We are a family of 4 (13 & 15 yr old) travelling to London for 4 nights, following 4 nights in Madrid. Considering my family will have art museum overload from Madrid, we plan on going light with the art in London.
Here's the plan (although we never seem to accomplish what we set out to do):
Wednesday: arrive Heathrow 2pm, settle into Hotel Cranley Gardens in So. Kensington), walk around area and explore, maybe check out some of the local shopping or speaker?s corner. Evening, dinner and Victoria and Albert museum (open until 10 on wed)

Thursday: Hop On/Off bus tour. Will take advantage of the ?fast track? entry for The tower of London (and take a beefeater tour), and the London Dungeon. Will also do the companion cruise on the Thames. If there?s time, we?ll try to do the London Eye sometime in there.

Friday: Walk around Buckingham Palace/St. James park area., tour Westminster Abbey, walk around Picadilly/Trafalgar/Covent gardens areas. Return to hotel for late afternoon break. Head towards British Museum area, visit museum (open until 8:30pm) and have dinner in area.

Saturday: After breakfast head to Tate Modern. After tate, visit Design Museum. Take a lunch break in the area. Possibly take tour of Globe theater and do London Eye if we missed it on Wed. Return to hotel, do some packing, walk around/shop/eat in area.

Sunday: say goodbye.

Questions:
Heathrow to hotel in South Kensington, there's 4 of us so don?t know if we really save much by taking the train to Paddington Station, then taxi. About what is the cab fare from the airport to so. kens? We don?t mind underground (we ride NYC subways all the time), but have to consider 2 kids, luggage, crowds and steps). Though convenient & economical, I fear this will not be all that pleasant, am I wrong?

Any Hop on/off tour better than the other, or are they more or less the same (they look the same from what I can tell).?

Dinner suggestions or good area to stroll around and look for restaurants near British museum?

How are the lines at the London Eye?

That's preety much it. Any comments, thoughts?

Thank you all!
(and thanks to Elaine for your very comprehensive notes).

Speakers' Corner is active on Sunday afternoon, so I'm not sure there is value in heading there on a Wednesday. Also, it's really not near your hotel - it's on the NE corner of Hyde Park and you're on the SW corner of Kensington Gardens.

I can't really answer any other questions, except to say that in early April we did not encounter a line for the London Eye, on a week day. There were only two other people besides us in our capsule (which can hold 25).

When are you going? That would make a difference on some things probably.

I thought speakers corner might only be on Sundays, but my book was very vague, I guess we'll definitely pass on that. We have absolulely no problem taking the underground to get around, so even if something isn't that close, if it's a quick ride away, we'd do it. we'll be there during Spring break (4/7-11) so I am anticipating crowds. That's why I planned some of the more popular museums either in the morning or evening, figuring midday will be most crowded.

The London Dungeon is pretty trashy -- have your kids look at the web site; mine did and decided to skip it.

My kids are the same age, and for someone who is going "light on the museums," you still have more planned than my kids would enjoy. Their favorites on our last trip were the Tower of London,the London Eye, and the British Museum. Also, they really enjoyed seeing the performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). It's hysterical.

We also went to tea at The Orangery by Kensington Palace. A pretty place, but no need to "dress up" like the more formal teas at hotels. They also really enjoyed going to Greenwich to the Royal Observatory.

When we were in London last March, there was a very small, fast-moving line for the London Eye and we were the only ones in the pod. It probably varies greatly.

Enjoy your trip.

Susan

Taking the Heathrow Express to Paddington will not only cost you more money but it will take you away from your hotel. You can easily do the tube from LHR...it's a straight shot on the Piccadilly Line to the Gloucester Rd or South Kens tube station (check the hotel website to see which is closer). There are stairs in the tube stations but they're not horrendous. Any reasonably fit person could handle it with smaller rolling suitcase and a carry on. Alternately, hire a mini cab to meet you at the airport. Justairports.com seems to have the best rates these days (20-25 GBP).

Lines at the London Eye are rare these days.

I agree about the London Dungeon. Don't bother. Awful.

I don't anticipate spending huge amounts of time at any of the museums, even the British. My kids get a lot of museum & theater exposure at home (NYC). ALso the older is a girl and the younger a boy, with very different interests. Just to give you an idea of what I'm up against, my son doesn't even want to go on this trip because he's missing the opening day of the NY Mets!

Thanks so far for th eocmments. I just looked at the website for the dungeon. It does look cheesy, this one is up to my kids. We're not bothering with Madame Troussand's because no one here is particularly interested in it (with in NYC or London). Obxgirl, thatnks for the tip on justairports.com, I'll look into that but the tube is sounding more promising.

I just priced JustAirports, 1-way to SW7 is 37GBP, roundtrip is 66GBP. The vehicle types they list are Saloon and Estate (both same price), there was another kind but much more pricey. What are these vehicles?

MFNYC specified "art museum" vs. other museums, but I agree it would be too many museums for my kid too. I guess it depends on the weather, but there's going to be a lot of walking and getting tired involved here. Add walking through museums, and I think your kids will be missing the real pleasure of the town and its people.

On the London Eye: you can book tickets on their website and that's one of those things that everyone loves to do, so I wouldn't miss it.

The Tower of London is another must see for kids and adults -- I used to take my friends visiting me in London (when I lived there) to the TOL, so I've been no less than 15 times, and I still enjoy the Beefeater tour. Glad you're doing that too.

If it's a nice day and you want to see Hyde Park, consider renting a row boat on the Serpentine. I'd also take the kids to Camden Market.

I wouldn't miss going to the theatre one night, unless you do that a lot in NYC, or if they like music, check out who's playing. Their favorite band might be playing when you go, and some of the venues are incredible.

Sorry, you were posting while I was posting. Saloon is a sedan. Estate car is a station wagon.

MFNYC, You can reduce the cost of the car hire if you pay cash, 29 GBP versus 37 GBP. You'll need the large car for 4 people plus luggage.

A saloon is a sedan and an estate is a station wagon. They will decide which size you need based on # of people and amount of luggage you tell them you have.

Since you are used to the subway - the tube would really be your best bet though. You are not flying in transatlantic so jet lag and exhaustion shouldn't be a problem - take the tube. (in the middle of the day the tube may actually be faster than a car service due to traffic.)

Agree w/ the others - try to convince your kids to skip the Dungeon. A REAL waste of your limited time. Looking at the things you want to see - you can do the Tower of London Thursday a.m. and then just walk across the river to see the Design museum, Globe, and Tate Modern. Don't go to the Tower mid-day any day -- even with fast track. The crowds are the largest in the middle of the day/noonish. Go there early - maybe on Friday a.m.and then continue across the river to the other sites you mention.

The hop-on-hop-off tour (both companies are about equal) can be done any day since it passes all of the sites you list and is good for 24 hours. so you could even start it Wed afternoon and then ride some more on Thursday.

I was posting the same time as obxgirl and surfergirl.

To clarify somethin in my post: I mentioned the Tower on Thrus and then again on Fri. What I actually meant to say was if you wanted to do the bus tour over Wed/thurs - then move the Tower to Friday morning to make better use of your time.

HI
Here's another vote against the London Dungeon. When I was talked into it I was with kids younger than yours, and they didn't like it either.
If they want to do something "creepy", try the Jack the Ripper walking tour.

One more comment on a suggestion above -

Pre-buying tickets for the London Eye may not be a good idea. You really want good weather for it, and you can't know in advance when that will be.

But I do agree that it's a great experience - the views are really wonderful from it. I wouldn't miss it, and even at the horrendously expensive price, I would probably do it again if I were in London.

Ok, the dungeon's out! No big deal there! I was contemplating theater if there's an evening where everyone is up for it but it's not a priority. If we do, we'll probably just go to the TKTS boothe and see what's available.

Just booked roundtrip service from justairports. 53GBP cash for an estate vehicle (66GBP if credit card so thanks Obxgirl for the 'cash' tip). This sounds like a much better deal then a taxi and certainly much easier for the 4 of us than the tube.

If you decide to give up the Tate on Saturday, take the Notting Hill/Portobello Road walking tour. Especially if one or both of your kids are girls! It was most charming.

I second the Jack the Ripper tour, unless you think it's too graphic for your children.

My kids are girl-15 (creative type, into retro rock music), boy-13 (who at the moment only cares about sports and eating italian food!). If anyone has any Italian restaurant rec, preferable So. Kens or British Museum area, please share them. I promised by son at least 1 Italian dinner each in Madrid and London.