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First draft itinerary mom + 10/13yo sons. How do I have an empty day?

Posted by (Tucson) on

Going to London in October. It's my second trip, but I'm taking my sons this time. We are a first in line kinda family

Day 1 (Fri): arrive 11:30am. Hotel & then walk! Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, p/u London Pass, Trafalgar Square (maybe National Gallery if it's open), Picadilly Circus, tube home (by Waterloo)

Day 2 (Sat): Kensington Palace & Park, Natural History Museum, going out to climb O2 at sunset

Day 3 (Sun): Hampton Court, Globe Theatre at 6:30

Day 4 (Mon): Windsor, Westminster Abbey. Maybe brass rubbing at St. Martin-in-the-fields

Day 5 (Tues): Tower of London, walk across bridge, HMS Belfast, St. Paul's, Wicked

Day 6 (Wed): British Museum, British Library, King's Cross (?), Harry Potter (which FYI, end of day works
out great. There was no one there with us last time)

Day 7 (Thurs): Stratford-Upon-Avon

Day 8 (Fri): EMPTY

Day 9 (Sat): jet boating on the Thames before leaving for the airport

Not sure what to do on Friday! Thinking about spending the night in Warwick and seeing the castle as well as the Shakespeare stuff.
Went to Stonehenge last time. Loved the whole Salisbury/Sarum/Stonehenge experience but not sure the boys will.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Posted by
8393 posts

You'll probably be seeing the places on your itinerary you never had time to see on such a busy itinerary.
Every trip needs a light day at the start and at the end--to rest up from the flight and to get ready to fly out.

Posted by
115 posts

Well my boys want to go to London to see Churchill's War Rooms. They love anything military though. It sounds like you will have a great time!

Posted by
4018 posts

"Day 7 (Thurs): Stratford-Upon-Avon"
You could spend the night in Stratford-Upon-Avon, then next day
(Day 8) go to Warwick Castle, as you mentioned. That is an excellent plan for your extra day.
You can get there by train, bus or taxi from Stratford-Upon-Avon. Then train back to London.
We did this as part of our May 2016 trip, and loved Stratford-Upon-Avon and Warwick Castle.

Posted by
9666 posts

A few additions and deletions or reconsiderations for the "first in line kinda family.".

Day 2 (Sat) 8am Coffee and a nosh at Gail's Artisan Bakery on Portobello Road while the vendors set up. Then out the door to experience Portobello Market. From there to Kensington Palace then biking and a picnic in Hyde Park. Forgo the Natural History Museum.

Day 4 ( Mon ) Drop Westminster Abbey

Day 5 (Tues) After your visit to The Tower of London, add walking up to the glass covered Leaden Hall Market, to let the boys find the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. From there visit Brick Lane and Spitalfields Market. Lots of eye candy. Far more intriguing to a 10 and 13 year old than St Paul's. After lunch if no one is afraid of heights experience Tower Bridge this way http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/plan/ instead of merely walking across it. Then the HMS Belfast.

Day 7 ( Thurs ) Imperial War Museum, London Eye, jet boat ride on the Thames.

Day 8 ( Friday) Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms

Posted by
47 posts

I love Claudia's suggestions and agree with her comments. Both the Imperial War Museum and the Churchill War Rooms are worth it, particularly if your boys know at least a little about WWI and WWII.

However, if your boys are Harry fans, then I would at least check to see if you can get tickets to the Harry Potter studio tour in Leavesden during one of the days of your trip. See https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/ It is absolutely worth it and is a fun day trip--I substitute it for Stratford-Upon-Avon, unless your boys are already Shakespeare fans (and if so at their ages, hurrah--this drama teacher salutes you!).

Also, if walking after the long flight from the US seems daunting, take one of the open-top bus tours. It was a great way to orient our family of four (two boys) to London. We capped our first day of with a genuine pub meal. :)

Posted by
1455 posts

I may have missed it but are you there in time for Buckingham Palace?? I am there in September and got my tickets.
You an also use the "empty" day to go back to places you want to revisit.

If you really want to stay busy..
There's Abbey Road (Beatles) you can recreate, or visit the Sky Garden https://skygarden.london/sky-pod-bar (free) or enjoy Afternoon Tea. If you've never been to Paris, there's a day trip via the chunnel. There's also plenty of markets to check out. http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/shopping/market/londons-top-markets#RcwwerTXG5uE1Koc.97

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