Are you thinking of taking a trip to London with kids? Then here it is, your practical guide for planning an easy going vacation to London with kids in tow! I’ve provided a 4 days itinerary with alternative options for each day, plus some extra activities we would consider doing on a future trip.
My general trip planning steps:
- Research things to do in your location
- Mark them on a map, and group into possible one day itineraries
- Find a place to stay
- Check transportation options to get around
- Ask kids for their input/interests and finalize the general plan
For this trip to London, I was on my own with a 9 year old and 6 year old. That means that one of my primary considerations was keeping them happy. Now that’s not to say that I didn’t incorporate things that I was interested as well. More so, I considered their level of interest throughout the day, because I knew there wasn’t a second adult to help me out. And let’s be real- this was mostly about the 6 year old because this kiddo is not easy-going like some of his siblings.
All that to say here was our itinerary, and definitely read to the end to get some alternative options of things to do in London, and what to know about getting around London with teens, kids and babies.
Skip ahead!
4 Days in London with Kids
Day 0- Flight to London
I don’t count the first day of our trip because this was actually a red-eye flight which arrived in London around 2pm London time. That said, because it was still early, we were able to fit in a tiny bit of touring.
We took the Elizabeth Line from London Heathrow to Tottenham Court and from there the tube (subway) to Embankment. (Note that while this is not an “accessible” station, we found an elevator and there was only one short flight of stairs coming out.
For our first evening we had lunch/dinner, and then took a walk along the river to Big Ben. Now with adult travelers you could probably add in a walk-by or tour of Westminster Abby, or any number of other government buildings that are near-by, like Downing St. However, we decided to spend some time at St. James Park, and then end the day by buying books at Waterstones in Trafalgar Square.
Day 1 Walking and Shopping
Coming from a tropical location, where we don’t often spend the whole day walking around, London city touring was our top priority. The kids were most excited to check out Hamley’s Toy Store, so that was our first stop. To get there we took the tube to Oxford Circus. Now if you are shopping people this is where you want to be. We spent a solid 2 hours at Hamley’s, checking out the demonstrations, building legos and playing with various toys. If you live near a big city, this may not be as exciting for you, but it reminded me a lot of FAO Schwartz in New York.
Once we were all shopped out on Regent Street, we walked to Picadilly Circus and then to Leicester Square. Amongst other things we picked up some amazing cinnamon rolls at Buns from Home. We also grabbed some groceries in preparation for the following day!
Day 2 Regent Park and London Zoo
London Zoo with Kids
Our second day was dedicated to a trip to the London Zoo. We took a double-decker bus to get to Regent Park and another short walk brought us to the Zoo. I highly recommend this route- because it was a long ride, so the kids felt like they got the bus tour experience. What you need to know about the London Zoo:
- the food is slim pickings (junk), so you may want to pack a lunch
- there is lots of walking between the enclosures, so for little ones definitely bring a stroller
- pricing changes based on projected crowds (costs more on holidays)
- you can reserve tickets online, or buy at the door based on availability
- the bus stop is closer than the nearest subway, but if I had a car I would definitely drive because the parking lot is even closer
- there are (tap) water filling stations near the restrooms, so you can bring a reusable water bottle
All in all, we had a good time, but we thought it paled in comparison to the Bronx Zoo.
Regent Park with Kids
Now this was the best surprise for my kids, because even after having spent hours and hours walking around the zoo, they were absolutely in love with Regent Park. We found some great playgrounds, climbing structures and a “zipline”. So this definitely ended up being a full day excursion.
Day 3 – Covent Gardens and Tower of London
London Transport Museum
If you are a fan of transportation (i.e. most boys of a certain age), then this is the day for you. We started with a walk through Covent Garden to the London Transport Museum. To get tickets you actually need to buy an annual membership. You can do that online ahead of time and then just book your timed entry ticket via your mobile device.
Even though we were there on a holiday and it was extremely busy it was not a problem to book a timed entry. Personally I had mixed feelings about this museum, but the 6 year old enjoyed climbing in and out of the old train cars, and the 9 year old liked the simulations so it worked out. They do also have a small cafeteria area, so again you can bring a packed lunch if that’s your thing.
Bus to Tower of London
From there we took a bus to the Tower of London. Now I had researched and found that the old double decker buses, “Routemaster”, run this route. So we were hoping to get on one of those, but we weren’t going to wait around for it. Lucky for us, within minutes of arriving at the bus station, a vintage bus arrived! This was Bus Route 15 which goes from Trafalgar Square, passing by St Paul’s Cathedral and continuing to Tower of London. I would definitely consider this a worthwhile option instead of those hop on hop off buses.
Now, to tour Tower of London you need to book a guided tour, and there was no way I was doing that with my feisty 6 year old and no second adult. The standard tour with a “Beefeater” guide is one hour, and then you can spend more time walking around. If you are interested in seeing the Crown Jewels then this is the tour for you, and when I was researching this possibility, I did notice that you could get discounted tour prices by booking via some of the tour aggregators like Viator or Get Your Guide, as opposed to booking directly, so definitely check out that option.
Walk Across Tower Bridge
Our next activity, was walking across Tower Bridge. Again, knowing my crowd we opted to just walk across the bridge at our own pace. But if you’re interested in the museum portion, you can book tickets for that or buy them on the spot. Again, if I was with my older kids, we probably would have powered through both tours, but this pace of touring was on point for us.
Uber Boat back to Embankment or Westminster
We lucked out with nice weather and actually sat around Potter’s Field Park for quite a while. We then walked along the River Thames on the “Queen’s Walk” towards London Bridge. Lots of redevelopment going on around there. If Borough Market is on your bucket list for London, then this is where I would fit that in. For us we opted to take the Uber Boat from the London Bridge City Pier, to Embankment.
A quick note: it seems like tourists have decided that taking the uber boat is an inexpensive way to view London from the water. It reminded me so much of people in New York taking the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. The difference is that the boat is smaller, the ride is shorter, and kids have to pay. So my assessment is that it is definitely not worth while, and if you want a boat tour, just get a boat tour! I said what I said.
Day 4- Changing of the Guards & Museum
Alright, for our final full day, we opted to go see the Changing of the Guards near Buckingham Palace and then go to the British Museum for some Egyptology.
Changing of the Guards
I’m going to write down what I learned about seeing this ceremony, because my recollection of it from the last time I saw it, was that we waited at the gates of Buckingham Palace forever, only saw the guards for a few minutes and that it was super boring. Truthfully, this type of sightseeing isn’t really my thing, but the kids decided they wanted to go, so the least I could do was make it somewhat enjoyable.
Aside- there are people on the internet that don’t want this information shared because they profit off of leading tours to see this, and I get that, but also, I was never going to take a tour to see this, so hopefully someone else can benefit from my time spent figuring this out.
Here’s the spiel- the guards start their ceremony leaving from St. James Palace and Wellington Barracks at 10:45 am, to get to Buckingham Palace at 11:00 am on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sundays. To see the guards leaving St. James Palace, you want to be on Marlborough Road. If you want to get a decent spot try to be there by 10:30, but earlier is better. Note that you must stay on the sidewalk across the street from the palace and not be in the street or on the sides, as the police will move you.
The most enjoyable part in my personal opinion is the music for those first minutes before they march down The Mall. This area is also much less crowded than the route along The Mall or the gates of Buckingham Palace. Once they start moving you can get behind them and follow them to the Palace. Alternatively, if a short glance is fine for you, I though that the corner of St. James park behind Queen Victoria Memorial, where there were flowers made for really nice pictures.
British Museum
I had very strict instructions that we could only go to 3 museums on this trip total. Now I had strongly considered going to Kensington to either the Science Museum or Natural History Museum and pairing it with time in Hyde Park. However, ultimately, my 9 year old was most excited about seeing the Rosetta Stone, so we decided on the British Museum. Note that all of these museums are free, but you do at least theoretically need a timed ticket reservation to get in. Also note, that while we had a ticket, nobody checked that we did but your mileage may vary.
One thing I will note, is that the security line was quite long, so keep that in mind when planning your excursion. The British Museum has a family desk where you can pick up some scavenger hunt activities, based on the areas of the museum you are interested in visiting. We did pick up the guide for Ancient Egypt and upon completion, the kids got stickers and a stamp that they were excited about.
More Things to Do in London with Kids
In addition to the places I already mentioned, here are some other options that we considered, for activities in London for kids. Ultimately they didn’t make the top of our list for this trip, but they may be at the top of yours!
London Eye– the big carousel, make a reservation ahead of time
Harry Potter– 9 3/4 Platform at Kings Cross, and/or the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Watford (north of London). The tour is a full day affair and if I had been with my older children we would definitely have gone here (probably instead of the zoo, if that helps your London itinerary planning).
Royal Palace tour– such as Kensington Palace or the Royal Mews to see the horse carriages.
Afternoon Tea– there are many places that offer a children’s menu, but for us getting dressed up to have sandwiches and desserts with tea was not a priority. The most popular places do require a reservation. You can also do a “Cream Tea” which is like the smaller version.
More Museums– the Postal Museum, Young Victoria and Albert, and the National Gallery were briefly considered but ultimately, we decided on other options to fill our museum quota. Lol.
Bus Tour– There are many companies selling hop on- hop off bus tours, with one of the most recommended being the Big Bus. Now this is not my idea of a good time, but if you are short on time, it can be a good way to see a lot of famous places in a relatively short amount of time. There are also many options for discounted tickets to certain attractions if you combine and buy them together, so keep that in mind when planning your London itinerary.
Tour Bus Alternative
As I mentioned before, taking Route 15 was an awesome way to get that (short) tour bus experience for the cost of a city bus. There are two additional routes which we had considered:
Route 9 goes from Trafalgar Square, passing Picadilly Circus, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge and Kensington Palace. I would try to get on this one if you were going to the museums in South Kensington.
Route 26 runs by Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Depending on where you stay, this may work well for you.
There are many, many more things to do depending on your interests.
Where to Stay in London
Alright, so this is a tough one because many, many hotels only have double occupancy, which means that families need more than one room. Honestly the options are endless, with so many hotels all over London, for all budgets and travel styles.
For us, this was a trip booked mostly with points, so I was looking primarily at Marriott or Hyatt Properties. I strongly considered the Residence Inn Kensington because we love having a kitchenette when we travel.
However, ultimately location won out and we stayed at the Great Scotland Yard Hotel, which is a Hyatt property. We did have to upgrade to a larger room to fit a rollaway bed, since there were three of us. And I’ll let the parents in my audience guess how many nights that bed was used. 😉 Anyway, we had sort of a mixed experience with this property, so I won’t go into details here, but those interested can message me directly.
We also stayed near LHR airport before our flight to Germany, and before our return home. There are many hotel options, though all (but one) require additional transportation to get into the actual airport. There are a plethora of transfer options, including the specialty Heathrow Hopper Bus, which makes stops in front of many hotels, regular buses with stops around the perimeter roads, and tube stations that take you to Terminals 5, 4, or 2/3.
Where to Stay near London Airport
We ended up staying at the Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Airport, which was a 5 minute walk from Hatton Cross Station (tube and buses). The plus side was that it was one of the only hotels with rooms that had 2 double beds. This means the points rate was very reasonable. We had one night that was excellent and another where the room was not good at all, so a mixed bag.
That said, there are actually many hotels near the airport that are bookable on points. We just reserved these relatively last minute, and because it was a holiday there was not a lot of availability.
The other note I will make is that I would only stay at an airport hotel if you have a very early flight, otherwise I do think it’s better to stay in a nicer area.
One of our flights was mid-day and so we had a couple of hours in the morning before going to the airport. I ended up taking the kids to Hounslow Urban Farm, which was nearby, and while they enjoyed it enough for the time that we had, next time I would plan something else. I was actually really sad for the people that live there because the sound/vibration of the airplanes above was nauseating.
Getting Around London with Kids
The whole transportation thing was actually easier than I expected. Transport for London aggregates all of the public transportation options. You can download the app ahead of time, though it will only work once you are in the UK. One of the best features is that you can check for accessible train stations, so that you know what to expect with strollers or luggage in tow, and you can also have it make a journey with only those stations.
If you have a contactless payment method (credit card with the wifi sign on it), then you can just tap in at each station you go in, and then tap out when you leave and it will charge you the correct amount based on the zones you traveled in. Buses have a flat fee.
For children, those ages 10 and under are free, just make sure they walk through the gates with you (use the handicap ones, which are wider).
For teens, ages 11 to 16, you can get an Oyster Card. This is like a prepaid card, charged at the child rate which is 50% off the adult fare. You will need to go in person to get this card.
Travel to London Heathrow Airport
If you are only traveling in London, your most expensive ride will probably be to and from the airport. The cheapest option to get into central London will be the tube, but it will also be the slowest option. Your most likely better options, are either the Elizabeth Line or the Heathrow Express (most expensive). I would determine which to use, based on the exact location you need to be in.
I found Google Maps to be the easiest method to see options for public transportation.
Getting to London on Points and Miles
There are so many options to get to London because it is such an important international hub. One of the biggest considerations may be that fees can be be quite high, especially on return trips to the United States. For our points flights, surcharges were around $150 on the way to England and $250 on the wNay back. So yes, it was around $400 out of pocket per person. However, cash prices during the time of year we took our trip were $1000 and up per person, so using miles was still a valuable way to get to Europe on a budget.
Mileage programs you can look at include British Airways Avios (transfer from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards or Capital One Miles), Virgin Points (transfer from Capital One, Chase, Citi or Amex), American Airlines Miles (transfer from Citi Thank You Points), Aer Lingus (same as British Airways avios). Note that if you are open to traveling to other European cities or landing somewhere in the United Kingdom outside of London, that may open up more possibilities for points flights on different airlines.
If you want to understand the basics of using points and miles to travel more, check out my primer here.
Visiting London with Children
To sum up, our short trip to London was amazing. My little ones had an incredible time and they are already talking about going back!
