London and environs with teens

Our then teens enjoyed the London Eye; Windsor Castle (we took an outside around the top of the castle tour) but not sure if that's still offered. I loved Buckingham Palace and they were lukewarm/not into it. Afternoon tea is fun depending on your teens. Richmond Great Park to see the very majestic red and fallow deer. Their favorite was Stonehenge.

Consider the OUTERNET. near tottenham court road tube station
Dinner/show at the petite chef
Theatre of a show they might be interested. MJ perhaps?
The british museum -thousands of kids visit here yearly.
Greenwich - straddle the 000.00 longitude line, take the river boat to get there and back
The postal musuem underground train
A cat cafe
London eye
The imperial war museum - my 15 year son specifically asked to go hereto find the bible that stopped a bullet that he had seen in a green day music vídeo
The elevator at battersea station tower
The singing elevator at southbank center
The Leake street graffiti tunnel

What are the teens interested in?
At that age I was never happier than spending hours in the V&A museum and window shopping in Liberty and Selfridges. My brother would have been miserable :-)
A few more details will help give useful ideas

My kids really enjoyed the Imperial War Museum, and Greenwich. There is lots to see there and you can take a boat ride on the Thames to get there. Take them to see a show. There are several that will appeal to that age group. If you are looking for another daytrip, kids also enjoy Warwick Castle which has lots of staff in period costumes and lots of activities such as falconry going on.

I actually went to London when I was 16 years old. At the time, I really liked:

• Natural History Museum
• The British Museum
• Westminster Abbey
• The Imperial War Museum
• Hyde Park
• Just walking around central parts of London taking everything in

I think it's hard to assume a teenager is going to enjoy a particular kind of activity. It really depends on their personal interests like it would anyone. I bet some teenagers would get a kick out of walking through some really posh part of London seeing people drive around in Ferraris. Other teenagers would care in the slightest. I would probably just ask them what they would be excited to do in London, or any major city.

Be aware that the Warner Bros tour gets booked up months in advance. Book it as soon as you have dates

Our daughters were 12 and 15 when we first took them to London. They enjoyed the Tower of London, Greenwich, and Windsor Castle as a day trip. They were pretty much open to everything if we gave them some context.

I recently visited Warner Brothers studios with one of my daughters, who is now an adult, and it was great. Buy your tickets months in advance. We spent 4 hours and some people spend most of the day there.

A play is a great idea and there are many shows that should appeal to teens. We recently saw MJ and Six. I bought the tickets a week or so in advance. Allow a little more time if you are picky about seats.

Some really top ideas here! :-)

I would add to the mix:

*) Camden and the Stables Market (if they are into counter culture, music, thrifting, retro punk)

*) Brick Lane (funky stuff, fashion/thrifting, street art, amazing Indian food)

*) Westfield Mall at Shepherd’s Bush (if they are mall rats or like shopping - you could hang in the very nice food court area, or at the pub right outside the main entrance, and let them roam and meet locals and browse)

*) Shakespeare’s Globe (for obvious reasons - and they might really get into seeing a show as groundlings)

*) Mudlarking

*) Brixton (for the market and for the vibe)

*) If they’ve never had Korean BBQ they might love that - search recent threads here mentioning Korean BBQ and New Malden

*) Best fish ‘n’ chips in London is near Carnaby Street (which is also super teen friendly): The Golden Union, 38 Poland Street. The jukebox is free!

Hi, I took my two grandkids (also age 12 and 15) to London and Paris in late March and April of 2025. Here is a copy of my trip report that might give you some good ideas: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/london-and-paris-and-grandkids-oh-my-march-and-april-2025-trip-report

They loved loved loved the Warner Bros Studio tour (as did I). They also enjoyed the Tower of London (we did not go to Buckingham Palace - they were content to see the outside. They REALLY enjoyed two different optical illusion museums (see trip report above for details). They especially enjoyed going out on their own (the 15 year old had his phone with him). For example, I sent them out for breakfast pastries in the morning, and one day they went to see a movie. If they are soccer fans, my grandkids LOVED going on a tour of the Tottenham Spurs Stadium.

Hampton Court Palace hasn't yet been mentioned. I think the whole Henry VIII vibe of the place is very appealing to young people. It certainly seemed that way when we visited and observed the younger people who were also there. And the Greenwich Observatory complex is seriously cool as well, as suggested by @derek above.

You mention Warner Bros, O2 climb and Go Ape in the post. The first two of these are specific to London but is Go Ape? I wonder if it is a good use of limited time in London. Is there nothing similar where you live?

There is a lot to do in London and quite a few very doable days out by public transport to nearby places of interest -for example: Hampton Ct has already been mentioned and Bletchley Pk gets a lot of good write-ups here although I have not been recently . I think my question would be 'what are the kids really interested in?' and then look for places that fit in with that.

The Harry Potter studio and Outernet were both hits with our teens this past summer.

We also went to a West End show, which they both loved but they're theater kids so your kids may or may not be in to that.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit slide was also a big hit. And for the adults, we didn't have to slide down, we just took the elevator. There's the added bonus of a a big mall next door where they enjoyed walking around on their own.

Warner Bros Studio Tour, Tower of London and West End shows were the top hits for my teen. Also visiting Richmond to see Ted Lasso filming spots, if you’re a fan. My 11yo especially loved the graffiti workshop at Leake Street Arches. We all loved the Globe Theatre tour.

My 11yo was really disappointed we didn’t have time to walk over the top of Tower Bridge, so perhaps factor that in. I didn’t think they’d care but I was wrong about that!