Pulling the trigger....help me plan a short(ish) trip to London in late October
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Anonymous
| DH, our 3 YO, and myself, would prefer to not need to use a taxi or car service since we won't have a car seat. Where should we stay (as reasonable as decent accommodations can be in London)? What neighborhoods? What should we do? Thinking about a Thursday red eye, coming back the following Wednesday. Day trips outside of London would be fun, too, if accessible by bus or train. DS is a pretty easy traveller and will usually fall asleep in the stroller if he gets tired enough. Thanks for your input! I've been to the UK, but only spent a couple hours in London. Tagging a personal trip to the end of DH's work trip. |
Anonymous
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Everything is accessible by subway, but beware most do not have elevators in case you take a stroller.
Kew Gardens is a nice outside the city place to visit. If you fly into Heathrow, I like staying near Paddington. The reason is the Heathrow Express train operates from Paddington, and then it's just a walk from hotel to airport train. Proved very useful when taking an early flight and subway hasn't started yet. |
Anonymous
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Knightsbridge and South Kensington are quite close to many things, on the subway and bus lines and whatnot. I've staying Notting Hill & Bayswater before as well. Little more night life going on there. Marble Arch was ok, but a little congested. Maida Vale was pleasant too. Heathrow Express is expensive but convenient especially if staying in that part of town.
Day trips to Oxford and Cambridge are quite easy. Personally I hate the red eye and prefer the day flight that leaves in the morning and arrives in the evening. Dinner then to the hotel and then down for bed. Makes jet lag adjustment a bit easier. I would make one observation though: your 3yr old will be as happy looking at a squirrel in the park as they are watching the Changing of the Guard or something like that. Don't over estimate their willingness to be a tourist and see this that and the other thing. |
Anonymous
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You don't need to use a car seat in London black cabs:
https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules/when-a-child-can-travel-without-a-car-seat It's super secure in the back without a car seat. Don't do a day trip, enough and more to see in London itself. |
Anonymous
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Paddington and Kensington are close to Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park, which has a playground for kids and tons of space to run around. Those neighborhoods have good tube access.
There:s a statue of Paddington Bear in Paddington Station. For things to do there's the Tower of London (long lines so go during the week), Transport Museum, British Museum. I second the Kew suggestion. Time Out London is a free magazine, which will have children's theater listings. |
Anonymous
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Things to do in London:
Parks: Regent's Park (the best), Battersea Park (second best), Hyde Park, while beautiful, is played out and touristy. Victoria Park is also amazing and full of locals Walks: Down the Strand to Trafalgar Sq and then up the mall to Buckingham Palace. From there you can go on to Mayfair/Oxford. Another one is to start near St Pauls, down to the Tate Modern, to Borough Market and possibly the Tower of London if time permits. British Library: amazing and has a museum attached with many important books like the Gutenberg bible, Magna Carta etc. It's also very close to King's Cross so you can check out the Regent's Canal and the fun restaurants (Dishoom, Granger, Vinoteca) Museums: National Gallery, Tate Modern, and the V&A. While there are tons more these are easily the best Do not stay in Marble Arch, Paddington, or Bayswater. While central these neighbourhoods are a bit run down and not that nice. I'd recommend Clerkenwell, Angel, or Highbury. Clerkenwell would be my pick, it is central and close to everything, not many tourists and amazing places to eat and have coffee Places to eat: Morito, Dishoom, Granger, Polpo, Vinoteca, Yuatcha, Franco Manca. Splurges: Hakkasan, Pollen Street Social, Hawksmoor, Clove Club It is an amazing place. Feel free to ask me any other questions! |
Anonymous
The problem with Paddington is that while it is convenient for the Heathrow Express, it isn't so convenient for just about anywhere else in London. You will have to change tube lines at least once and beyond the park there isn't much else within walking distance. It's also a hotel ghetto and hotel quality vary dramatically, so be careful. The range of dining options is also limited and not impressive. If it's a family of three with the associated luggage and stroller to carry, they might as well take a private taxi directly to their hotel for not much more money than three tickets for the Express (50-60 GBP for a taxi, compared to 35 GBP (half of a round trip ticket) on the Express. US bound flights are almost always in mid morning to afternoon so I don't think she needs to worry about tube hours, BUT, groan, do be prepared for the occasional tube strike!
If not staying with family, I prefer to stay in Bloomsbury near the British Museum and within walking distance of the Russell Square or Holborn underground stops on the Piccadilly Line. The Piccadilly Line has probably the highest share of sights within walking distance of its stops of any underground lines throughout London. From a hotel in Bloomsbury you can easily walk to the British Museum, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, plus Soho and Covent Gardens and Trafalgar Square, the West end with its theatres, Oxford Street etc, plus numerous smaller musuems within Bloomsbury and the West End (Sir John Soane is a wonderful little museum). King's Cross station and the British Library is on the northern edge of Bloomsbury. The Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury has a nice Waitrose plus a range of perfectly nice restaurants. A block away from the Brunswick Centre is Coram Fields, which is a child only park (children + parents). And Bloomsbury is a pretty area for the most part, Bedford Square is gorgeous and has Gail's Bakery, which is my favourite coffee shop in London. Without knowing more of the OP's interests I'm holding back on other recommendations for sights as there's SO much to see and do in London. But I will say this: avoid Borough Market. It used to be fantastic, but it's now so jammed with tourists that going there is not fun. I was just there a month ago and I couldn't wait to leave. A shame as I used to love the market in the past. The food on offer is fine but not remarkable and you can easily find similar food elsewhere in London as the food scene has exploded in recent years. There's a smaller market in Covent Garden, handy for a lunch break from visiting the National Gallery. Another advice is that a great way to keep food costs low while still eating out for lunches or breakfasts is to go to Pret or EAT. Sandwiches are pretty good, lots of other freshly made packaged lunches for only a few pounds and you can eat indoors for only a very slight mark up. "Proper" restaurants are generally expensive compared to their US equivalents. |
Anonymous
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Oh also do Spitalfields market. It is good fun with loads of shops and food stalls. They do an antiques market on Thursday.
Also Columbia Road Flower Market on a Sunday. In fact on Sunday morning you could hit the flower market first then and walk down to Spitalfields. Lunch at Dishoom, Albion or Pizza East. |
Anonymous
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Definitely take a daytrip out of the city! We loved seeing the Cotswolds, Stratford upon Avon and Warwick Castle (which has lovely gardens and fields where your kid can run around). We also tacked on a daytrip to Paris by train.
Don't stay in Notting hill...it's far away from everything. A good central location might be near the Savoy. We stayed in the business district at the Crowne Plaza across the street from Blackfriars (tube station) and walked nearly everywhere, but next time I think I'd want to stay closer to the area near the Savoy (tons of restaurants, good location). |
Anonymous
OP here, and I've been to the Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick. Agree that they are all great sites to see outside the city! DH hasn't been before, so I would definitely consider visiting those places again if we're there long enough. |
Anonymous
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These places can be done as day trips, in theory, but it still means a long day and be aware that train tickets are very expensive. Then you have to figure out the logistics of getting around the Cotswolds. But there are tour companies that can organize such a trip for a day if you don't mind the big tour coaches and hours on the motorways.
If I wanted to do day trips from London, York would be my first choice. Fabulous cathedral, several good museums, a very pretty and charming town center and surrounded by the old city walls. Gorgeous place and very easy to get around.
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Anonymous
It's still a car. Don't kid yourself. I have taken a black cab many times. It's not magic. |
Anonymous
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The safest way to travel in a black cab with kid if you don't have a car seat is to have them in the stroller and put the brake on. It's just like being on a bus.
Also consider getting something like a Trunki Boosterpak. I also don't recommend staying in Paddington - yes convenient for the Heathrow express but not for anything else. Highbury, Clerkenwell etc are trendier but not great for kids. I'd stay around primrose hill, Regent's Park - then your base is a great park and playgrounds (and the zoo, though it's expensive) as well as nice neighbourhood coffee shops, restaurants, etc, and you can take the tube anywhere. (I'm a Londoner, I live in Primrose Hill!) |
Anonymous
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We just got back from a London trip where we stayed in Covent Garden -- our 4yo was completely entranced by the street performers in/around CG, had a great time in the London Transport Museum which is very kid-friendly, and there are plenty of restaurants.
A tip on two very good playgrounds (not just parks): There's one next to the London Eye that has a lot of climbing, and the Princess Diana playground in Kensington is great (but has sand and water, so bring a change of clothes). For the latter, look up the location - it is NOT next to the Diana memorial fountain (which our cabbie didn't know), and they limit the number of kids inside, so later in the day may be better than the morning rush/lines. |
Anonymous
This looks like a great idea, but unfortunately DS is only going to be 3 and not yet 40 lbs. Still not sure what we'll do if we need to drive somewhere or ride in a car. I'm definitely not comfortable just putting him in the stroller in the taxi, because it's definitely not like being in a bus if you're in an accident. The bus is large and can disperse the energy from an accident much better than a small car could. We may just have to make sure we don't have to take a taxi at any point! DH will have a car for part of his trip, but will probably ditch it while in London. Thanks for the other recommendations. |