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So this weekend me, wife and junior are spending the weekend around London. We are hoping to spend Saturday afternoon seeing the sights, the question is what should we see and how best to travel?
My plan was to find somewhere to park near an underground station and travel on the tube. I'll be coming from the north, any good places to park?
London Eye and Westminster have been requested, any other suggestions welcome.
London aquarium...but they are all over (as in, not just London) and it takes a while to get around.
Quick whizz round the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum.
Go up The Monument for a good view.
As for places to park...if you are coming down the A1 or M1 then Stanmore station on the Jubilee line has a large car park but is a bit of a trek as it's the end of the line.
If you do use it, it's often quicker to change onto the Met line at Wembley Park....
Whatever station you end up at, check for works on the line as you do not want to suffer a replacement bus service...
Natural history museum
/thread
Great way to see the city....
http://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/boat-trips-in-london
Natural history museum is obviously great
grab your self a city cruise voucher and travel by boat all day
http://www.citycruises.com/supersaver.aspx
Travel between greenwich ( cutty sark/ observatory/ maritime museum) , Tower bridge ( tower of london, tower bridge), Westminster ( london eye, aquarium, Big ben, Shrek and outdoor play area)
Cross the bridge to Charing cross and walk up to trafalgar square or head to covent garden and the london transport museum
Parking restriction until 12:30 I think in the city and there are a few ncp car parks centrally ( queen victoria street and Tower bridge area)
Tower of London is good for a visit.
Depends if you want to see loads of sights or go to a couple of bigger attractions.
Tower of London, Natural History museum, Science museum, London aquarium etc. all take a decent chunk of the day.
Expensive, but a great experience is the London Rib Experience (assuming they are still going)....zooming up and down the Thames in a RIB.
We've done NHM and Science Museums, London Eye, a good wander around showing them the sights and tube is an experience in itself.
+1 for the ferry. Just the standard commuter river taxi rather than any tourist version.
However...controversial point of view: natural history museum is not great. Incredibly busy, hot, & kids can't get near the displays for all the people. The grant museum of zoology is wonderful though. No dinosaurs, but every kind of pickled creature you can imagine, loads of skeletons, andthey have activities for children. Usually a treasure hunt and some exhibts to touch. My kids (7&5) love it. And it's small enough that you can sit down while they explore without fear of losing them.
And the london eye - book in advance and pay the extra for the express boarding. And check your7 yo realises it goes really slowly and isn't a funfair ride (speaks from experience...).
Science museum is excellent too. Again loads more space and access to interactive stuff than natural history museum.
Thanks for the advice, ferry sounds like a good way to get around.
Sit them at the front of the DLR where they can drive the train with voice commands.
We took the twins (6) twice last year as there were a few things we needed to tick off after moving out of London 3 years before and the highlights for us were:
Hampton Court, trip on the river bus, London Eye, Tower of London, IMAX at the Science museum
Science museum, without a doubt.. Free and very interesting.
My initial thoughts were the natural history museum.. But it's a bit dated and tired.. The building is fabulous but the exhibits are a bit meh.
That said if the kid is more interested in nature than technology then it's a no brainer.
Pay as you go oyster cards are the way to get around. So easy on the tube and you can get them at most stations.
Also the tate modern gallery if you like that kinda thing.. I dragged My mate there last year under duress.. He really liked it.
Stanmore for parking
If you must do the London Eye be sure to book in advance and save the queue, same goes for a lot of the main attractions
Instead of the Eye, for a 7 year old try the Emirates cable car instead it's just as much of a ride, the views arn't as good but it's still London just from a different angle, get there on the river taxi as others have said and go back on the DLR (at the front again as said)
The Mittal Orbit is also a good viewing platform, all obviously offer different views, the eye though just seems overpriced for what it is, the Olympic park is nice for a wander round too and has a great kids adventure playground
All the above can be combined with Greenwich for a coffee or lunch and the Cuty Sark, again a 7 year old will find exploring an old wooden ship more exciting than you might expect
Go up the Shard but to the bar rather than the extortionate viewing gallery (not tried this but my sister in law who lives in London has a few times and recommended it to us last time we where down with our 5 year old, not sure how receptive they are to kids though, she isn't always the best at recommendations)
Agree with avoiding the natural history museum, yes it's good, but it's always packed and doesn't offer much that can't be seen elsewhere (bones, stuffed animals), same with the Aquarium, the British Museum is better IMO as it at least has stuff you can't see elsewhere or the science museum is more interactive for kids, but if in London for just a,day I would say do London sightseeing things rather than museums that frankly could be anywhere (unless it's a miserable day weather wise then they come into their own)
A nice relaxing day can be had just wandering round the parks, and plenty of London sights can be linked up by wandering across town from one park to the next with some use of the tube if it gets too much
Don't buy anything in Hamleys but it's good for a wander round and use as an incentive to keep the kids behaved all day 😉
Main tip would be not to try to pack too much in, you will onlyfail to get round everything you planned to and as I'm sure you know navigating round a big city for a whole day with kids can be a slower affair than it maybe normally would
Science museum might be more fun a seven year old. I thought natural history museum was a bit Dry. The only good bit was dinosaur exhibition. (It's well thrashed by Kelvingrove and Museum of Scotland) The Museum of London is better but still not great for weans unless they are doing a project.
DLR
London Dungeon
The cable car
Tower bridge or that fancy victorian pumping station with steam engine
The reopened bomb shelters/ nuclear bunker places?
I live and work in London, often CBA with going in on the weekend with the kids. It's an amazing city though
Probably do science museum with the kids (4 + 3) this weekend
NHM was a bit of a disappointment when we went round. The displays felt old and tired, the layout is very much based on reading lots of text, very little good interactive stuff. It feels about 20 years out of date. The display animals are all in a poor state, much worse than Manchester museum, and whilst I get that they're not going to replace them it might be good to get some colour back in them.
That said the Andys dinosaur adventures pull was huge for hoppy Jr who desperately wants to go back. Although bizarrely they make absolutely no reference to it in the museum. When we go back I think we'll do the dinosaurs early morning before it gets too busy then go somewhere else.
I'm taking my 6 year old for a day trip in a couple of weeks and I'm tempted to watch the changing of the guard. I've never seen it and I sort of feel I should. I'm not a royalist but I'm quite fascinated by the pomp and ceremony of it.
Don't forget kids are free on the tube. So go to the large disabled/luggage barriers and tap in there yourself and all go through together.
I wouldn't bother with the Natural History Museum as above. Took my 6 year old a little while back and it took 2 hours just to get round the dinosaur queue.
I wouldn't bother with the Natural History Museum as above. Took my 6 year old a little while back and it took 2 hours just to get round the dinosaur queue.
The trick is to do it as your first stop of the day before it gets busy - we did this and it was all quite pleasant.
+1 for the ferry. Just the standard commuter river taxi rather than any tourist version.
Another vote for this, visit the Tower and head back to Westminster by boat.
The Imperial War Museum is good if your 7 year old likes guns and tanks, it's also interesting for adults! I prefer the Science Museum to the NH, from there you can wander down to Harrods - the food hall and its chocolate fudge rarely fail 🙂
I can recommend visiting HMS Belfast, well worth a few hours, lots of stuff to see, and your 7yo will love clambering all over the ship
I really fancy the Imperial War Museum but not sure a 6 year old girl would be that impressed. I'm pretty sure they will cover World War 2 in school at some point so I'll use that as an excuse to take her, she might be a bit more interested by then.
Make sure you do the 3D show before you go on the Eye. My kids enjoyed that more than the ride itself!
Can't say the IWM was interesting - not much to go around but then I always end up comparing it to the one in Duxford which is really a great day out.
But NHM & Sc. Musuem (same location), Transport Museum(Covent Garden) and there is also the National Army Museum (Chelsea) and the British Museum. Really depends what your daughter likes.
If you do the NHM and the Sc. Museum you could then wander through Hyde Park as well. As above NHM can get crowded and so is the Sc. Museum but it's still a good outing. This time of the year I wouldn't think so though.
If we drive in (we come up the A3 and park in Westfield)
What is he studying at school? We used to take ours to the relevant museum to bring things to life. British Museum for mummies, vikings etc, obviously!
London Transport Museum is very good at Covent Garden. Hunterian museum of surgery if you like jars. Imperial War Museum near Waterloo and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, which you can combine with a trip to the meridian or Cutty Sark.
Fill your boots
All the big museums are heaving at weekends, especially the SM and NHM. Everyone likes a dinosaur 😉
Cable car is more fun than the Eye for a 7yo.
Some fantastic suggestions, thanks.
I didn't know about the cable car, I'll take a look. I quite fancy the science museum, and if we get a chance I might try heading to Tower of London and take the ferry back.
Thank you everyone!
Definitely do the ferry, if you can - even if it just means taking the tube out to the Tower and heading back. You get to see the Tower and Tower Bridge, St. Pauls, Westminster...
(Actually not sure about St. Pauls, it's not on the riverfront and might not be visible from the water).