Top Kids’ Activities and Sights
London is a great city for kids. Big parks, colorful pageantry, engaging museums, and evocative historical sights make for happy little travelers. Add to that the buses, boats, trains, and Ferris wheels ready for riding, and your newly minted Londoners might never want to go home. However, the key to a successful family trip to this big city is making everyone happy, including the parents. My family-tested recommendations are designed to do just that.
Choose hotels in a kid-friendly area near a park. Bayswater and Notting Hill neighborhoods put you close to Kensington Gardens, with its imaginative playground (see Hyde Park listing later). Some of my recommended spots in North London are a stone’s throw from Regent’s Park. If you’re staying a week or more, rent an apartment (see here ). London’s big, budget chain hotels generally allow kids to sleep for free (see here ).
Readily available Wi-Fi (at hotels, some cafés, and all Starbucks and McDonald’s) makes bringing a mobile device worthwhile. Most parents find it worth the peace of mind to buy an international plan from their provider for the whole family: Adults can stay connected to teenagers while allowing them maximum independence (see here ).
Try these tips to keep your kids content throughout the day.
• Eat dinner early (around 18:00) to miss the romantic crowd. Skip the famous places. Look instead for relaxed cafés, pubs (kids are welcome, though sometimes restricted to the restaurant section or courtyard area), or fast-food restaurants where kids can move around.
• Quality chain restaurants pop up at many of the places you’re likely to visit, providing some good go-to options that are likely to please young palates. Look for Byron Hamburgers, Wagamama Noodle Bar, and Pizza Express.
• Picnic lunches and dinners work well; stop by a grab-and-go shop—such as Pret or Eat—or a supermarket with good take-out food, such as Sainsbury’s Local or M&S Simply Food (see the Eating in London chapter for more ideas). Fun places to picnic are Hyde Park’s rose garden, the grounds of the Tower of London, Greenwich Park, Jubilee Place Park in the Docklands area, or on the move—aboard a boat cruising the Thames or on an open-top sightseeing bus.
• Some of London’s sights offer atmospheric eating options and good deals for families. Kids under age 12 eat free at the British Museum’s cafeteria-style Gallery Café. St. Martin-in-the-Fields’ Café in the Crypt, underneath the church, is more cozy than creepy. Would-be knights love The Medieval Banquet near the Tower of London, where costumed servers, minstrels, jesters, and contortionists accompany the four-course meal (described later). Aspiring royals will enjoy having high tea in the Orangery at Kensington Palace. Boat-loving littles might want to snack at the café beneath the copper hull of the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
The key to a successful London family vacation is to slow down. Take extended breaks when needed.
• Buy your child a trip journal, and encourage him or her to write down observations, thoughts, and favorite sights and memories. This journal could end up being your child’s treasured souvenir.
• Let your kids make some decisions, such as choosing lunch spots or deciding which museums or stores to visit. Deputize your child to lead you on my self-guided walks and museum tours.
• Don’t overdo it. Tackle only one or two key sights a day, and mix in a healthy dose of fun activities, like exploring London’s fabulous parks. If you’re visiting museums with younger children, you could hit the gift shop first so you can buy postcards, then hold a scavenger hunt to find the pictured items. Museum audioguides are great for older children, and some museums even offer audioguides just for kids.
• Take advantage of Time Out London’s frequently updated website, which includes handy kids’ calendars listing activities, shows, and museum events, all searchable by date and location (www.timeout.com/london/kids ). Their annually updated guidebook, London for Children (available in bookstores and many newsstands), is chockablock with ideas for the serious parent tour-guide in London.
• Follow this book’s crowd-beating tips. Kids get antsy standing in line. At each sight, ask about a kids’ guide or flier.
• Most of the big museums—such as the Tate Modern, Tate Britain, and National Gallery—schedule children’s activities on weekends. Some museums also offer “backpacks” with activities to make the visit more interesting. Ask at museum information desks.
• Many museums—such as the Science Museum and Museum of London Docklands—have play areas for children under age seven. (The Army Museum will too when it reopens in 2017.)
• Give your child a money belt and an expanded allowance; you are on vacation, after all. Let your children budget their funds by comparing and contrasting the dollar and pound.
• It’s good to have a “what if” procedure in place in case something goes wrong. Give your kids your hotel’s business card, your phone number (if you brought a mobile phone), and emergency taxi fare. Let them know to ask to use the phone at a hotel if they are lost. And if they have mobile phones, show them how to make calls or texts in the UK.
• If you allow kids to explore a museum or neighborhood on their own, be sure to establish a clear meeting time and place.
• Public WCs can be hard to find. Try department stores, museums, and restaurants, particularly fast-food places.
This is a great area for people-watching and candy-licking. Kids like the London Transport Museum, with its interactive zone (see here ).
The grand square is fun for kids (Tube: Charing Cross). Climb the lions, munch a meal in a crypt (at St. Martin-in-the-Fields), and tour the National Gallery.
Ask about their children’s printed guides, audioguide programs, and events—Sunday mornings are especially kid-friendly. Look for the “Family Fun” brochure at the information desk.
See the National Gallery Tour chapter.
Next to the church on Trafalgar Square is a glass pavilion, with a brass-rubbing center below that’s fun for kids who’d like a souvenir to show for their efforts (£4.50 and up, Mon-Wed 10:00-18:00, Thu-Sat 10:00-20:00, Sun 11:30-18:00, tel. 020/7766-1122; for church details, see here ). The affordable Café in the Crypt has just the right spooky tables-on-gravestones ambience (see here ).
Kids enjoy the bands and pageantry of the Buckingham Palace Changing of the Guard, but little ones get a better view at the inspection at St. James’s Palace or Wellington Barracks (see here ).
The Horse Guards change daily, and most kids find them fascinating (on Whitehall, between Trafalgar Square and #10 Downing Street, Tube: Westminster, see here ).
This titillating district has lots of schlocky amusements, such as the pricey Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Be careful of fast-fingered riffraff. Hamleys toy store is just two blocks up Regent Street (listed below), and Cool Britannia (across from Ripley’s) has cheap Union Jack souvenirs kids love.
If your teenager wants to bring home a few chic and cheap London fashions, Oxford Street (at the intersection of Regent Street) is a good place to start. Take the Tube to the Oxford Circus stop, and you’ll be surrounded by lots of shops selling inexpensive, trendy clothes for teens. Stores include Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Zara, H&M, and music stores like HMV. Sandwich shops and coffeehouses (including a half-dozen Starbucks) offer easy rest stops. Also see the “Regent Street Shopping Walk” (on here ).
Hamleys is the biggest toy store in Britain, with seven floors of toys (daily, 188 Regent Street, Tube: Oxford Circus, www.hamleys.com ).
Harrods in Knightsbridge, with its over-the-top toy and food departments, can be fun for kids of all ages (see here ).
Markets, particularly the Camden Lock Market, will hit the spot for finicky teenagers in need of loud music, cool clothes, and plenty of food choices (see here ).
Long-running shows (such as Wicked, Matilda, and The Lion King ) are kid- and parent-pleasers (see the Entertainment in London chapter).
Fans (and Muggle parents) enjoy visiting places in London where scenes from the movies were filmed (see here ). Or, better yet, visit the actual sets at the studio where the movie magic was made (see “The Making of Harry Potter,” on here ).
Despite the lines outside and the crowds inside, the waxworks are popular with kids for gory stuff, pop and movie stars, everyone’s favorite royals, and more (see here ).
This venerable animal habitat features more than 17,000 creatures and a fine petting zoo. Call for feeding and event times (daily, in Regent’s Park, Tube: Camden Town, then bus #274, tel. 0344/225-1826, www.zsl.org ).
For a scenic treat that also happens to be a good value, take the London Waterbus down Regent’s Canal to the zoo. They drop you off right at the entry (ticket includes one-way trip and admission to the zoo; board at Camden Lock Market, Tube: Camden Town, or at Little Venice, Tube: Warwick Avenue; www.londonwaterbus.com ).
Regent’s Park also has rental rowboats.
Kids will wonder how their grandparents ever survived without Xbox as they wander through this rickety old house filled with toys that predate batteries and microchips. Be aware, though, that you must exit through a neat toy shop (see here ).
The crown jewels are awesome, the Beefeater tour plays off kids in a memorable and fun way, and the welcome center offers quizzes, badges, and activities. Avoid the long ticket lines by buying your ticket in advance at the Trader’s Gate gift shop just below the Tower Hill Tube station ticket office, at a London travel agency, or online at a slight discount (tickets purchased online must be used within 7 days).
See the Tower of London Tour chapter.
Medieval Meal near the Tower of London: In $$$$ The Medieval Banquet ’s underground brick-arched room, costumed wenches bring you a four-course medieval-themed meal as minstrels, knights, jesters, and contortionists perform. If you enjoy an act, pound on the table. Reserve online or by phone (adult-£50, child-£30, family deal for 2 adults and 2 kids-£110—Wed, Thu, and Sun only, 15 percent discount for Rick Steves readers—can’t combine with family deal, doors open Wed-Sat at 19:15, Sun at 17:15, show starts about 30 minutes later, closed Mon-Tue, veggie option, rentable medieval garb, St. Katharine Docks, enter docks off East Smithfield Street, Tube: Tower Hill, tel. 020/7480-5353, www.medievalbanquet.com ).
The museum has a very kid-friendly presentation that takes you from prehistoric times to the present. The events guide at the entrance details current kids’ activities (see here ).
This modern complex presents professional theater for children on two stages (ask about family discounts, check play’s recommended ages before booking, café, on the South Bank just behind City Hall, 147 Tooley Street, Tube: London Bridge; tel. 020/7645-0560, www.unicorntheatre.com ).
The Bankside Walk (see here ) links several sights children might enjoy: The Golden Hinde ship, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Clink Prison Museum, and Old Operating Theatre.
The London Eye, a giant Ferris wheel, is a delight for the whole family (see here for more information and crowd-avoidance tips). The same company runs the other two sights in the same complex (listed below), Madame Tussauds Waxworks, and the skippable London Dungeon—if you think you’ll visit more than one of them, consider buying a combo-ticket to save some money (available at the website or ticket counter of any of these attractions).
In the London Eye complex (Tube: Waterloo or Westminster), the small, pricey, but entertaining Sealife Aquarium resembles an overpriced theme park. Although there are far better aquariums elsewhere, this place packs in school groups and families looking for a break from museums (daily, www.visitsealife.com ).
Next door, Shrek’s Adventure is part walk, part 4-D ride. The crowded journey through Shrek’s swamp re-creates scenes from the movie series (timed entry daily every 15 minutes, www.shreksadventure.com ).
The free playground in Jubilee Gardens, next to the London Eye complex, has an adventurous jungle gym of nets and logs for climbing and balancing, and the little carousel in the London Wonderground carnival area nearby delights for a small fee.
Older kids might like scrambling across the decks of this WWII warship (see here ).
London’s backyard is the perfect place for museum’d-out kids to play and run free. For older kids, the park has a tennis court, a putting green, and trails for running or biking. Young children will enjoy the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in adjacent Kensington Gardens, with its Peter Pan-themed climbing equipment, including a huge wooden pirate ship (Tube: Queensway). Events such as music, plays, and clown acts are scheduled throughout the summer. The Serpentine Lake offers paddleboat rentals and a swimming area with a playground and a shallow kiddie pool (Easter-Oct daily 10:00-dusk, closed off-season; Tube: Knightsbridge, South Kensington, and more). The park is open daily from 5:00 in the morning until midnight (www.royalparks.org.uk ).
This wonderful world of dinosaurs, volcanoes, meteors, and creepy-crawlies offers creative interactive displays (see here ).
Next door to the Natural History Museum, this museum offers lots of hands-on fun and IMAX movies (see here ). The Garden play area on Floor B entertains younger children with water, textures, sounds, and climbing areas.
Both the Natural History and Science museums are kid-friendly and can be clogged with school groups during the school year. Check for special events and exhibits (noted at each museum’s entry and on their websites).
This beautifully restored sailing ship, now on dry land in Greenwich, is full of kid-friendly, hands-on displays (see here ). The café beneath its enormous gleaming hull is a novel place for a bite.
London’s biggest park, complete with play areas, waterways, Olympic sights, and the world’s longest, tallest tunnel slide is sure to please kids and teens alike (see here ).
A nirvana for Potterphiles, this attraction (in Leavesden, a 20-minute train ride from London) lets fans young and old see the actual sets and props that were used to create the Harry Potter films. Shuttle buses run to the studio from the Leavesden train station; for details, see here .
These famous 300-acre gardens include the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway, which lets kids explore the canopy 60 feet above the ground on a 200-yard-long scenic steel walkway. Younger children will love the Climbers and Creepers indoor play area and kid-size zip line (see here ).
This impressive collection of steam-powered pumping engines that once powered waterworks across the UK is mesmerizing for children. The engines operate only on weekends—search the website for “What’s On” to make sure they’re “in steam.” An outdoor water-play area is fun in nice weather (kids-£5, adults-£12.50, check online for discounts; daily 11:00-16:00, Green Dragon Lane, tel. 020/8568-4757, www.waterandsteam.org.uk ).
Young sailors delight in boats. Westminster Pier (near Big Ben) offers a lot of action, with round-trip cruises and boats to the Tower of London, Greenwich, and Kew Gardens. For details, see here .
These two-hour double-decker bus tours, which drive by all the biggies, are fun for kids and stress-free for parents. You can stay on the bus the entire time, or hop on and hop off at any of the nearly 30 stops (every 10-15 minutes in summer, every 10-20 minutes in winter, see here ). The Original London Sightseeing Tour’s “City Sightseeing Tour” bus (marked with a red triangle) has a kids’ soundtrack on the earphones. Bus-top picnics are allowed.
If your kids are loopy over Legos, they’ll love a day trip to Legoland Windsor. While older kids will probably enjoy it, the park is really aimed at the 11-and-under crowd (see here for cost, hours, and other details).
The London Dungeon ’s popularity with teenagers makes it one of London’s most-visited sights. I enjoy gore and torture as much as the next boy, but this is lousy gore and torture, and I would not waste the time or money on it with my child. The London Bridge Experience (not to be confused with the Tower Bridge Exhibition) and The London Tombs are also to be avoided. They’re copycat rip-offs of the London Dungeon.