London with my 10 year old

[Partidgeinpeartree]

I´ll be visiting London (from Brussels) with my 10-year old daughter in two weeks. We´ve booked a eurostar deal which includes a stay in the Hilton Doubletree in Islington. It is a ´now you´re a teenager´ birthday treat so I´d like to do some activities in her area of interest:
-visit the dinosaurs at the British museum
-visit the lego store at Leicester square

We´re arriving on Friday and leaving on Sunday so we have not got much time in between. What else can we do? Would you have any suggestions for:

• a nice meal on Friday evening near the hotel
• is a bus tour to see the highlights a good idea?
• what underground tickets to use best?
• she´s a big harry potter fan but I thought visiting the studios would be a trip in itself: is there something in London we shouldn´t miss?
• a nice kid-friendly restaurant near the museum for saturday lunch or dinner?

I´m really grateful for all your suggestions!

At the other end of the end of the road from your hotel OP is Kings Cross. There is a whole raft of restaurants that are fun - look up Granary Square. Although on a Friday night I would be tempted to take a quick Uber rather than walk down the Pentonville Road.

www.kingscross.co.uk/granary-square

Check out Dishoom.

For a little bit of Harry Potter, and some affordable merch, Primark on Oxford Street (junction with Tottenham Court Road) has a section that's very nicely done.

You can look at platform 9 & 3/4 at Kings Cross & there is a good Harry Potter shop there too. Although the big HP section in the Primark near Tottenham Court road is much more affordable!
I've never been to this exhibition of Harry Pottr artwork but it's free & gets great reviews.
minalima.com/house-of-minalima-celebrates-its-third-birthday/
Might be worth a look if you're near Soho & there are LOADS of restaurants in Soho so could be good for a lunch or dinner. Wahaca is a fun place & child friendly if you like Mexican food

Dishoom where Cremeegg recommended in Granary Square near Kings Cross is really good if you like Indian/Iranian food, but be warned you can't book & it gets very busy so you may have to queue.

I did the Tour for Muggles walking tour recently (there are others). It was great!!!

I'm a big Potter fan and it startsnear Borough market which is always an interesting mosey and has good food options for lunch.

Brilliant, I´m very pleased already! Like the Primark suggestion as our Primark here in BXL hardly ever has HP things available. What about the bus tour?

Get the number 19 bus. It's much cheaper than the bus tour and goes from Islington to Chelsea and battersea via Piccadilly Circus and Hyde Park Corner

tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/19/

Friday evening eat at Gallipoli Again, it's just up Upper Street and is lovely Turkish food.

The British Museum in Russell Square doesn't have much in the way of dinosaurs, you'd be better to get the piccadilly line to South Kensington for the Natural History Museum. It's next door to the Science Museum and after that the V&A, which are both also worth a visit. You could go for any of the fancy bakery-style cafes for lunch (all nice but all over-priced), or Honest Burger.

Granary Square has two places that are great for a big brunch, but it's a bit of a walk.

Have you thought about going to a show on Saturday night e.g. Wicked in Victoria. You get the district or circle line there from South Kensington, then victoria line back to Kings Cross and bus or northern line back to Angel.

(Brunch - I meant Caravan or the Brasserie, not Dishoom.)

The Lego store always has a huge queue, find out what time it opens & get there early.

How is turning 10 becoming a teenager???

Definitely visit the House of Minalima in Soho. It’s free and will only take up 30mins of your time.
For Harry Potter fans, I’d also recommend afternoon tea at The Potion Room It’s expensive, but well worth it cutterandsquidge.com/pages/afternoon-tea-london Its also really close to House of Minalima.

Ten year old or a teenager?

When you go to the Lego Discovery store in Leicester Square, you could also go to M & M world. Chinatown borders Leicester Square and is worth a quick walk through.

I'd recommend getting Big Bus Tour classic ticket. On the bus, do a complete lap of the Red Route without getting off. It takes just over 2 hours and includes Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Big Ben, Mayfair, London Bridge, Hyde Park, Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace.
The ticket also includes a one-way river cruise along the Thames from Westminster Pier to the Tower of London, or vice versa. I'd start and finish the bus tour at Westminster Pier so afterwards you can catch the boat straight up to the Tower of London.
After you're done, head over Tower Bridge and walk along the river to Southbank in time for dinner. You could then go on the London Eye in the evening if you have time . At weekends it's open until 8:30.
If you fancy a trip on a bus without paying for an open top bus tour, the RV1 bus from Tower Gateway to Covent Garden goes past many of the big sites taking about 30 minutes.

The dinosaurs are at The Natural history museum, not The British museum. The science museum is next door, and Harrods isn’t far away.

Hi there! Sorry for the confusion, she is a 10-year old. I didn´t realise that in the UK you only use it for 13-19 year-olds.
When I submitted my initial post, I immediately realised that the dinosaurs are not at the British but at the Natural history museum. So my planning looks now a bit like this:
Friday evening: arrival and dinner near kings cross
Saturday: perhaps an early visit to the Lego store, then the dinosaurs then lunch nearby then perhaps the science museum or a tour and finish off with some shopping (primark)
I looked at the prices for the shows, but they are pretty steep. I´ll check if I can find something cheaper this week.
Do we need an oyster card or can we buy a weekend ticket or similar?
Lovely to see so much ideas already!

You need a debit/credit card with contactless to pay for bus/tube. Your DD doesn't have to pay unless you take a train, children have to pay from 11 onwards.

The National History museum can be packed, not sure how it works seeing the dinos can be a very busy entertainment. I would go there first thing and do Lego on Sunday. I doubt you manage the Lego Store plus NH before lunch.

The other good Harry Potter bit (apart from the HP bit at the lego store and Kings Cross) is if you’re on Regent St - half of the basement at Hamley’s is Harry Potter stuff, and usually less crowded than the Platform 9 3/4 shop (though also doesn’t have quite the same atmosphere).