and Regents Park (great playground there and good boating pond).

A lot of people like going on the open top buses too.

I like Greenwich and I hear the Observatory is great now. Also you can go there on the DLR which is fun especially going thru Canary Wharf. Hampstead Heath's a good relaxing place.

Deffo get an oyster card.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE: London Dungeon and Tussauds

ds (5) loved the zoo but it's not cheap unless there're any offers on Lastminute.com or something like that. We had a voucher from the top of the Shreddies box! There is a great playground in Kensington Gardens (the Princess Diana memorial playground) which is themed on Peter Pan - teepees and bridges and a big ship as the central attraction. That's free and then you can walk round the gardens, go over to Hyde Park to see the fountain and so on. Ds loved that playground!

just googled duck tour [[http://www.londonducktours.co.uk/thetour/index.htm here] it looks bloody fantastic! Just thoughth I'd share that with you before I go back and look at the prices THanks all so far!

DD1 is doing Monet at school atm, and has done some stuff on the Graet Fire of London & Andy Warhol - anything anyone can suggest re: these?

The national gallery by trafalger square

I think (getting worried now because I'm not sure) that Monument tube station is so called because there's an actual monument (do you see what they did there?) commemorating the Great Fire of London, or something... There's definitely stuff you can go to in the City about the Great Fire (maybe the Museum of London..??)

There are Warhols at Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery (right next to Trafalgar Square)

a walk

Museums are free - don't know if your girls are old enough to traipse around them yet? Science Museum and Natural History Museum pretty good for kids I seem to remember.

Definitely get down to the river if it's a nice day and do some sort of river cruise.

London Eye if you're not scared of heights (it's not scary!)

The zoo is chaotic and expensive (bring your own packed lunch!), but it is quite nice.

The Aquarium is nice if the weather is crappy.

So many parks if the weather is nice. Hyde Park has got a boating lake and a nice cafe or two.

You could do the real touristy stuff like an open top bus tour or Changing the Guard?

Deffo Oyster card it on the tube/bus, and stick to child friendly, reasonably priced chains like Pizza Express if you're in central London.

If you fancy seeing more of the neighbourhoods, I could bore on all day about slightly more out of the way stuff!

furball thanks it looks really good, i shall need to study a tube map to see where monument is as part of the preparation for our big adventure. Is the National Gallery a paying thing or a freebie like some (all?) of the museums - there's not much for nowt like that in the countryside! But ooodles of lovely free freash air & sun & beaches, so i'm not moaning!

it's free yogabird

I think there is a fire of London exhibition at The Museum of London with some hands on stuff for the kids.
Monument good too.
If you happen to be there then you aren't too far from St Pauls. Then walk over Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern (ds 5 loves the escalators!) and have a mooch along the South Bank. There is also a Pizza Express right there overlooking the Thames.

thanks Mrs M if free i am happy to give museums a whirl, dd1 is obsessed with children working in the mines/factories/mills atm, they're doing Victorian Childhood this term so she'd be keen to see any evidence of suffering kids from the past! DD2's nature allows her to stroll around anywhere she's taken in a smiley fashion making friends with people and then collapsing with exhaustion (she slept under a coat in Stourhead National Trust house at Easter for some time while we did the kids' activities in the gallery!) so no worries there

how does one acquire the oystercard thingummy? in advance or not?

You can buy the oystercard at the train station when you get here - you can't get the cards sent to you (I don't think). www.tfl.gov.uk has all the details

If your DD1 is interested in 'suffering children' , then Museum of London (Barbican/St Pauls), Imperial War Museum (Kennington/Elephant & Castle) and V&A Museum of Childhood (Bethnal Green) are all good - and all free.

You can get an oystercard instantly at an station (mainline or tube) or in shops that show the logo (usually newsagents or small general shops).
Fares with an Oyster card are at least half the price of a cash fare. And if you get to the point where you've spent on travel in one day what it would've cost to get a one-day travelcard, they don't charge you any more. Does that make sense?

For your DC's the Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green is a good bet - and right next door to Bethnal Green tube station. Museum of London is also v child friendly.

Lots of the Museum of London is closed for refurb at the mo
Monets at the National Gallery
Wallace Collection in Somerset House if dd1 would like to see some other types of French painting
Boat down river to Greenwich for Park and free Maritime Museum and newly-restored Observatory

thanks so much everyone, train tickets now booked and planning beginning in earnest

When you are at the station yogabird - look in the information leaflet carosel thingy for offers of maybe 3 for 2 off london attraction entrance fees and the like.

Also hope you have a family railcard for booking train tickets - you save loads of normal train fairs.

thanks furball
yes to the railcard well sort of... booked on line & said we had one. Now need to get one before we travel - someone tell me it is as easy as just popping to the station. Do i need photos? of all of us?

you can do it online - mine arrived the next day!