Ive worked in London for years, ive seen and done a fair bit but ive never stayed for the weekend. However, next week i won’t be going home but the mrs and chimps will be coming to the smoke for a bit of a weekend away. Ive booked tables at a few of my favourite places but im struggling to think of many activities we can do as a family while they’re here. Im after quintessentially London but off the beaten track and not too touristy. any advice please?

Time Out produces good books of city walks (I use their books for walking in Paris and New York) and they are good for the walk itself but also the hidden gems they take in. They tend to be written by people who are longterm visitors to the city themselves so skip over the obvious touristy things but include things of interest that locals could easily overlook.

river taxi downstream, DLR back. Kids love it.

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Touristy, perhaps, but if the weather is reasonably clear, The Shard is a fantastic place to visit; the views across London Village are only bettered by going up in a helicopter.
I was going to suggest Highgate Cemetary, but it’s a bloody long hike uphill for an adult from the tube station, let alone with kids in tow, so forget that one. Doing the walk over the O2 would be fun for the kids and adults, could be combined with boat down the Thames and DLR back, Cutty Sark is lovely, and worth a visit, maybe along with a visit to the Observatory.

I priced up the battersea heli-tour, it’s about £600 for 20 mins!!!

Like the clipper & DLR idea tho. I’ve been up the shard. Done Greenwich too but I’d happily go again but my eldest girl is only 4 so doubt shed like it. Never been on the LDN Eye tho, and that’s handy for Wahaca which is a strict prerequisite from the mrs! Suppose a lot depends on the weather….

ut im struggling to think of many activities we can do as a family while they’re here

In London? Really? All I can say is dont ever go to the mountains or sh1t or you will think you have been marooned and start calling 999.

Kew Gardens is quite good for small kids – there’s a play area, the hothouses and feeding the ducks. There are a couple of decent pubs on the Green, too 🙂 If the weather’s nice you could walk down the towpath to Richmond and eat there.

What I wouldn’t bother doing with children that small are the museums – I don’t think they’d get much out of them.

Walk from London Bridge east on the south side of the river. Go on HMS Belfast and then mooch along to Shad Thames for a look around the cobbled streets. Tower of London and Tower Bridge close by to look at too. It’s our favourite part of town.

The London Eye is great, the way you gradually rise up from river level; I went up it not long after it opened, on a really shitty, rainy day. The cloud started to break as my friend and I got into the pod, and the sun came out as we reached the top, it was brilliant.
When we got off we went straight into the London Aquarium, which is right behind the Eye, and great for kids too.
The huge tanks with sharks swimming around are excellent, and there are ‘petting’ tanks, where you can stroke rays, which try to nibble your fingers! Kids love that to bits. 😀

Brought my wife down here last weekend. We just walked, from St James’s to St Pauls. It was brilliant. Maybe not with kids tho unless they are older.

+1 for the Eye. Also, have a look at the Tower Bridge exhibition, I’d love to see the engineering.
St Paul’s – climb to the top for stuning views and the whispering gallery should keep the kids entertained for a few minutes. London Dungeon’s cool with plenty of scary sh*t. water taxi to greenwich, wander around, walk back. Water taxi from Richmond to Camden Lock. Science Museum has bucket loads of sciece-y toys for kids to play with

Emirates Air Line is worth a punt on a fine day lots to do in Greenwich as well.

Well, once you have done the Science, NHM amd V&A, then you can start looking for more.

Well, once you have done the Science, NHM amd V&A, then you can start looking for more.

The OP’s eldest is 4 – she might like the demos in Science museum, but that’s about it. The dinosaurs in the NHM are genuinely scary to most kids that small. The V&A’s one of my favourite museums, but not with 2 kids under 5!

Get the hell out of there ASAP.It’s full of suveners.

robhughes – Member
Get the hell out of there ASAP.It’s full of suveners foreigners.

😉

It’s full of norverners wearing sno-wash denim wandering around looking wide eyed and lost.

The kids might like Pollocks toy museum, it’s not huge so should suit their attention span? then Hamleys?

museum of childhood perfect for any age

http://www.museumofchildhood.org.uk/

As much as all the museums above are wonderful… the OP oldest is 4 !!

Hamleys then lunch in the Rain Forest Cafe your kids will love it. Just make sure you and the Mrs eat before you go in there….. the food is shocking!!… oh and if you do decide to go, make sure you are there by 11:45 latest… they que out the door any later and is as much as the kids enjoy it, it’s not worth that kind of effort when the food is so poor for you.

Or take them to a show… Lion King?? Or is the Guffalo still on? Went the other week, it’s an xmas special but may still be on, same may be true for the Snowman… both are excellent.

Guess I’ve wondered into tourist traps for you but then it is hard not to if the kids are a propriety… but make the most of the fact that kids get up early… get out and hit Traf square and its HUGE lions and its big blue Cockerel, (my kids 5 and 3 enjoyed them) early before the masses

Have fun

Mogrim, ta! Hadn’t fully read the above…! 😳

The Tate (The proper one, in SW1!) does some excellent stuff for little kiddies. Well worth a look.

Also, as above, Trafalgar Square, the Palaces, etc. Look at the soldiers on guard. Feed the ducks in St James’s Park. (Clue – The way to spot a Russian spy, he’s the one with snow on his boots)

Barbican – loads of stuff for all ages, great childrens library too.
Museum of Childhood – Bethnal grn from Liverpool st fun for wee ones, nostalgia for grown ups!
Southbank Centre/Southbank – loads to see whatever the weather might be doing
Sir john Soanes Museum – mad, just mad. kids will get bored in about half an hour, so then whizz over to covent garden?
Horniman Museum – deep south east London. Wildly eclectic, splendid aquarium!
Maritime Museum has lots to do for nippers. Go under the river via foot tunnel – good shouty fun for all!
Mudchute city farm is good if its not cold and wet, even docklands is ok on the weekend.
i’ll stop now. have fun!

Camden Market?
Princess Diana memorial Gardens?
Covent Garden? – the kids love the street entertainers…

Thames Rib Experience?

A blast if getting wet, cold & battered is your thing.

Edit: Jr loved the Grant Museum when he was around 5/6.

Princess Diana memorial Gardens?

I’d read all the media bitching about that, and decided to go see it while walking across Hyde Parke and Kensington Gardens last year.
It’s fantastic! If it’s a sunny day, and warm, kids love running around and splashing in it, and it looks lovely.

Has anyone on here been to the Museum of Childhood recently? Worth visiting with a 10 and 14 year old?

I think I last went when I was myself a child, which is longer ago than I care to remember 🙂

OP: Don’t go to Camden Market with a 4 yr old. It’d be a nightmare, even worse if your other child is in a buggy.

CountZero.I stand corrected.I forgot that there are no english folk there anymore. 🙂

to slightly amend a famous saying by Samuel Johnson…..if you can’t think of anything to do in London, you’re braindead!

Seriously there is not much in London to entertain kids under 4 that you would not find better elsewhere in the country. My kids were pretty bored by London things when they were little. Little people don’t really enjoy being dragged round the usual sights and have limited attention spans in the main (mine did anyway). Maybe the London Aquarium or London Zoo but even they are a bit meh for very little people. I’d say a spot of nice lunch, a little walk or a short boat ride and perhaps a go on the eye.

Under four? Oh well just give them a large cardboard box to play with…..much more fun than London!

Get as far away from the awful place as possible

If you go to the tate modern make sure you enter it from the end and not from the side/front entrance, so you get the full length in front of you.

Beachcombing

My family enjoyed it thoroughly. You’ll be amazed at 1) what you will find and 2) the knowledge of the guide.

And the Diana memorial playground is highly recommended – if you can get in! Forget the dreadful fountain/water feature. The playground is the real memorial.

then lunch in the Rain Forest Cafe your kids will love it. Just make sure you and the Mrs eat before you go in there….. the food is shocking!!… oh and if you do decide to go, make sure you are there by 11:45 latest… they que out the door any later and is as much as the kids enjoy it, it’s not worth that kind of effort when the food is so poor for you.

Just checked out the menu on that place … what a ****ing rip off; £15 for a salad, £16 for a bowl of pasta and £17 for a burger! If the quality was excellent then I might consider it, but if it’s sh1t then they can FRO.

fantastic weekend, Friday afternoon wander round Covent garden, bit of shopping, watched the street acts then had tea in Wahaca. On Saturday we took a clipper up to North Greenwich, got the Emirates sky line over the river and the DLR back to the city. Then went up the Heron Tower for lunch at Duck & Waffle. In the afternoon we wandered round Borough Markets before winding up in the George (oldest surviving coach house in London) that id been to before for a few pints. Took a few bottles of wine back to the room and ordered room service. Got up early again Sunday and went for a ride on the London Eye, was hoping to swerve the too touristy stuff but they fancied it and im glad they did, it was brilliant. We then meandered over to the Diana Playground and let the little un run around for an hour before Sunday lunch at the Hawksmoor. Then i put them back on the train North and met my mate at the pub for the football. Everyone had a good time and it stayed nice and sunny too. Cheers for the tips!

It’s full of norverners wearing sno-wash denim wandering around looking wide eyed and lost.

On the basis of my observations this weekend it’s full of Italians wearing matching woolly hats and hanging round in groups blocking the footpath.

i noticed a lot of Italians too. mainly stood in clouds of smoke outside tiny cafes watching italian football through the window!

Sunday lunch at the Hawksmoor

Which one did you go to? I’m taking my dad down for the weekend in a couple of months and the Hawksmoor is on the list. I’ve only been to the Guildhall one myself but it’s shut at the weekend.

Spitalfields, Alasdair. been a few times to the bar area downstairs but this was my first time in the restaurant. bang on. 2nd place in Time Out’s best Sunday dinners in London.

Nice itinerary!