Any feedback on this detailed London agenda (8 days in mid-April 2017)?

It looks great to me, you are only doing a couple of major things each day which is good. There is only one day I would chance, instead of Bath I would either go to Little Venice, or if you want to go out of London go to Windsor. Take train from Paddington Station in London, it's a 35 minute train ride, you could tour the castle, St. George's Chapel, Windsor Great Park a five minute walk from the castle great place to pick up some food and have a picnic, then walk to Eton so see Eton College which is really a middle/high school where the royals and aristocrats send their boys, you might see the young boys wearing their black tail coats which is their uniforms. No need to take an Uber to Portobello, take the tube from Sloane Square tube station (Circle line) to Notting Hill Gate Station, then walk to Portobello Road, a ten minute walk, which would cost a lot less then an Uber, if you would prefer not take the tube I would suggest taking a black cab, I think everyone should experience a black cab and it would cost about €2.00 more then an Uber but worth it.

Borough market is best seen one side of lunch or the other rather than later in the afternoon. It's still a functioning market, however seasoned by its TV fame. Is the youngest member of the group happy to inspect cheese and sausage? Or will he be kept content by a day with Harry Potter? No joke: With this age range, you will benefit from agreeing in advance whether everyone must operate in a group or can individuals do their own thing away from your schedule.

Is there a reason that you are taking the expensive and slow tour bus to Harry Potter rather than a bus or tube to the train to Watford Junction and then the special knight bus to the studios?

Is there a reason you want to take an uber -with all its flaws- to Portobello Market when the tube takes you right there, as do buses (with all their fabulous views from the top deck front seats)? Or even a skilled black cab with its supercool (to kids and kids at heart) fold down backwards facing special seats?

Sloane Square is really convenient for bus and Tube travel.

Thanks Robin, appreciate the Portobello tip and the thoughts on day trips. I love Roman history, so have been tempted to dedicate a full day to Bath, but I may be the only one in my party that is truly interested. Perhaps a 1/2 day trip to Windsor Castle would be a better (or more popular?) idea.

Southam - good point. My wife would love it, the kids not so much. But they are good kids and patient, so I am sure they would trade some time given all the other fun stuff they'll be doing.

Nigel - thanks, I was not aware of the Knight Bus option, so I will look into that. As for uber, I only mentioned it because I have used it before and find it convenient, I have no bias against black cabs or other modes of transport. Somehow I think I missed the easy access to Portobello by tube!

Somehow I think I missed the easy access to Portobello by tube!

Downstairs into Sloan Sq tube station. Just a few steps.

Westbound (clockwise) Circle Line Tube. Pass South Kensington, Gloucester Road, and High Street Kensington, exit at Notting Hill Gate. Total train time around 12 minutes. Go upstairs. You're there!

London is large with a great selection of wonderful sights and experiences. I would group your sightseeing by sections of the city to avoid backtracking (i.e. Big Ben, War Rooms, WAbbey all together). Use a combination of walking and the tube to get around. With 8 days you should have time to revisit some of the areas you like the best.

KevinK, that makes total sense, thanks. I found the National Geographic's "Walking London" to be helpful.

I realize that jet-lag effects people differently but IMHO I think getting out into the fresh are and getting some mild exercise by exploring is the best course of action after a transatlantic flight. If you can stay awake until 8:00 or 9:00 pm, it will help you sleep through the night and reset your body clock.

I'm not a huge fan of the Hop-on/Hop-off bus tours in London. In my experience, it was a waste of time and money... It's easier to get from point A to point B using the TFL buses and the tube.

The Museum of London, St Paul's and Borough Market make a nice day as because they're all fairly walkable from each other.

IMHO, the best time to ride the Eye is after dark (the city lights are stunning) so this activity can be saved for an evening (if you wish).

The British Museum is enormous! I would definitely have a look at their web site and develop a plan of action before you go. We spent 4 hours in the museum and I think we visited just two or three galleries. Have a plan of what you want to see beforehand.

I would imagine the gardens at Kew are starting to pop by the middle of April (perhaps someone with experience may want to chime in). You might consider trip there as well. It's pretty easy to get there via the tube.

I would recommend having at least one fully functioning smart phone in the group. Pay-as-you-go SIM cards are pretty affordable and having a smart phone will make transportation so much easier. The city buses and the tube are the cheapest and most efficient means of travel. Being able to access site such as https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/ while on the move will make your trip that much more enjoyable.

I just got back from London with two 16 year-olds who are good travelers yet they need downtime. I had a full itinerary all mapped out, one site seeing location in the morning and one in the afternoon. Much of it didn't happen so my advice is to prioritize what you really want to see. If I look at it from their perspective, much of what we were doing is not something that they WANT to do but it is something they do because we are doing it as a family. We are a bunch of nerds but our eyes glaze over after three hours in any museum, even the British Museum which is fantastic.

Things they particularly enjoyed included simply walking down Oxford Street and and regents Street near Piccadilly, just absorbing all the people, all the buildings all the razzmatazz. They liked seeing all the people at Trafalgar Square and then walking from there to Buckingham palace which took about 15 minutes ---and there are many sites to see on the way (horse guards, St James park)

We went to a performance of Stomp which you can see in many places but we had the chance to see it in London and they loved it.

Someone had mentioned the "Camden lock market" to me. It is a gigantic fleamarket and personally I think they sell a lot of junk ---but my two kids who are not shoppers at all, absolutely loved walking around looking at everything. ( and I mean EVERYTHING). It's about a 10 minute bus ride from Russell Square.

We took a walking tour called "the tour for Muggles" (Harry Potter) which is very highly rated on trip advisor, but we found it dull. I would not do that again. I also would not do the City of London museum, too much information previous to the 1800s, just not our cup of tea.

We loved riding the buses. It was so easy, they go everywhere. We felt it was better than the tube because you are in daylight, looking around seeing the sights while you are being transported. It is very easy to use, the buses are clean and overall I would give it an A+. You can use Google maps and they will advise you where to catch a bus,when the next bus is coming, how to take the bus, how many minutes between buses, what stop you are at and when to get off. Tfl.com is the official transit site for London covering both buses and tube. I advise you to play with this website before your trip because it is a bit quirky.

Please private message me if you would like more suggestions. Enjoy every minute of your trip!

PS I would be remiss if I did not add that per my kids London was a terrific place to play Pokémon go. Every tourist location particularly the squares and Oxford Street area had TONS of poke stops

Needless to say, I had not put Pokémon hunting on our itinerary. Ha ha ha..

Sorry, haven't read all the replies, so apologies for repeating what other posters may have said.

There is no need to take a Golden Tour tour, to get to the WB Harry Potter studios. You can just take the train to Watford Junction on your own. This is cheaper, and you have more flexibility with your schedule. There are directions on the studio's website, and the topic comes up often over on the TripAdvisor London Forum.

You do need to pre-book your WB Harry Potter tickets. They sell out and you cannot turn up and buy tickets at the door on the day. You must book this in advance.

All my experiences with London Walks have been great. They do offer a Harry Potter themed walk, if you're interested.

Be sure to see the Roman bits at the British Museum. And don't forget about the Museum of London, which also has Roman artifacts. There are also the (very ruined and not much to see, but much to imagine) remains of the Roman ampitheatre, which you can see in the basement of Guildhall.

I have stayed in the St Katherine Docks area in London and while it's worth a look if you're in the area, I wouldn't go there just for lunch. It's all chain restaurants or the Dickens Inn. I'd just stay longer at the Tower and eat lunch there, or there's a Pret right outside, or likely other options in the area, but the cafe at the Tower is fine. In fact, museum and gallery and similar restaurants, are much better in the UK than in the States. Likewise, the pre-packaged sandwiches you get at stores (Pret) and train stations (M&S) and grocery stores (Tesco Express) and even Boots the chemist, are edible to very good.

Also the HOHO bus tours are fine if you want a tour, but not fine for transportation--too slow and inefficient. If you want to take a bus tour, then take the bus tour, but if you want to get to the Tower of London or anywhere else, just use public transit. I would allow at least three hours at the Tower of London, by the way: Crown Jewels (right at opening to avoid the queues), a Yeoman Warder Tour, and at least some of the inside of the White Tower, at a minimum.

My best recipe to fight jet lag on arrival day is to be outside and moving as much as possible, not resting, and not sitting down much. Your mileage may vary. We always do a London Walks tour on arrival afternoon--fulfills the outside and moving requirements, but I don't have to navigate for a couple of hours.

I would not bother with Uber in London, when public transit is so good. Failing that, I'd just hail a black cab off the street.

I personally don't think there is anything to see in Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, or Covent Garden (except restaurants, the Transit Museum, and Stanford's in CG) but appreciate with the ages of your kids, they may disagree with me. But I think Trafalgar Square merits five minutes to admire the architecture and see what's on the Fourth Plinth, while I walk across it to the National Gallery or National Portrait Gallery.

The food at the restaurant in the crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields is very good. The church is lovely as well, and offers a lot of recitals and concerts.

Hope you have a great holiday!

I would suggest the London Walks British Museum tour as they get you to see all the important stuff and not waste time just walking endlessly around. Also get tickets to Tower of London ahead of time so you don't have to wait in line and go early when it opens and take the Beefeaters tour the kids and adults will love it. London Walks also does a Jack the Ripper night tour that my kids really enjoyed but be prepared as there are lots of imposters doing that tour and it maybe very crowded depending on the day.
Portobello Market can be very crowded on Saturday I actually like Borough Market on Saturday and Camden Market on Sunday
Another good stop is St Paul's for evening song around 5 pm. Just the ticket for resting weary feet and listen to the lovely choir.

Another vote for the Miseum of London. If you like Roman history, there's a whole gallery on Roman London, and there's WWII for your husband.

It's kid friendly while still providing plenty of info for the adults.

While you're there, don't miss the London2012 Olympic cauldron. It's in its own room downstairs and easy to pass by.

I prefer Portobello market on Friday as Saturday gets ridiculously rammed, and Borough on a Thursday for the same reason.

Go to the British Museum when they open. You won't know until you are there how much time you'll want. Check with the info desk - there are 30-minute gallery talks throughout each day, led by (in my experience) well-informed, avid docents. Skip Bea's. Unless they've taken over a next-door shop and doubled their space, you won't have a table for 5, it's a tiny shop and most of their business is take away. The cupcakes are American cupcakes - nothing special for Americans except maybe tons of frosting. Instead, have afternoon tea upstairs at the Museum.

Borough Market is best before the local lunch crowd gets there. Plan to go around 10-11 am. While you can probably fill up with all the samples offered (sometimes quite insistently), try to leave room for the best grilled cheese sandwich ever at the Kappacasein stand - you can usually spot it by the long line (but it moves pretty quickly).

Bath is a good day trip on a sunny day, kind of a bummer if it's drizzly and overcast. Greenwich could be a fun day, get to stand with one foot in each hemisphere, wander through a venerable sailing ship. You can get there on the river.

I haven't been on the London Eye, but I imagine it would be less interesting in poor weather and I've heard you really have to make reservations in advance. Instead, consider going up to the top of the Shard for the view.

Museum of London will be gone from its present location within a few years. It will be reborn elsewhere, but sometimes new museums lack something of a flavour of the old even when the key exhibits are still there - and there is more than a flavour of the 1960s in its current location. I tend to agree that it is focussed really on London up to the Great Fire and tends to skim over latter history a bit - but that is covered more extensively in the Museum of London's Docklands site.