We have a one day stopover in England in late June, arriving at 11 am on a Friday at Heathrow and leaving the next day at 2 pm. We'd like to take our 12 yr old son into London. Should we stay out at the airport and just go into London for the day or try to stay in London? How late do the trains run coming back to Heathrow? And what would be the best things to do with a 12 yr old boy. Tour, Tower of London, War Cabinet Rooms? Thanks!

Since your flight doesn't leave til 2 on Sat., you would have some time in the morning for at least a walk. I would stay in London. I would take the bus tour when you arrive in London so he gets to see the city. Then let your son decide what he would like to see (or you could decide based on his interests). The Tower is great with a Beefeater tour. If he's into Sherlock Holmes, the museum at Baker St. might be fun. If you do a text search here for London AND kids there are several strings that describe what other kids have liked.

I would stay in London but find somewhere close to Paddington Station (lots of hotels around there) as the Paddington Express is the fastest way to and from Heathrow and since you have very limited time that would be important.

Since your flight leaves at 2pm you'll have to leave London by 11:00 or so and therefore not enough time to do the Tower that morning. I think a 12 year old would love it so I'd do it the first day. Take a hop off bus tour and hop off at the tower, do it, walk across Tower Bridge, then hop back on. Be sure to hop off again around Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment - best views are from across the river. Some hop on and off bus tours come with a river cruise. I think the last one is around 9pm and it will just be begining to get dark at that time so it's a great time for the boat ride. Just be warned that after the boat ride at that time the hop off tours have ended so you'll have to take the tube or a regular bus back to the hotel.

There is a great tour called London Froggy tours; it leaves just behind the London Eye, and is a tour with an WW2 amfibian craft, which goes around the houses of parliament and a few other sites, then plunges into the Thames. My children loved this. It's not long (hour and a half or so if I remember correctly) but great fun. I'm sure you'll be able to find in on internet, but don't know the site.

The Frog tours now seem to be called London Duck Tours (www.londonducktours.com).

We've done it both ways and I would recommend staying in Central London. Getting to the Heathrow hotels required more time than I thought and then we had to go back to Heathrow to catch the tube into Central London.

To catch a 2 pm flight, 11 am is a good estimate of when you should leave. It's 45 min to an hour by tube and a couple of hours before check in is recommended. The line to get through security at about that time yesterday was huge. Paddington Express is supposed to be about 15 minutes but if you have to use the tube to get you from Paddington it would take longer.

I'd think a 12 year old would like the Tower over the War Cabinet rooms, the beefeater tour is a lot of fun and they can be quite amusing. I haven't taken the hop on/off bus but I imagine that would also be nice to see some of the famous London landmarks like Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, etc.

If you have the time, I highly recommend taking your 12 yr old AND YOURSELF of course on the London Eye. Hopefully in good weather. The views will blow your mind!!

Hi,

The Tower of London is a favorite of many 12 year old visitors (and their parents), so I'd put it near the top of the list.

Realistically, if your plane arrives at 11:00, you probably won't get to the Tower until at least 1:00 p.m., or a bit later, if you are dropping bags at a hotel. On Fridays, the Tower is open until 6:00 pm, with last admission at 5:00. That does give enough time for a visit. On Saturdays, the Tower opens at 9:00. That really doesn't allow enough time, if you must leave for Heathrow (and the Tower is pretty far across town, east, in the opposite direction from Heathrow).

In a perfect world of on-time airplanes, short customs and immigration lines, and fast connections from the airport to downntown, this plan will work. I'd have a backup plan too, perhaps a walk from Buckingham Palace through St. James's Park, stopping at the Cabinet War Rooms, past Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and to the London Eye. Maybe a boat tour on the Thames. The hop-on/hop-off bus tours are also a way to at least glimpse many of the important sights in the city.

Then plan to come back and spend more time in London!

Dave White
http://www.KidsToLondon.com