London- first time with 9 year old. Help me plan!

[Thismummyrunstheshow]

Have been wanting to take my eldest for years now but wanted her to be a good age to get the most out of it.

Travel down is easy and straightforward for us going to Euston. Was looking at going on a Sunday during August (but not bank holiday weekend). Going to buy a day travel card but London transport is free for under 12's is that right?
Would also like to jump on a bus and do a short journey too so could tie that in somewhere possibly.

Are there any apps that do a route plan as I have an idea of a number of sightseeing things I'd like us to do but I'm not Tube savvy above the basics- really want to maximise our time.

Any additional recommendations for kids most welcomed!!

Citymapper app is your friend for getting around.

No need to buy a travel card. Just use the same debit/credit card all day to scan in and out on the tube, but only scan in on buses. Once you get to the daily cost of a travel card, your card stops being charged.

Number 11 bus route will take you past most major sites in the city.

As for where to go, what's your budget, and what does she like? History? Books? Playing? TV? Characters? Exploring? High adrenaline?

I often used to travel down to London for the day with my kids from age 3 onwards. Always some fun to be had there.

How long are you going for? Just a day?

London closes early on a Sunday, similar to everywhere else, so this may impact what you want to do - check opening times of everything you wanted to visit.

I'm following this thread because I am an expat Brit living inthe US and will be bringing my 11 year old American granddaughter to the UK for ten days at the end of October/beginning of November. My kids live in Hertfordshire so we're staying near them, but I do want to take E to London a few times. This scanning of debit or credit card is new to me - you just tap it like an Oyster card or is there a special machine?

I am thinking of taking her to the Tower of London,possibly the London Eye, maybe a play at the Globe, maybe the Natural History Museum and some shopping. Any other suggestions would be welcome. She will be 11 and a half by then.

@Britinme You could take your granddaughter to the ballet at the Royal Opera House; Don Quixote will be playing when you are over. If she is interested in fashion she may like the Chanel exhibition at the V&A.

A trip down the Thames by Uber boat, you could go to Greenwich or the Olympic Park. Hampton Court. The Witches opens at the National Theatre on 7 November, that would go well with a spin on the London Eye.

@LadyLapsang Thank you for all of those thoughts. I have booked us a tour of Shakespeare's Globe on the 30th of Oct. we leave on November 8th so the play sounds like a great idea, also the river trip.

Login to the tfl oyster website and register your debit/credit/oyster card first.
This way you can check the charges and get a correction if you have been over charged.

I think an open double decker bus tour is always good

The science museum, transport museum
and natural history museum are all v good. I actually think the Tower of London isn’t that great for kids.

If she’s a grown up 9 and likes history she’ll like the Churchill war rooms. If she likes a bit of gore the london dungeon. If you are there at night and don’t have a particular show you want to see then the War of The Worlds experience is really good.

all kids seem to like china town (gerrards corner is a very kid friendly place), and it is handy for pre-west end dinner.

Boat down the Thames also good

@continentallentil - I was thinking about the open-top bus tour if the weather's reasonable.

@HereForTheFreeLunch - thanks. That's a new one on me. Can I make it work for two of us?

See if Tower Bridge is being raised https://www.towerbridge.org.uk/lift-times?utm_source=google&utm_medium=tb_search&utm_campaign=Q3&gclid=Cj0KCQjwuNemBhCBARIsADp74QSskhZqAnzkB90O0WZXoBaeqOqWL-GtRC7CWb5FEtZ1s_Zj5K0wAwcaAlqjEALw_wcB
It’s worth going round it too.
I timed it so we watched from HMS Belfast which is a great “museum” as you can actually touch it.
The Terrible Thames boat trip was fun.

@Britinme You could have lunch at the OXO Tower, the views are great. Your granddaughter is still young enough for the £15 children’s menu and they sometimes have a kids eat free offer in the school holidays. You will need to book the theatre quickly as the prices are reduced for the preview and selling fast (children get reduced rates too). Remember to find a good Bonfire Night display. Also, fish and chips…..

Thank you. I'm building up a dossier of ideas! Bonfire Night is definitely on the agenda - we usually only get fireworks on July 4th over here. Luckily, where we're staying usually has a really good display.

You can register as many cards as you like - so definitely two cards (one for each person) is fine. But it would do adult rates on the cards.
Your nine year old would anyway be free on buses and trams. For the train and tube you will need a child rate paper ticket from the counter.

@HereForTheFreeLunch - I'm the one with the 11 year old. The OP is the one with the 9 year old! Are 11 year olds still free?

ah! Sorry.

So for 11 year old you will need a zip card. I think you can be anywhere in the UK to apply and this will give her free (bus, tram) /discounted (train,tube) travel.

If you don't manage the photocard you can still get some discount for the 11 year old. See here -
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/11-15-zip-oyster-photocard#on-this-page-1

Thank you.we're travelling from the United States but I can ask my daughter to look into it for me, and I have a reasonably current picture of her (her mum and dad might even have a spare passport picture as she's only just got her passport). I'll check into that. I really appreciate your help.