2.5 days in London - WITH kids

Hello,

We are travelling to London for a few days before heading to our Mediterranean cruise. We will be travelling with our 3 children (8,11,13). I am not planning on any real activites for arrival day due to jet lag, but want to make the most of the the remaining 2 days. The first day one of our major "must sees" is Buckingham palace and changing of the guard. The second day our "must do" is Tower of London. Here's my question - the kids all want to ride a double decker bus as well - would you say is better planned for the day with Buckingham Palace or Tower of London? We under no false pretense that we will see everything - and plan to return to London in the future - we really just want to get the kids a feel of it. If it matters - we will be staying near Trafalgar square.

 

Thank you!

You could use the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) to see the sights plus they use double decker buses. There are 2 HOHO bus companies. They each have 3 routes.

 

Buckingham Palace staterooms may be open when you are there www.royalcollection.org.uk

Total agree with using the Ho-Ho buses. Just takes a little research.

You could use the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) to see the sights plus they use double decker buses. There are 2 HOHO bus companies. They each have 3 routes.

 

Buckingham Palace staterooms may be open when you are there www.royalcollection.org.uk

 

 

Do you think that the HOHO would be better on the Tower of London day or the palace day?

To get your money,S worth on a HOHO bus you need to use it all day. There is still the number 15 Routemaster bus running which goes past the Tower of London and you can use an Oyster Card on it.

 

 

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We did both of those things, but we were there for almost 4 days. We got in Sunday evening and Monday morning we walked over for the changing of the guards. We were there about 90 minutes before the start time and it was quite packed already, which I knew it would be. We ended up hanging around at the fountain in front of the palace instead of at the gates.

 

Buckingham Palace by Cindy, on Flickr

 

It was great to see the guards/bands coming down the streets...

Guard parade by Cindy, on Flickr

 

And for the ToL, get there about 20 minutes (or more) before they open! We did that the next day and had the London Pass, which gave us a fast pass entry to ToL at the time, and we got there about 10 minutes after they opened (too a wrong tube exit!LOL!). But there was a decent line already for people buying tickets. And then go right to the Royal Jewels. We went right there and walked right into the building. There was a steady stream of people ahead of us, but it was moving. When we got out, so about an hour after things opened, there was already a long line outside the building.

 

And if you're at the ToL, I would totally recommend Tower Bridge after it. Your kids will get a kick out of the glass floors!

Silly family by Cindy, on Flickr

Another vote for the HOHO and I would do it the day of Buckingham Palace. We were so fortunate and hopped off the bus at the stop nearest the palace just a few minutes before the changing of the guard and after that hopped back on...this was so easy to do.

 

Also have you considered doing the Harry Potter tour?

Here's my question - the kids all want to ride a double decker bus as well - would you say is better planned for the day with Buckingham Palace or Tower of London?

Either day, at any time. There are thousands of double decker buses in London, as the vast majority of normal bus routes in central London are operated by double deckers. The 8-year old goes for free without any special arrangements; the 11-year old and the 13-year old could get free bus travel if you're prepared to jump through the hoops to get a Zip. Adults can use a pre-paid Oyster (or a contactless bank card) to pay £1.50 per bus ride (including unlimited free changes of bus within one hour of first touch-in), capped at £4.50 on any day (assuming that the buses are all that you use). Jumping on and off buses at random is really quite a fun thing to do.

This. Even for Londoners, this!!

 

Jumping on and off buses at random is really quite a fun thing to do.

 

 

Using a HOHO tour bus to get from one place to another is a very expensive way of getting round London. Their value lies in doing the tour.

 

 

 

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Another vote for normal buses. Easy to understand maps and routes. "Key bus routes in central london" from TFL website.

 

 

No. 15 gets you to the Tower from Trafalgar Square.

 

Buckingham Palace requires a walk. No. 9 will get you to Green Park and you can walk to Buck Palace across the park

There is also low cost boat from Westminster to Tower of London. Then we took boat to London Eye. Purchase tickets online for London Eye. No waiting.

 

 

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Using a HOHO tour bus to get from one place to another is a very expensive way of getting round London. Their value lies in doing the tour.

 

Agreed! And very slow! We had a free day pass with them through our London Pass and took them to get to St. Paul's. We probably could have walked there faster. Otherwise we wouldn't have done it even.

I certainly wasn't recommending the HOHO just for transportation.....When we were in London it gave us a great over all view of the city and the additional commentary onboard was great. During our week stay after doing the HOHO it gave us a clear idea of where we wanted to return and spend more time by using the Underground then to get there or walking if it was close.

Hello,

We are travelling to London for a few days before heading to our Mediterranean cruise. We will be travelling with our 3 children (8,11,13). I am not planning on any real activites for arrival day due to jet lag, but want to make the most of the the remaining 2 days. The first day one of our major "must sees" is Buckingham palace and changing of the guard. The second day our "must do" is Tower of London. Here's my question - the kids all want to ride a double decker bus as well - would you say is better planned for the day with Buckingham Palace or Tower of London? We under no false pretense that we will see everything - and plan to return to London in the future - we really just want to get the kids a feel of it. If it matters - we will be staying near Trafalgar square.

 

Thank you![/qauote]

 

Buckingham Palace is great place to visit. In addition to the Palace there is also the Royal Mews and Royal Gallery. I recommend booking in advance and using the audio tour to guide you through the exhibits. The Visitor Shop at Buckingham Palace is a great place to pickup souvenirs of your visit to share with friends back home. If possible go early in the morning as it does get very busy.

 

I would recommend the same approach with the Tower of London. There is a bus service from The Strand near the Trafalgar Square area which goes to the Tower of London. Sorry I cannot remember the number, but I stayed near the Tower and travelled to Trafalgar Square. Again, I would recommend an early ticket and to visit the Jewel House first whilst it is quiet as you will wish to spend time looking at the Crown Jewels, then complete the remainder of the tour. Again the audio tour is very good for learning the history of the site and exhibits.

 

If you children are Harry Potter fans, there is the Warner Bros Studio tour which would require a 22 minute train journey from London Euston station to Watford Junction. There is a bus to take visitors from the Watford Junction to the studios. This may be more than you can accommodate and may be worth considering for future visits.

 

As others have mentioned, using London Transport is part of the fun of visiting London, I tend to travel by bus rather than the Underground. However, be aware that you cannot pay on the bus for your journeys and need to either use a Contactless enabled credit/debit card or purchase a Visitor Oyster card which is best purchased before you arrive. I would recommend that you look at the Transport for London (TfL) website for more details.

I would recommend the same approach with the Tower of London. There is a bus service from The Strand near the Trafalgar Square area which goes to the Tower of London. Sorry I cannot remember the number ...

It's the 15, as posted by LondonTowner above and also by Thejuggler above.

 

The 15 now starts from stop F almost opposite Charing Cross station. The usual destination of the main 15 route is Blackwall. However, as LondonTowner says, there are also Heritage Routemasters that operate between this point and Tower Hill, which are an interesting piece of transport history. This is now the only route in London on which Routemasters operate in scheduled passenger transport.

I would suggest having something on your list for the day you arrive. It is easier to adjust if you keep yourself moving until close to your regular bedtime.

 

When we did London with our 16 yr old daughter, our stop that afternoon was the British Museum. Some great stuff for the kids like the mummies and the Rosetta Stone.

 

We also did the Ceremony of the Keys one night. Cool experience.

 

https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/explore/ceremony-of-the-keys/#gs.lqrgYyQ

Another suggestion for London with kids...the Imperial War Museum. There are school groups there regularly and I think kids your age would enjoy it.

Depending on what time you have on arrival day; once you are checked in at your hotel, why not go for a boat trip down river to Tower Bridge, or even as far as Greenwich. It's a relaxing way to see some of the sights and I bet the kids would love it.

And I second the war museum

Harry Potter fans Can go to KingsCross station and take your picture at Platform 9 3/4 for free. Just get there before store opens no line and you can take as many as you want

I would recommend the Horse Cavalry Museum, great for kids and adults. Several hands on type things. Even my teenager played along!

 

http://www.householdcavalrymuseum.co.uk/

 

 

We stayed just outside of Trafalgar Square and were able to walk to the Thames River and the London Eye which the kids enjoyed. We took a river tour which is like a HOHO on the water..it stops at different locations including Greenwich and the Tower of London.

Do not miss the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. Great with kids. Note it also used to be great for adults without kids, but their latest update (IOO) made it a little too kid friendly/focused for that. But it is still a dont-miss with kids.

 

Also for a bite to eat and a bustling London experience, visit the Borough Market on the south bank.

It's been 20 years, but our kids at that age enjoyed watching the buskers in Covent Garden, and they did enjoy the London Transport Museum. While there, we learned that the longest escalator in the Underground is at the Angel station, so of course we had to go there and ride it.