First Time to London with Kids 8 & 10 -- Top Picks?
 

Daughters and I are joining my husband in London in June; we'll have only 5 "non travel" days flying from NYC. Staying at The Corinth. Girls are good travellers; prefer local transportation by double decker bus or taxis rather than the tubes. Musts: Tower, St. Pauls, Royal Observatory (kids are fascinated), Hyde Park, Harrods, Buckingham, Eye, high tea, V & A if time allows. Possibly Harry Potter tour. Considering Peppa Pig Park but seems it's 1-2 hrs each way via train? If so, we'd probably go out of the city on third day. Suggestions for other kid-friendly attractions? I've been once before, but not hubby or kids. Thanks all.

random comments:

By 'Buckingham' do you mean the Palace? If so it is merely a walk by. Not much to see really.

>>high tea<< Actually Afternoon tea ('high' tea is a different thing.). The day you schedule Afternoon tea you can skip lunch and even dinner. A later night supper or snack could be enough. Tea seems a 'light' meal but the sandwiches are basically never ending and i can be quite a filling meal.

>>Staying at The Corinth.<< Do you mean in Corinthia? If so it does a very nice (and posh) Afternoon tea.

St Paul's is wonderful, - but maybe consider Westminster Abbey (and or instead)

I'd skip Harrod's. It gets VERY crowded and in the end it is just a department store.

Your trip to Greenwich will take about half a day (lots to see/do besides the Observatory. Definitely visit the Cutty Sark - fascinating and great for kids.

I really try to fit in the Natural History and British museums.

IMO there is no way to squeeze in Paulton's Park (Peppa Pig)

5 days is not very long and travel will eat up a lot of your time. Cabs are great -- but can be slow due to traffic. Very often the best way to get from place to place IS the tube. For instance - the Tower would be a long drive from your hotel and the tube likely quicker. Same for sure for Greenwich - you could take a boat one way and the DLR/tube the other

Bekonscot.

Hyde Park is fine, St James is closer to Buckingham Palace.

"prefer local transportation by double decker bus or taxis rather than the tubes." It's the Tube, not the tubes. And there's a simple reason to take it instead of the bus - London traffic sucks.

Is "The Corinth" actually The Corinthia? If so, that's good b/c you won't have to take the bus/taxi/Tube much at all.

Sorry, yes, staying at the Corinthia

Take a Thames cruise to Greenwich and to come back try the DLR - Docklands Light Railway that is an automatic elevated train that goes high above the amazing Docklands area - see if you can see up front where driver should be and let the kids think they are driving the thing.

I would definitely suggest the tube, for saving time. You can get to your destination, most often, in half the time you'd spend on the bus. There ARE stairs in the tube, FYI but lots of escalators too.. Take the bus now and then if you'd like, your Oyster Card works for both.

Maybe your kids would like the theater, Alladin is fun for example. You can check what's on in London by googling it and get a list of everything playing.

You and the kids might like Covent Garden for a few hours.

I agree with janis about Harrods. My friend and I were in the food court and it was so packed we just left, you couldn't get near any of the counters. I was thinking about getting some expensive chocolate and in the end decided I just didn't need it all that badly. The other areas of the store are not all that interesting and the Diana/Dodi statue is relegated to the basement and is a snooze. But it's YOUR trip so if it's a "must see" then by all means go.