Itinerary Advice/Critique - London with Kids

We went to the zoo when our daughter was a college freshman and I highly recommend it. If Lion King uses the puppets, they really add to the play. I wouldn't try to do 3 museums in one day. The Natural History Museum is great, but if they've been to the ones in Chicago or NYC, I would skip this. I was a high school science teacher for 27 years but don't remember anything about the Science Museum. I think the one really essential museum for them to see in London is the British Museum. If your youngest is into WWII, you need to go to the Churchill War Rooms.

What about the London Bridge climb and walk. Fun looking down at the water. We were there at 12:15 when the bridge opened. Also borough market for some great snacks. The transport museum had a short line 2weeks ago, can you make reservations. We actually didn’t go in cause there were too many children on line.
The Lego store has some nice builds and a few pieces you can only get there.
What about the horse guards museum? Boys might like that.

We have similar aged kids and leave in 2 weeks. We are also staying at the same hotel. I'm sure I will have much better advice after we get home but here are what we plan on doing that are your maybes.

We are planning on a daytrip to Hampton Court. My kids are excited for the kitchens, maze, and Magic Garden playground. It also looks super easy to get too from Waterloo. My son is really into Egyptian history so we will be spending a morning at the British Museum followed by Hyde Park. My husband wants to go to the Westminster (we have tickets) and Churchill War Rooms (no tickets, going to decide once we get there), so I might have a review on both those with kids too.

Hampton Court was very easy to get to from Waterloo. Once off the train it is a very short walk to the palace. It was a fun day out.

I definitely prefer the Lion King over The Play That Goes Wrong. I was so bored after 20 minutes or so at The Play That Goes Wrong,

I have one more place to suggest you take your kids especially after days of sightseeing....

Hamleys on Regent Street.

If you don't get advance tickets to the Churchill War Rooms, you will spend a lot of time standing in line.

I took my kids to Europe for the first time in ages eight and 11 and they did great. I really feel like it was the perfect age. I would suggest having a key site that you want to see each day and doing that first. Then, if they aren’t too tired, you can move onto your second and possibly even third site. But kids sometimes just don’t have the stamina, especially with the jet lag, so just be open that you may not get to do all the things that you want to. For example, we didn’t get to do anything in Bern, Switzerland, due to a flight delay and my eight year old totally melting down, so we just ended up going to the hotel that day.

The Kensington hotels are wonderful but I think it's a really big ask to spend all day in 3 - it's usually too long for adults let alone younger children. I think I would be mixing them up a bit with some other activities. It's obviously convenient as they are next to each other but it's not too far away to go back another day.

Book the hands on gallery at the Science Museum called Wonderlab. Your kids will love it.

You won’t be able to do all the museums properly in 1 day but it’s definitely possible to call into them all briefly. I’d focus on one and do the other 2 more quickly. V&A doesn’t have queues. Nat History does but go to this one for the last hour of the day and you’ll avoid these.

Hampton Court is worth the trip.

You haven’t included any time in the parks - Regents Park and Hyde Park are great for exploring and have kids play areas.

My kids of a similar age loved The Play that goes Wrong. Six is another show that kids enjoy.

I traveled with kids in Europe from ages 5-14.

For young kids, museums can be a bit much for them.
I remember going to the Louvre with my kids when they were 7 1/2 and 13. After about half an hour, my young son was ready to go. We had been to Italy prior to Paris and when we entered the ancient Greek and Roman part of the museum, he said OH, no, more naked statues.

I suggest that you brief your kids on where you are going and if you have reading material on the sites to have them read about the history and art. It will help immensley.

Not any advice but I will be following the responses because we are going in August with our 8 and 10 YO and also staying at that premier inn. Too funny! Must be all the recommendations on this site! Have fun!

Kids that age have limited museum capacity so watch the number you do. They need to be doing, not reading.

Science museum has a hands-on section which is fun and was air conditioned the last time I was there in July when the rest of the museum was not. Natural history has dinosaur section which is good. V&A has little for kids.

Consider the London Transportation Museum in Covent Garden.

My kids at that age loved the Princess Diana playground. On a few occasions I just sat on a bench for 90 minutes. Greenwich also has a good playground at the bottom of the hill.

At the Churchill War Rooms my boys liked the tour, but had little time for the museum part on Churchill.

The thing about the Churchill War Rooms is that it's really two sights in one. The war rooms themselves are rather small and quite crowded; they don't take terribly long to see. The audio guide is useful there. The Churchill Museum section is a modern exhibition with some video clips and lots to read; that's the time-consuming part, but likely less interesting to the children. Entry tickets--at least for adults--are very expensive if you're only going to see the war rooms. I have no quibble with the cost for someone who wants to absorb the whole thing, which took me more than half a day. In any case, it would be a mistake to show up without a pre-purchased ticket.

The Imperial War museum has a lot of war materiel to look at, which might appeal to the youngsters. (I hate that stuff, but there's a great deal of historical information presented, which I find fascinating.) The museum's quite large, so there's plenty to see even if you skip the Holocaust section. There's an audio guide, which is fine, but it almost totally duplicates the extensive posted information, so each visitor should choose how he or she wants to have the information served up; the audio guide will just be a waste of time for those who like to read explanatory material. The IWM is about a 15-minute walk from your hotel. If you take the Undergound, you'll have substantial walks on both ends of the trip and won't save much time.

Hello All,

Thank you for all the advice, and sorry for not responding sooner; we've been basically living at the Little League fields these last two weeks! Again, thanks to all who responded, but especially kirbyc77, who said, "[Kids] need to be doing, not reading." I'm really taking that to heart and rethinking the trip so as to not over-exert (or over-museum!) them. The problem is I like to go-go-go when I travel, so pulling back has been an issue. But I'm trying!

Here is another question, from those who have recently visited - how important is it still to buy/reserve day or timed tickets? We have tickets for the Tower of London, but do places like the British Museum and Natural History Museum still need pre-reserved tickets? I'm trying to balance flexibility with actually getting into these places. (I think we'll take the Churchill War Rooms off the list and find another WWII site that's more kid-friendly, like the HMS Belfast.)

Again, thanks for the advice!

One thing we used to do when our boys were that sort of age was to plan a day off each when one of us would devote to our priorities whilst the other did whatever worked for the kids and vice-versa. Maybe if one of you isn't that interested in Harry Potter the other could do that whilst you went to a gallery or museum?
Are the boys into Lego? It's a good age for Legoland.

Extra days? Kids? How about Brighton? It is July...

Camden Market? London Eye, or one of the other views from a high vantage point. Harrod's food court - let them each choose a fancy dessert.

Could you find a sporting event - a cricket match? Almost baseball...

My son's first trip to London was when he was 7 (and we are going back this August!). The Princess Diana playground was a huge hit. If you can get to Warwick Castle as a day trip, that castle is so fun for kids (and adults! it's really fun!).

Other things we did in London that were fun: zoo, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey (not as much fun for the kid, but he did enjoy looking for skeletons among the statues/carvings), and the Ghost Bus. The British Museum has themed backpacks you can borrow for kids, that was a very fun way to get him through the museum. The Natural History Museum dinosaurs were a big hit (even for a kid who had been to the NYC Natural History Museum and the Boston science museum a bunch of times already). I agree with others that the 3 Kensington museums might be a bit much in one day, even for kids who like museums.

There are some indoor mini golf places in London that look fun, they are on our list to check out during our upcoming visit, though I can't speak to them from personal experience.

Also- lunch at St Martin in the Fields is great, it's not expensive and there are good kid friendly options.

We are here now with kids (12 & 5) and they really enjoyed The British Museum (hit your highlights like the Egyptian and Assyrian sections because it’s overwhelming!) and just taking the tube and walking. Both children love all the various street art around.

The stroll along the south bank and over the Tower Bridge was really nice. I would only do that if the weather is clear. They also liked Westminster Abbey but really could only handle about 45 minutes so just go for highlights.

We had lunch in Camden Town and there was so much to see and a really fun market with many good food stalls. It’s great people watching.

I will update after our next two days.

The train trip to York is 2 hours there and two hours back. If your kids enjoy riding on the train, I might add this in. Seeing the Shambles which was Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies is a lot of fun and there is a Harry Potter shop there (or was in 2019). There are lots of other things to see in York as well.