London Underground
 

We are 3 adults and 3 children (ages 10, 13 and 15) who are going to London from Oct. 2-6. I take it that we will use the Underground a lot, and would like know what kind of ticket we should buy (5-day pass, "family/group ticket"??). Any recommendations would be very welcome. We are planning to visit the London Zoo, the Science Museum (Imax Cinema), the London Eye and the Chelsea-Liverpool football match (we have tickets..). Does anybody have other ideas about what to do with "youngsters" in London. We will be staying at the Grafton Hotel. It looks fine on the net. Any personal experience with the hotel is welcome.

You can use the search on this forum to find previous discussions on the topic. One simple mode for transit tickets is to just buy the daily passes (the ones that start at 9:30 am are a good value). We would sleep in a bit, eat a leisurely breakfast and hit the tube at 9:30; this way we only bought passes for the days we needed them. The zone 1/2 pass will cover pretty much everything you need - you can buy an add-on if needed for a specific trip (like to/from Heathrow). There are also various forms of weekly passes, which may not have the time restriction.

I would suggest taking in one play or musical - check the half-price booth at Leicester square (the stand-alone building in the center, not the bogus ones in storefronts all around).

You definitely want to take the family to the Tower of London. There are some good threads on kids and London which you can find using the search box.

Try this site for listings of kids stuff in London:

<b>http://www.londontown.com/London/Great_museums_to_visit/</b>

I haven't stayed at the Grafton Hotel but I used to live a few blocks away. It's a very good location, with good Tube connections, in the University of London neighbourhood (therefore, relatively inexpensive cafes, fairly active throughout the day and night so you feel safe walking home late at night), close to the British Museum and nearby sights (less than a ten minute walk) and close to the West End - about a 15-20 minute walk (shops, theatres, restaurants etc). I used to find this neighbourhood a great place for exploring London, since you could walk to so many places (or grab the Tube easily to travel greater distances).

Two minor warnings. There is a very busy road just North of the hotel (tell your kids to be careful), and the neighbourhood gets a little seedier on the other side of this road on the eastern side of the neighbourhood (as you get closer to the train station). To the West, however, you've got easy access to Regents Park.

We were there for 3 days and bought family passed each day. It was very inexpensive, probably the best buy in London. I don't know how it compares to a 5 day.

We did a hop on/off tour our fist full day there. It was also a nasty day, so a good day for that. We took advantage of the fast track entry to the tower and also went on the included river boat ride (which is very pleasant).

My kids probably liked the Tate Modern the best of the museums (13 yr old boy and 15 yr old girl). I thought the V&amp;A museum is great, even for a short visit there (it's enormous so you can't see everything). Your kids may also enjoy seeing a show. 1/2 price tickets are pretty easy to get. We let our kids pick the show. The chose COmplete Shakespeare Abridged and both thought it was hysterical (It's more of a comedy performance than an actual show with a storeyline). We all also really enjoyed the tour of the GLobe Theater. Our guide was fabulous.

This might be a bit young for your children, but the London Tourist Board has a site by and for children:
http://www.kidslovelondon.com

The national organisation for museums has something similar:
www.show.me.uk

The Natural History Museum might be of interest if they're keen on science, and it's right next door to the Science Museum.