First time visit to London with 3 children!
 

Hi
I am in the planning stages of a one month trip to Europe and Uk June/July 2006. We will be travelling with three children ages(10,7,3).
Our itineray will take us to London - 1 week, Croatia - 2 weeks and Germany - 1 week.
As it is our first time in London, I need some advise about how we should plan our week there. What we should see and the time required to do each thing! I thought maybe taking the children to one of the famous mazes would be good - but which one? A visit to Stonehenge is also being considerd.
Can anyone recommend comfortable self catering accommodation suitable for a family of 5.
Thankyou. Looking forward to some suggestions!

Well - you don't say what your budget is but here is a short list of flats to get you started. And if you do a search on here you will find a lot of threads about flats/apartments in London.

E&E Apartments http://eandeapartments.co.uk/
Moderately priced studio, 1 and 2 bedroom flats in Pimlico and Victoria. Near the Thames, Tate Britain, Chelsea and Victoria Station.

Hamlet (UK) Ltd. www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~hamlet_uk/
1 and 2 bedroom flats at St Katherine’s Dock next to the Tower of London.

London School of Economics www.lce.ac.uk/vacations Low cost B&B and self-catering accommodations in university residence halls from mid-June thru September.

Scala House www.scala-house.co.uk Phone 011-44-171-580-6644. An Apartment bldg with 2-bedroom flats near Tottenham Court Rd and Oxford Street in central London.

Price Apartments www.priceapts.co.uk
Studios thru 4-bedroom flats throughout London.

Chelsea Cloisters www.chelsea-cloisters.co.uk Phone 011-44-171-403-7760 Full service flats walking distance from Harrods and the museums of South Kensington

As for what to see - there are hundreds of things - and you don't have time for even a fraction of them. But in general a list of the top sites would include: The Tower, St Paul's, Westminster Abbey, the Eye, Museums (British, V&A, Imperial War and many others), galleries (National, National Portrait, the Tates, and many others), a boat ride, Hampton Court Palace, Greenwich, Cabinet War Rooms, Windsor, theatre plus a LOT of others. Click on the London section of destinations here on Fodors to give you a lot of suggestions.

For a maze - well go to the grandaddy of the mazes. Since Hampton Court Palace is a "must" for any family visit - you can kill 2 birds w/ one stone since the maze in in the grounds not far from the cafe.

My short list for kids would be:
- the Tower of London
- Hampton Court Palace
- a boat trip on the Thames
- London Transport Museum
- The Princess Diana playground at Kensington Palace
- rides on double decker buses
- Hamley's tot store (or the toy department at Harrods)
- Natural History Museum

Hi Westaussiegirl, all the Usa team will be sleeping now but us aussies are still awake to help!!

Are you children boys, girls or a mixture? Do they have any particular interests? I took my son to the London transport museum (11) and he thoroughly enjoyed that. Also as he is military mad we went to the air force museum at Hendon, which is a bit further out but accessible by underground. Also the HMAS Belfast is moored in the Thames near the London Tower. We visited the Tower which was great fun and then walked over the Thames to the Belfast which he again had a great time on; pretending to fire the guns etc.

Hamley's Toy Shop in Regent street could be fun, dangerous though!! Just riding around on the buses seeing the sights is a good thing to do, "one more time around Picadially Circus" etc.

As to the maze, we went to Hampton Court Maze, which quite frankly was a bit mangy!!Hampton Court was my choice of things to do but my son did enjoy the maze but there were so many holes in it you could practically walk right through! A long way to go for not a brilliant maze. I can't think of another in London, I'm sure someone else will no of one if there is one to be known! The best one we have been to was at the Safari Park at Longleat, which is miles away from London of course.

Do not take little ones to the London Dungeons a bit too scary for that age group. Have a look on the web at (I think) www.LondonTown.com or something similar, for further info. Maybe take in a show? Don't try and do too much everyday, pick one thing which involves a lot of walking and then spend the rest of the day, riding the buses, or slow wandering. The London Eye could be good. There is so much to see and do, museums, natural history could be a good one for the littlies - dinosaurs etc. Remember to factor in Jet lag if you are getting to London first, mind you it is easier going over than coming back.

Don't know if Stonehenge would really grab the little ones, but hey you know your kids better than me. Don't forget to factor in somethings you would like to do (maybe this is one of them?), there are the silver vaults which are different. Legoland is out Windsor way, they would probably adore this place.Also Windsor Castle is meant to be great, I haven't actually been. Have a look on the British tourist board web page as well for things just outside London. Take wet wipes with you for London, those little fingers are black very quickly - Marks and Spencers have sandwiches and drinks (amongst everything else), and we ducked in a couple of times to get a "picnic" lunch rather than stop at a restaurant where of course food is a horrendous price.

Buy your train tickets after 9.30am when they are much cheaper, also remember to ask for a family pass (or at least mention you have children they have all sorts of good deals for travelling with kids)

Can;t help you with accommodation, but do a search on Fodors and you should find something to look at.

Have a great time.

&quot;<i>all the Usa team will be sleeping now</i>

Don't be so sure :)

They may be in bed on the east coast but here on the west coast USA it's still Friday night . . . . .

LOL janisj, I was just about to post the same thing!! And us westcoaster are nightowls aren't we.

Sorry westauusiegirl, didn't mean to hijack your thread. But since my dad was raised in Australia (born in NZ) maybe you will forgive me.

Have a lovely trip.

They would love
a) a meal at the Rainforest cafe ...the setting is a jungle with animatronic animals, sound effects and sky that every now and then clouds over and has a 'storm' and 'rain'. Brilliant and I went as an adult!
b) Frog tour. This is a tour on an amphibious vehicle. Half the tour is on land and then it launches onto the Thames and continues from there.
c)Natural History Museum, free entry, loads to fascinate kids, often special events, dinosaur exhibition with animatronic T-Rex at the moment, kids love it there.(even the little one will find plenty to enjoy).
d) Next door is the Science Museum (also free) which has a whole level just for kids with lots of things to move, turn, jiggle, experiment on.

There's no maze at Kew as far as I know, but the the youngest would certainly enjoy Climbers and Creepers.
They have a website at http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/climbersandcreepers/home.html

My kids were a bit older the first time we went to London, but the highlights were definitely Tower of London (spend a good part of the day, each time we went we caught a different costume play out in the streets), and Warwick Castle which is past Oxford.

A book I borrowed from the library had a lot of good advice - London for Families. You might want to look it up.

oh - just saw my typo about Hamley's &quot;tot&quot; store. Hamley's Toy store has stuff for every age, not just &quot;tots&quot; :) - but you probably knew what I meant.

We are booked to stay in the Cadogan Lane apartment in March with Great Trips Unlimited (gtunlimited.com) with 6 people (4 adults and 2 kids). They had several apartments that would hold 5. I found them to be very helpful as well.

Tower of London absolutely! Thames boat ride to Greenwich - Kensington Gardens (including Princess Diana park)-Windsor Castle - Cotswolds (perhaps too much of a drive).

You've received lots of good suggestions already, but I didn't see the Ceremony of the Keys mentioned yet. It's at the Tower, at sunset, and I think your kids would like it. A spokesperson explains the ceremony and its significance and history. It's a true and authentic process, complete with full-dress uniforms, boots, etc. We thought it was very cool to be inside the Tower as night falls and all is locked up. Each night the group is limited to just a couple dozen spectators.
The best thing: it's free. But you have to get tickets in the mail, in advance. You've got plenty of time to do that, because tickets have to be requested a few months in advance.
Check on the visitlondon.com site, and I think you'll find the official link with instructions. Or Google Ceremony of the Keys at London Tower. I'm sorry I don't have the URL anymore. Be sure to follow the directions to the letter, including the reply postage you need to affix.

The Ceremony of the Keys is wonderful - but it isn't at &quot;sunset&quot; -- it is at 10 p.m. (arrival no later than 9:30) year round. Now, in June that will be just after sunset, but it is still 10 p.m. and probably not the best event to drag a 3 year old to. The kids would have to stand very still and be silent while the beefeater is talking and throughout the ceremony.

janisj has a point. I guess with the time change from the States, it felt earlier than 9:00 when we lined up before sunset in June.
However, I'd still suggest it. It's outdoors, and there is plenty of space to back away from the crowd if a three-year-old gets fussy. The ten and seven year olds will think they're on the set of the Wizard of Oz or something. Besides, it's free, so why not give it a try.

I'm wondering how your kids changed ages and what happened to your two year old?

Sounds like you are going to have a VERY BUSY summer next year!!!

From your previous post:

&lt;&lt;My husband and I are wanting to travel Rome, Sorrento and Aeolian Islands with our four children age 7,5,3 and 2...We plan on being there for most of July next year...&gt;&gt;

Hi wliwl, it was not westaussiegirl that started the thread about travelling to Rome, Sorrento etc. with four yougsters. That was renbown. Renbown is from Australia also. Always feel for Australians and the long flight they have from Oz to Europe. I don't know how they do! Take care.

oops -- SORRY!

There's also the Zoo and Madame Tussaud's. And the Hop-on-hop-off tour in a double-decker bus.

It's not that easy to get to Stonehenge, and I'm not sure the kids would appreciate it. However, it would be nice to get out of the city at least one day.

With the 3-year-old especially, a flat is a good idea.

A few more suggestions...

Well, first, a correction: the London Transport Museum is closed for renovations and probably not reopening in time for your visit :-(

I second, or third, or whatever, the recommendations for the Tower of London and the nightly Ceremony of the Keys. When visiting the Tower during the day, your kids will enjoy a tour lead by a Yeoman Warder...these guys are (usually) great with children.

London's Science Museum is one of the best anywhere. Lots of very hands-on exhibits, for all age children.

The Museum of London is another good bet, especially if you are looking for indoor activities, because of weather.

Similarly, on your trip to nearby Greenwich, the nautical museum has been refurbished and is a great venue for kids...of course standing on the zero merridian line at Greenwich's Old Royal Observatory is fun for most children too. But taking the driverless Docklands Light Railway to Greenwich(sitting up front where the driver SHOULD be) is almost as much fun for some kids as anything else. A boat trip is fun, and you can do this as part of your Greenwich excursion too.

Daytrips? Hampton Court and/or Windsor are possiblities. Should I mention that Windsor has a Legoland?

Have a wonderful trip!

Dave W.