October trip to London Ideas (with kids)

Posted by williams5 on 09/10/23 08:11 PM

Hi!
My husband and I and our two boys (3 and 1) are headed to London Oct 4- 9, staying right across from Buckingham Palace and all 5 nights in London. We've been a few time before, but first time with kids. We are planning a lowkey itinerary to provide for lots of flexibility in schedule but wanted to post and see if anyone had any can't miss ideas (we found Skygarden through the forum last trip!) We plan to do lots of walking and visit the beautiful parks - any fun ideas or great spots for dining appreciated!

Also - we are planning on grabbing an uber or taxi from Heathrow to our hotel ... what is a ball park cost here and is uber an option?

Thank you!

Posted by Nigel

Northamptonshire, England

09/10/23 09:45 PM

32777 posts

St James's Park to see the pelicans, Hyde Park for the parakeets and the Serpentine and lots more.. great for parents and kids.

Posted by Claudia

Land of La

09/10/23 10:30 PM

8677 posts

Uncertain how you are staying right across from Buckingham Palace….given there’s the Mall, and in the rear the Palace’s private and walled gardens.

Guess you mean you are staying near the Palace. If so then by 9:30am walk over to Spur Road and head towards Birdcage walk. From there you can watch the Wellington Barracks Guards march over to the Palace for the daily changing of the guard ceremony.

Take them on a river cruise.

Visit Mudchute Farm.

Princess Diana Playground near Kensington Palace.

Paddle boats in Regents Park. https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/regents-park-primrose-hill/boat-pedalo-hire

Visit Richmond Park in search of the fallow dear.

Natural History Museum.

London Transport Museum

Barbican center.

Emigrates cable cars.

Posted by cala

Charleston & Birmingham

09/10/23 11:48 PM

4324 posts

Natural History Museum. Zoo. Kensington Gardens

Posted by Helen

Bristol, UK

09/11/23 07:58 AM

1008 posts

The Young V&A at Bethnal Green has just reopened. It will be perfect for your children’s ages.

Posted by isn31c

Lake District, England

09/11/23 08:13 AM

5782 posts

Uncertain how you are staying right across from Buckingham Palace

my guess is that they are staying on Buckingham Gate, facing the Royal Mews and the side of the Palace. There are several accommodation possibilities there.

It is one of my time fillers when at Victoria with time to spare to cut through to the Palace.

Posted by Johnew52

Preston UK

09/11/23 09:11 AM

887 posts

Picking up a taxi from the rant at LHR will be the most expensive option - comfortably £100+. Uber is available but you have to get to a specific spot where they are allowed to pick up from, which won't be ideal when you are trying to wrangle your luggage and two small kids off a red-eye flight.
Booking a car to meet you will be your best option. Someone will meet you at arrivals and guide you to the car and help with bags. There are a number of different firms but Blackberry and Parkers cars are two regularly recommended. They will monitor your flight so will know if there have been any delays. It should be cheaper than a standard cab as well.