London with teenagers

[DangerFrog]

Looking for recommendations for a week in London please! Staying in Camden, near the tube station. DH, me & 3 teens: 17 year old son and 15 & 13 year old girls.

I absolutely want to visit the Natural History Museum, DH wants to visit the Science Museum & Greenwich Observatory, and we want to see various shows in the West End (have already booked the absolute must-sees, happy to buy tickets on the day for other evenings).

Kids happy with those suggestions but struggling to decide what they want to do. We're coming from rural Scotland so I think they're just a bit overwhelmed with the options! What do you think are the best things to do with teens in London? Monopoly Live has been suggested, and they seem keen on that - is it worth it?

Also, I'm celebrating my 50th this year and our oldest will be 18 this summer (after our London trip). I'm thinking it might be nice to celebrate in London - we'll be able to do things that we can't do at home but, again, the options are overwhelming!

Thank you for your suggestions!

IME teens LOVE the markets. They can spend a whole day at Camden Market (bores me rigid!) wandering around looking at all the crazy shops, the jewellery stalls, the vintage clothing, the food stands. They also like Covent Garden Market (mainstream shops and good buskers) and Jubilee Market next door (very affordable for scarves, leather goods etc). Greenwich market is incredibly cheap for vintage jewellery (three rings for £5 last weekend). If they like trying new foods Borough Market is incredible. Or Spitalfields.

They might like the walking tours. The Spitalfields street art tour was fantastic when I took teen DC but that was years ago and the street art changes all the time.

What are they interested in? If they are interested in fashion, the V&A, design and textile museums are worth a look. If they play guitar, go to Tin Pan Alley (Denmark Street right by Tottenham Court Road station) and try out some guitars. there is also an incredible immersive outdoor free video experience there that runs through small alleyways and all around a massive outdoor room.

Chinatown is fun to walk through - very pretty, and a good place for noodles or dim sum or Korean BBQ.

If they need some calming downtime, St James Park is lovely, with pelicans strutting down the paths, and pretty lakes. Or Hyde Park.

My 14 year old nephew enjoyed the Cutty Sark, part of the Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Be sure to take a picture of yourselves standing on either side if the Meridian line. After we had enough of the Museum we hopped on a bus to the O2 so that we could hop on the London Cable cars https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/london-cable-car/
They go from nowhere to nowhere, but are fun and inexpensive.
He also loved the Imperial War Museum.
Some fun, free/cheap, short and easy things to do in between the big ticket events: walk along the Southbank, eat an ice cream at Udderlicious https://www.udderlicious.co.uk (there is one in Camden), traipse through Borough market or the Columbia Road flower market, walk through Kensington Gardens around the Serpentine and through Hyde Park after seeing the Natural History museum- en route you can stop in the Serpentine Gallery and see the free David Hockney exhibit. https://www.serpentinegalleries.org

If everyone wants to see the changing of the guards, then I would go for horse guards: https://www.householddivision.org.uk/events

I hope you have a great time and your feet don’t get too sore!

Still tickets for this in Hyde Park if the dates work.

https://www.bst-hydepark.com/events/ateez-sun-28-june/

Have a look at the TFL website to work out the best tickets to get for the teens to travel as it can be quite complicated and they would need a zip ID card which is charged for so you need to work out if it is worth it. Adults can use ordinary credit cards, no need to get an oyster and risk having money still on it as the same daily cap applies. Just remember to tap in AND out on the tube. You only need to tap in on buses. Hop on and hop off buses have to be paid for differently and I think the river boat services do too. Well worth doing a river trip, just use the normal clipper service.

We go up often for a day. My 12 year old recently enjoyed Frameless which is an immersive at exhibition. He has asked to go back. Other teens have enjoyed the paradox museum as it's quite Instagrammable (yuck).

He also loves just walking by the river at night with all the lights.

As a teen I loved Camden for the unique shops, market, food stalls and music venues but I haven't been in years.

If they like history then a trip to Denis Severs house in Shorditch is great, it shows what a typical Georgian house would have been like, you feel as though the owners have just popped out for a visit to a coffee house.

Museum of London currently closed, but the Docklands Museum is open and you can use it as an excuse to go on the Docklands Light Railway. Less crowded than most of the other London Museums.

Another great and unusual trip is taking one of the Transport Museums hidden London Underground tours where you visit old disused underground stations and tunnels, find out which films have been made there, even walk under
Trafalgar Square. Book through the Transport Museum website.

If you walk over the Millenium Bridge from St Paul’s to Tate Modern look down on the bridge to spot the tiny little paintings that are covering up dropped chewing gum. Check out the Chewing gum man’s ( Ben Wilson) website for more information.

Korean cultural centre UK (central London) and Han collection are two places for Korea. London hallyu festival if you’re here in July. Korean foundation gallery, British museum. Be-oom, Farringdon exmouth market is a Korean tea house, also in exmouth market is Cafe kick which is a French table football bar. There’s another one in Shoreditch called bar kick.

Gods own junkyard is in Walthamstow, it’s an art gallery but of neon signs and art work. William Morris gallery is nearby.

Funland in Bloomsbury is an arcade place. There’s a bowling alley there too. Another one in brick lane.

If you are staying in Camden then I would definitely take them to a gig at one of the legendary venues there. Most are 18+ but Underworld and The Roundhouse allow accompanied teens.

Highly recommend trying out one of Six by Nico’s tasting menu. They have different themes on different days. We had the Nutcracker meal at Christmas, and teen DS loved the experience.

There is so much to do, I love to be down by the river. So sometimes food at Borough Market, wander down past The Globe. Get tickets if you can, it’s a brilliant experience. Check out The Tate Modern, if only to pull silly poses in front of all the art!

Camden market has gone a bit downhill tbh. It now caters mainly for foreign tourists who just bubble around aimlessly and then buy a “I ❤️ London” t-shirt. I don’t know why you would go to Camden unless you are going to do Camden stuff (listen to music, get drunk, buy drugs…) but it has become a ticklist item for tourists for some reason. They don’t actually set foot in any of the pubs or venues just sort of…wander about.

Re some people saying Camden too far out - it absolutely isn't and I would not stay out all day. Back for a refresh after sightseeing and before a show is definitely sensible.

On a recent trip I stayed in Whitechapel near Commercial Rd. Well connected for underground and overground trains. Really quiet and a variety of hotels. The only thing you have to watch out for with budget hotels are that some - like Ibis - can be a bit too cheap and cheerful. Premier Inn, Travel Lodge, IHG group all pretty good.

We have a teenage son and we’ve been to London a fair bit - I used to live in London- and done all the touristy things and the only thing he ever “rates” is the Stratford shopping centre 🙄😂 You’d honestly think he’d never been in a shopping centre before. He’s actually asked to go back there for his birthday next month….!

Another shoutout for Battersea and a concert at the Albert Hall.

I don’t know why you would go to Camden unless you are going to do Camden stuff

I found myself in Camden a few years back because a friend and I had walked along the canal from KX. It was May half term, hot weather and everywhere was heaving. We found somewhere to have an ice cream then got a bus back into central London.

War of the worlds was fantastic and my teen loved it

if You’re fans of the Lost Boys then Lost Souls Pizza restaurant in Camden is awesome! We went a couple of years ago with ds who was 11 at the time and we all loved it!

The great thing about Stratford is the other stuff around. So there is the Elizabeth Park, which is the former Olympic site and is now full of interest, gardens, walks, cycle tracks, the Mittel slide, the Olympic pool. TWO new V and A museums, a great exhibition atm about the history of black popular music. The V and A warehouse, if you can find it , is as though someone has picked up the worlds best boot fair, given it a shake and let everything fall randomly it is just a glorious eclectic mix, and a scary glass floor, which adults avoid and children love.. The Davis Bowie archive is there, you can request items to view up close, watch conservators working, see inside preserved iconic rooms and even a block of flats.

I live in London and currently Camden is my DD13’s absolute favourite day out.

I wouldnt try too hard. Wander through Soho, Chinatown (go for Dim Sum), Covent Garden etc. Over the river & down to the South Bank, head east on the South Bank along to the Tate Modern and then onto Borough Market. Plenty to see, eat and drink.

It’s definitely not the Camden I knew and frequented as a teen but my teen seems to still get the same joy out of it. Less so me. But she loves it. Esp if they are into gaming, manga, asian culture - There’s a lot of stalls there catering to that.

This is a good street map to buy before you go. If you spread it out you get a much better idea of the street layout, and where places are in relation to each other, than just looking at a screen:

Sorry for the massively long link, I can't get it smaller. It's the Central London A-Z Pocket Street Map. Other retailers are available.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Central-London-Pocket-Street-Map/dp/0008657475/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10915K5OJYWQH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CLLtN752GB2qp2bjqARItBRacGXFPAjnafzuPQoRXohrVpUfSHacGlK5UM5-wLacAJlzHQYDVVhA3HFlQVfPwJpzt-po-OY-ZHHXMd47XpQjALpjdzrslLzbBjuHM0icJhL2vZvGnjyI6b8IoP6hhhcmuRcLEFMyfYxuLkc8dGvObN243KurCbAnoozLq58Jcr1xTF4aXDhhsyOHwRslXVr1qF2U_3KTIm2pJ1PWGLw.xWgKXTID1VFGmOTWVmsQwyt1lsOCRa80kLjZD2_YcsY&dib_tag=se&keywords=central+london+a-z+pocket+street+map&qid=1780237356&sprefix=Central+london+pocket+street+map%2Caps%2C134&sr=8-1

Do a walking tour early in your stay - you’ll orientate yourself and see places you want to return to.
Borough Market is good for teens.
i work in London and we did this in October with my teens.
chinatown for a meal then wandering around there via the m and m / Lego stores.
We went to Tower of London, Greenwich, Westminster, Tate modern.

Borough Market is fun for viral food trends (strawberries with melted chocolate/creme brulee doughnut etc) and so much more. Gets v v busy!

Walk along South Bank

Tate Modern

Show at The Globe

Coal Drops Yard

Seven Dials

Covent Garden - mine liked cheesy pasta from the wheel of cheese

Thames Rib (fast boat ride)

Sky Garden/London Eye for fab views over the city, especially at sunset

Uber boat to Greenwich - great way to see London from the river

Have a great time!