London tentative itinerary -- thoughts?
Mar 28th, 2011, 04:50 AM
#1
Original Poster
London tentative itinerary -- thoughts?
Hello,
Would love your thoughts on this itinerary for a Mom and 9-year-old boy over spring break. He is very interested in all sorts of things.
Saturday: Arrive and get to hotel by 11:45. Have a snack/lunch etc.
Saturday:
Victoria Albert Museum and Kensington Palace which we can walk to
Walk through Hyde park
6pm - relax in jet pool/ shower change
Dinner at the Hotel: 8pm
Sunday:
Breakfast
Harrods
11:30 - go via tube to fish and chip restaurant in Notting Hill
Noon eat lunch
1:15 - leave and take tube for Harry Potter tour
2pm - Harry Potter Tour from Bank Station (one and half hours of walking)
4pm - return to hotel
relax/pool change
6:30pm - leave for dinner
Monday
Hop on/hop off bus
11:30: changing of the guards/Buckingham Palace
Trafalgar square/Big Ben etc from Bus (get out at Trafalgar square walk arnd a bit)
2:30 - Afternoon Tea Langham hotel (Maybe this should be switched to Wednesday and move up Tower)?)
6:30 - at hotel...change freshen up
7:15: walk to dinner
Tuesday:
Tower of London 10am
Milleneum Eye
River Cruise:
(3pm back to hotel to relax change)
4:30 - catch tube...5pm: Dinner
(walk to theatre)
7pm Wizard of Oz show
Wednesday: (Last day)
Freud Museum (opens at Noon)
Thanks for your input
Would love your thoughts on this itinerary for a Mom and 9-year-old boy over spring break. He is very interested in all sorts of things.
Saturday: Arrive and get to hotel by 11:45. Have a snack/lunch etc.
Saturday:
Victoria Albert Museum and Kensington Palace which we can walk to
Walk through Hyde park
6pm - relax in jet pool/ shower change
Dinner at the Hotel: 8pm
Sunday:
Breakfast
Harrods
11:30 - go via tube to fish and chip restaurant in Notting Hill
Noon eat lunch
1:15 - leave and take tube for Harry Potter tour
2pm - Harry Potter Tour from Bank Station (one and half hours of walking)
4pm - return to hotel
relax/pool change
6:30pm - leave for dinner
Monday
Hop on/hop off bus
11:30: changing of the guards/Buckingham Palace
Trafalgar square/Big Ben etc from Bus (get out at Trafalgar square walk arnd a bit)
2:30 - Afternoon Tea Langham hotel (Maybe this should be switched to Wednesday and move up Tower)?)
6:30 - at hotel...change freshen up
7:15: walk to dinner
Tuesday:
Tower of London 10am
Milleneum Eye
River Cruise:
(3pm back to hotel to relax change)
4:30 - catch tube...5pm: Dinner
(walk to theatre)
7pm Wizard of Oz show
Wednesday: (Last day)
Freud Museum (opens at Noon)
Thanks for your input
Mar 28th, 2011, 07:26 AM
#2
none of your days are over full -- but I'd totally re-think Saturday. You probably don't want to do one indoors site let alone two. The park is a good idea -- the V&A/Kens Palace probably not so much. Maybe do the hop on hop off that day since it will have you outside.
Also I note the V&A (which I LOVE) is on your list but the British Museum and/or Imperial War Museum aren't. I would think the British or Imperial War (or Natural History) would be better fits for most 9 yo boys.
If it was me I'd maybe try to fit in a trip to Hampton Court Palace. You could do it on Monday if you move tea to later in the day (and do the H-o-H-o on Sat). Tea will be a full meal (all be it in small portions - but lots of them) So if you go to HCP -get back to London in the afternoon, freshen up and go to tea at say 4/4:30/5 PM-ish it will be your dinner and you might just need a snack in the evening.
Also I note the V&A (which I LOVE) is on your list but the British Museum and/or Imperial War Museum aren't. I would think the British or Imperial War (or Natural History) would be better fits for most 9 yo boys.
If it was me I'd maybe try to fit in a trip to Hampton Court Palace. You could do it on Monday if you move tea to later in the day (and do the H-o-H-o on Sat). Tea will be a full meal (all be it in small portions - but lots of them) So if you go to HCP -get back to London in the afternoon, freshen up and go to tea at say 4/4:30/5 PM-ish it will be your dinner and you might just need a snack in the evening.
Mar 28th, 2011, 08:17 AM
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I was thinking the same thing janisj was - the V&A is one of my favorite museums, but I'm not sure that most of it would be of interest to a typical 9-year-old boy. If you really want to walk somewhere, the Natural History Museum nearby might be worth checking out instead. Also agree with the British or Imperial War museums.
Tuesday actually does look pretty full to me - the Tower will take 2-3 hours, then the Eye will take another hour or so total, but you have to travel in between them (is that what you were planning to do with the river cruise? I haven't done one of the cruises so I'm not sure on that). Adding lunch in there (unless it's on the cruise?), I'm not sure you'd have much time to relax before rushing back out for dinner and the show. If you're up to it, the Eye could be a fun thing to do on your first afternoon/evening - what a cool introduction to London.
Tuesday actually does look pretty full to me - the Tower will take 2-3 hours, then the Eye will take another hour or so total, but you have to travel in between them (is that what you were planning to do with the river cruise? I haven't done one of the cruises so I'm not sure on that). Adding lunch in there (unless it's on the cruise?), I'm not sure you'd have much time to relax before rushing back out for dinner and the show. If you're up to it, the Eye could be a fun thing to do on your first afternoon/evening - what a cool introduction to London.
Mar 28th, 2011, 08:20 AM
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Perhaps you live in an area that has such places, but since we don't, we try to include Natural Science or Science and Technology-type museums in our sightseeing.
London's Natural History and Science museums are wonderful, and close to the V&A (which I also love, but son would prefer something else).
Have a great Spring Break in London, whatever you decide to do! Your son's a lucky boy.
London's Natural History and Science museums are wonderful, and close to the V&A (which I also love, but son would prefer something else).
Have a great Spring Break in London, whatever you decide to do! Your son's a lucky boy.
Mar 28th, 2011, 08:32 AM
#5
On the Tuesday -- I'd eat lunch AT the Tower and then cruise up to Westminster/the Eye. That is doable. Have a big lunch and then maybe just a quick dinner before the show. Don't count on being back to the hotel by 3PM but 4 or 4:30 is easy. (and if you aren't totally whipped maybe don't go back to the hotel at all)
You could walk across the river from the Eye and work your way towards Covent Garden, get a bite and see the street performers then catch a taxi to the Palladium. (IMO every kid should take at least one black cab ride and from the general Covent Garden/Leicester Sq area to the theatre would be a chance to do that)
You could walk across the river from the Eye and work your way towards Covent Garden, get a bite and see the street performers then catch a taxi to the Palladium. (IMO every kid should take at least one black cab ride and from the general Covent Garden/Leicester Sq area to the theatre would be a chance to do that)
Mar 28th, 2011, 10:18 AM
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The Imperial War Museum is great. The Cabinet War Rooms are great. Neither is on your list and you're traveling with a boy. I'd think the V&A would bore the crap out of junior.
Changing of the guards at 11:30 am will be very crowded so getting there at 11:30 will mean wading through a lot of people. It's also a letdown in the making -- there's some ceremony and a lot of marching bands playing American showtunes. Seriously.
Don't do the hop on hop off, use routes 9, 15 and 136 and you can see all you'd want in London without paying $40 for the privilege. The 9 and 15 still run the old Routemaster buses that became synonymous with London before the EU and Red Ken conspired to destroy some of London's iconography. The 136 runs double-deckers, not the stupid bendy-buses that are ill-suited to London's streets.
Don't do Harrod's, do Hamley's, the toy store. And do Fortnum & Mason (if you can get past the left-wing agitprop protestors complaining that the UK won't pay them more to not work) because its food halls are better than Harrod's. Plan something else after your tea appointment, the boy won't want to sit like an oldie and have tea for three hours.
And be prepared to stay out all day. He's going to be excited to be running around London and dragging back to the hotel for two hours of pool time every day won't necessarily be on his agenda.
Changing of the guards at 11:30 am will be very crowded so getting there at 11:30 will mean wading through a lot of people. It's also a letdown in the making -- there's some ceremony and a lot of marching bands playing American showtunes. Seriously.
Don't do the hop on hop off, use routes 9, 15 and 136 and you can see all you'd want in London without paying $40 for the privilege. The 9 and 15 still run the old Routemaster buses that became synonymous with London before the EU and Red Ken conspired to destroy some of London's iconography. The 136 runs double-deckers, not the stupid bendy-buses that are ill-suited to London's streets.
Don't do Harrod's, do Hamley's, the toy store. And do Fortnum & Mason (if you can get past the left-wing agitprop protestors complaining that the UK won't pay them more to not work) because its food halls are better than Harrod's. Plan something else after your tea appointment, the boy won't want to sit like an oldie and have tea for three hours.
And be prepared to stay out all day. He's going to be excited to be running around London and dragging back to the hotel for two hours of pool time every day won't necessarily be on his agenda.
Mar 28th, 2011, 04:03 PM
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The day you are going to Trafalgar Square and then tea - you may want to consider stopping in St. Martin in the Fields (which is right there) and do a small brass-rubbing with your son. Quite enjoyable and they make an inexpensive but memorable souvenir. They also have a cafe where you can have have tea while you are there. I'm not sure a nine year old boy will really enjoy a formal afternoon hotel tea.
The Hop-on/Hop-off bus is expensive but we did it on our first trip to London and it helped us to grasp the logistics of where everything was (and how far apart) as well as offering a chance to ride past many well-known landmarks that we would not otherwise had enough time to see. Your son would probably enjoy riding up top where it's open.
I agree with the others about the Victoria & Albert museum. I was overwhelmed by it and unless there is something particular you are there to see I would pass on it if accompanied by a child.
There is a Monday evening Harry Potter walk with London walks and when I checked their web page they also mention the Old Palace Quarter walk (takes place on Monday morning) which is interesting for children. I clicked on "Walks for Kids" to see this page.
The Hop-on/Hop-off bus is expensive but we did it on our first trip to London and it helped us to grasp the logistics of where everything was (and how far apart) as well as offering a chance to ride past many well-known landmarks that we would not otherwise had enough time to see. Your son would probably enjoy riding up top where it's open.
I agree with the others about the Victoria & Albert museum. I was overwhelmed by it and unless there is something particular you are there to see I would pass on it if accompanied by a child.
There is a Monday evening Harry Potter walk with London walks and when I checked their web page they also mention the Old Palace Quarter walk (takes place on Monday morning) which is interesting for children. I clicked on "Walks for Kids" to see this page.
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