Guide to traveling to London with children: 10 irresistible and very fun plans

The city of the Thames is always a good destination to travel with children, as it offers a wide range of attractive places for the whole family.

Of all of them, we have selected our favourites, the star plans to do if you travel to London with the little ones in the house.

State museums, such as the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, the Victoria & Albert Museum or the Design Museum, are free (except for temporary exhibitions).

The changing of the guard at Buckingham or the ceremony of the keys at the Tower of London are also free.

The London Tourism website has a section for discovering the city on a reduced budget.

Harry Potter Studios

Seeing the studios where a movie has been recorded is already curious in itself, but when it comes to one of the sagas most followed by the general public, it becomes quite a spectacle that hooks anyone.

About three or four hours of visiting a "how to" that fall short because the entertainment is continuous.

Keep in mind that tickets sell out months in advance, but don't give up if you run out of them.

They usually put a few on sale daily for those who prepare their trips at the last minute.

And if you arrive late, you always have the option of taking a guided tour of London set in the film.

There are both paid and

type .

Shrek's Adventure London

Interior of Shrek's Adventure London, a kind of theme park inspired by the DreamWorks animation character.

Continuing with the cinematographic world, and indicated for the followers of the good-natured green ogre

, in this activity a guided tour is carried out through the recreation of different scenes from his films, sprinkled with the most fun interactive activities.

The guides' explanations are in English, which means that if your little ones are not very fluent in the language, they can get a little lost in the story and, of course, in the jokes.

This is the only drawback that you should know before going to this experience.

london eye

View of London and the Thames from one of the cabins of the London Eye.

If you are looking for an experience in London that the whole family can enjoy, the London Ferris Wheel will undoubtedly meet your expectations.

And it is that if a simple fairground wheel is already striking for a child, with the dimensions of the London one ―120 meters in diameter and 135 meters high― they will hallucinate.

Thanks to its glass cabins and, above all, on clear days, the views of London from the heights are fabulous.

Thames Cruises

One of the attractions that London knows best how to exploit on its own is the Thames, which crosses the city, becoming the protagonist on many occasions.

Well, one of the activities that children like the most when they visit the city is sailing on board a boat on the river.

There are cruises of all kinds, from the most touristy to thematic ones where you eat or do other activities, as well as enjoying the views of London from the river.

To go with children, we choose the usual tourist cruises, which also usually come with an audio guide in several languages.

Toy stores and candy stores

If you travel with children to London, it will be inevitable that the children will pull you if you stop at the store windows, but surely they will be the ones who will want to enter these three:

• Hamleys.

  With an immense variety of toys, they make demonstrations of the most hypnotic, to the point that it will be difficult to resist not buying any of them.

• Lego.

  In addition to the construction games of the legendary Danish brand, in this store you can see life-size figures of historical figures such as Shakespeare or Queen Elizabeth II, as well as impressive models of London icons such as Big Ben or a typical subway car. , all of them created with thousands of Lego pieces.

• M&M's World.

  A paradise for lovers of chocolate treats.

  A world of sugar and color where, in addition to packaged or bulk sweets, there is a huge variety of

  merchandising

  for the brand and its characters.

Changing of the guard at Buckingham

So that you can combine the typical tourist visits for adults with others that are more enjoyable for children, we recommend a visit to Buckingham Palace and its surroundings coinciding with the changing of the guard, since this ceremony usually impresses the little ones, and even the most unruly remain attentive in the face of the seriousness of the guards.

In addition, the kind policemen who control the area -the

usually lend themselves to posing with the little ones.

Touristic bus

If you are overwhelmed by preparing a tour with the children that the whole family can enjoy and without long walks or subway transfers, we certainly recommend the London tourist bus.

With it, you can access the main points of interest in the city, get off and on as many times as you want while the ticket is valid, and listen to a multilingual audio guide.

Madame Tussauds wax museum

Wax figure of singer Dua Lipa at Madame Tussauds wax museum.

Far from being just another wax museum, Madame Tussauds in London was the first and is one of the largest of its kind.

In it, neither children nor adults resist taking photos next to the figures of famous characters that are exhibited there and that anyone would say are made of flesh and blood and not wax.

In addition, it offers interactive activities and Marvel movie projections, a set of experiences that make it one of the most fun visits that can be done with children in the British capital.

Museum of Natural History

For us it has become one of the favorite museums in London to go with children.

Dippy

, the diplodocus replica in the lobby of the Natural History Museum, welcomes visitors on a fascinating journey through the history of the Earth and its inhabitants, from the earliest known fossils to humans, through the Mesozoic and its huge dinosaurs.

As in most public museums, admission is free, although they accept donations.

A great plan that hooks the whole family.

science museum

Very close to the natural history museum you can enjoy this other museum, more focused on teaching children the why of things.

To do this, they make use of a series of interactive installations where they will learn, for example, how human mobility has evolved, from horse-drawn carriages to modern automobiles or airplanes.

Tower of London

Another essential stop, although for a fee, is the Tower of London, a castle in the heart of the city.

During the visit, the whole family will be able to learn about its gruesome history or why the ravens that live in it are so important to the British monarchy, for example.

Also contemplate the famous crown jewels that are exhibited in its treasure house, among which is the Koh-i-Noor diamond, one of the largest in the world.

We are aware that we leave out places like the Legoland theme park, the hilarious Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens, the visit to the HMS Belfast battleship or the Clipper Cutty Sark sailing ship, the KidZania paradise for children, the Winter Wonderland Christmas in Hyde Park... And these are just a few of the many more activities to do in London with children and at any time of the year.

Practical tips

• Accessibility is generally good when traveling with a baby carriage, and even the metro is free for children under 12 years of age (the stations usually have a lift at a general level).

• If you need advice for an accommodation area, our favorite is the area around Hyde Park, and we usually compare the price of hotels versus apartments.

  Lately, hotels with breakfast included have been winning, especially if we include price, location and comfort in the equation.

• If your plan is to do several activities in London, be careful with the budget, since they are not exactly cheap.

  There are savings plans to see various activities without spending your wallet on it.

  Here you can see the best tourist cards to visit London.

  
  

  Since Brexit, we have all had doubts about what is or is not covered for the Spanish.

  Roaming is an example with an easy solution: call your telephone company and ask if they support you there at no extra cost.

  Health is another issue, but we don't like to risk it there, especially when traveling with children. We usually travel with Iati Seguros, which covers, in addition to health care, other things such as lost luggage, cancellation expenses due to illness and others. . 

• And finally, the most important thing: do not forget your passport, already mandatory to cross the border of the United Kingdom.

Adrián Rodríguez

and

have been authors of the Mola Viajar blog since 2008. Both on their blog and on their YouTube channel they tell how they travel the world in the company of their children, Daniela and Oliver.

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