London with a 3 year old
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Anonymous
| DH has a week long work trip to London in late October. I'm thinking about accompanying him and he may extend his trip by a few days. I have only spent a day in London, and he's never been. Flights are pricey, obviously, but we'll be saving at least his fight and any portion of the hotel that overlaps with his work obligations. We aren't world travelers by any means, and with #2 on the way in early 2016, it seems like those opportunities may be more distant. We could leave our DS with family, but they aren't super suited to a long stay with him (short overnights mainly). Would it be worth it? Would I enjoy this trip with a 3 year old? He did fine with a west coast time change and we probably wouldn't bother with a car seat for this trip. I MIGHT do a stroller since he's too big for me to put in a carrier (and I ain't doing that at 5-6 months pregnant). I'm guessing we'd go Saturday to Sunday. |
Anonymous
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We did it with a 3yo last fall -- it was fantastic. We didn't use a stroller or carrier at all, just made sure that the days were varied and had myriad backup plans for each day. I'm not exaggerating when I say we averaged 6-7 miles a day for a week on foot. That said, we hadn't really used a stroller at home for about a year, so he was accustomed to walking, but not those distances. I think it was all so new and exciting that he just kept moving and didn't want to miss anything.
Jet lag was only an issue the first day, but that was for all of us! Do it! Have fun! |
Anonymous
Thanks for this! We've also been using our feet more than our stroller lately, but our BOB was invaluable when we were on the West Coast. He took some awesome naps in that thing while we continued to sightsee.  I have learned that you have to plan differently/more loosely with a toddler in tow, but travel, at least with this guy, is never as hard as I think it's going to be.
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Anonymous
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Yes, you'd love it with a three year old. We did it twice around that age.
However, if you can find someone who really could take him for a while, I'd suggest you go for five days and leave him at home. Five days in London is enough to see lots (you could do some while DH is at meeting and then explore together on the weekend). |
Anonymous
I'm considering this, but since we both work full time and don't have a ton of time off, we're (okay, I'm) hesitant to leave him at home! He misses his Daddy so much when he travels (at least once or twice a month; I basically never travel), and I think it would tear him apart if we were both gone. I know he'd be fine, but I'd also really miss him and fear I wouldn't enjoy myself as much as I could, although I grant a trip without your kids is very different from the very same destination with kids! Since I'm pregnant, it's not like we'd be out on the town every night anyway. I'll have to try and gauge what DH wants to do. |
Anonymous
| I say do it! London is a really easy city to be in with a 3 year old. I live in London with a 4 year old and 1 year old so feel free to ask me for any tips on where to go, what to do with kids, etc. |
Anonymous
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Do it! We've taken our daughter on all our international trips since she was born, Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Cancun and most recently London. Ditch the car seat, London has great public transportation.
She loved Big Ben (our room overlooked it) and the London eye. She enjoyed riding the double decker bus. We spent an entire day at Leeds castle, it was lovely and they have 2 large playgrounds and an awesome hedge maze. Buy the swan food, definitely feed the swans and the ducks. You might actually want a stroller at Leeds, there is a lot of walking. St James park, Trafalgar Square and the horse guard parade were other things we did. The British science museum was probably her favorite. http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk Leeds castle was probably my favorite day. On the train you think "this is awfully far" but when you get there it's so lovely and relaxing to be in the countryside and enjoy the outdoors. |
Anonymous
| Op ~ determine what you want to see, then consider that you can probably see half of it due to the inconveniences of a toddler. Know that there will be times when either you/or husband will have to leave with the toddler, so make sure both of you are prepared to do some sightseeing alone. Respect naps if you can. Always have something in your purse for DC to eat - especially when you arrive. Ours was starving in the middle of the night since their schedule was all confused. Any way they will be willing to ride in an umbrella stroller? I know your DC is way too old, but if there's any chance at all they would put up with it even a little, it would help with all the walking. |
Anonymous
| Princess Diana playground and fountain are musts with children. |
Anonymous
| We did it with a 3 y.o. The sad part is that he doesn't remember anything about it (two years later). He was about 3y9mo at the time. I used the stroller a lot. We walked a lot, and there was no way he could do all that walking. London is such a great city, and very child-friendly. We took him to restaurants, sightseeing, tower of london, buckingham palace, herrods, the usual tourist stuff, but he was happy as long as he got to play and eat. ditto the Princess Diana playground, but there are lots of playgrounds around the city. Go! Do it, you won't regret it! |
Anonymous
| Harrods. |
Anonymous
I understand this completely. I felt the same way when I was working full time and I even feel this way now, having been a SAHM for a whopping 1 month. (It's a temporary thing associated with a move.) London is super fun with kids. London Eye, Princess Diana playground, Covent Garden and the transportation museum, Harrods, even double decker bus rides were all so much fun WITH my then-2 year old.
I grew up in London and would go any chance I got in a heartbeat. Have fun! |
Anonymous
+1 London is great because there are a ton of playgrounds scattered through out the city (made me feel bad about DC when I came back-- what do we have to offer) but this is a fantastic playground. Might also try brass rubbings at St Martins in the Fields, London Eye, lots of things. We had a blast with our 3 yo |
Anonymous
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My four year old loved London. The weather was perfect when we were there last summer, so we spent lots of time outside in the wonderful parks.
As others have said, there are many great playgrounds. My son's favorites were the Diana Memorial Playground and the playground on the South Bank next to the London Eye (my son spotted the playground from on high while we were riding on the London Eye). Go! You'll all love it! |
Anonymous
| London is a fantastic city and we never hesitated to bring our toddlers. Lots of parks really break up the sightseeing. Enjoy! |