Lodnon

hi!

You did not say what your children like but I can recommend London Eye. I think it will be interesting. Or a boat trip to Greenwich. The ride is interesting and once there you'll find lots to do - the free Maritime Museum, paid attractions such as the Cutty Sark and Royal Observatory (where you can stand on the Greenwich Meridian), a lovely park for the children to run off steam, a great market and lots of places to eat and drink. Before or after eating you can try London's escape rooms. It has to be attractive. Today there are tons of different experiences you can try. I personally suggest you this one: you can see the London and have fun at the same time. Up to your kids, really. visit the Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens, go to a city farm, or to the London Aquarium. Or take a trip out of the city to Windsor Castle or to Oxford which has lots of Harry Potter locations to appeal to kids.

Give them each, say, £20 and let them spend it at Spitalfields Market.

What's caught your eye in your research? We might could help you sort out some of the things you've picked out.

I'm not sure what fits your criteria for attractive and useful but I think the Tower of London is amazing. Get there early, head to the Crown Jewels first, then double back to the entrance and catch one of the free tours with the Yeoman Warders. To me it's attractive because the White Tower in the center was started by William the Conqueror in the 1066 and the other pieces around added later. I love the architecture. It's useful to me because it provides me with a foundation for British history.

Seems like they would be old enough to look through a guidebook or two and pick some things they'd like to see. And you do the same of course, then compromise if necessary. Letting each kid plan a day might get them involved enough to enjoy the trip more. Maybe more than a day each if your visit will be long enough.

Ooh, but could you edit that title? Hurts my eyes.

Museum of London! VERY good for kids! I'm sure you're already planning it - but I would think kids that age would also really enjoy the Tower of London. Also the British museum has a children's audio guide which is very good. I did it with my son and really enjoyed it.

Please define attractive and useful. Tell us what types of things they consider interesting. #1 recommendation would be to buy a guidebook like RS London and have them find things THEY want to do/see.

They may enjoy the London Transport museum which is in Covent Garden. You can spend a whole aftermoon or longer just at that museum and walking around Covent Garden. Take them on the big bus to see the sights of London and then take them to Tower of London for the day as someone else suggested. Walk along the Tower Bridge on the top would be a great way to see the bridge and the sights and it is near the Tower of London. Have you gone on YouTube and searched what and where to take teenagers in London. There may be several videos on that topic and have you read the section on children in the RS London guide book. Castles are always appealing, so they might enjoy a day outing to Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle.

Hope this helps, have a safe and wonderful trip. I love London, wonderful city.

When he was younger, my son loved the armory in the Tower of London. At their age they may enjoy hunting for very cool graffiti in Shoreditch. The maze at Hampton Court Palace is a lot of fun and they have a deer park too - maybe ride a boat out there and then take the train back?

Tower of London!! Was there last summer with my 16 and 14 yr old and they loved it, Borough Mkt, a trip to Oxford or York. Walk along the South Bank, they are vendors and street artists that are worth the walk.

Agree the children are old enough to look in a guidebook and see if anything catches their interest.

Another vote for the Museum of London

Natural History Museum, Science Museum and the mummy's at the British Museum

For Eye Candy Brick Lane, Camden Lock and Portobello Markets.

Mudchute Farm

Walking or horse riding in Hyde Park

Enjoy a family picnic at any of the parks

Tour the Globe, better yet see a performance there.

Emirates cable car ride

Bike ride

Shop at BoxPark in Shoreditch

Graffiti tour in Brick Lane

And choose any of the London Walks that meets their fancy. Jack the Ripper and countless excellent other options. www.walks.com

Lastly, all of you checkout Timeout on line to discover events, restaurants, etc. Helpful resource.

As others have mentioned, your children are old enough to be involved in the planning. We used Cynthia Harriman's "Days to Choose" method [see her book "Take your Kids to Europe" (2007) for details] but the general idea is everyone comes to a family meeting with ideas of maybe two or three things each person wants to see. Everyone gets some input and agrees to participate in the choices of others. From these suggestions you build an itinerary. Sometimes it works better if an adult lays out the route then the family contributes suggestions of activities in those locations. We use a Captain for the Day approach where the captain plans meals (chooses restaurants) as well as activities. You may need to swap around the days on the fly to put indoor activities on rainy days.

It takes some "group mindedness" but in my family at least everyone is willing follow the Captain's plan knowing that each will have a turn. On our week in London a while back we saw some of the sights everyone sees but we also took a day trip to the Tank Museum, saw the musical Matilda, and visited Platform 9 3/4. We ate in too many pizza places but that's a price I was willing to pay for enthusiastic travelers.

Backstage tour of the National Theatre.
Heaven to Hell Tour of Shakespeare's Globe.
Walk under the Thames at the tunnel in Greenwich.
Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower (better write now!).

Hello,

Maybe your children would enjoy a museum about toys that children played with through out the centuries. It's called Pollock's Toy Museum, 1 Scala Street, London W1T 2HL
pollockstoys.com
nearest metro, Goodge Street Station

I plan on going through the museum in 2019. Another idea is eat a pinic lunch at Hyde Park. Are your children Harry Potter fans? There is a Harry Potter Walk, just google it.

Enjoy the trip