London with Teens questions
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Anonymous
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Traveling to London with 2 older teen daughters in a few weeks and planning to do all the major sites (Tower of London, Globe, Westminster Palace and Abbey, Buckingham Palace). Will be there there for a week so have some questions:
- For arrival day (when we are jet lagged) is there a specific walking tour or bus tour your teens have enjoyed? - Any specific tour guide recommendations for the markets? (Camden, Spitalfields, Portobello) I know we could also just do these on our own, but sometimes a walking tour guide is nice - A tea recommendation? Was thinking of maybe the Orangery at Kensington or Swan at Globe? Brigit's tea bus? But definitely open to other suggestions - Any shows really recommended right now? We've been very lucky that we've seen quite a few already - Day trip recommendation? Windsor, Cotwolds, Hampton Court Palace - Shopping recs? Love bookstores, thrifting, looking for dorm decor, typical teen clothes - Museum Wise - V&A, Tate Modern? - Restaurant recs? Would love to find a trivia pub night teens could go do? Have gotten requests for "conveyer belt sushi" and Indian? Have a vegetarian n the group. Italian / Pizza always popular but open to a variety of foods - Staying near Tower Hill tube stop and have a 10 AM return flight out of Heathrow? Best way and time to get get back to the airport? |
Anonymous
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A few recs-
We loved tea at the Shard. The view is incredible. Pricey, but worth the splurge. Another thing we really enjoyed was visiting Sky Gardens. It is free, you just have to sign up for it a few weeks in advance. Should be pretty close to where you are staying. If you haven't seen Matilda, it is a fantastic show. Finally, an afternoon trip we also really enjoyed was visiting Greenwich. The park there is beautiful, the town is quaint, and visiting the Prime Meridian was pretty neat. It was a more relaxed activity, which was nice to break up some of the more busy tours/museums. |
Anonymous
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We liked tea at the Orangery— it was nice without being over the top or too expensive.
Was also going to suggest Greenwich as a day trip but Hampton Court and Windsor are good options too. If I was in London now I’d see if I could get to tickets to Evita with Rachel Zegler. |
Anonymous
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Operation Mincemeat is great.
I might try to see a show at The Globe because it's cheap (5 pounds) and the standing is kind of an experience. I believe Romeo and Juliet is on. Evita is making waves, it's Jaime Lloyd so you know you're getting that stripped down minimalism, but Rachel Zeigler is supposed to be good in it (you could just wait outside and see her sing from the balcony). V&A and Tate Modern are nice. National Gallery, Tate Britain, Portrait Gallery, Churchill's War Rooms. I've enjoyed Hampton Court Palace and Greenwich. |
Anonymous
I haven’t been to Portobello market for years, but you definitely wouldn’t get a guide for either Camden or Spitalfields markets. These are not walking tour types of markets. Also, keep in mind that Camden is much much bigger than Spitalfields. I took my 16yo DS to a nice little pub/coffee place called The Market on Brushfield St opposite Spitalfields and bought him a half pint of cider (can drink alcohol provided you order some food like hot chips). He got a kick out of feeling a little grown up. Regarding thrift stores, there’s a bunch around Covent Garden. I think one is called Pop boutique. You can google them. My teens would not be up for a day trip to the Cotswolds. They are not early risers and I imagine just the journey there and back from East London would be super long. I would go to Greenwich which is on the eastern side of London. You can get a boat there. There’s a market, you can go up to the Royal Observatory, wander the park, have lunch at the Trafalgar which is right on the water. My favourite bookstore is Daunts in Marylebone and I drag my teens there on every visit. You can buy their tote bags - my DD uses hers all the time. I’ve heard really good things about the Waterstones on Gower Street. Looks like a beautiful building and is one of the biggest bookstores in Europe. It’s near the British Museum so could be conveniently incorporated in a broader itinerary. Everybody seems to be going to Dishoom for Indian these days so worth investigating. You will be staying relatively close to Brick Lane which is famous for having lots of Indian places. Imagine most places would be much more ‘authentic’ so maybe figure out which would appear more to your kids. There are two sushi chains which seem to be everywhere - Itsu and Wasabi. Good quality and convenient but not conveyor belt sushi. What do your kids like museum wise? Art, history? My kids have never loved the British Museum as it can be crowded and overwhelming. They actually have a term for the fatigue that hits them about 30 mins after arriving - BME (British Museum Exhaustion). It has amazingg stuff but there isn’t a good written narrative to follow if you are wandering around on your own and the crowds for the most popular exhibits can be overwhelming. I strongly suggest joining a tour or downloading an audio tour. You could get your kids to watch “The Dig” movie beforehand (excellent - my DD liked it) and then visit the Sutton Hoo exhibits. If you want to go to the Tate Modern, suggest you combine it with a visit to Borough Market and wander along the South Bank. There is also the Old Operating Theatre museum right there. I’ve never been but they offer visits combined with walking tours which look fascinating - eg “body snatchers of Southwark”, etc. I would take my DD to the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art in Piccadilly. Very different to Tate do google to figure out which would appeal more. |
Anonymous
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I just went with an 18 and 21 year old, both girls.
We did Borough Market and both kids had seen a ton of Tik Toks about it so they knew the stalls to hit. We came up with a plan - every family member had an assignment of a stall to hit then we all met up and shared the food. It was chaotic and stressful but fun. Tea at Fortum and Mason was great. Kids loved it. Shopping: they liked Brick Lane in Shoreditch. I would have your kids do some online research so they can come up with ideas and empower them - less whining that way! |
Anonymous
The Bread Ahead Donuts are absolutely worth the hype. The Ginger Pig Sausage roll is huge so don't get more than one. Skip the chocolate covered strawberries (way too expensive). The Black Pig sandwich is good. |
Anonymous
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If your kids are into music, I recommend catching a performance at Ronnie Scott's. We saw the Royal Academy of Music's big band -- so student performers -- who were amazing. My 15-year-old loved the whole jazz club experience -- think Blues Alley but bigger and better food.
We had good luck shopping the Camden Passage market in Islington -- stalls were a bit of a cross between vintage and thrift, shops more upscale. I think the market days are Wednesday and Saturday. And the used record stores at Camden Market were also fruitful. |
Anonymous
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For transit to/from Heathrow. Almost surely will be fastest to take Elizabeth Line to Whitechapel, and transfer to the District line 2 stops to Tower Hill. Reverse to go back to the airport.
For those aged 16+, use contactless card or Apple/Google Pay to pay for the trains/Tube. For a kid 11-15, buy an Oyster card for 7 pounds once you arrive, and have an agent put the Young Visitor Discount on it to get half off fares. Will have to periodically load it up with value. |
Anonymous
| I would NOT suggest a walking or guided tour your first day. Just brutal. I'd make it a fun exploring, eating, shopping, tea, etc. |
Anonymous
| If you are staying down by the Tower maybe see London Bridge, take the tourist boat up to Westminster and see that and see how you are doing. |
Anonymous
| Sorry tower not London bridge |
Anonymous
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On our first day, we went to Camden Market. We walked around a bit, ate lunch and then did a boat tour on the canal to Maida Vale.
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Anonymous
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For a day tour, you might take a bus tour to Bath and maybe Stonehenge on the way.
Or anything London Walks is doing that interests you. They have a much less regular schedule for day tours but have quality guides and tend to use the train system instead of bikes to get out of London. https://www.walks.com/ The recommendation to go to the Globe is solid. My teen enjoyed the theater tour alone. We saw some actors rehearsing fight scenes as we toured. |
Anonymous
| ^trains instead of buses |