Please help me plan a trip to London for me and DD

[FretfulPorpentine]

DD is 15, and has some SEN and some physical disabilities.

I'd like to take her to London soon but I think for her sake it needs to be a day trip. We live a five hour train journey from London. I have done there and back in a day before but that was an emergency situation and not fun at all (left home 5.30am and got back 11.30pm). My in-laws live about two and a half hours from Paddington so I am thinking about doing it from there.

DD's going to get overwhelmed if we try to pack too much in but I think would like to see the sights. So I'm thinking one of those sightseeing bus tours would work, but I've never been on one so I don't really know what they're like/how they work.

If we could fit it in I'd probably also get the river bus to Greenwich (or just Tower Bridge actually) from Westminster just to see things from the river too.

We have to carry quite a bit of stuff as DD is fed via a tube so all that has to come with us. How feasible is that on the tourist bus? It probably just means a small backpack for her and a big-ish one for me.

Also I don't know how she'll get on with the tube so probably need to walk from Paddington to the bus if that's possible.

I'm not planning an overnight for this trip as DD does want to go but isn't sure about more than a day. I think even if we do only one thing (sit on the tourist bus) it will have been a really good experience for her.

When I go to London I'm usually there for a particular Thing (gallery/theatre/seeing friends) so I'm less used to wandering about!

If anyone can see anything I'm missing or any different things that might work better I'm all ears!

Thanks

DD adored the London Eye river cruise at that age. Very accessible, the guides and fantastic and really knowledgeable - you’ll learn a lot!

I might be tempted to just take an ordinary double decker bus from Paddington tbh.

the 23 is a good shout. It goes along Oxford Street, past Marble Arch and Hyde Park, along Piccadilly to Trafalgar Square.

If you get off at Aldwych or Trafalgar Square you can walk across the bridge to Festival Pier and get a boat from there to the Tower.
Or if you fancied it, you could get off at Green Park and walk through to look at Buckingham Palace. (Not sure how much walking is feasible).

Sounds like a lot tbh with a two and half hour travel time either side of she is likely to be overwhelmed.

@longdistanceclaraclara She's pretty good with a long train journey - we do three hours each way for hospital appointments sometimes.

@AmIUsingMadeUpWords I did wonder about using a 'normal' bus but I'm not at all familiar with the routes, so thanks for this suggestion!

@stressedespresso The thing with anything with a guide is that DD is Deaf so I'd need to interpret which she would feel self conscious about.

Actually do the tour buses have guides like that as well? I suppose they do, I just hadn't thought of it!

Ah sorry - didn’t realise that! I’d honestly still really encourage you to go, maybe even book an early slot so that it’s quieter and she feels less self conscious. The buses would be the same situation re: guides. It’s worth contacting them - they may be more accessible than you think

If your DD uses hearing aids, the London Eye site says the cruises can accommodate those.

https://support.londoneye.com/hc/en-us/articles/213232005-What-facilities-are-there-for-guests-who-are-hard-of-hearing

As well as a general sightseeing bus ride, would she enjoy an accessible tour of a specific place?

eg Tower Bridge or Tower of London?

https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/sightseeing/sightseeing-tours/accessible-tours#:~:text=Tower%20of%20London&text=Join%20a%20monthly%20guided%20tour,blind%20or%20have%20visual%20impairments.

Hello, sounds like fun!
There are a couple of sightseeing buses which go past Paddington- for example, this one (red route). https://www.hoponhopoffplus.com/london/london-hop-on-hop-off-bus-tour
They are hop on/ hop off so you can get off whenever you fancy all day and catch another one later (they are every twenty minutes). This one also includes a river tour, which would break it up a bit as there can be a lot of sitting in traffic. I quite enjoyed it but did start to feel a bit sick of traffic after a while!
There is an audio guide so no one will care about your interpreting as they will all be listening with headphones to their own language. There should be room for the two backpacks you describe.
Another option is this alternative operator https://www.bigbustours.com/en/london/blue-route-london ‐ the blue route also goes past Paddington. And they have a 2 for 1 deal if you are travelling by train- https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/london-hop-on-hop-off-open-top-bus-tour-big-bus-tours
Hope you both have a great time!

How is DD sight? We loved Frameless. It is an accessible interactive art installation. There are 5 rooms. Massive. One has mirrored ceiling/floor and the paintings move up and down the walls.

In Another room the paintings arrive on the floor in paint splodges and you can wheel your chair or walk or run across the floor to ‘kick’ the paint up. Then the paintings build on the walls.

Each room is different. We found it magical and totally accessible. I also second the Uber boats up the river. Lots of fun.