London for kids

[karen]

Any suggestions of great things for kids to do in London?

[richard berman]

This site has some good info http://www.london.gov.uk/young-london/k ... /index.jsp and a cheap trip is a trip on a double decker buss, Big Ben there is just to much to write down. And London Zoo is great he will love it there.

[jhnn]

Our daughter (4 years old) enjoyed the Natural History Museum. The queue was long but moved pretty fast in the end. The Science Museum was good as well, parts of it are very hands-on.

[Kupcake]

I agree about the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. We took our boys there years ago (they were 3, 5 and 7) and we could have spent a couple of weeks just in those two places. I remember it was a bit expensive though.

[MagicJ]

Science Museum and Natural History Museum, next to each other just down the road from Harrods. My niece and nephew have been so many times it hurts, predominantly to the science museum as it's more interactive. Beautiful buildings too. Free Entry.

Maps and Links


EDIT: A popular choice!

Madame Tussauds and the London Dungeon will mean a queue of around two hours and it will be expensive, don't bother there are far more interesting things to do.

How old, what interests?

[karen]

He's 7 and we're going tomorrow. Maybe we could visit the Science Museum on Friday when the other kids are in school then do the bus tour on Saturday. I'll check the links. Thanks so much!

[MagicJ]

Get a ferry from Waterloo/embankment/Tower of London/Tate Gallery or similar down the river to Greenwich, the guide will explain the Tower of London etc. as you pass by.
Arrive at Greenwich see the cutty sark, royal observatory, maritime museum (the last two are free i think). You can admire the cutty sark without paying to go onboard, see where time starts and ends at the observatory or visit the maritime museum if it interests him. There are great views over the city in lovely parkland, he can roll down the hill and you can have lunch in the park or in a nice cafe near the markets in Greenwich. Walk thorugh the tunnel under the thames (the only pedestrian tunnel i think, wear a jumper it's cold) and get the DLR (Docklands light railway) through canary wharf back into town, the tube here is above street level so you get a good view of loads of glass buildings and thousands of bankers milling about if you time it right. Or just return to town on the ferry.
Just an idea for a nice way to see London from the river and from up high.

[sinikala]

If you haven't already been then the Science Museum and Natural History museum are both fantastic for kids (V&A & British Museum less so). Harrods is on the other side of the road so you can nip in there for 10 minutes to buy the obligatory tourist bag with Harrods on it.

If he likes guns and s**t, then The Imperial War Museum is hard to beat.

Perhaps a bit young to go up on the London Eye.

As others have said, avoid Madame Tousauds like the plague, pisspoor waxworks used to rip off dim tourists.

[Rosamunda]

Arrive at Greenwich see the cutty sark, .... You can admire the cutty sark without paying to go onboard.

Admire???



http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/ima ... otos.shtml

[MagicJ]

Arrive at Greenwich see the cutty sark, .... You can admire the cutty sark without paying to go onboard.

Admire???



http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/ima ... otos.shtml

Forgot about that, take little interest in UK news nowadays. Unless of course it's a scottish singing sensation

[AlexInHelsinki]

It's still there; now you can watch the "renovations" through a glass partition and an interactive video about something or other. And then if it's a nice day you can go to Greenwich Park and loll around or have a picnic, and then to the Royal Observatory to see the Prime Meridian (whoo hoo!).

[karen]

There's a picture some place of me straddling the Prime Meridian. Maybe it's time for the next generation to do the same.