Amicita

Interested in critiques and ideas for my London itinerary. This trip is intended to occur Summer 2022 or whenever COVID is under control, whichever comes first, so assume no COVID issues. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but planning is half the fun. We will have my (then) 7 year old daughter with us, although we live in DC so she is used to a lot of walking, and museums and nice restaurants and such, so I'm not overly concerned with making it kid-friendly. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Saturday: Arrival. Nothing in particular planned. I'm thinking maybe we will try to do a flight that leaves in evening from DC and arrives London evening, which seems easier to deal with from a jet lag perspective. But we'll see.

Sunday: Exhibition Road museums (Natural History, Science, V&A). I'm thinking Natural History, then lunch break (maybe at Daquise, which I've seen recommended, but also open to other ideas nearby), then Science, then afternoon tea at V&A, then explore V&A. I know we won't be able to see everything at every museum, but hoping to hit some highlights at each. We sometimes go to multiple museums in one day at the mall in DC, so not too concerned about museum fatigue, so long as we schedule in some eating / drinking breaks. Walk over to Kensington Gardens and Diana Memorial Playground. Any restaurant recommendations around here?

Monday: Ledenhall Market early morning (not to shop; just to see it; we are Harry Potter Fans). Tower of London at opening. Per recommendations here, crown jewels first, then catch Yeoman Warder tour. Walk over to Borough Market, maybe stop at Kappacasein for cheese toastie. Walk by Globe Theatre. Maybe do a tour. I'd rather find a time to actually see a show, but hard to plan that with no schedule, and my itinerary is already pretty full. Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral. Walk over to One New Change for roof view. Dinner at Blackfriar's Pub.

Tuesday: British Museum. Camden Market - grab food (where's good?) to bring to Primrose Hill or Regents Park to eat. (Is it worth going to Primrose Hill or should we head straight to Regent's Park?) Rose gardens at Regent's Park. Maybe try to see a show in the evening. (Lion King? I've already seen it on Broadway, but daughter and husband haven't.)

Wednesday: Wander around Belgravia. Buckingham Palace for changing of the guard. (I don't expect the Palace will be open for tours as this will probably be late June.) Lunch at Wolseley. National Gallery. Walk by St. James Park to Westminster Abbey for Wednesday Lates (assuming that is started up again post-COVID).

Thursday: Head to France, which is the subject of a different post.

These days can be switched around somewhat, although Wednesday lates at Westminster Abbey obviously has to be on a Wednesday, and I read somewhere afternoon tea at V&A is only on Sundays. (But then I read somewhere else it's only on another day, so who knows.) Right now everything is off schedule because of COVID, so its a little tricky to plan. Any thoughts?

TDudette

Hi Amicita. I hope the covid situation is addressed sufficiently for your trip. Because you mentioned the Smithsonians, may I assume you are traveling from the DC area? If so, please do let everyone know if you are able to get a flight that lands at a reasonable hour. It's frustrating to arrive early and have to wait half the day to get into a room.

I was going to mention the size of the museums until you said Smithsonians didn't daunt you. DH and I were enthralled with the British Museum....you might not want to leave! Same with Tower of London and it's over a mile to the Globe from there, FYI.

Off to look at your Paris plans.

janisj

Just random thoughts:

• "maybe we will try to do a flight that leaves in evening from DC and arrives London evening"

Doesn't work that way - and evening flight out of the East Coast arrives in London in the morning.

• don't plan (or even think about) where to eat for at least another year. The restaurant landscape has changed dramatically and hundreds of London restaurants will never re-open. My Guess is the Wolseley is safe -- Corbin & King have very deep pockets, but even some of their properties are gone for good.

• Monday isn't really a Borough market day. Some shops will definitely be open but the stalls/full market runs Thurs-Sat. Not 100% sure Kappacasein is open on Mondays even in 'normal' times.

• Not sure what you expect to see in Belgravia -- it is residential with garden squares, posh restaurants and several embassies.

• IME it would be a a rush to hit the British Museum and Camden Market then head to Primrose Hill/Regents Park by lunch time. The Br Museum will take at minimum a few hours.

• I'd consider the open air Theatre in Regents Park. But I wouldn't think until about this time next year to decide which show(s) to see - several theatre companies are on the brink of going under.

But you have months and months to massage things so no biggies really.

Amicita

Yes, we're coming from DC area. To be fair, when we pop into Smithsonian Museums, we've likely already been to many of them before (once we went to DC Natural History two days in a row, at which point my daughter, who was then 3 or 4, declared, "We won't go every day... just on weekends"), which is easier for a pop in than a first time visit. But with limited time in London, I think we can make the best of jammed in visits. They're just so close together, seems to be screaming out to be packed into a day.

It's too early to get realistic view of flights, but I could've sworn I saw some that left in evening here, and landed in London evening when I looked at upcoming flights for comparison. They probably involved layovers though.

Amicita

Thanks, this is a lot of good info. Belgravia I just heard was cute, so thought we'd go get a coffee and wander or something if we're out and about early, before time for changing of the guard. I'm not wed to that though. Thanks for the heads up on Borough market only being fully open certain days. That's just the kind of information I was hoping to learn. I purposely scheduled something flexible (lunch in a park) after British Museum, so we wont feel rushed to move on if we'd rather linger. Maybe I should just assume lunch at Camden Market isn't happening, and plan to stay at British Museum longer. I'm not familiar with open air theatre at Regents Park. I'll look into that. Thanks!

Tulips

Your itinerary looks good. Janisj makes some good points.
Regents Park Open Air theatre is wonderful, one of my favorite things in London. There's usually a musical, but it could be Shakespeare.
Primrose Hill has great views. I'm not a fan of Camden Market.
Belgravia is as Janisj says expensive residential; Motcomb Street is a nice little street to get a coffee.
If you're going to go past the National Gallery, why not continue to Covent Garden and the Seven Dials area there?

I think for your daughter an afternoon tea might be nice. I love the one at The Wallace Collection. Not overly fancy, but in a lovely covered courtyard in a beautiful small museum. And nearby Marylebone High Street is of the nicer London shopping streets.
There's also an afternoon tea bus - if it still exists - that a daughter of a friend of mine did, and thought it was fun; Brigit's Bakery. I think it would be magical for a 7-year old.

janisj

"It's too early to get realistic view of flights, but I could've sworn I saw some that left in evening here, and landed in London evening when I looked at upcoming flights for comparison. They probably involved layovers though."

Nope

There are what are called 'daytime' flights from the east coast to London - they leave the US between about 7AM and 10AM and arrive in the UK between 7-ish PM and 10:30-ish PM the same day. Between the length of flight and 5 hour time difference a rule of thumb is if a flight departs at say 9 AM eastern time it will land about 9PM London time. it is almost always 12 hours 'clock time'. People like that because they can go to sleep immediately on arrival and not lose a day to jet lag. But there are few of those flights - pre covid there was 1 per day from IAD, 4 or 5 from JFK, 1 from ORD, 1 from BOS and 1 from EWR. But there's no telling when/if those will return to service in the next year or two. Plus fares on those tend to be quite a bit higher than on the majority of 'normal' overnight flights.

Those of us on the West Coast don't have a choice though - we have nothing but overnight flights and 8 time zones to traverse . . .

lrice

How exciting! We spent a week in London in 2019; I believe I posted my trip report here; will look for it and post on this thread. I love Belgravia. There are some great historic pubs, and Peggy Porschen's is a must! https://www.peggyporschen.com/ We enjoyed London Walks and FreeToursByFoot (which you pay via tip) as guided tours around neighborhoods. I recommend both! Also, check out A Lady in London's website. She has great walks and ideas all over London.

lrice

Amicita, here is my Trip Report from 2019: Trip Report: London & Oxford June/July 2019

janisj

If you click on my name you'll find many TRs re London (and other parts of the UK) - probably nearly 20 that include London. Some are pretty long and a few have a specific focus but you might find some useful bits . . .

AJPeabody

There are many useful trip reports here. Have fun reading them and selecting things that especially appeal to you. I, of course, favor reading my own trip reports, which provide hours (or minutes) of enjoyment.

Surfergirl

For the "to be" 7 year old: This is assuming everything's back to normal and everything's open. After the British Museum, I'd head over to Little Venice and take the London Waterbus canal boat to Camden Lock. You can get off (if open again) at the London Zoo, which is an absolutely delightful place in Regent's Park, then back on to Camden Lock for a look around. From there, you could take the Tube back.

Just a suggestion . . . we've taken our son maybe 10 times to London over the years and I remember this outing when he was about your child's age was one of his favorites.

CaliNurse

Re: V&A, IF you are there during warm days, an area of the central courtyard may be turned into a big wading pool. This happened when we were there , August 2019 during a heat wave. (June less likely to be hot.) Great for your daughter, and you can relax a bit,as food and chairs are there too (and it is next to their great gift shop!).
Walking from Exhibition Road to the Diana Playground is doable of course (London is the greatest city in the world for walking, imho) but will take thirty mins with your daughter, especially after the very packed day you describe. IIrc the playground closes at 7 pm. Since you (for now) have nothing planned for the day before, when you'll likely be arriving to your accommodation by mid-day, consider that a good day for park time and body clock rese, in the magnificent Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens and Diana Playground. You could grab a meal--or just tea and yummy orange cake-- at The Orangerie in Kensington Gardens.

janisj

Another great activity for kids is the London Transport Museum (assuming it reopens). It is in Covent Garden so opportunity for great 'three for' with the buskers, an al fresco meal and the the transport museum.

"IF you are there during warm days, an area of the central courtyard may be turned into a big wading pool. This happened when we were there , "

Just an FYI - That pool is a permanent feature -- not just in summer heat waves.

Amicita

Thanks everyone. These are great tips!

CaliNurse

Thanks for the info about V&A, Janisj!
Oh London....

raincitygirl

https://sketch.london/

Last time I was in London (June 2019) we had afternoon tea at Sketch. I highly recommend it, not only because the tea was amazing (come hungry) but the room is pink with quirky sketches on the walls, the waiters are in costume, even the loos are something else-futuristic white pods that play birdsong when you go inside and close the door. I think your daughter would get a kick out of it.

I have also had afternoon tea at the Orangerie in Kensington Palace twice and it is a lovely room looking onto the park, very pleasant, the tea is nice but not as lavish as Sketch.

London is my favourite large city and I can't wait to go back when this plague is under control.

macdogmom

I would try to do one museum or activity in morning and then lunch and one thing in afternoon. Trying to see everything becomes a chore especially with a seven year old in tow. You could spend half a day each at the V and A (jewelry section is amazing) and at the British museum, two of my favorites in London. British museum has decent food in their big atrium on first floor. V&A has a beautiful cafe where you can also eat. A play your 7 year old might enjoy is Mathilda which has played at seven dials theatre in convent garden for awhile although it may have closed during covid. I would plot out areas to go to and then stay in that area. London traffic is very congested and trying to get across town is not always easy unless by the tube. Convent garden area has lots of shops and might be fun to wander about and borough market would also be a fun expedition for 7 year old. Crossing the Millenium bridge and walking along the river (you can pop into old globe) is also a nice experience.

Sassafrass

My kids were that age when I last took them, eons ago, but the
V&A was their all time favorite museum and we spent the most time there, had to drag them away. Count on a morning.
They absolutely loved their tour of the Tower and walking across the bridge. That took a morning.
IMHO, Hampton Court is the best of Palaces for that age, and really kind of a living museum, worth a day
As Surfergirl said, the Canal Boat trip starting in Little Venice is a delight for all ages, but my kids loved boats and Regents’ Park.
Just opinions.
You did not mention it, but in case you were, I absolutely hate the HOHO bus in London. It is a big time waster. The kids liked it for a bit when it was nice weather. I found it smoggy on the outside and very limited sightseeing value
Things may seem close, but take more time to get from one to another than you might think. Grab a taxi once in a while if you need to so you have more of your expensive vacation time to actually see things.
My kids at that age loved plays and performances, so our game plan was one museum in the morning, lunch and park or outdoor activity and a play or concert in the evening. If theaters are in full swing again, you would have lots of options for that.
I have taken the tour and gone to plays, but unless you are going to see a play and/or tour, I would not likely go just to walk by the Globe.