London day trip with a toddler

Do you know that the white cliffs of Dover are best seen from the water. Otherwise you are in the dump of a town and the view is poor or you are on top of them and all the chalk is below your feet. Dover has a very worthwhile castle but the town is ... well ... a dump.

Will you be here during either of the May Bank Holidays, or between them?

sorry if I'm wrong but it sounds like you want to enjoy some British countryside rather than see some tourist sites. Totally worth it if you have good weather. If it's raining I wouldn't bother. I'm going to make two suggestions - first take a 70 minute train from Paddington station to Hungerford. Enjoy this quaint town, walk along the canal and have afternoon tea at the Three Swans Hotel in the heart of the town. It's reasonably priced and informal. I highly doubt you will enjoy 'fancy' afternoon tea when your toddler is playing up and you are getting disapproving looks from customers who have forked out £40 to enjoy their tea.
Alternatively visit Richmond Park - its huge, you'll feel like you're in the countryside without really leaving London. You might see wild deer, feed the ducks at Penn Ponds and in May Isabella Plantation should be looking stunning with azaleas and Rhododendrons. I've also heard good things about taking a picnic along to Ham Polo Club on a Sunday afternoon.

If going to Stonehenge is a priority (and after 7 trips to London, I've never been there and don't plan to), it would be easier to take the train to Salisbury. Unlike Steve, Bath would not be a priority for me(I've been there twice and it's interesting, but much less so than many other places.)

Forget the cliffs of Dover, you won't see them well from land and Dover is crap.I suggest you look at visiting the Seven Sisters at Eastbourne, much more impressive and you can incorporate a trip to Brighton with lots of toddler friendly activities.

Any particular reason for Bath and Stonehenge other than the fact that it's pretty much a cliche on the tourists in Britain radar? Unless you have a particular interest in either place I suggest going somewhere that truly interests you and provides something for your child.

Sounds like Dover is not the place to go and Bath is a total tourist trap. The only reasons I was looking at those two places was the accessibility by train and that they were both listed as places to visit. I was looking at Eastbourne. I think that is the place we will want to go. Seven sisters looks kind of hard to get to, but worth it. I think our toddler will love playing in the rocks at the waterfront. I might also get to drink some tea there too. Thank you so much for everyones input! I really appreciate it!!

We will not be in England during the bank holidays.

Seven Sisters is actually quite easy to get to.

Train to Brighton or Eastbourne, frequent Coaster double decker bus connect the two and goes right past the bus stop at the lane leading into the scenic part. Much faster from Eastbourne (45 minutes as opposed to 1:45 or so). Both Brighton and Eastbourne are easily reached by Southern trains from Victoria; a connection to Eastbourne is also possible at Three Rivers or Gatwick allowing travel from the City of London and London Bridge by Thameslink, too.

Nigel, that is so helpful! Thank you for this information!

We took our then-15 month-old to London in May last year, and had a blast! It was our first trip abroad with him. Here are some of the things that worked for us:

• We stayed in a two bedroom apartment in Kensington (rented through the RS-recommended London Connections https://londonconnection.com/) It was awesome. Having a separate bedroom for our toddler was crucial for us, as he does not sleep well when we all share a room. It was also great to have a separate bedroom for him and a living space for us, so that we could be awake after he went to bed and during naptime. And, of course, having a kitchen where we could keep fruit, toast & Nutella, etc. for him was key (child is hangry the second he wakes up)! Kensington was a great location for us because it was close to parks, museums, grocery stores, and kid-friendly restaurants. Our toddler did NOT like the noise of the Tube, so we commuted by bus or walking as much as possible.

• We had a car service (arranged through London Connections) pick us up from Heathrow and take us to our rental apartment. This made sense for us because we were traveling with his car seat anyway (we went from London to York and then rented a car to drive through the countryside), but if you're only going to be in London, I would not bring the car seat and just use public transportation.

• We rented a "full size" crib (well, British full-size, so definitely smaller than our American crib haha) from Chelsea Baby Hire (http://www.chelseababyhire.com/). Cannot recommend them enough. It was 55 GBP for the week, they came to assemble it and then take it down at the end of the week. Our son is not a great sleeper and we were nervous with the time change, but he slept like a champ in this crib. The price also includes linens (fitted sheet and a blanket).

• I would highly recommend bringing and using a quality baby-carrier (like the Ergo Baby). We never even attempted taking the stroller on the Tube - just too much hassle - and not all Tube stations have elevators. It was so so so much easier to carry him instead of trying to navigate with a stroller.

Activities our toddler particularly liked in London:
- Parks, parks, parks. We ate countless picnics in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The Diana Memorial Playground and Diana Memorial Fountain (where kids and adults are encouraged to splash around and cool their feet) were big hits. If you stay in the Kensington area, Holland Park is beautiful and has a great kid's play area, and is more little-kid friendly than the Diana Memorial Playground, which is crowded and has a ton of big kids running around.

• Boat ride on the Thames. We went from Tower Pier to Westminster Pier (about 30 minutes, I think?) and could have gone on a much longer ride. He loved it!

• British Museum. He wasn't impressed by the exhibits, but he spent a lot of time climbing up the marble stairs in the atrium! This allowed my husband and I to take turns and see the rest of the museum.

• Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, basically anywhere with street musicians. Our toddler loves live music and my husband and I love people watching - win, win.

• Pubs. We found that babies are a great way to "break the ice" with locals and fellow travelers, and our toddler was welcomed in all the pubs we visited. Bonus - pubs are generally loud enough that the occasional toddler screech is not going to offend anyone.

This reply is getting excessively long, so I'll stop here, but if you have any more questions about a toddler in London, I'd be happy to answer them! I hope you have a fabulous trip!

Thank you so much for all the toddler traveling tips!! This is so helpful. I was wondering if we should take a car seat or not, but now I don't think we will. We have an ergo baby and will be taking that too. Our hotels we booked have cribs we can request. I didn't even think of the size of the crib. If it's too small, we'll use that service. The Princess Diana memorial fountain sounds perfect and will be pretty close to our room. I really appreciate all this information. Thank you!