Things To Do With Children In London.

[profdsny]

We decided the other day to bring Emily, our 11 yo, on our trip next month. We had sort of planned originally to skip a lot of the sightseeing things, but now figure that we will do a bunch. The only time she was there before she was too young to remember. So, we are thinking of the following:

Double deck bus tour. (Which one?)

London Eye

Hamleys

Disney Store (still on Regent Street?)

British Museum


Of course we will do our share of bus rides and underground.

Any other suggestions or places to eat?

We will only be there 3 and a half days, so we don't have a whole lot of time to do things. BTw, we just saw the Lion King here about two weeks ago, or that would have been a great thing to do. Any other shows maybe?

Thanks
Joe.

 

[Mazzy]

Hi Joe

I don't know what dates you are over here next month, but The Snowman is showing at the Peacock theatre, I have just booked it for ourselves for New Years Day. It looks very good, and I believe it actually 'snows' on the audience. You can find details at www.sadlerswells.com Also on the website are details of The Nutcracker which might appeal to your daughter.

We have booked Lion King also, it will be our second time, but we love the show so much!

 

[UKANGEL]

Not really a 'sight' as such but Covent Garden is a wonderful place to visit, with lots of street theatre and market stalls

Or there is the London Planeterium, or the Bethanl Green Museum of Childhood?

 

[Dimplenose]

I haven't been to the Planetarium for a couple of years, but I was very disappointed at my last visit.

The bus tours are good - just decide on the sights you want to visit and choose your route. A boat trip might be good too (but a bit cold).

My family enjoy visiting the Tower of London, but it could take up most of a day.

I've never done it but there is ice skating at Somerset House (on the Strand) during December.

There are lots of museums, art galleries, cathedrals, Christmas lights in Regent Street, Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square ......

We enjoy eating at TGIFriday's (near Leicester Square) but didn't enjoy The Rainforest Cafe (Shaftsbury Avenue - not far from Picadilly Circus).

I don't think you'll have any problems finding things to do for 3 days.

Libby

PS I think the Disney Store on Regent Street is closed, but there is one on Oxford Street - perhaps someone else can confirm.

 

[Olaf]

If she's into dresses and stuff like that, Kensington Palace has a nice display of clothing. I think they have a website.

 

[profdsny]

Thanks for all the info so far. I checked on the Snowman, that dosn't open until after we leave. Neither does Peter Pan.
Nutcracker is a good idea. We used to take the kids when they were younger, but I don't recall ever taking her. Also looking into a musical I saw listed, but forgot which one. (Anything Goes, maybe?) Surprised to hear that the Disney store closed, but that pretty much mirrors what's been hapening here with the stores.

Which is the best bus for on and off tours, or are they all pretty much the same?

Thanks again for all the info. This has been some help already.
Keep the ideas coming.

Joe

 

[BONZO]

Joe,

Sorry I'm late but I've been VERY busy lately.

Ok - here's a couple of things: -

Double Deck Buses

I've never used one although they are very popular with the tourists. One is operated by the OFFICIAL bus company and one by a private concern. I doubt if there's anything to choose bewteen them.

Movies

Over the last couple of years cinemas have BOOMED - with loads of multiplex cinemas around.

London Cinemas link http://www.simplygoingaround.com/show_links.php?category=MOV&city_code=LON


Also in the links - there's the IMAX screen - showing HUGE (26m high, 20m across!) special effects films - not general release ones.


Or http://www.londonaquarium.co.uk/


Free things to do http://www.citiesforfree.com/

 

[Mike Jones]

..natural history museum may be less 'stuffy' than the british museum for your daughter's age. We loved it.

Mike

 

[Penny12]

Yes, TDS on Regent Street has definitely shut. There's a decent size one on Oxford Street though - opposite Bond Street Tube and near Selfridges.

 

[Miffy2003]

Harrods is perhaps not an obvious place to take an 11 year old but my children love it there - so much to see! - also there is an excellent toy department which we prefer to Hamleys purely because Hamleys can be manic!

Maybe changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace?

I would also go with the London Eye which was one of your original suggestions.

Karen

 

[tiggerlover]

Hi Joe!

We were just in London last month with our 7-1/2 year old and I can tell you what he enjoyed. He really liked the tubes first and foremost and the double decker bus tour. There are two companies out there and after doing some research we chose the Original Tour Bus Co, as it was a tiny bit cheaper and it offered a special kids pack for kids. Your ticket is valid for 24 hours and after talking to a friend who only used it for one day we decided to buy it at noon on Saturday so that we could use it until noon on Sunday, which worked out well. Not only did we get to use it both days it also included a free river cruise that was a lot of fun. The first day we took advantage of the hop on hop off feature and the second day we simply took the tour, saw the sites and listened to the commentary, our driver was quite funny.

The Tower of London was a huge hit with our son and we spent a few hours truly enjoying this site. The London Eye was something we debated on for the whole 5 days we were there, couldn't decide if we wanted to spend about $40 for a 25 minute ride, but on the last day we decided to go and we aren't sorry we did, the views from the wheel were great. (I have posted some pictures from this on the DIS if you wanted to search them out).

DS loved Hamley's, however DH and I were overwhelmed because it was SO, SO crowded, all three of us much preferred the toy department (and Krispy Kreme) at Harrod's. And yes, I can confirm there is a Disney Store on Oxford Street. And I have to second that the Rainforest Cafe was not very good. The atmosphere as always in any one of these is great, but the food wasn't that good at all.

We saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, if you can't get up near the gates it is very, very hard to see, so we ended up leaving early. DS preferred the changing of the horse guards a lot better and there were far less people there.

If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them, feel free to PM me.

 

[TracyK]

Definitely the Tower of London. A great day out. Sign up for one of the guided tours, this made it very interesting for my son as he got to hear about some of the gory history of the tower. He loved this. My son's favourite is The Science Museum. They have a good exhibition on at the moment -The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy - The Exhibition. This is running until January and is bookable online. If you do decide to visit the Natural History Museum they offer free tours which are very good. You can book them on the day if places are available or they can be booked online for a nominal fee. We really enjoyed the behind the scenes tour of the Darwin Centre. Have a great time

 

[Ang1e]

We took our DD 10 & DS 7 to London in February and they absolutely loved -
http://london-tour.conciergedesk.co.uk/Frog-tours-main-page.htm


They preferred frog tours to the bus tour we did last year - probably because it was cold, windy & rainy at the time.

The underground seems to be hit with 7 years old boys lol mine kept asking to go on in again and again.

Ang

 

[jordylass]

We visited London with our 3 children aged 5-9 when the dome was there, and that was magical. We had lived in London before they were born and were there for only 5 days.
They also loved the Tower of London, and the other hit, (although I'm not a fan) was the Zoo at regents Park.
HMS Belfast
and Walking along the top of Tower Bridge were good things to do.

 

[BONZO]

Hiya Michelle!


It's spooky but they've just re-opened the Dome for Christmas!

click here

It's good for me as I'm only 15 mins away!

 

[Loftus]

Things to do with children in London.......

Putting them up the chimneys is always good and profitable.

Providing they are not wearing their best clothes a good living can be made on the banks of the Thames at low tide.

Then there's always kite flying with a friendly chimney sweep but since the Clean Air Act the rooftops are less accessible for dancing on.

 

[profdsny]

Well, yes, but, I'd be afraid of people firing cannons off of roof tops. And people flying around with umbrellas crashing into them.

 

[Loftus]

Now Joe you're moving into the realms of fantasy.......

 

[Dimplenose]

I went Christmas shopping in London yesterday and the pavements were heaving with people, especially in Oxford and Regent Street. If you're shopping on a Saturday I strongly recommend visiting your favourite shops early (before 10am if possible). And keep hold of Emily in the throng.

And remember there are a lot of cafes and restaurants down side roads, a couple of minutes walking could save you half an hour queueing.

Libby

 

[profdsny]

Thanks for all the help, and great suggestions. What we'll probably do, once we get in and settled, is a bit of shopping Friday afternoon, (Hamleys and Disney Store for one) and a walking tour Friday night. Saturday while I'm at the toy show, Pat and Emily will do another tour, then meet in the afternoon for a museum, likely British. Sunday hit one place before the meet, then if we are up for it, a bit more touring Sunday afternoon or evening. Monday one of the hop on/off buses, that will do the Tower, as well as all the other sights. Then, another walking pub tour. Sounds like a packed weekend. We decided to skip doing a show, mostly because they will all eventually get to Chicago. If we do happen to find a special Christmas concert somewhere, we may do that as well.
Anyhow, again thanks for all the tips. See you soon.
Joe