Kids Travel Free on the Tube in London
 

We just returned from a week in London with our two kids. Thought I'd share some new information regarding public transit.

As of April, kids under 11 can now travel free on the tube when accompanied by an adult (up to 4 kids per adult). This is good for travel after 9:30 AM Mon-Fri and weekends/holiday.

Kids can travel free on buses at any time.

Cheers!

Thanks for sharing this info. Would you please share your other experiences? I'm taking my 3 year old and 8 month old next week to London.

Helen-

You'll have a great time!

We stayed in a flat in Chelsea for a full week. We took the bus and tube just about everywhere. The tube is great for longer distances, but we used the bus quite a bit for shorter distances. One day we just hopped on a bus (11) and rode around in the front row of the top deck. The kids loved it.

Two maps that were valuable to us (thanks Robespierre):

Central London bus maps: <http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/pdfdocs/centlond.pdf> We used this map all the time to see what buses go where in London. You can also get similar quadrant maps of other London areas (SW, NE, etc) from the web site.

Bus map for the major tourists sites in London: <http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/tourist.pdf>

If you haven’t already looked at the Transport For London web site, here is the link. Lots of good information: <www.tfl.gov.uk>

Also, you can get 2-for-1 admissions to a number of attractions (Tower of London, Hampton Court, etc) by printing vouchers from this website:
<http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk>

In no particular order, here is what our kids enjoyed (age 8 and 10):

The Princess Diana Memorial Playground at Kensington Park (your kids will love it!). We went there several times.

Tower of London (See the Crown Jewels first, then do a Yeoman tour)

London Eye (Go early)

Hampton Court (Easy 30 minute train ride. Really fun family audio tour and a small garden maze to go through)

Hop On- Hop Off bus tour upon arrival in London (good for 24 hours, so we took it in the afternoon one day, and then did a boat ride on the Thames the next morning. Part of the ticket price)

Climbed up St Pauls Cathedral. It has 530 steps, but wasn’t difficult. You can also just clim up part way for wonderful views both inside (at the base of the dome) and outside (about about 2/3 the way up).

Westminster Abbey – not sure a three year old would like it.

Natural History Museum – kids love the dinosaur

Science Museum – the basement area is great for kids. Saw a terrific 3D IMAX movie there: Deep Sea.

Covent Garden – wonderful street entertainment.

Harrods – Fun toy department.

Food – We did a fair amount of take out from Marks and Spencer and Pret. Pizza Express is everywhere and decent. Giraffe (Knightsbridge) is great for kids, and good adult food too. Wagamama (noodles) is terrific, fast and inexpensive (for London, that is!).

Enjoy your trip.

Can you share the apartment you rented?
Is there a website

Issy,

I am counting down the days until I go with my kids! You mentioned the things your kids enjoyed......did you do any of the following, and if so, did you not feel they were worthwhile?

Greenwich
Museum of London
British Museum
Imperial War Museum

Thanks for sharing.

I just realized that this is an old post. Oh, well.

Poutine, here is a link to a thorough post by Ben Haines about traveling to London with kids:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34774808

issy,
How were the crowds at the major attractions like Tower of London, Hampton Court, Natl Hist Museum, St. Pauls etc. I am leaving next week with my 7 yr old son.

That's good.
Do lambs go free too?
Now, if they allowed children to go free, that would be great.

<Do lambs go free too?>

Only as chops. Kids go as gloves.

Issy:
Do you know what type of train ticket you need to have in order purchase the 2 for 1 tickets?

Thank you.
Charlieg