London advice please

[SpicyTinkle]

We're planning to fly from Edinburgh to London the first week of April with 3 of our DC (8, 12 and 15).

I was going to just book a Premier Inn, but wondered if anyone had any other recommendations, or even a suggestion of which Premier Inn is best? I don't want to use Airbnb as we've not used it before and I'd be nervous about something going wrong when we've got the kids with us.

Which attractions are must see/worth paying for? We are happy to walk/use public transport and are hoping for a mix of free and paid for days out.

If anyone could suggest the best airport to fly into too, that would be brilliant.

Thanks in advance.

I wouldn't stay at Heathrow. It's miles out of town

Get off plane and travel into central on Piccadilly line.

Stay at a zone 1 hotel. The Piccadilly line to H'row is about 45 mins each way

Premier inns are everywhere now

Paddington (for Heathrow express) brand new
Earls Court or Holborn for picc line
County Hall is good location but tricker to reach from Heathrow

H express will be costly

Paddington Basin is a new and modern development. Lots of places to eat. Lots of offices. Like a tiny canary wharf. If you known that? Outside the Basin, its not exciting

From Paddington you can walk to hyde park, bus to oxford st
Tube to anywhere as its well connected

Covent Garden would be good too as you're right in the heart of things

Be prepared to walk a lot. Don't bring heavy luggage

If this is the DC's first trip to London then I'd make sure to see the big ticket tourist cliche items or at least present them with a list and ask them which they care about seeing.

So that's Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, and definitely a trip on the London Eye.

Oh! In think the Premier Hub hotels are tiny/pod rooms So beware of those

Of the big tourist cliche list the only one you should pay money for is the London Eye.

They might want to see the Harry Potter sites: Platform 9 3/4, Millennium Bridge, Leadenhall Market and if they're big fans then it really worth spending a full day going to the Studio Tour in Watford.

If you can’t get into sky garden try oxo tower, not high rise but free and great views

Get the children to search TikTok for free stuff to do in london

A practical issue with public transport is paying child fares. It’s nearly impossibly difficult to organise once you get there, I would recommend studying TfL website carefully and setting it up in advance. I went with a child recently and ended up paying adult fares for her.

Definitely go for London City airport if you can. It's way more convenient than Heathrow.

As a Londoner I would say the essential sights are Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, 10 Downing Street, Horse Guards, Pall Mall, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. All easily walkable for relatively fit people in a day or less. Another day would be south side of the Thames from Tower Bridge, Borough Market, Bankside ( past Shakespeare's Globe, down to Tate Modern) across the pedestrian bridge to Saint Paul's.

I would also highly recommend a river trip up to Greenwich and a walk around the park, observatory, maritime museum. A visit to the Sky Garden would be well worth it too (still free I think but you have to book in advance) and better views than from the Shard.

If you have any more time a walk around Covent Garden, Shaftesbury Avenue (where all the theatres are) China Town and Soho. This is what you'd call the West End of London and has fabulous architecture and iconic buildings and lots of interesting little nooks and crannies.

If you really want to go shopping, avoid Oxford Street and go to the Kings Road in Chelsea instead. Starting at Sloane Square tube which brings you to Peter Jones, the most fabulous dept store in the whole of London (imvho) and then the Kings Road beyond.

I wouldn't stay in Paddington, OP. Some of it's a bit grim and you have to walk through boring bits to get anywhere interesting. (Oxford street is nearest interesting thing- or Madame Tussaud's shudder- neither of which are the best London has to offer!)

There are several premier inns near the Thames, London Southwark (near Tate Modern), London Bankside and London Waterloo which is Westminster Bridge. If all of those are busy I'd go for Holborn, as then you can get the Piccadilly line in and still be very close to everything- eg walk to Covent Garden in 5 mins and to the British Museum etc.

Even the Victoria one is a bit more convenient I'd say, can walk through St James's park to Trafalgar Square and to Buckingham palace and to Tate Britain.

National Lottery days out vouchers might be useful.

www.national-lottery.co.uk/days-out

@superram

Heathrow is the nearest, you can be in town in 15 mins on Heathrow express or 25 on Elizabeth line. You and dh can use contactless cards and 8 year old is free. Might need a kids travel card for 12 and 15 year olds. Look at trains too in terms of cost, it’s not that much longer once you factor in waiting at the airport.

The Elizabeth Line? Are you a time traveller from the future?

County Hall premier Inn is grim! The one opposite it is much better it’s called Waterloo (Westminster Bridge)

If you go to the Museum of London then take half an hour to go to Postman’s Park, which is the saddest, most charming public monument to bravery I have ever seen.

@SpicyTinkle I stayed here on one occasion, it was great! www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-london-oxford-street?utm_source=google&utm_medium=maps&utm_campaign=google-places

For a hotel we also stayed at one next to the tube station at St Johns Wood, can’t remember the name now! But it was so convenient and walkable to lots of places.

@viques It’s been open between Heathrow and Paddington for some time now. And between Liv St and Shenfield.

Havent read much of the thread but saw you're looking at staying in Paddington.
I would avoid Paddington, is not very nice and is quite far from all the attractions. Take a look around Gloucester road/South Kensington. The southbank area or west end near Covent Garden. You'll be able to walk to lots of attractions from these areas.

Enjoy!!!

Travel:
Scroll down this page snd follow the advice for Young Visitor Discount on Oysters for your elder two:
tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card#on-this-page-7

Your youngest goes free, take them through the wide gate for buggies etc.

For adults don’t bother with an Oyster as you will have to pay for the card, keep topping it up etc. Just use your contactless card. You need to use one card each, and use the same card all day. It will automatically cap the cost at the max travel card cost for your journeys that day.

Be scrupulous about tapping in and out. Easy on the tube because you have to get through the barrier, but often on the DLR, some trains etc, you have to look for the yellow card reader. If you don’t tap out you get charged for the longest journey possible on that line. (No need to tap out on buses).

City Mapper is a good app for getting around.

You will quickly get the hang of it: let the teens be in charge of navigating some trips.

We really do stand on the R and walk up the L on escalators so don’t stand next to each other. And be ready with your cards before you get to the tube gate, don’t stop there to start rummaging in your bag. Once through, keep walking for a few metres.

Sounds obvious but so many visitors cause pile ups like this!

However, people will generally be very happy to answer questions about train destinations etc so ask if you get flummoxed.

London Bridge / Borough Market would be a good location too.

Thanks so much everyone. Mumsnet is ace.

[quote NotYourOscarSpeech]@viques It’s been open between Heathrow and Paddington for some time now. And between Liv St and Shenfield.[/quote]
I didn’t know that! I thought they were only running test trains atm.

It's not officially open, the trains are running under the tfl rail name between Paddington and Heathrow.

Thanks for everyone's help so far.

So far, it looks like this:

• Flying to Heathrow

• Staying at Premier Inn, Putney Bridge with breakfast

• Have ordered Oyster cards

Day 1 - Arriving 19:15 (need recommendation for dinner near Putney Bridge please).

Day 2 - Booked tickets for Tower of London and will book Sky Garden when tickets become available.

Day 3 - Booked tickets for the Natural History Museum and Science Museum and plan on getting a Thames Clipper back to the hotel.

Day 4 - Booked tickets for the Harry Potter Studio Tour.

Day 5 - Leaving 17:20.

Please could you help me fill in the blanks? I'd like to show the DC all the usual landmarks, so I need to work out what's where. I would love recommendations for dinner and anything else really that's worth catching.

Thanks so much everyone!

I'd probably do the Thames clipper on the same day as Tower of London actually? As the Tower is by the river. You could walk across Tower Bridge, up to London Bridge and borough market, them along past the Globe Theatre and to Tate mod?

When you do the Museums, you could go for a walk in Hyde Park and see the Diana Memorial fountain or walk to Kensington Palace.
Alternatively you could walk to Harrods and then on to Buckingham Palace (Museums to Buckingham palace would be 40 mins but Harrods around half way).

Thanks Cyberworrier. Can't do the Clipper on the Tower day though cause that's a Sunday and they don't go as far as Putney at the weekend. Don't mind walking or travelling to the river to get it though. It's more for the experience than the mode of travel.

I'd walk across Putney Bridge into Putney for dinner, loads of places to eat there. The Dynamo, about 2 mins down Putney Bridge Road (just on the left about 1/2 mins over the bridge) do brilliant pizzas