We are planning a family trip (2 adults / 2 tweens) to England in April, 2018. We're staying for 8 days. There's a lot I want to see but I don't want to be bogged down with a lot of time on trains or in a rental car. I'm thinking that I should focus on London with a definite trip to the WB Studio Harry Potter tour and possible day trips to Bath and Stonehenge. I worry about dragging my kids to see something that I think is really cool (Cliffs of Dover for example) but that they will be bored with. I think London might have the right balance of history and excitement to keep us all engaged. Is this reasonable? I'd really be interested in hearing from other families. Thoughts???
Posted by
Camano Island, WA, usa
1526 posts
Check the National Trust UK Web Site for listing of their properties in metro London...many would make good day trips. There may still be an Overseas Visitor pass for families available...you would have to check with them. My favorite day out is to Hampton Court. The kids will dig it as they have reinactors giving the various tours. The Tudor Era is best if you only do one. If you did go to Bath it is 100 miles from Heathrow so you could do it as a day trip; but it would be more fun to do an overnight stopping by Blenhiem Palace one way and Salisbury and Stonehenge the other. Taking a Thames Boat trip is entertaining...take one to Greenwich to see the Observatory and stand on both sides of the World at the same time. Staying in London is a great idea actually...because there are so many free things to do and the transportation is easy. If you do go to Dover be sure to stop by Canterbury Cathedral and the fortifications at Dover Castle. Saw "Dunkirk"...the Cliffs meant "Home".
Posted by
Charleston & Birmingham
4628 posts
Dover Castle is my favorite castle-the cliffs are forgettable. Instead of doing Bath and Stonehenge as day tours from London, spend the night in Bath and Stonehenge and possibly Mad Max tour of Lacock(HP)-without Stonehenge, it starts at the teen-approved time of 11.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11799 posts
London for 7 nights/8 days is perfect! You will have 6 full days and there is so much of interest in London, that other than the WB Studio tour, you probably won't really want to leave the city. We've now spent almost 3 full weeks there (over the course of only 4 months) and are not done yet.
Check out London Walks as many may entertain your kids and they are always informative. No reservations required so you can decide last minute to go or not.
Posted by
Edmonton, Canada
98 posts
That seems like a good plan.
There is a lot to see in the various neighborhoods of London and there is also a lot of easy day trips close-by. You don't even need to venture too far if your "day-trips" are close like Greenwich or Hampton Court Palace. I would get a guidebook and make a list of places you and your kids are interested in and devote days to explore each neighborhood in London, and then look at possible day trips.
There are also a lot of easy-to-do day-trips by train.
My first trip to London was about 8 days. I spent 6 days in London and the surrounding areas, and did 2 longer day trips (I bought a 3-day railpass before I left that allowed me to take 3 longer train journeys). If you don't buy a railpass before you go, advanced tickets are a lot less expensive.
I chose Canterbury and Battle/Hastings (because I did not want to exceed more than 1.5 hours on a train ride and chose places that only needed one day), but there are many more options (Oxford, St. Albans, etc.). I've heard with Bath, it's better to stay overnight since there's lots to see.
Posted by
The Heartland USA
9022 posts
York or Bath are each only a couple of hours away by train. If I was a 'tween, I'd get a bit claustrophobic staying the whole time in large cosmopolitan urban area like London, one museum after another.
Posted by
not here anymore
631 posts
I'm not sure the kids would like Bath.
Dover Cliffs are just cliffs, look imposing from a passing ship, especially if the sun is shining but otherwise don't bother. Jurassic Coast cliffs are much more interesting but not as convenient from London. http://jurassiccoast.org/
For a day trip out of London try York or Liverpool by fast train (125mph). Book tickets 12 weeks in advance. https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/ note that Virgin operate as seperate companies, WestCoast from London Euston covers Liverpool, EastCoast from Kings Cross goes to York. both with frequent (up to every 30 minutes) services. York has as much Roman stuff as Bath. Liverpool has maritime history - and The Beatles (who? say the kids......)
Posted by
1172 posts
We just spent 6 days in London at the beginning of July with our kids aged 12 and 9. We could have easily added a few extra days.
What we did:
- Tower of London
- day out at Hampton Court palace
- There was a heat wave while we were there so we went out to the Queen Elizabeth Aquatic centre for a swim and took advantage of that to tour some of the Olympic installations
- Harry Potter tour. The highlight of our trip. We spent over 5 hours there. Between the time onsite and the travel, it was a full day for us. Highly recommend. Book your tickets early. We booked ours in March ( 4 months out) and some of the times were already sold out
- Kensington Palace and park
- Big Ben and London Eye
- Churchill war rooms
- Notting hill market
- Greenwich by boat
- Harrod's and Hemley's toy store
We walked a lot and also used the tube a ton.
We did not have time for any of the museums or plays. Maybe next time!
Let me know if you have any questions I can help with