Anonymous wrote:Try doing something that isn't a tourist attraction where you won't just see other tourists.

Unless you are going to suggest something your comment is useless and unhelpful.

Anonymous wrote:My teen likes the used record stores/stalls and jewelry stalls at Camden Market and Camden Passage. And food at Borough Market.

If you want to work in some history but not the entire British Museum (which I love, but it can be crowded and overwhelming), consider the Museum of London. The Docklands site is relatively small but very interesting. (The regular museum is also terrific but much larger and longer time period.) Or maybe the Portrait Gallery.

Free lunchtime concerts at St Martins in the Field might be another option if your kids are into music.

Good suggestions. The main Museum of London is closed until 2026 as they move to a new location.

My teen likes the used record stores/stalls and jewelry stalls at Camden Market and Camden Passage. And food at Borough Market.

If you want to work in some history but not the entire British Museum (which I love, but it can be crowded and overwhelming), consider the Museum of London. The Docklands site is relatively small but very interesting. (The regular museum is also terrific but much larger and longer time period.) Or maybe the Portrait Gallery.

Free lunchtime concerts at St Martins in the Field might be another option if your kids are into music.

Loved Churchill War Rooms. Loved Stonehenge which I don’t recall seeing on your list. I found Tower of London boring but worth an hour.

In Paris loved the on and off boat. Cooking classes were a highlight for us.

I feel like some of your days are light with activities but you might like a slower pace than we do.

Anonymous wrote:Tower of London really needs a full day. So much to see.

No way. Ignore this, especially since OP said their kids don’t want to just spend an entire day walking around looking at stuff. 2-3 hours tops.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks all, this is great.

And to answer OP. I'm not sure what we are doing about hotel checkin. We plan to go there straight from Heathrow to drop our bags but it will be like 9am so I don't have an expectation of a room for many hours after that.

You may feel pretty bad the first day. I don't sleep on planes and arrive in Europe feeling blah.

OP here. Yeah I am dreading this. Just don’t really know what I can do about it.

If you have the money in your budget, booking the hotel the night before, so it's available in the morning, is money we'll spent. I lucked into that our first trip and then booked it on purpose for the second. You can drop your bags and go walk around a bit. By lunch time everyone is passing out, so we take a max one hour nap and then head back out. I can't emphasize enough how grumpy my teens/tweens get around lunch the first day. But after a nap, everyone is back on track. You should at least ask about paying for an early check-in.

With teens, I'd recommend hitting things late instead of at opening. Versailles really clears out in the afternoon. You're not going to have time to see it all, but will have several hours and that frees up the morning. Similarly, the Louvre near closing is way better than midday.

I agree with PP that going to the top of the Eiffel tower isn't worth the time. The catacombs are a teen friendly attraction if you want to add that.

We all enjoyed an evening boat tour, where it got dark while we were out, so you could watch the city light up.

Try doing something that isn't a tourist attraction where you won't just see other tourists.

Anonymous wrote:For your day 1 paris, doing the eiffel tower and then the arc de triumphe in the same day seems a bit of the same thing. Consider the eiffel tower and then either a food walking tour or the catacombs (bot of which my teen loved), and then saving the arc de triumpe for after dinner one night to see the city lit up at night. (maybe after your versaille day trip?).

You could do Eiffel Tower and then go see the Arc de Triomphe but don't go up. Just stroll from there down the Champs Elysses. Grab baguette sandwiches from a boulangerie for lunch while you walk. Duck in the enormous Louis Vuitton or just window shop. You'll end up at Place de la Concorde/Tuileries. Angelina is right there if you want to get a pastry/hot chocolate.

Anonymous wrote:Was just in Paris with teens and highly recommend this tour - it kept kids engaged, we walked and explored some new (to us) areas, and the kids found the history really interesting. The company also does other tours that look great https://parismuse.com/tours/the-french-revolution-a-murder-mystery-tour/

This post reminded me that a few years back, I saw on the AirBnB Experiences subsite a tour about colonial Americans in Paris. Looked interesting. Other than a plaque about TJ on a WeWork building on the Champs Elysees, and the model of Liberty's torch, I didn't see any other Americana while in Paris. Thought that tour might be interesting for high schoolers because they get so much colonial history in school classes.

For your day 1 paris, doing the eiffel tower and then the arc de triumphe in the same day seems a bit of the same thing. Consider the eiffel tower and then either a food walking tour or the catacombs (bot of which my teen loved), and then saving the arc de triumpe for after dinner one night to see the city lit up at night. (maybe after your versaille day trip?).

Was just in Paris with teens and highly recommend this tour - it kept kids engaged, we walked and explored some new (to us) areas, and the kids found the history really interesting. The company also does other tours that look great https://parismuse.com/tours/the-french-revolution-a-murder-mystery-tour/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks all, this is great.

And to answer OP. I'm not sure what we are doing about hotel checkin. We plan to go there straight from Heathrow to drop our bags but it will be like 9am so I don't have an expectation of a room for many hours after that.

You may feel pretty bad the first day. I don't sleep on planes and arrive in Europe feeling blah.

OP here. Yeah I am dreading this. Just don’t really know what I can do about it.

Big cup of coffee, big hearty breakfast and spend the day in the sun, walking as much as you can. If you nap, limit it to an hour. Try to not to turn in for the night before 7 or 8 local time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks all, this is great.

And to answer OP. I'm not sure what we are doing about hotel checkin. We plan to go there straight from Heathrow to drop our bags but it will be like 9am so I don't have an expectation of a room for many hours after that.

You may feel pretty bad the first day. I don't sleep on planes and arrive in Europe feeling blah.

OP here. Yeah I am dreading this. Just don’t really know what I can do about it.

Tower of London really needs a full day. So much to see.

Anonymous wrote:Just get a London bus day pass. You don't need the tourist bus.

That doesn't exist anymore. You just use Oyster or contactless and it caps you at a max 5.25 for the day no matter how many buses you take- so anything above 3 rides is free.

But the buses are pretty slow and Tube/Elizabeth Line is going to be the way to get to most things, and also has cheap daily capping.

Kids 11-15 can get half off adult fares with Oyster cards that you have a Tube staffer add the "young visitor discount" to.