London for Beginners

[Midlander01]

Looking at a family holiday to London but we're a bit lost where to stay, location and type of accommodation. DC are a bit old to all squish into a Premier Inn room but budget isn't huge.

Any suggestion for a suitable hotel (2 Premier Inn rooms? Or something a bit more upmarket?) Or self catering - are there any recommended websites?

Location wise we'd like to be quite central to get round the main sites. DC1 would like shopping and a show. DC2 would like museums and parks. Neither have been to London so also appreciate any must see attractions for tweens.

If you’re thinking about the summer holidays, try universityrooms.com We’ve done this three times now - twice near the museums in South Kensington (Imperial College Princes’s Gardens) and once near Islington (Rosebury Hall).
If you’re travelling by train, I’d recommend making the most of National Rail’s 2for1 deals. We did this for the London Eye and Tower Bridge.
I think the best shows for tweens are Lion King, Wicked and Matilda.
The Tower of London, ISF Cloud Cable Car and Science Museum and also must-dos with tweens.

Youth hostel?

Science museum and the natural history museum are the big two for tweens I would say.
Westfield is the big “mall” experience for shopping. Also maybe the new Battersea power station shopping centre, not sure what that’s like. Camden market is also popular with tourists and teens.

We’ve had good stays at the Premier Inn just along from Euston station.

The Premier Inn in Covent Garden is a great location.

I've stayed in the Premier Inn at Blackfriars/Fleet Street.

It's a bit less expensive than some of the really central ones like County Hall or Covent Garden, but is walking distance to most things and right beside the tube and Uber boat.

I was recommended a day trip to Greenwich and tell everybody about it as a destination. You get the uber boat there which is cool in itself, then there's Greenwich market, some free museums and a Meridian line to see. If you have any Tesco vouchers you can use them for the Zizzis there with a fantastic river view.

Thanks, lots of great suggestions. Any other accommodation advice, e.g. reasonably central apartments - is Booking or Airbnb the best bet or are there better booking platforms for London?

Is it a squish with 10-13 year olds? When your budget is small that's what you do surely? Hardly in the room anyway.

Get there early to get a decent spot for changing of the guard if you want to see that.