teddie

We'll be visiting London for the first time this January with our 14 year old son, and want to include a few fun activities for him. Has anyone done either of these tours? I feel he'll enjoy the Jack tour, but I'm wondering if the Dungeon tour is well-run and enjoyable..Thanks for any help!!<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

pat

Only did the Jack the Ripper tour. The best part was seeing parts of London that I would not normally have seen, like the old roman walls. It was an entertaining tour.

Amy

The Ripper tour is a must-do. The Dungeon is, shall we say, more entertaining than tasteful; rather like a quite enlarged version of Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors. In plain words, any fourteen year olds I have known would love it!

Grasshopper

Both would be great fun for a 14 year old. I thought that the Dungeon was pretty hokey but my kids both liked it and I've read other adult reviews that enjoyed it. Be sure to take a Big Bus Tour. Your son will enjoy that. Also, the Tower of London is a good stop. If you rent the audio tour I think it's move valuable than the London Dungeon.

Grasshopper

One more thing; the Museum of Natural History. It has incredibly creative interactive displays.

Rhonda

This all sounds really interesting. I'll be in London in January with two teenagers and I'm sure the Jack the Ripper Tour would appeal to them. Is it the Jack the Ripper Mystery Walk that you refer to or is there another bus tour? I'd be grateful for any information on where you book this tour and exactly what is involved. Sorry Teddie, hope you don't mind me jumping in on your thread.<BR>Regards<BR>Rhonda

Teddie

Don't mind at all, Rhonda...I'm referring to a walking tour. Try this link for the Jack The Ripper Walk:<BR>http://www.jack-the-ripper-walk.co.uk/<BR>(I found it in a tour guide.)<BR><BR>Thanks everyone for your responses!

kam

Also plan to take him to the theatre--our teens enjoyed it when in London. Would definitely choose the Tower over the Dungeon which I think is tacky, tacky but, true, a 14 y.o. would probably enjoy.Before visiting the Tower, ride the Tower Hill Pageant which is an automated car tour through the history of London. Ghost of Anne Boleyn is reported to "walk the bloody tower with her head tucked underneath her arm at midnight." Boat tours down the Thames, maybe to Greenwich? Sherlock Holmes pub has a lot of memorabilia he might like. There's a replica of Francis Drake's Golden Hinde over near the "new" Shakespeare's Globe theatre and if he's interested, you can get a reduced admission price to the Globe at intermission and stand in the yard. Or, there are tours when there are no productions scheduled. London's a great city for kids of all ages. Have a great trip.

Margie

There must be better things to do in London than visiting sites of murders. Is that what you do at home? Visit homocide sites? Try to raise your teens ideals, there is enough murder in the world, without glorfying it. There are so many beautiful uplifting things to do in London. (Just my humble opinion).

Philip

I would like to suggest the Jack the Ripper tour through London Walks. http://london.walks.com/ The tour which is led by Donald Rumbelow is excellent. Mr. Rumbelow is an expert on Jack the Ripper and you can't find a more knowledgeable guide than him. (I've seen him twice on tv programs discussing the subject).<BR><BR>Also you might consider taking your son to see the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. This Ceremony is done between 9:30-10pm and involves the locking up of the Tower of London. It is great to be in the tower at night when everything is still and spooky.<BR><BR>You have to write in advance (prefereably 6 weeks) to get reservations. Write to the address below and tell them the dates that you have available. Enclose a self-addressed envelope and an International Reply Coupon which you can get at the post office. (If it's less than six weeks before you leave, you may try phoning them when you get to London.)<BR><BR>The Ceremony of the Keys<BR>Waterloo Block<BR>HM Tower of London<BR>London, England, EC3N 4AB <BR><BR>For more information: http://www.hrp.org.uk/ and go to the events section under the Tower of London section.

elvira

Evans Evans does a bus tour at night<BR>http://www.evanevans.co.uk/ghosts.htm<BR><BR>Check out London Walks and Evans Evans for other interactive fun stuff to do.<BR>http://www.walklon.ndirect.co.uk/<BR>http://www.lonwalk.ndirect.co.uk/<BR><BR>Margie, it would be great if 14 year old boys would beg to be taken on tours of orchid gardens, but they don't. If taking a kid on a Dungeon tour keeps him from harumphing and pouting, I say go for it.

Margie

Elvira, it doesn't have to be an orchid garden. I am sure you get my point, how many children have you raised? I think the dungeons may have historic content, but Jack the Ripper? Going to spots where women were brutally murdered, decapitated and disembowled? What fun.<BR>I have been to the Dungeon tour and they have an area for Jack's murders.<BR>I think people get caught up in the hype about Jack the R. You have to admit there are so many other things teens could see in London that are interesting.

Sarah & Phil

I also agree that I would steer my 14 year old son away from Jack The Ripper Tour. The dungeons at the Tower and at the tour should be enough murder for one boy. Just because it happened a long time ago, doesn't make it any more agreeable. Why glorify senseless murder? There are plenty of murders happening every day in the big cities.

Rhonda

Thanks Teddie for the info. I've sent an email to the address on the web site you mentioned and am waiting to hear back.<BR><BR>Margie, Sarah and Phil...I'm not sure that Teddie was asking for your advice on if it was appropriate for him to take his son on the Jack the Ripper tour or not. I think he was asking if anyone had personal experience of the Jack the Ripper Tour. So is it from personal experience of this tour that you recommend it isn't appropriate for a teenage boy?<BR><BR>From personal experience this kind of thing does interest teenage boys and I believe you can learn something from most experiences. As Pat says "she enjoyed the tour because she saw parts of London she wouldn't normally have seen". We also plan to take our teenagers to the Theatre, Museums, a Soccer game and a variety of other outings as I'm sure Teddie will to.<BR><BR>As for visiting the sites of senseless murders....this kind of stuff is still history...it may not be as agreeable as some other sites/tours but still and all it is history and a part of life. It isn't all peachy! I've visited concentration camps in Europe and been inside the gas chambers etc. These too are sites of senseless murders but they are a reminder of past atrocities and well worth seeing.<BR>Rhonda

Joanne

I decided against both the Ripper tour and the Dungeon when I took my 13 yo son to London last summer. <BR><BR>The tour got very high marks from people on the AOL boards who had taken it. Apparently Donald, who give the London Walks version of hte Ripper walk, is extremely knowledgeable and entertaining, giving lots of insight into London life at the time, has consulted on films about the subject, etc.<BR><BR>I decided against the Dungeon after looking at its web site because it seemed to be nothing but gruesome replications of torture etc. with no particular point.<BR><BR>If I had to choose one, I'd choose the tour. It seems less overtly horrific and more educational.

David White

Teddie,<BR><BR>Think I responded to your question on another travel board but, if not, here's my two pence:<BR><BR>Let the London Dungeon speak for itself. Here's a quote from a brochure produced by the nice folks at the London Dungeon: <BR><BR>"Exhibition depicting the darker side of British Medieval History, Death, Torture, Damnation and Disease. The dark, slimy vaults contain Trials by Ordeal, History of Capital Punishment and the Tortures used in the Tower of London....A major attraction is The Jack the Ripper Experience - a 20 min multi-media exhibition throughout the year. Also on display are the 'headcrushers' from France and the Spanish 'garrotters'."<BR><BR>There are many things in London that a 14 year old boy will enjoy...I speak as the father of a 14 year old myself. The Tower of London iw well worth your time, and the Ceremony of the Keys is a great way to get a behind the scenes look at the Tower. London's Science Musuem is one of the best and the Imperial War Musuem, while a little off the beaten path, is interesting, as are the Cabinet War Rooms (Churchill's wartime bunker) in central London. As someone else mentioned, the Natural History Museum is terrific. While my family enjoys theatre and would recommend seeing a play or musical, I know that's not everybody's cup of tea...especially true for many 14 year old boys, but you never know.<BR><BR>Hope this helps, <BR><BR>Dave White<BR>http://www.KidsToLondon.com<BR>[email protected]

Teddie

Thanks, Rhonda for your well-put comments, and to all others who've provided info here....Interestingly, by the time responses to my posts began showing up, I had checked out the web site for the London Dungeon, and knew right off that it was decidedly not historically based (how about hysterically based? Still haven't made up my mind on it. Actually, my son has a pretty good idea of what is or is not tacky--so, together we'll discuss it further! Thanks again, all!

snorkelman

I was a 26 year old law student when I did the Dungeon tour in 1997 and I liked it. It showed some guts and blood and that was neat (especially to a teen), and they actually did about a 10 minute presentation during that Dungeon tour which covered the Jack teh RIpper story - complete with pictures and actors. I thought that it was money well spent at a tourist thing.

Cindy

Put me in the "Don't bother with the London Dungeon" visit camp. I did the Evan Evans Jack the Ripper tour and enjoyed it well enough. It seemed like a reasonable way to learn about this bit of London history. The London Dungeon part of the tour took us only to the Jack the Ripper section, however.<BR><BR>IMHO, there aren't many American teens who would really enjoy the London Dungeon. Maybe they would like the concept, but the execution is just awful. Just a bunch of robots and mannequins covered in fake blood. Much too Disney-like, and disrespectful as a result.<BR><BR>As for whether it is appropriate to visit murder scenes, I'd say that it is. After all, people surely visit sites of famous battles and places like Dachau.

Phil

You can't compare concentration camps with a man that hacked women to death in alleys. Come on now.