London

[Caithnessgirlsouth1]

Hi, what are the best London sites to do with a 7yr old & are the tourist tickets worth it? Thanks

I'm not sure what you mean by Tourist tickets?

there are 1000s of things to do and see in London, problem is, there are 1000000s of people wanting to do them! Depending on how long you are visiting, I would mix up some of the 'big attractions' like Buck house, Museums, parliament with some of the more unusual and free (there are plenty of lists on line like www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/budget-london/101-free-things-to-do-in-london )

Remember that kids under 10 travel for free (if with an adult) on the buses, tubes and trains. You'll need an Oyster card (pre-loaded with £5) from many stations, newsagents etc. or buy on-line. If you can, avoid travelling in the 'rush-hour', it will be hot, busy and slightly overwhelming if you are not used to it.

Biy/girl, what do they enjoy?

Girl - And she is quite flexible in what she likes. I had thought of Buck Palace & Tower of London. I used to live in London but had (stupidly) forgotten about how busy it will... thanks for info about the travel as well My husband read somewhere about a single ticket that gets you into various attractions (tourist ticket).

The ticket you mention maybe good value if it's less than the cost of the individual tickets and you go to all of them.

How long are you there for?
Best activities for 7 year old:
Boat trip - can get 2for1 tickets with your rail fare. City Cruises is a good company.
London Zoo
Science Museum (free)
Natural History Museum (free)
V & A Museum of Childhood (free)
Open top bus tour
Museum of London (free)
See the street performers in Covent Garden (free)
Lego Discovery store and M&M world in Leicester Square
Watch changing the guard outside Buckingham palace (free)
London Eye
Hire pedalos in Hyde Park
Princess Diana's memorial playground (free) in Kensington Gardens

If your daughter has just studied the Great Fire of London at school, then she might be particularly interested in the Museum of London and the momument www.themonument.info/visitor-information.html

V and A Museum of Childhood often has free activities running and the Southbank Centre for street performers, NT has a backstage tour and London Eye is good on a clear day. If you are visiting in August have a look at Kidsweek for free child theatre tickets and related activities.

Remember it's really [too] hot in London at the moment so include a lot of places with air conditioning.

Wherever you decide to go, if you go at opening time it won't be as busy (most attractions are fine until mid morning/lunchtime).

You can use a contactless debit card for tubes and buses which avoids the need to buy an Oyster card. I’d suggest the Science Museum, Natural History or British Museum - so much to do and great fun!

British museum is good and less crowds as in different place to the other major museums. Also Bloomsbury is lovely to wander round, lots of little squares with gardens and stuff.

Hampton court is ace, lovely grounds, interesting displays and history, out of town so a bit quieter, and of course the maze which is good!

British museum is in Bloomsbury, sorry that wasn't clear in post! So you can have a nice time in that general area + do museum!

I don’t know what this ticket is but loads of London attractions are free, to name but. Few:

British Museum
Natural History Museum
science Museum
V&A
Museum of London
National Gallery
Tate Modern/Britain
Imperial War Museum
Museum of Childhood (Bethnal Green)
Horniman Museum (Forest Hill)

You can also get amazing views for free from the Skygarden, Acqua Bar in the Shard (well, for the price of a drink) and the Switch House at Tate Modern.

We had family up recently and took them on a tour of London using every form of transport - tube, Docklands Light Railway, cable car, foot tunnel and boat, which was good fun.

It’s very hot up here at the mo, so maybe factor in an air conditioned cinema trip or something.