Anyone been to the Tower of London lately?

[Aranea]

4yo dd1 says she wants to go to an exhibition about Henry VIII (she keeps seeing posters) so I wondered about taking her to the one at the Tower of London. But will it be hellish, being summer holidays now? I haven't been since I was a child and have no idea really.

i love the tower. really good day out.

also take her to hamptom court - more henry stuff and fab kitchen and gardens.

it will be packed.
depending on where you live both hever castle www.hevercastle.co.uk/ and penshurst place www.penshurstplace.com/ in kent have henry stuff going on, they both have outdoor play areas too, which might be better for a 4 year old.

Thanks both

Yes Eccentrica - am planning to go to Hampton Court in a couple of weeks in any case, as I have promised her a trip to a maze. I've just been looking at the website and all the living history stuff looks fun.

I'm in London, nancy. I don't know how far away hever and penshurst place are. Do they manage the crowds well at the tower, or is it just miserable?

Personally I think she wouldn't get much out of the Tower yet and it is pricey. HC definitely better and less crowded - you get an audio tour. Hever and Penshurst are both in Kent, a bit further south of Sevenoaks, so about an hour or so from central London. National Gallery has pics iirc. How about the Mary Rose ? There is an exhibition in Croydon of artefacts and the ship itself in Portsmouth.

we took dd last year, she was 3 and i felt she was too young as it was quite busy and she got pushed about abit and we had to keep picking her up to look at things. if you wanted to visit one of the others i would say hever is the better one, it is a proper castle with lots to do for a whole day out. you can get a train to edenbridge from victoria i think but then you need to get a taxi (its about 3 miles but not london cab fares, much cheaper!)

Hm, maybe I should persuade her that her Henry cravings can wait till we visit Hampton Court!

That means I owe her a London outing and need to start thinking again.... she'd like to go somewhere she's never been before, and I've already taken her to British Museum, Science Museum, Transport Museum, Mus of Childhood, Aquarium, London Eye, Museum of London, Nat Hist Museum, Changing of the Guard. Phew.

National Portrait gallery has the famous portrait of Henry VIII, its tiny though!

What about Hampton Court - that was built for XXX as a reward for his YYY by request of Henry VIII (memory failing me slightly)

The Tower of London is great but I wouldnt bother with a four yo - too busy and way too expensive

HTH

Hampton Court has the maze of course which is fun - though now Im thinking that was busy last time I was there (yonks ago!)
Hampton court has several entry fees - House, house and garden, house garden and maze - you get the picture

Uggg, I was so sure I would be able to convince her that something else would be fun. But she is adamant that she wants to go to the Tower. Weird kid.

Victoria and Albert museum is great for historical stuff too

I wonder if V&A would be less crowded than the tower? Do you think so?

Well, dd1 was not to be deterred, so we went to the Tower.

And guess what? It wasn't too crowded at all! I'm a bit worried about our tourist industry now, cos it was absolutely fine, even for a rather crowd-shy 4yo. We had a great day, saw the Henry stuff and a tourney on the lawn (dd1 was terribly worried someone would get hurt), and then saw the crown jewels. Result - one very happy girl parading around the house in 'robe' and 'crown' holding playdoh rolling pin and small ball.

Ds is keen to go to The Tower too.

Haven't built up the courage/energy to get across london to it yet.

Your visit encourages me (a bit) to go. Unless I can distract him for the next 2 and a half weeks to stay more local!