Where to park in London to do the tourist thing with the kids?

[zephyrcat]

Hi all, we are thinking about maybe driving into London tomorrow to take the kids on the tourist trail! Does anyone know where we can park? I am really not keen on taking them all on the underground, so thinking somewhere fairly central. I know lots of you live in London so am hoping someone knows of a good place that may not be obvious!

Why is everyone so negative about taking children in to London, its only a city, thousands of families live there, millions vist... its fun, honestly just do it!

you can do that bus that takes you round all the attractions so you don't have to get the tube much at all. it's a hop on hop off. about £12 for adults though, not sure for kids.

The parking is definately more of an issue than I realised!
DD1 has just been to NHM with school, so we want to do that and the science one with just her and ds on their own as the little ones won't appreciate it. There's lots of places I used to go which I can visualise in my head but can't remember how they are all linked! Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar, Big Ben etc are definates. What I'm thinking is each place won't take long before we move on to another. Pigeons, clock, soldiers!! Riverboat sounds great...have added it to the list. I think DP wants them to see the entertainers in/around Covent Garden too.

Umm I think NHM and SM on their own are probably enough (or even just one of them). We spent four hours in the science museum the other day and were all knackered by the end of it (and we live in London so not far to travel home). The Science Museum has plenty to entertain children for several hours and then you can have lunch in there or in the garden outside the NHM and then go home. That is probably more than enough. London's not going anywhere - you can come again

NHM and Science Museum will be heaving and you could be there a while......all 3 DS's wanted to stay long on the stuff in "Launchpad" at the Science.......

DS3 (he's 2) loved the Science museum, and the dinosaurs at the NHM.

Would go to the NHM first as by 10.30 (1/2hr after opening) the queue for the dinosaurs was huge and it was a solid line going around the exhibit.

You could then get the tube to Westminster to see Big Ben et all.........

I meant we will come back to do the Museums another day when we don't have the youngest two with us - sorry it came across wrong

So get the train from Southampton - it's easy, and probably quicker than driving and parking!! You do know they have several sets of roadworks on the M3.

If you want to do a riverboat the Tate to Tate can be fun - between the Tate Britain and the Tate Modern. I think there may be some kind of fare reduction with a travelcard too.

Sounds like you may be trying to cram too much in - especially with littlies.

I think you could be suprised about the museums with the little ones.

DS3 was still talking about the "little dinosaurs that moved" on Sunday (2 days after we got back!)

The street performers are now much better and more of them on the S Bank than in Cvt Garden. Between the RFH and the Eye.
There must be a good bus route that links all the places you want to see...A number 3 would take you from Big Ben to Trafalgar Sq to Hamleys. Then a bus from Ox circus to the Palace? Not sure what that would be. Free for the children, but you and DH would need travel cards. Each bus fare is £2 without a travelcard, so worth buying. Single tube fares much higher so travelcard even more important!

Sounds good Blu! It's about 15 years since I 'knew' London like the back of my hand! Hopefully it'll all come flooding back and will all run smoothly.... or we'll go to Bournemouth for the day!

It's the 12 or 14 bus I think which goes past all the big sites (Liverpool Street to Victoria). Pretty much follows the tourist open top buses.

I haven't parked in the area I'm about to recommend for 3 years, so the situation may have changed, and perhaps permits/meters are now an issue.....

But, the streets just behind Tate Britain and the sidestreets between Tate Britain and Westminster Abbey are usually quite quiet on the weekend. Look at that area on a map, and also check out streets near Smith Square. It is easy to walk up the Embankment to Big Ben/London Eye/Aquarium/Westminster Abbey, etc. It also is easy to catch buses to anywhere you'd want to go as Victoria Station is not far away and is a central hub for bus routes.

But to be honest, with that many people to transport, it may be easier (and not much more expensive) to park your car, and take a black cab from that area to wherever you want to be.

Yeahbut - Zephyrcat is talkiing about tomorrow, not a weekend!

I have all sorts of little hidey holes that I park in on Sundays...but I'm not broadcasting them to you lot on the WWW, Oooh, no!

Parked at the Abingdon C/P next door to the House of Parliament last week for £10 for 4 hours. Handy for the Eye, Big Ben, Aquarium et all. Had to carry buggy up stairs though!

Thanks Earlybird, will def look those up

Blu

I think with all four children, it's going to be so much easier having the car. That way when they are all tired, fed up, stroppy we can just get them back and they can collapse and sleep on the way home - rather than the hassle of a train with them all (not that they are that bad of course .

I work near Covent Garden and if I do ever bring my car into work park at Waterloo - Cornwall Road or opposite national theatre - it costs #17/#20. Plus of course congestion charge. Near all the South Bank attractions

Then you walk over Waterloo Bridge to get to Covent Garden. Might walk or get bus/taxi to Carnaby Street area.

The museums are a bit far away although the British Museum is quite near to Covent GDn

I also get the Riverboat to work and it does run from Woolwich to the London Eye plus there is also a tate to tate .

Wondered why I am always exhausted have sort of got used to the pace of London.

Ok, dp is getting technical now... he is asking me to ask you if the back roads from Covent Garden to The Bank are still fairly free of parked traffic? The road he means specifically comes out opposite the Bank of America.

I used to be able to park in Covent Garden sometimes, in the evening.

I would just say that parking is WAY more restricted now than it was even 10 or 15 years ago.

I think the car park at the South Bank is reasonable and its a good starting point for the touristy things.

You would walk over Waterloo Bridge for Covent Garden and could easily get on foot to Carnaby Street and Hamleys. Mebbe a bus for Buck House.

Can't think where the Bank Of America is?

Took my 19 month of DD to London for the first time last weekend on the tube and it was great. Jubilee line is especially good for lifts and they have those glass doors which help prevent writhing toddlers throwing themselves in front of a train. We basically just went to go to Unicorn Theatre but had a nice walk a long south bank etc. If you asked my daughter I'm sure her 2 favourite things were chasing pigeons and going on the train. There's so much to gawp at that little ones seem to pretty much amuse themselves. I'm definately planning another trip before impending arrival of DC 2.

Have Fun.

But with a train you can all collapse and sleep on the way home!

zephyrcat - there is nowhere in central London you can park on the street now for more than 4 hours. And it costs about £3-4 an hour. Plus cost of petrol plus a tenner for the congestion charge. Perhaps you're made of money but even if you are, spending £30 on leaving your car somewhere central seems insane. Although if your DP thinks it will be less stressful to a) find a parking space and b) come and move it to a different one when your four hours are up than park further out/take the train, who am I to argue?

Parking on all streets in the Covent garden area is very restricted, you can search for places on Westminster council's website covent garden parking bays. Elsewhere on that site they will tell you how much per hour. There is some new system where you text your payment rather than feed the meter. Parking wardens are ruthless. You will get a ticket if one wheel is outside the box, etc.
There is a independent car park on some derelict ground behind the National Theatre that is cheaper than NCP etc - try that if you drive along checking for space in the Jubilee Gardens Car park, or the National Theatre one.

Sorry, link didn't work - google 'Westminster parking bays'.

Thanks Netto Was about to ask how phone parking works. There are some areas by Tate Britain which I think said £2.40 for 4 hours. Can you then renew that without going back??

No you can't renew it. That's why it's four hours.