Spring Break Itinerary Sanity Check

My first thought is that if two of the kids are wanting to see Roman remains then you are short changing them if you are only doing the Roman Baths. There are lots of places to see Roman remains in London - do a google search for lots of ideas. Have a check here for starters...

https://londonist.com/2015/08/where-to-see-roman-london

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2017/07/10-roman-london-locations/116068

https://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/where-to-find-londons-secret-roman-sites

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Londons-Roman-City-Wall/

On your arrive day, you're planning a lot - including a "nap" that I think many would consider ill-advised. IME, once your head hits that pillow, it's no nap, you're down for the count, no matter what your plan had been. And worse than missing your planned post-nap activities, you will all wake up at 2 or 3 am, will have a hard time getting back to sleep, and will just be "stuck" on US East Coast time for several more days. I am in the camp that believes you must force yourself to stay up on that first day, because you are going to need to switch over your internal body clock to align with the local daylight hours, and you might as well do that as son as you can.

Although some folks might disagree, many of us would try hard to NOT fall asleep on your arrival day: I always try to stay up until at least diner time, eat, then go to sleep. You will be very tired by then, but once you succumb to the inky black of sleep, you will sleep deeply, probably all the way through the night, and you will wake up more-or-less adjusted to the local time zone. Might as well take advantage of being tired (by staying up until dinner) on your arrival day. Each day that you put off the internal click switch, you lose more of your vacation, because delaying that means you will spend more time in that jetlagged state. Bite the bullet, get 'er done on your first day, then you wake up the next morning feeling pretty decent and each day after that it gets easier.

Thanks Wasleys for the links to Roman ruins in London, I had planned to walk by a few of those in our daily adventures, but did not know about others. My girls will love checking it out!

Thank you David for the advice on not napping! I wondered about that! We will push through and just go to bed early that night! I didn't want to book anything on that day other than some fresh air walks, just to keep things simple. I appreciate your response!

I’d recommend squeezing in the Museum of London; it’s very family friendly and has lovely Roman bits. It tells the story of this fabulous city and you can see it in around 2 hours. It’s near St Paul’s, so maybe pop in on the Tuesday afternoon, or possibly do it instead of the Churchill War Rooms? I think your 12 year olds might enjoy it more, but you know your kids.

I don’t think you have too much planned for the first day, since you pretty much are going to just walk around. I doubt you’ll make the bus or river trip since by the time you finish dinner, you’ll be ready for bed. I do agree about not taking a nap. Maybe the triplets will take nap while you get everything settled in the Airbnb, then head out. Since you’re staying by Marble Arch, after seeing Hyde Park (which is just a park like so many others), take the short walk over to Buckingham palace. The girls might like seeing it more than walking around Kensington (other than walking by Kensington Palace). They may also like visiting Liberty London since it’s a somewhat unique store. I like the way you have the sights you’re visiting arranged by proximity to each other so you won’t be backtracking to get from one place to another. Something to note since you’re taking the amphitheater tour, in the plaza in front of the Guildhall you’ll notice a solid line or bricks (I don’t recall exactly) in an oval shape. The line represents the Roman amphitheater that used to occupy that spot, but is now underground, that you’ll be touring.

I agree about staying awake the first day. Even if all you can manage is 8pm it's still better than taking a nap.

Do you know about the attics in Westminster Abbey . https://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/plan-your-visit/the-queens-diamond-jubilee-galleries

Hop on Hop off complete waste of time and money. Barely moves in London Traffic. River Cruise better option.

Museum of London for the Roman Wall instead of the British Museum. It’s nice to get a perspective of how the city you are visiting evolved. The Museum of London is excellent!

Day 2 forget the British Museum and after seeing the Tower of London Walk towards the Gherkin and visit the last glass covered market in London. Leadenhall Market. Do the girls know Harry Potter movies? If yes see if they can locate the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron at Leadenhall Market. Then walk back and over Tower Bridge.

Hope you’ve reserved your Churchill War Rooms tickets.

Do you have your Harry Potter tickets booked in advance? If not, you need to book them immediately. I just booked mine today for July and already half of the times that I wanted were booked. For April, almost all of the entire month is sold out so if that is a priority and you have not done tickets yet, do it today.

Claudia, thanks for the reminder about Leadenhall! My kids are huge Potterheads and would love to see the Leaky Caudron entrance. We will ditch the Hop On/Hop Off. We do already have our reservations for the Churchill War Rooms. Perfect timing as they are studying WWII in school.

Kelly'd Rather Be Traveling, we do have our Harry Potter tickets already. I booked through Golden Tours because the studio was sold out. That day will be a huge hit with my kids.

Sounds like the Museum of London in a must, thanks for the encouragement.

I also didn't know about Liberty London, can't wait to pop my head in. Will also check out the Queen's Diamond Jubilee exhibit at Westminster Abbey.

I am so intrigued with the Guildhall/Roman Amphitheatre that was just discovered in 1998!!

Thanks so much to all of your travel angels! Your guidance is priceless!

Museum of London is great, especially for Roman London. You can see the floor plan here:

https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/plan-your-visit

I would give this priority over the British Museum.

This sounds like a fun trip. You have a pretty packed schedule and while you can do all this, you may find the pace a bit hectic. One recommendation is to look at your list and the must sees and then leave the others as optional that you may decide to go to our substitute for another activity.

Since you have already received some good suggestions, I will just add a few other comments/recommendations.

• For a list of Roman sites, here is a fairly comprehensive list: https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/sightseeing/london-attraction/historic/roman-london. Some of these have already be discussed by other posters, so are just quick stops on your way to the other sites you have planned.
• For Harry Potter, London Walks has an excellent Harry Potter walks if you don't get enough of Harry Potter at the Warner's Brothers Studio: https://www.walks.com/popular-walks/harry-potter. If you are going to the 9 3/4 platform at Kings Cross, there is a Harry Potter shop there: https://www.harrypotterplatform934.com/. The House of Minalima is an art gallery and store by some of the designers of the film. If you are in the Soho area and want to stop by, here are the details: https://minalima.com/visit-us/.
• First day. While I agree with the posters that trying to stay up is ideal, I have traveled with children on an early morning flight arrival to Europe and unless everyone sleeps on the plane, a nap may be the thing to do. I would not book anything on the first day, stay outside as much as possible, and then play it by ear. I would also recommend that you do the Thames cruise instead of the hop-on-hop off bus. Even on a Saturday, you will spend a lot of time in traffic.
• British Museum: I really like the British Museum, but it huge and crowded. I have been about a dozen times and in December, I finally took my husband and we did a tour and I wish I had done the tour before. There are.a lot of options, including a tour on the Roman artifacts. I like the around the world tour as you see the highlights. For example, you will see a chess set on which the chess set in Harry Potter was created along with some of the earliest graffiti. Here is the link to the tours: https://www.britishmuseum.org/visit/tours-and-talks.
• V&A: this is one of my favorite museums and a must if you have an interest in art & design. What a love about the V&A is the variety of experiences and their events/special programs. Check out what is going on to see if there is anything of interest for you the girls.

Have a great trip. I am actually going to be in London a few weeks after you are there, so the other ideas on this post are great for me as well.

Sandy

Since there are five of you traveling togehter, consider taking a taxi instead of riding the tube and save all your questions for the your driver.
Day 1 - I would not take the hop on hop off, bus tour on day one. You need to do this first thing in the morning because its a long day. Furthemore, finding your pickup spot when starting out is confusing. Because of the traffic, I recommend getting off at the Tower of London / Tower Bridge stop only because it's a long day. I would also skip the Thames River Boat Tour because it will put you to sleep after being awake all night. I have hopped on the Thames to get from one spot to another and found it to be quite boring.
Day 2 - I would take the bus tour so you can see London, however, if it's raining go to the British Museum and enjoy lunch in its cafe. This is truly the greatest museum in the world and it's artifacts will knock your socks off. Make sure you enter from Great Russell Street.
Day 3 - I suggest buying RSEs England eighth edition guidebook that will be available in March, so you can take his Westminster self-gudied walking tour while enroute to the Churchill War Rooms (buy tickets now from its website or skip going unless you want to wait in a very long line). You can download an electronic version from his app.
Day 4 - this might be the day to either take the hop on, hop off bus tour or visit the British Museum. You want to do both of these before leaving London.
Day 5 - I'm assuming your daughters are Harry Potter fans.
Day 6 - take a 1h 30m train from the Paddington station to Bath. You do not want to rent a car in London. Bath is the place to rent a car since it's easier to navigate in compared to London. Check your guidebook for train tickets that you should purchase 30 days out.
Day 7 - rent car for the day.
Day 8 - train to London.

Admire you taking your three girls on this trip. They will always remember this time in their childhood. Hope it’s a wonderful and fun time for you all.