London itinerary with 5yo DS

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hoping for some help and suggestions for 3 nights in London just me and my DS(5). Staying near Covent Garden.

Tuesday (we’ll be up from 5am so museum might be ambitious)
10am arriving into LHR and tube to Covent Garden to drop bags.
wander around and get lunch somewhere nearby
2pm Transport Museum

wednesday
10am skygarden

2pm History museum

thinking we could wander to Borough Market after Skygarden.

Thursday
no plans as yet - open to suggestions

Friday
No firm plans yet except…
3pm pick up bags from hotel to head to LCY for 6pm flight

Also thinking about booking a show but not sure what to pick and wondering if might get better value last minute - isn’t there somewhere in Leicester Sq?

The Diana memorial playground is brilliant for that age.

Get a Thames Clipper and see the city by water.

Greenwich maritime museum has an excellent role play area and is a nice museum. Greenwich itself is lovely.

Re a show, there is a Facebook page called Families who love theatre who might be able to help with a 5 year old - it's quite young. Otherwise there is a theatre in Wimbledon near the train station called Polka that has a show for 2-5 yr olds.

Maybe a river trip, visit to Hamleys or the Diana Princess of wales playground in Kensington gardens.

For shows, sign up to CentralTickets and TodayTix where you can find deals,

The Lion King could be good for 5 year old

Have look at Unicorn Theatre - a dedicated children's theatre between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. https://www.unicorntheatre.com/whats-on

Anything at the Southbank Centre - lots of free stuff https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/events/spring-family-fun/

Greenwich would be a good whole day out on Thursday - take the Uber boat one way from Embankment to Greenwich and the DLR the other - sit on the front carriage and 'drive'. You can see the Cutty Sark - look from the outside if you don't want to go in, The Maritime Museum, walk up through the park (which is lovely) , sit at the top and picnic if the weather is nice, fantastic views) Visit the Observatory and Planetarium - There is a small free Astronomy exhibition and a children's show in the planetarium https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/planetarium-shows

Boats:
https://www.thamesclippers.com/plan-your-journey/route-map

If you go to Borough Market go and look at the Golden Hinde ship by the river.

Friday - go down through the park and see Buckingham Palace from the front? And look at the pelicans in St James's Park? Go to ......duh duh duuuuuuurh Hamleys?

I would query the Skygarden with a 5 year old to be honest, unless you are going there for breakfast or are using it to meet up with friends for example, but if you do go, instead of Borough Market (which is a good 30 minute walk away) you might want to consider Spitalfields Market which also has good options to eat and Bishops Square (off Bishopsgate) has a load of life-sized statues of elephants (Herd of Hope) and other funky statues to look at/climb on (you can't climb on the elephants but loads of people do on the others)

A wander along the river is good if the weather is fine and the Tate Modern is great for kids just because of the space

Mine loved the Mail Rail at that age Mail Rail - The Postal Museum but you need to book in advance I think

Kensington Gardens has already been suggested and is a great option

The Planetarium has a decent kids show if he is interested in space. There is also a new Paddington experience but don't know if it is any good

London Zoo isn't cheap but a good day out

https://paddingtonbearexperience.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=brand&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22042168545&gbraid=0AAAAAqztyotMrn9DAXSiRP8bHiimv_jXs&gclid=CjwKCAjwz_bABhAGEiwAm-P8YaZKZvd7Z9fJPU168ftGM3zLD_01Kp68ylzgoRaA9W9v3me6kukfNRoCs5gQAvD_BwE

Thank you everyone. Food for thought. Good to know that Sky Garden may not be the best for a 5yo - thank you!

was also considering the aquarium and/or Shrek experience.

There’s so much it is quite overwhelming and don’t want to kill ourselves but also want to make the most of it too.

Borough Market can get absolutely heaving, which I'm not sure a 5 year old would appreciate. You can probably just walk through, clinging onto his hand!

Definitely a trip on the Clipper, down to Greenwich and back.

If it's wet, then the Tate Modern has a lot of space.

If you're at the Natural History Museum, you can have a run around Hyde Park, see the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gardens etc.

I live just outside London, so took the dcs in every couple of weeks at that age. My best advice would be, pick an area of London and stay local to it, for at least half the day. So, perhaps museum, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens. Or, focus on the river, Greenwich, Tate etc

We've just spent several days in London with 4 year old. We loved natural history museum, and diana memorial playground was a short trip away on the tube, with a walk through the park. He still talks about it.
We really enjoyed Chinatown for dinner too, with a visit to the lego shop. We also enjoyed the tower of london and crown jewels but it was expensive, we did take a boat down the Thames to it. He was very disinterested in the London eye.

Yes don't bother with the Sky Garden if you haven't already booked and Borough Market is not good for children (it's not "fun").

At that age mine used to love Science Museum, there was a great free play area in the basement for this age group. Also, ride on top of the double decker bus, street performers down South Bank, ditto carousel over there, Lego shop, and many of other suggestions mentioned above. I wouldn’t bother with Borough Market, it’s really not for young kids.

I would do the transport museum maybe Thursday, as you can spend quite a long time there.

This is all brilliant and making me completely rethink my plans! Going to have a google of everything now and hash out a new plan! Thank you!!

the Tower of London - I’ve never been and would be very curious to see - did your 4yo enjoy @Aak?

Just a thought, but if you're going on the Tower side of the river, make sure you point out the Great Fire of London Monument. Not sure where you live, but it's on the National Curriculum for year 1, I think. They're always fascinated by the Great Fire at that age.

Museum of London Docklands is also excellent for that age. Very hands on!

Yes docklands museum is excellent for that age and if you want a relatively fancy meal you could walk to Roe which is a lovely restaurant that surprisingly has a children's menu.

London Zoo is great and never feels too busy, as well as the animals my almost 4yr old loves the small water-fountain play area, just bring spare clothes (it's next to the farmyard/petting zoo bit). If you do go to the zoo don't feel you have to see everything, as it's v big. Our faves are the penguins, gorillas, giraffes, butterfly enclosure, reptile house, and 'In With The Monkeys' which is a monkey enclosure you can walk in (I feel it's better than the Monkey Valley one as the monkeys are smaller and tend to get closer).

If it's a sunny day it's worth checking out Granary Square in Kings Cross - it's a big square with lots of water fountains the kids LOVE to run around, just bring spare clothes. There's also v good icecream (Ruby Violet), and lots of choices of restaurants eg Dishoom, Bao, and two sections with food market stalls. From 30th June - end of August they also have a huge cinema screen set up on the canal (free). And worth checking out Central Saint Martins arts degree shows which are quite fun and free, just check dates https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/central-saint-martins/whats-on/csm-shows-2025 .

The Anthony McCall Solid Light exhibition at Tate Modern is great for kids (and adults), on until 29th June.

Mail Rail at the postal museum is good too.

I find the Transport Museum a bit overwhelming and busy. We prefer the RAF museum, but it's further out.

Borough market also gets very very busy. I'm not sure a 5yr old would be interested.

If you think your kid would enjoy it it could be fun to go to a restaurant with counter seating so they can watch the chefs cooking eg Benihana.

The Little Angel theatre in angel does shows that are good for this age - mostly puppets but thoughtful and interesting. They don't have shows running all the time, but is worth checking their site if you want a sit down activity (that is cheaper than the lion king!)

You can't go to London with a 5 year old boy without going to HMS Belfast, which is an old battleship turned into a museum - docked on the south side of the Thames near Tower Bridge and London Bridge station. Every child I've ever met in London, including my own two, has completely loved it! I would go there on the afternoon of the day you're at the Sky Garden (you can walk it easily) and go to the Natural History museum another day. The journey between the Sky Garden and South Kensington where the museums are is quite a long one. Also, you 'll get a great view of Tower Bridge and could have a picnic lunch on the grassy areas just near it.

I would not bother with Thames clipper. Expensive for what it is. Unless you get on it very early in the journey you won’t get a seat in the outside bit- and then it feels effectively like an expensive bus.

The Paddington Bear Experience is brilliant .. they really get the kids involved.

Sky garden and Natural History Museum are opposite ends of London. I would do Natural History Museum, Science Museum (which is next door and fit my kids interests better) and Diana Memorial Playground one day.

Borough Market will be full of adult tourists and queues judging from social media. Not the idea of fun for a 5 year old.

Agree with that except that I wouldn't try to do both museums on the same day. We used to do just one and even that was exhausting. Plus you've got to walk all the way across Kensington gardens to get to the Diana playground (which is fab)

The Wonderlab at the top of the science museum is hands on for kids and really fun, but you have to pay for it. You can get a yearly pass for not much more than the cost of a ticket, or you used to be able to, at least - it's been a while since I was there

Avoid borough market! I am a Londoner snd went there recently with my teen (not having been in years) - it was sooo crowded and nothing that a 5 year old would enjoy.

the museum of childhood is great and then Spitalfields for lunch?

See here: www.vam.ac.uk/young/

Museum wise I would pop into the Natural History Museum for the dinosaurs only, and then go next door to the Science museum. There are three areas for kids, two free and for your age groups. Much better IMO.

Museum of London docklands isn't that far from city airport, you could potentially do that on the way back. You can pre book a play session there.

Sky garden is good for the view. If you're near Tower Bridge, Google 'Bridge lifting times' as it's always good if you can see it let a boat through.

South bank walk along the river is always nice. Tate Modern and Southbank Centre en route. Both great stop offs to rest weary trotters and use the toilets.

Tower of London is great but you do need a full day there, it's massvie. They do a kids audio tour. Age 5 might be on the young side though, but they might love it.