First Time to London

The Victoria area is convenient for many sites and is also a good public transportation hub.

Bayswater and South Kensington area are both great.

The sights most people want to see in London are very spread out, so there's no one ideal area for hotel. The suggestions above are good ones. Try to be within a few blocks of a tube station, preferably one that serves more than one line, to simplify and speed moving around. Besides Victoria, Bayswater, and South Kensington I'd suggest (1) the south bank near the river or (2) Bloomsbury. All nice areas with good transportation and easy walking to some sights.

I've looked for an airbnb in London and not been thrilled with the choices, but you may do better than I did. Try googling "London vacation rentals" for more choices. With a family for a week, an apartment (flat in British) would be a good choice. And I think you'll find more than enough to do in London without venturing farther in five days, though Greenwich and Hampton Court are both easy day trips -- in opposite directions. And there's some kind of Harry Potter site if your kids are still into that.

Our family of 4 rented a flat in the Southbank area last summer. We loved it. We were close to tube stations, train stations and bus stops. We also could walk so many places. They were some grocery stores right around the corner from us as well as some budget friendly restaurants.

Victoria was very convenient for us. We stayed at the Nadler, which was in a pleasantly quiet area.

I agree with Robin that the Bayswater /Kensington areas are worth considering. You are within walking distance to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, close to the museums of South Kensington. Bayswater offers great bus options to Oxford Street and the ‘West End’. Both locations have various underground stations that serve multiple lines. They both also have an abundance of shopping and restaurant options. And if markets are your thing, Notting Hill and Portobello Road are close.

Anything in travel zone 1 will be convenient for the major sites, but will also be more expensive. If you stay further out, factor in travel costs and time. Nowhere is convenient for everything as the sights are spread out. I like Pimlico.

June is a popular time to visit London, so for the best value accommodation, sorry to say, but this should have been booked months ago. However, moving on, in addition to Airbnb consider Booking.com or some of the specialist London letting agents.

Travel by bus is considerably cheaper than by tube, although it does take longer.

There are many free museums and galleries. Discounted theatre tickets can be bought from the TKTS kiosk in Leicester Square.

I also agree with the Kensington area - it's really pretty and clean. We really enjoyed staying there.

Try Holiday Lettings as well for options for an apartment. Just had a bad experience with AirBNB - had booked an apartment back in November for 7 nights in London in 3 weeks, and had it cancelled a week ago! Still waiting for the refund which they say is coming :( so we rebooked through Holiday Lettings for considerably more.

I can't speak from experience, but have done a fair bit of research and am hoping the Covent Garden area will be a good central location for us...

I also think the Victoria area is great! Make sure you get the “Oyster” card when you arrive- you can purchase it right at Heathrow from a machine (for 5 pounds I think), then load with whatever dollar amount you want- easy to purchase and easy to use- when you leave you go back to the same machines used for purchase, and you can get any money left on the card plus the 5 pounds it cost- I loaded ours with 15 pounds each and was plenty- the subways (tube) so efficient and easy we went all over London using public transportation- some of the boats by the Tower Of London even take the card as well!
Happy Travels!💫✨