Lodging in London - family of 5
 

Hi- my family of 5 will be staying in London and then Edinburgh in July to do all the touristy things. Kids are 16, 14, 12. Any suggestions for a good home base for either city would be appreciated! (No car.)
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For 5 people, renting an apartment seems like the way to go. Your first day made me chuckle since it brought back memories of getting my family on a double decker bus after an 11 hour flight to London from California. They all promptly fell asleep and after paying a lot to get on that damn bus they used it as a napping facility.

Loch Ness, are you really traveling half way around the world to visit a pretty dull Lock because a Chicago editor thought a monster would be a good thing. There are much nicer places to visit in Scotland.

Book a flat for sure. You'd have to book two hotel rooms which would cost a fortune. (BTW - what is your budget so we can make useful recommendations). Same in Edinburgh - but the short term rental landscape in Edinburgh is in flux -- the city is cracking down. Lots are still available but many are being taken off the market/converted to long term.

You didn't ask - but a few comments about your plans:

• By 'double decker bus', do you mean a Hop-on-Hop-off bus tour - or just ride any old 2 story bus? The H-o-H-o's are very expensive and pretty lame. You spend most of the time sitting in traffic and if its cold or rainy - REALLY miserable. BUT regular city buses are mostly double deckers so you can ride them just in normal travel around the city.

• I personally would not do the Natural History Museum on a weekend - it is crowded every day of the week but INSANELY crowded on Sat/Sun. There are more school groups on weekday but MANY more families on weekends.

• The Changing of the Guard and the Tower really don't work on the same day. You want to be at the Tower just before opening time - and to see th eGuard Change requires spending the entire morning standing in front of the Palace - just not compatible. If you have to choose between the two -- 1000000% pick the Tower of London.

• You will LOVE the HP Warner Brothers Studio.

• in Edinburgh -- I highly recommend a small group tour with Rabbie's . . .but not necessarily to Loch Ness. Loch Ness is not very attractive as Scottish loch go. You would travel though some terrific scenery -- but the loch itself - sort of meh. Rabbie's offers a lot of other lovely day trips that would be better IMO.

https://www.rabbies.com/en/we-care-a...IaAlqCEALw_wcB

We rented a small Mews House in the Queen’s Gate neighborhood for our family one Christmas and it was charming and perfectly located.

We found our family lodging in London on: London Hotels - Special London hotel deals | LondonTown.com

My family of 5 stayed at Hilton London Metropole a few years ago. We had plenty of room in a family room (it was not a suite, but one large room) and it is just across the street from Edgware Road tube station.
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If you are looking for cost-effectiveness, for this number of people airbnb seems almost always to be a better option compared to Booking, Agoda, Expedia etc. I mostly travel solo or 2 people and in the UK it is exactly the opposite: in 90% cases I book at Booking