London travel and activities advice please

[Snowdropsarelovely]

Hi, going to London in a couple of weeks with a 13 year old. How do I go about getting discount travel on the tube? As adults we will do the tap in tap out with our cards but if we do that with her it won't know she's eligible for a child's fare? Also, I'm a bit hazy on geography, is the museum of London vaguely near the cable cars – we are keen to do both. Any other recommendations for a teenager? Thank you

You will need a child's oyster card which you can get online or at a ticket office. Museum of London is near st Paul's / Barbican and is due to close from Dec 22 so you should be fine. The cable car is near royal Victoria docks and N Greenwich. There is also the docklands museum which is part of the museum of London in Canary wharf.

It looks like the Museum of London's main site is closing in December, but OP may have been thinking of Museum of London at Docklands, which is closer although there are a few stops on the DLR between them.

Another favourite of ours is the Sky Garden, which is free and has fantastic views.

For your 13 year old you need to get her an Oyster card and when you arrive take it to the tube ticket office and get them to put the young visitor discount on it.

Read this page, the info is under ‘travelling with children’. tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card

Start looking up on the net some of the attractions you want to visit, check opening times and visiting arrangements, and look at a London Transport map for location and travel.

City Mapper is a good app for getting around.

What else , or what kind of thing, are you interested in seeing?

Keep an eye on tfl.gov.uk for which tube lines are running. I don’t know about Citymapper but I’ve stopped using Google Maps for planning routes because half the time they don’t have up to date information.

If you do mean the Museum of London Docklands it’s not too far, & the O2’s quite close to the cable cars as well.

Thanks everyone, there is some really helpful information here. I had seen about the oyster cards but because you have to pay for those I wondered if there was a way I could just buy a day ticket. The museum is Museum of London, London Wall so maybe it's not the docklands one. We are keen to do the cable cars, we have the sky garden booked. Hoping the weather will be nice enough for a general wander round and sit in Covent Garden. What else would people recommend for teens please?

I've just looked at the Museum of London website – I hadn't realised there were separate ones in London and at Docklands. Going to check out both websites and see which one would be best for us!

The Museum of London at London Wall’s about a 20 minute walk from the Sky Garden so that could work well. It’s also near the Barbican so it might be worth having a look at the Barbican Centre website in case there’s anything on that your teen might like. How long are you in London for?

Thanks, Barbican looks like a good place to eat ! We have 3 days in London, got a show booked too and hope to maybe get cheaper on the day tickets for another one

Wandering along the south bank, say from London Eye to the Globe theatre is fun, and you could book a tour of the Globe if interested

You could visit Greenwich, which has a great market with lots of food stalls, the Planetarium where even if you don’t go in there are fabulous views from the top of the hill, the Painted Hall which is London’s version of the Sistine Chapel & the Cutty Sark. Then you could get a boat along to North Greenwich for the cable cars.

But I’d also say don’t try to pack too much in! Pick an area for each day & do stuff round there.

corgi trail
There is a corgi trail round Victoria area your dd might like

Milk train in Covent Garden is a must go to! I went with my daughter after we went to the theatre last weekend the ice creams were delicious!

Some great recommendations here I'm reading them and working out where they are so that we have a bit of a plan and aren't chasing around all over the place each day!

A rib boat blast ride / o2 is one of the venues they leave from I think so near cable cars.

Camden market

I think someone has already answered but I found this on the net:

Children under 11 travel free on most public transport services in London when accompanied by a fare-paying adult, or with a 5-10 Zip Oyster photocard. Children aged 11 to 15 years old can get free or discounted travel with a Zip Oyster photocard, or a Young Visitor discount.

We've used something called Keetoo before for ideas of where to go which is really flexible and you can prebook stuff to do or even decide on the day. Also no messing about with tickets. We like it because they give greater value. There is a guide on there about travelling with Kids as well some other info:

keetoo.com/travelling-in-london-with-kids-fares-tickets-and-advice/

Might be worth looking at.