London Aquarium

[LadyGAgain]

Hi!
Am thinking of taking DD (5) last week of August. How long should I allow to go round and do you know of cheap tickets? Tesco club card?

Is it worth the visit? Am I mad!!?

There areplenty ofdisplays close to the ground and platforms for stepping up, so it's great for kids. The way the fish are displayed is imaginative and exciting, the dc loved walking on glass over the tanks and lying on their backs in glass bubbles to look up at the fish. The aquarium also has a couple of small touch pools and penguins too which my dc loved.
The giant main aquarium, which goes across a couple of floors, is an amazing sight with great views, even if it’s busy. The jellyfish and piranhas are also a must.The ray lagoon is amazing. You can see them really close up, although if it’s busy you may need to hang around for a bit to get near the front.
It took us a few hours, but we did the Sea Life Ranger Pack which is available for £4 from the ticket office and includes an activity trail, magnifying glass, dress-up accessories, trading cards and a lanyard for tickets. We also helped out with the daily ray feed at 11.30. It’s first come first served, so make sure to arrive early.
Although it was the end of the summer holidays it wasn’t too busy. We kept bumping into the same group of mums with their buggies, but apart from that it wasn’t crowded. We also liked the fact the aquarium was right beside the London Eye, meaning we could easily combine the two.
Keep an eye out for tourist brochures in hotels and train stations (even if you’re local), as they often contain 2 for 1 vouchers on this attraction. Tesco Clubcard vouchers are valid. Pre-booking or booking online will save you money and some queuing on the day. The Sea Life London website also features some useful info about money-saving combination tickets for other London attractions.

Thank you @Ricekrispie22 . Do you think 10:30-2:30 is enough time with some lunch and your ranger pack sounds really fun so we would do that too?

I used Tesco Vouchers to go round that with my DD last year, she did like it but we found it very crowded and not as big as we were expecting (or as large as some we've been round before).

There isn’t a cafe and they don’t allow visitors to bring their own food. They search bags! And there isn’t anywhere to sit and eat it, even if you did smuggle it in.

Ah thank you. That's helpful to know!

I found it massively overcrowded last time I went, and that was on a weekday in term-time. I wouldn't take a child who gets stressed out by crowds there because it would be no fun.

I live nearby and think it’s rubbish. I’ve only ever gone with free tickets and certainly wouldn’t pay for it. I even give away the free tickets now. I find we get around it quite quickly as it isn’t that big and it’s so massively crowded I find it really stressful and so do the kids. Sorry but I wouldn’t recommend it.

The Deep Sea World in North Queensferry is much better if you're ever in the Edinburgh area. But that probably doesn't help you much!

As aquariums go, I would say the London one is nothing special, particularly for the money.

We had food with us they didn’t say anything at all when bags were searched

Wasn’t massively impressed when we went, neither was ds, he was 3 at the time. Very crowded for us too when we went.

I am rethinking our day....
thanks to you all for contributing with your experience