Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kids are into Harry Potter, go to the Warner brothers studio and get tix well in advance of your trip! We took DD when she was 8, and she loved it.

+1 like months in advance. I waited until 2 weeks to give us some wiggle room for our itinerary, and it was all booked. Kids eventually went back, but as teens. My spouse is from the UK so we go back every couple of years.

Does anyone know if a paid tourist bus tour can get you in? That is the usual solution for "no tix online".

No. They do a good job of limiting the number of tickets sold so it's not too crowded. I was surprised by how reasonable it was in peak summer. If there are no tickets available on the website, they are sold out.

Greenwich

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kids are into Harry Potter, go to the Warner brothers studio and get tix well in advance of your trip! We took DD when she was 8, and she loved it.

+1 like months in advance. I waited until 2 weeks to give us some wiggle room for our itinerary, and it was all booked. Kids eventually went back, but as teens. My spouse is from the UK so we go back every couple of years.

Does anyone know if a paid tourist bus tour can get you in? That is the usual solution for "no tix online".

We were there a month ago, with a 9 and a 12 year old. We used golden tours ( $800 credit from Costco travel) and it was fine ( it would give you ideas where to visit, some tourist attractions open on certain on certain days of week or seasonally), except the hop on and off bus, due to protest it closed route, we end up using uber, tube and walk, but it was fine.

Londoner here! Definitely Tower of London, the tours are very exciting, especially for that age range. I would skip Hamley's bc it seems scruffy and crowded to me and do the Selfridges toy floor instead. Thames boat to Greenwich to see the prime meridian and views over London. King's Cross for the redevelopment and restaurants, Nine Elms/Battersea, list goes on. Really depends on what you are into and where you are staying!

Literally went to London for Thxgiving 2024 w my 9 and 12 yr old. Harry Potter is a must even tho it’s $$. We did a Paddington Bear themed high tea, run by Brigits Bakery - They loved that. We took them to a soccer game, super fun. For a view, boat ride on Thames or visiting Tower Bridge are more affordable than the London Eye. Springing for the AudioGuides was a good call at any historical site. They’d have a kid themed audio guide that made Churchill War Rooms and Westminster Abbey downright fun for my kids

Anonymous wrote:Tower of London,
Cruise on Thames
Buckingham Palace, St James Park

I would skip Buckingham Palace for kids, and do Hyde Park instead. Go to Princess Diana playground; it's a great place for kids.

You could do Hampton Court (Henry VIII home). Kids can dressup in costume there as they tour around.

British Natural History museum is also pretty good.

I heard Winston Churchill museum was also good, but never been.

Anonymous wrote:If your kids are into Harry Potter, go to the Warner brothers studio and get tix well in advance of your trip! We took DD when she was 8, and she loved it.

+1 like months in advance. I waited until 2 weeks to give us some wiggle room for our itinerary, and it was all booked. Kids eventually went back, but as teens. My spouse is from the UK so we go back every couple of years.

We have taken our kids and are going again in the spring. Here is what we plan on doing based on what they really liked last time:

London Eye
Tower of London
Harry Potter Studios
A musical or play, trying to decide which one
Princess Di playground
Harrod’s

British museum and tower would be my top two.

There’s a toy museum at Victoria and Albert that I think some kids would enjoy.

We liked riding bikes around regent park big I don’t know if 7 is too young for that. They have a beautiful garden and there’s a lake with boat rentals and ice cream.

London Eye

My then four year old got obsessed with the kid audio tours available in a lot of places (St. Paul's and Buckingham Palace). Some of the art museums have kids scavenger hunt type programs.

The London Science museum is nice but it was absolutely packed when we went there.

We did also did some games like trying all the flavors of cornetto and voting on our favorite.

My DS loved taking the double decker buses and West end shows. We saw The Play that goes Wrong twice because he laughed so much the first time. We saw the Lion King. He was around 9. He also really liked eating at Pret a Manger, they’re everywhere, the allergy info is clear and the food is really good for fast food. I don’t think he remembers much else tbh.

If your kids like vehicles, the Transit Museum which is in Covent Garden. Hit up the Dishoom there for breakfast.

Agree with Hamleys for a souvenir.

Borough Market for food that will satisfy everyone and you could check out the Globe Theater that way as well.


I believe the Natural History Museum dinosaur garden is now completed and looks amazing. Plus the museum is free. They have a kids VIP option for like 10 quid that includes a souvenir book about the museum, worth it.

Depending on your kid's interest I recommend seeing what's on West End while you're there.

Instead of a hop on hop off tour consider one of the boat tours.

Everyone recommends the Tower of London but to be honest I went as a kid slightly older and it wasn't much my thing. I think a lot of it is dependent on kid's interests but I also don't remember having a bad time.

The Tate has a kids program I believe.

The Museum of London was amazing for kids. They are re-building but have a temporary satellite location. I haven’t been but check out the website to see what they have for kids.