London weekend with baby

[Maloneyb]

I have a 7m/o and we’ll be in London later this month (will be 8mo) for a weekend

any recommendations for:

city centre places to stay
family friendly places to eat
must do fun attractions

(additional: is London sealife worth it?)

St James Park is lovely. Lots of wildlife, good playground. Can combine with Buckingham Palace (you can check online for dates/time of changing of the guard) and Trafalgar Square.

Covent Garden is lovely for a wander, nice shops and restaurants and lots of street performers. The Transport Museum there is excellent but probably best left until little one is older.

At that age I’d just do what I was interested in - whatever galleries/ sights / museums ect with them in a sling. They’re not going to be massively more interested in the Transport Museum than the V&A.

Restaurants slightly depends on where you and and what you want to eat, but I’ve found the Wolsey, Brasserie Zedel and the Cinnamon Club (at the weekend when it’s less business-y) to be really good with babies.

If its warm, dip the baby's feet in the Diana Memorial Children's fountain. Lots of different depths and speeds of water and bubbles etc and there'll be loads of kids round for them to look at.

Otherwise at that age just lots of nice walking around they usually quite like that.

Bills is good for Brunch. Very family friendly and a nice vibrant interior.

Give seaside a very wide berth, do it when older if you really want but not with a buggy.

At that age do what you want to do, and enjoy it!

What sort of thing do you enjoy?

The South Bank is always a good bet, lovely to walk all the way from the London Eye to London Bridge along the river. Past The Globe, Tate Modern (will be cool inside and is free) go to Borough Market. The fountains on the S Bank are fun.

Take a boat to Greenwich, wander past the Cutty Sark, RoyalNaval College, Maritime Museum, up the hill in the park for the Observatory, dateline, great views and a bit of a crawl about under a tree?

Docklands museum has a lovely area called Mudlarks. Have to book before but it’s free and good for under 5s. A soft play section good for babies too. Horniman museum Dulwich is good and there is a small aquarium downstairs that’s only about £5 for an adult so if you going Sealife for baby I’d go there instead as it’s cheaper and quieter and easy to get a pram around.

With a baby tho I’d prob go where you want and stop off at a park with a blanket for some time for baby to be out of pram. Can always check websites for accessible buildings for ease with pram.

The Diana playground in Kensington gardens is great even for babies. Giant sandpit, shallow water to splash in, some sensory/sound things and nice spots for picnics. You may have to queue to get in though.

Coram's fields is also good, though less central.