4 days in London with teenage girls

[ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie]

I've managed to book us a few nights in London over the summer. I love London but I normally just go shopping when I'm there, with a token visit to an art gallery to pretend I've been a culture vulture.

Has anybody got any good ideas for what we can do? It's dp and I and two teenage girls.

Likes - art and museums / eating out / walking / maybe a show but I dread to think how much it would cost
Dislikes - touristy stuff like Madame Tussaud's.

DD1 and I like shopping; dp and dd2 hate it.

We've done the Eye before and whilst we loved it, we probably wouldn't bother again.

We're staying in Greenwich, so I guess a boat trip might be a possibility?

Any ideas for things we might not have thought about would be really appreciated. Thanks. :)

Well maybe it won't be anything like the book - as oft happens! I would not have booked it for myself but have 4 teens and after looking at the video, the production looks to fantastic I just went for it! Though probably any production in London is gonna be pretty good! I was considering richard III cos Kevin Spacey is playing him and tickets look reasonably priced - also kids wanted to see him but were not bothered about Shakespeare!! Last time we visited London we did the museums and Les Mis - the whole London experience just blew us away

ColonelBrandon, if he likes books, Daunts on Marylebone High Street is a great bookshop - I could spend hours in there. Also, the Conran Shop has a good book section if he likes books on design.

Fantastic. Thanks Dotty.

Hopeful weekend bump....

Any nice places to eat in Greenwich?

Days out from central London maybe? I'm not sure Kew Gardens would interest the girsl enough, though I like it a lot so I suppose I could try dragging them along there.

Any museums we may not know about? I'm trying to convinve them that they'd love the Old Operating Theatre but failing so far!

girls

The Old Brewery inside the grounds of the royal naval college is nice. Otherwise Greenwich tends to be a bit tourist trappy IME, I'd just aim to refuel.

Thank you again. :)

The South Bank is great always loads going on there - Camden Market - check out what is going on in Hyde Park - Covent Garden has lots of entertainment and street artists - Canary Wharf for a ride on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) - How about Chessington World of adventures? not too hard to get to from Greenwich - London Dungeons - good website to look at is www.visitlondon.com

Ripleys is rubbish as is Madame Tussauds avoid!!

Roof Gardens Kensington High Street is amazing place for something to eat
HTH?

Have fun

Thanks Razors. Lots of good ideas there, though I think dp would have a heartattack if I suggested a theme park tbh: he's scared of heights and won't go on anything at all.

DLR is a cert, as is Covent Garden because I then have an excuse to look at dresses in Joules and The White Company!

How about shoreditch? spittlefields market and brick lane, loads of restaurants and cool shops.
topshop at oxford circus,walk down regent st to piccadilly then thru leicester square and down to trafalgar square. short walk up to covent garden.

We've done the Oxford Street / Covent Garden / Trafalgar Square / round to Saint James' Park loop quite a few times now. Please tell me more about Shoreditch and Brick Lane. :)

So far am thinking - day to include The Southbank and both Tates. Could probably do something else on that day too.

Day in Greenwich to do the Maritime Museum etc - might we be able to fit Camden in on that day too, do you think with maybe a picnic on Primrose Hill if the weather is nice?

Imperial War Museum and perhaps a show one day - Covent Garden and Liberty on that day too perhaps and a quick dash down Marylebone High Street.

I want to do EVERYTHING at once! :)

Oh and thank you again everybody - keep em coming!

You could try the 10am ticket ballot to see Tennant and Tate in Much Ado. Might not make it, but excellent if you did.

Tell me more! I can't stand Catherine T but I could live with seeing Mr Tennant. :) Having said that, the girls have seen quite a bit of Shakespeare in the last year or so and 4 hours of Hamlet might well have been enough for dd2 for a while! :)

It's at wyndhams (Leicester Square tube) apparently v good (though quite sexy). Incredibly sold out, but at 10 am every morning they hold a lottery for a few seats for a tenner - you have to be there in person, and it's one ticket per person.
See website for more details, but poss worth a try.

Can confirm that Much Ado is absolutely brilliant! It's set in the 1980s so isn't heavy Shakespeare (if you get what I mean) - tbh doubt you will get tickets now though - I suspect the day seats queue probably starts about 4am now!

There are plenty of shows to see that don't cost the earth though - around Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus there are plenty of cut-price ticket booths. It is also worth contacting the theatres directly and asking about day seats - a lot do around 20 day seats per performance and they will be able to tell you whether people queue or not. I have heard brilliant things about Betty Blue Eyes. Recently also saw Wizard of Oz for about £20 which was fabulous. Imo theatre is one of the best things about London so you should definitely try and visit one!

Other than that I would recommend the London Film Museum, the Wellcome Collection (if anyone is interested in science). For some history how about the Ragged School museum or the Foundling museum - haven't been myself but have always fancied going. Or the whispering gallery at St Pauls? (pricey though if I remember!)

You could also go for a walk around the Houses of Parliament and go and look at Downing St - from there you could walk up to the Tate easily to combine some visits. If you all enjoy walking (impressive with 2 teenage girls!) then how about walking tours?
walking tours

I'll carry on thinking!

Oh, also some of the various markets mentioned already I loved as a teenager: Portobello , spitalfields , Brick lane , would also thoroughly recommend Camden lock and market for the girls- my favourite place in the world from the age of about 13-16! My other favourite from that list is Brick lane.

I bloody love London.

I never read War Horse, but I have seen it and can confirm that it is a truly fabulous piece of theatre.

Something I keep meaning to do is the Duck tour - an amphibian tripwww.discount-london.com/london-duck-tour-packages?gclid=CLjkgO6V46kCFcVO4QodGTFMVw

I can also recommend the hop on/hop off bus trips as well - they are a great way to see a lot of London.

What about going to dimsum lunch in Chinatown?

Or for an ice-cream sundae in Fortnum & Masons, or tea at the Ritz?

Last message from me - promise! How about getting everyone to pick one thing from this list? (not sure your 4 days is going to be long enough!)
101 things to do before you leave London

More brilliant ideas - thanks everyone.

I love the Wellcome Collection but dp hasn't been yet.

DD2 would be v happy with interesting icecream in F&M or anywhere else, for that matter!

Three of us are veggie, so dim sum isn't the best option for us tbh, although I suspect dp would love it as he is a raging carnivore. :)

Off to trawl that link now - thanks Aero.

I need a longer holiday!

Greenwich market, camden market, covent garden to see the street entertainers, open top bus tour, Ripleys horrible ghoulish museum, see a film in Leicester square and eat take away pizza slices, V and A museum, I could go on....

DO go on please - but I don't want any more majorly touristy stuff like Ripleys please. :) A filkm would be good actually but prob not in Leicester Square. Have been to Curzon Street cinema before and loved it, so I could see what's on there. Thanks for reminding me!

here

veggie
cinema
rooftop dining?

Borough market is fab, a really interesting part of london,you could walk down to the tate from there.

Which part of london are you staying?