Southwark/Vauxhall vs. Lancaster Gate/Hyde Park for family summer visit

[shwang]

We have 4 girls ages 6, 8, 11 and 17 and will be visiting London in summer 09. In June we will be renting a flat for 10 days in Little Venice. We return to London for 10 days in July and are deciding whether to rent a riverside holiday flat on ALbert Embankment between Vauxhall and Waterloo....or a holiday flat near Hyde Park on Lancaster Gate. The latter seems a more child-friendly location ,but it's significantly more expensive, and we'll have already been in North London in June. Is south-of-Thames a child-friendly area, close to the Eye and Tate ? Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks so much !

i am sure some south londoners will come on to tell you that South London rules , but that particular bit is truly horrible... stick to Hyde Park, well worth the money!!!

I'd go for Hyde Park and I live in South London. That stretch along the river is pretty dead - you would be very close to the South Bank, but you could only really spend a day there.

There is NOTHING for a very long way between Vauxhall and Waterloo - no shops, no buses, no nothing. Total dead zone. Definitely go for Lancaster Gate

Thanks for your input, beforesunrise !

Why horrible if you don't mind saying ? It's right next to Riverbank Park Plaza hotel and looks fairly swanky & safe. Do you mean it's sterile corporate and boring ? Or dangerous ? Tempting because of the walking distance to Eye, Tate, Westminster...but we don't want to be stuck in a dull concrete wasteland !

I live very near there so know it well - it's not dangerous, but just a bit dead, no cafes, no shops, not much atmosphere and I think you would exhaust the options within walking distance fairly quickly.

That said, if it's much cheaper than your other option it would be fine, the transport links are good, but it's just a bit dull.

shwang, others have expressed why it's dire... dead, empty, boring and i think a bit dangerous too. i don't know where you're from, so i can't offer you a comparison that would make you understand... summer in Lancaster gate means you'd be taking long walks in Hyde Park till 9pm if you wanted, then go for icecream on queensway, choice of (reasonably priced) alfresco restaurants, cinemas on your doorstep, transport links to everywhere...etc etc

Thank you, mums! You are all wonderful to help me out so quickly. I live near San Francisco USA. What a great resource this is for mums local and abroad ! I definitely am turned off by your descriptions of Albert Embankment & like the sound of evening strolls, ice cream, outdoor meals, so you've got me heading toward Lancaster Gate. My worry, aside from the cost of that one, is that American friends have told me that Queensway is horrible: tacky, noisy, charmless tourist trap. Sounds like I'll have to just work a little harder to find special places.

Queensway isn't that nice, true. But you're very near Holland Park which is very nice. You're also near the fabulous playground in Kensington Gardens (which your younger two will like) and can walk through Kensington Gardens to Kensington High St, which your elder two will like - especially the eldest

I personally quite like Queensway but maybe that's because i am a bit tacky deep down...

enjoy your trip!!!!

I used to live exactly where you're describing in Vauxhall and I vote for Lancaster Gate too