London with little ones!

London with little ones!

My husband and I recently decided to take our four children down to London for a three night stay. While I was doing some research into what we could do with our 8 year old, 6 year old, 5 year old and 3 year old I soon realised there was A LOT of options. Almost too much! It soon became quite overwhelming and I was left feeling a little confused over what would, and would not, be suitable for the ages of all my children.

Having now returned from our trip I am really keen to get this blog out there and help families to have a concise round up of some fantastic places to visit while in London with little ones. Read on to see our recommended London itinerary!

 Day One:

• The Underground: We stayed near to Victoria Station making it extremely accessible to use the London Underground, this was a HUGE hit with all of our children. I think they would have stayed on this for much longer and my youngest boy keeps telling me it was his favourite part of London! We took the District line to Upminster getting off at Westminster where we began our day of sightseeing….

• The London Eye: this really is a must do when visiting London, all of our children loved it! It was the perfect way to begin our trip, allowing the children to get their bearings and see many of London’s famous landmarks.

• The City Sightseeing Bus: Having finished on the London Eye we walked back over Westminster Bridge and took the City Sightseeing Bus. This open top bus was one of the best things we did all weekend! We decided to stay on for the majority of the route allowing the children to follow the map and listen to the audio commentary. This allowed my children to be amazed at seeing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, The Shard, London Bridge, St Pauls Cathedral and many many other famous landmarks all whilst sitting on their bottoms! As we all know children do not appreciate long walks, especially when you are trying to keep them engaged in learning about the history of London. This was I feel the children were able to really see most of London all from the top of an open top bus!

• The Thames Clipper: For children who enjoy going on boats this is a wonderful, amnd relatively cheap, way of seeing some of London’s iconic landmarks from the River Thames. We took this boat from Tower Bridge Pier back down to Wesminster. The children LOVED it and it was great to see London from another angle.

• Shrek Adventure: So this was one of the London excursions I was least looking forward to, it was quite expensive and I just wasn’t sure if it would suit all four of my children. How wrong I was! They all absolutely loved it and still talk about it now, this interactive walking ride is a real must do with your children. It is fun, well organised and a lovely way to break up the sightseeing. You can find Shrek Adventures just near to the London Eye at Westminster.

• The London Aquarium: Next door to Shrek Adventures you will find the London Aquarium. We weren’t going to visit here but we were able to get a three attraction deal (London Eye, Shrek and Aquarium) so we thought we would give it a go. It was actually a great move as it meant that our two younger children were able to enjoy something mainly for them. They adore anything under the sea and my eldest was extremely pleased to see the turtle! If you are heading to London with younger children, and want a break from the sight seeing, then I would highly recommend London Aquarium.

That wraps up our first day in London. After the Aquarium we took the short walk to Southbank where we had some dinner and took a well deserved taxi back to the hotel. One thing I would recommend when travelling to London with children is, if you can, pack lunches for your children and plenty of snacks. This saved us a small fortune! The children ate their lunches on the go and we didn’t have to buy any food during the day minus a quick ice cream stop and then dinner.

Day Two:

• Changing of the Guards: After a lazier morning than usual, and a big breakfast, we were able to walk from our hotel to Buckingham Palace where we stayed to watch the changing of the guards. My children really enjoyed this, it is lovely to see all of the horses and the guards marching next to you and the band playing. I feel it is quite an iconic thing to see and something I think my children will always remember… even though they were disappointed that they didn’t see the King!

• The Lego Shop: From Buckingham Palace we decided to stretch our legs and walk down the Mall before making a quick stop see 10 Downing Street, please note my children were not particularly interested in this and were far more excited at getting to the Lego shop! We walked through Trafalgar Square and continued to Leicester Square where we were greeted with the Lego shop! My children LOVED this. There was a short que to get in and after that they went wild. It was great to see some of the Lego sculptures, a highlight being Harry Potter!

• The Lion King: We decided on the 2pm showing of The Lion King, it was a tough decision and the younger members of the family wanted Frozen, but we felt this show would be the best for all ages of our children. We were absolutely right. It was incredible, the best show we have seen in a long while. All four of our children sat for the full show in absolute silence, our youngest still talks about ‘the lion singing and dancing’. A must see family show if you are heading to London.

Day Three:

• The Tower of London: We couldn’t decide whether the children would enjoy this excursion or not and we were surprised at just how interested they all were. We bought them a children’s guidebook from the shop which I would recommend as it explains some of the key features in child format. We spent nearly three hours here! We saw the Crown Jewels, the towers where the exotic animals use to live and of course the famous executions of London! Our older children were particularly interested and I am pleased we visited here directly before heading to Buckingham Palace as it kept the questions flowing!

• Buckingham Palace Tour: Again, we weren’t sure how much the children would enjoy this but it was something my husband and I wanted them to see. Buckingham Palace is only open to the public for a few weeks of every year and we happened to be here while it was open. You have to pay to enter and you are given audio commentary as well as a little tablet that shows you where to go. What I was extremely impressed with was the children’s tablets and audio commentary that they received. It had games and puzzles on to keep them entertained, all relating to where they were standing at that time in Buckingham Palace. It kept them all entertained, quite and engaged. There was then a wonderful family hub at the end of the tour where they could draw, play and even dress us at the King. If you happen to be in London when it is open I would highly recommend a family trip inside.

There you have it! Three days of excitement in London! There are of course many things we would have liked to have done but you just cannot possibly fit everything in. High on the agenda for next time is:

• Natural History Museum
• The Science Museum
• The Transport Museum
• A play in Hyde Park
• A shop and dinner at Battersea Power Station
• The Harry Potter tour (just outside of London)
• A trip up the Shard
• And many many more shows: Matilda, Harry Potter, Frozen……

I hope this helps any families who are considering a trip to London, it can be overwhelming trying to decide where to go and what to do but we certainly had the best ever time and cannot wait to go back!

This article was published in September 2023 and all content is true from time of writing.