Please help with London itinerary for trip with 6 year old

[WarriorOne]

Please help me plan a three day trip to London with DS (6) during the Easter hols.

There are a few things we’d like to do, so I’d appreciate suggestions and any help with travel/itinerary to make the best use of our time, as in what’s closest/easiest to get to and in which order, so we can fit in as much as possible.

We arrive and depart from King’s Cross, getting in late morning, and we’re staying in Holborn. The only thing booked so far is a matinee at the Theatre Royal on the second day. I’ve booked an early evening train home on our third day, so we need to get back to KX by about 6.30pm. I intend to travel light, so we don’t need to drop bags off/pick them up from our hotel.

We’d like to do the following: London Eye; Natural History Museum; afternoon tea; Chinese dinner, preferably in Chinatown; bus tour, probably one of those hop on/hop off ones so we can combine it with some of the places we want to visit; shopping at Hamleys, possibly Harrods and ideally Fortnums; changing of the guard; Borough Market so we can get some of Jason Gellatly’s doughnuts! We’d also like to travel on the Thames by boat at some point if possible. I want us to be total tourists and see as much as possible, incorporating fun stuff for DS – a play park opportunity or two would also be great, although I know there’s already a lot of stuff on our list, and it might not be possible to do it all.

Any recommendations for any other activities and places to eat would also be very much appreciated. Evening activities are fine – DS is a bit of a night owl, so anything uptil 9pm wouldn’t faze him at all.

TIA.

[MsAspreyDiamonds]

www.ltmuseum.co.uk/

[MsAspreyDiamonds]

This might have already been mentioned but the hop on hop off buses are very £££. Best get on a normal bus which goes past the iconic landmarks. The number 24 goes from Camden then parallel to Tottenham court rd towards Leicester Sq passing Trafalgar square, Parliament buildings then on towards Victoria station and Pimlico. It would be much cheaper getting on the bus and getting on and off. Number 9 is another good one to see the sights With.

If you are staying in Holborn then you must visit the British museum on the other side of Russell Sq. You can get the 91 bus from Holborn towards the strand & Trafalgar Sq, get off near Somerset House & have a wonder round. Then cross the road & walk up the street with the Lyceum theatre (showing Lion King) on the corner and you are in Covent Garden which is a short walk from Leicester Sq & China town.

Covent Garden is the home to the Transport museum which might interest your son, buy an annual ticket for £13 for unlimited entry for a year. A regular one entry ticket is £12 so for an extra £1, you get a year's entry and children go free.

[verybadhairdoo]

Take a boat ride down the Thames and get off at greenwich. Cutty sark is pretty impressive. Then there is the lovely greenwich park and the maritime museum is free and has an interactive map and kids section. Another vote also for the cable car. My boys also enjoy a ride on the DLR - they love the fact that its driverless. Have fun.

[Thesnowmansnose]

Another fun thing to do, especially with transport-mad little boys

Start in Central London (Eye, Embankment/Tower Bridge etc.)

Get Thames Clipper the whole way down to North Greenwich - you see LOADS, it's peaceful, it's cheap (you can pay using Oyster)

Cable Car over the Thames - extraordinary views again

Then either DLR to Bank and tube on to wherever you want to go;
or DLR to Stratford and Queen Elizabeth Park etc.

[BlueChampagne]

A run around in Regent's Park will cover 101 Dalmatians.

[IWasThere4Aug12]

OP please report back - we're taking DS 8&6 in summer so would be good to know your thoughts

[IsabellaofFrance]

Marking place :)

[WarriorOne]

Mamabluestar, have a fab time and do report back. I shall investigate Queen Elizabeth Park too. Strawberry, yes, I tend to get more excited than DS at some things too! I'm now considering when we'll make our second trip to fit everything in.

[StrawberryTallCake]

Warrior I'm taking my dd in March, I've been to their 'grown up' shows and I have no doubt it will be absolutely spectacular in all ways. I'm more excited than dd is.

[CMP69]

I have been discussing this recently. Apparently Queen Elizabeth Park (2012 Olympic Park) is amazing for kids

[mamabluestar]

Reading with interest as we are going with our 7 year old next weekend x

[curiousgeorgie]

You should go to the huge Disney Store opposite Bond Street tube station, it's 3 floors with a Rapunzel tower through it all and loads of character statues and stuff. My children like it far better than Hamleys

[WarriorOne]

This is all fantastic, thank you all for taking the time to reply. Strawberry that event looks amazing, I think we'd both love it. I think Hamleys not long before closing would be a good idea, it limits the time (and cash) we can spend in there nicely! I know Hamleys and Harrods are a bit tacky, but DS is six - he likes tack!

[post]

Clipper boats are fab. Try to do some travelling by boat if you can.
I'd go to the Nat Hist early morning( the queues are worse after about 11.30.

[MrTumblesBavarianFanbase]

I get that Coffee I just felt as if I'd entered a parallel universe/ police state (but we live in the middle of nowhere, and not in the UK, and my kids play out unaccompanied - I do get that you can't do that in London, but a playground with a security guard is something I'd never seen before or since! ) Either way it is a nice playground, with a cafe but a shortage of sitting places for adults on a nice summer day.

I forgot actually that the Tower and tower bridge/ river near the Eye (but mainly the Tower) was DD'S absolute favourite when I took her at 6 - we spent almost a whole day in the tower compound! DS liked it to but wanted to get on and "spot" more after a couple of hours. He loved Hamleys but it's a hard place as a parent - he wanted to stop and listen to every sales pitch and wanted to take one of every pitched toy so the salespeople wouldn't feel bad! (Could be a country bumpkin thing though :o ) The 2 things we bought in there are both broken now - it was 5 months ago - but it is a thrilling place for children whose have never seen anything on that scale before. We went in the evening (originally planned to go last of soll, on the morning of our last day, but the pesky place doesn't open til practically lunch time and we wouldn't have made our flight).

[CoffeeBeanie]

Yes, the security guards on the playground prevents overcrowding and they make sure no child leaves on its own and no adult without child can enter.
If you meet up with the rest if the family, someone with a child has to come to the gate to collect you.

[MrTumblesBavarianFanbase]

My tip is to get the Usbourn spotters cards if your ds is interested in landmarks. They made the walking from A to B more interesting for my DS when I took him when he was 6, and he loved going through them at meal times reviewing what we'd seen/ should be able to sport in the next few hours. There were lots of unmarked buildings we might not have paid attention to if he hadn't been spotter card obsessed.

Changing of the guard is a nightmarebbecause it is so very crowded and you have to be there about 90 mins before to stake your claim to a spot to have any chance of seeing. Take stuff to keep him busy while you wait (luckily I had an activity book from the natural history museum).

We walked from the Kensington museums through the park to the Diana memorial playground. I've b ever seen a playground like it (with security guards ) and it was busy, but DS loved it and made so a couple of "friends" who he played with there, as I only took him.

Agree the hop on hop off buses are pointless - regular buses good for having a view, but sometimes traffic makes them a frustrating way to get about too!

Have you looked at the Duck tours amfibious vehicles? We didn't try them but could be good - need to book. I might try that when I take DS2 when he's 6 :)

Have fun.

[Becles]

I think you are being very unrealistic with the proposed itinerary.

Unless you drastically trim, the adults would struggle to cope let alone a six year old child. It sounds like a perfect recipe for an overtired and emotional child at best or one having a spectacular meltdown.

You should each work out your 2 must dos, incorporating into a plan which lets you go with the flow.

FYI, there is a great thread running about secret Londoner tips and finds somewhere.

[StrawberryTallCake]

I have no doubt this will be a fantastic event if you have time for it!!!

[CoffeeBeanie]

I'd give those expensive touristy open top busses a wide berth.

A red bus or the tube are way more interesting to a 6yo.

I agree about Hamleys, unless you have promised your dc, I'd rather let him choose a toy in the Natural History/ Science Museum shops.

For a really lovely warm half day (morning is best, otherwise crazily busy) you could take a bus 23 to the Princess Diana Playground in Hyde Park to balance your sightseeing. My teens loved it aged 6.

[whatsagoodusername]

And you can take the number 14 bus from the Natural History Museum past Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Wellington Arch and Fortum & Mason to Piccadilly - then a short walk to Hamleys of you're up for it, or Leicester Square.

[whatsagoodusername]

There is a small playground on Drury Lane. Excellent for pre/post theatre running around. Should be a 1-2 minute walk from your theatre and is usually pretty empty.

[TendonQueen]

You'll need a whole day to do the Natural History and Science Museums. Le Pain Quotidien is nice to eat at, lovely croissants, pastries and other things 6yos like so go to South Ken, have breakfast there then hit the museums. The Nat Hist actually has good deals in the restaurant.

Agree there's too much on your list to do in one go. You'll have to go back

[Oldieandgoldie]

City mapper app is good.

[Oldieandgoldie]

If you're doing the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) don't forget the Emirates cable car. 'Driving' the DLR/cable car may be more exciting and quiet mid-evening, in the dark....
(And you can use your Oyster card)