Help please with planning trip to London

[Lazydaisy991]

We are going to London for a weekend next month and I'm looking for things to do, preferably cheap.
I also have some questions!
Do we need an oyster card? Not living in UK so not sure if tapping card will mean a big exchange fee? If we do need an oyster card how do they work?
I'm reading about recommendations for a boat trip to greenwich, when I look I can only find tourist boats and it's £72 for 4 of us 3 adults 1 child. Is this about right?
Any recommendations of things to do? 11 year old, 18 and 2 adults.
Oh and we are staying near monument.

You don’t need Oyster card. You can use contactless payment cards

Look at uber Thames Clipper boats , you can get hop on, hop off tickets.

Check if the winter light show is on at canary wharf. The uber boat journey back from there at night with all bridges lit up is lovely.

You can use your normal bank card, you just tap it on the reader once on buses (when you get on), and twice on everything else (entry and exit).
The exchange fee is completely within the power of your bank and none of us can help with that.
Kids under 11 go for free on tfl services.
The Thames clipper is not included in this. You will need to buy a paper ticket for the child but adults can use their bank card. The Thames clippers have their own website with times and fares, they're very convenient to use, bit cold in winter but still fun.

I'd use your bank cards to tap for contactless - it will just be the normal 'fees'.

If you do buy Oyster cards, you can buy at most stations. You then load with money and tap as you go - the downside of this is there's a £7 charge to buy the card, though you can get this back at the end of your trip.

You can also get an Uber boat to Greenwich - you tap your card the same as on the underground and it works out much cheaper than the other boats.

Do we need an oyster card? Not living in UK so not sure if tapping card will mean a big exchange fee?

You'd need to check this with your bank. If you are charged a flat-rate foreign-currency transaction fee by the bank that mount up rapidly if you use your contactless card. In which case better to get an Oyster card, and only incur one transaction fee by putting credit on it (see the TFL website).

I'm reading about recommendations for a boat trip to greenwich, when I look I can only find tourist boats and it's £72 for 4 of us 3 adults 1 child. Is this about right?

Much much cheaper to take the Uber boats -again Google.

You can get a visitor oyster card, but you need to order it in your home country and get it sent to you there, so there may not be time. Or you can pick up a PAYG oyster at any station. Your 11 yo goes free.

Stupid question but how do I get 11 year old through barrier or do I go to the entrance for buggies?
I'll need to find out about exchange fees I suppose they could easily add up

You can easily walk from Monument to Tower Hill and tower bridge. Look for the times it lifts to allow the boats through. You could also walk along the south bank and go into the tate modern and walk back over the millenium bridge and go to St Pauls Cathedral. Most of the museums are free and you can just make a donation if you want to. The Natural History and Science Museum are always hots with kids The same with St Pauls. Not far from St Pauls is the Old Bank of England. Not far from Monument is Leadenhall Market where they filmed some of the Harry Potter films.
All the parks are free so check out Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens and further out Richmond Park.
Check out the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace too.
There is a great free technology/art instalation for families near Tottenham Court Road called the Outernet I would recommend.
Lastly just by monument is where the Great Fire of London started. You can buy cheap tickets to walk the 300 odd steps to the top and get great views. Have a great trip.

Agree with the Natural History and Science Museums. It's worth booking a slot at Wonderlab at the Science Museum-it's fab.

If they are 11 its not free, under 11's go free but you can get them an oyster zip card in advance which gives free bus rides and child fares on the card if you top it up. If they are 10 go to the barrier for the buggies/luggage and go through on your card.

You have to pay for 11 year olds. Ten is the cutoff.

support.visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/16465480622354-Travelling-with-children#:~:text=Every%20child%20aged%2011%20years,will%20need%20an%20adult%20ticket.

If you & other adults going can open Revolut accounts you’ll be able to pay on your phones with no exchange fees.

Just be careful when tapping in and out on the tube. That you use the same card/device at both ends. I thought it was ok to use card to get in and phone to get out. I ended up with a large bill!

Taping a bank card is cheaper than an oyster card. There's no exchange fees if you're using Revolut. I tap in and out with my Revolut card on my phone whenever I'm in London.

A sightseeing bus is usually a good way to see a lot of the sights in 1 weekend. The tickets often last 24 - 48 hours and many include a boat trip too. It's worth the initial cost.

Tate Modern on the South Bank is free to go to and I don't think you need to book in advance. Most of the other museums need pre booking.

Any of the parks are nice to walk around and there are also walking tours that don't cost very much and are great. Lots of different themes.

Enjoy your trip.

Kids seem to love the Lego Store and M & M World in Leicester Square. Also the graffiti tunnels near Waterloo. Go on the London Eye or upon of the towers you can do for free if you book. Eat at Giraffe on the South Bank.

At each station there will always be at least one person attending the barriers to help you. Regarding exchange rates, that would apply to anything you buy. Do you have a card/ credit card that doesnt charge fees when used in other countries?

Also, be aware you need a different payment card for each person. You can’t pay for more than 1 person on the same card because of the capping system (a maximum charge per person per day regardless of how many journeys you take).

If staying near Monument, you are right on the river, so you could follow the Fire of London trail blog.az.co.uk/great-fire-of-london-and-monument-trail/ and later head over the water to Waterloo and the South Bank to eat, some reasonable places on The Cut, which is the road on which The Old Vic is located. You could visit the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth, The London Eye, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, Borough Food Market.

Staying at Monument is perfect. Walk down to Liverpool street street station and catch 26 bus . It takes you right. Through the City of London, St Paul’s Church, courts of justice, Trafalgar Square, Horseguard Parade, Houses of Parliament, Westminster CAthedral ending at Victoria. Go up to the top and see a Birds Eye view of all of London. Get on and off as many times as you want for one fare

At Victoria there are boats to take you all down the Thames plus lots to do

Under 18s travel free on buses and tubes. Go to the wide gate. Don’t try to squeeze through the ordinary gate. It snarls everything up. Make sure each adult has their own bank card and use the same card as it is capped .

They really really don’t travel free on the tube.

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https://support.visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/16465480622354-Travelling-with-children

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