BudgetTraveler

Assume a family of four comprised of 2 adults, and 2 children (6 & 7) for a one week vacation in London at the end of March (adults have been to London previously, but still largely unexplored) :

1) Day Trip to Bath

2) Day Trip to Brighton, Portsmouth, Chichester, and/or Eastbourne (please specify)

3) Fourth Day of Sightseeing in London

Please explain your selection

Thank you for your input!

nytraveler

With kids that age I wold stay in London the whole time - since they will need some running around time in the park your sightseeing time will be limited. Be sure to do some kid friendly kids - perhaps boat trip to Hampton Court to see the maze and the costumed docents (much more fun for kids than either of the other day trips).

logandog

I vote for Bath. I took 3 teenagers there and London. They loved Bath.It is so different than London and allows them to compare and contrast two interesting parts of England.

bettyk

IMO 6 and 7 yr olds have different likes and dislikes from teenagers. I agree about staying in London.

A boat trip on the Thames would be fun for kids. Also, the Tower of London and the London Eye. The HMS Belfast (children free) is docked on the Thames near Tower Bridge.

If you want to take a day trip, go to Legoland Windsor. Maybe you could work it in with a visit to Windsor Palace.

http://www.legoland.co.uk/

Hamley's on Regent Street is one of the world's largest toy stores in the world.

And, as already mentioned, London has some great parks that you kids will probably love exploring.

janisj

A no brainer IMO. W/ kids that age you don't want to dashing around the country for just a few hours at the destination.

Four days is <u><i>nothing</i></u> for London. There are sooooo many fabulous kid-centric (and fabulous non-kid-centric) sites in London you'll only barely scratch the surface as it is.

Stay in London.

Ackislander

Seconding Hamley's but only if you are prepared to break out the credit card!

My son loved the Imperial War Museum (while his mother and sister had tea at Fortnum and Mason).

They both loved the Tower, Crown jewels and armour especially.

They loved the Horse Guards parade and the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.

On a nice day, a walk along the South Bank from Borough Market toward the Eye is very interesting. You can grab lunch at the Market, eat on the riverfront, drop into the Tate Modern for the awesome space if not the art, cross the Millenium Bridge, on and on.

PatrickLondon

The only argument for a day out of London, for children that age, might be for either Brighton, or just possibly Portsmouth.

First, IF they would get a kick out of a train ride; and second, for

- (in Brighton) the tacky (and possibly rather expensive) vulgarity of the seaside - fairground games and rides on the pier, "rock" (hard peppermint candy) in various novelty shapes, throwing stones into the sea (the beach is all pebbles - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw9F_S9gCPk, but don't show it to the children)

- (in Portsmouth) big ships (the naval dockyard and HMS Victory) - but this is a longer train ride.

Bath, Chichester, Eastbourne: hard to imagine they'd appreciate them at that age.

But you know your children best: and there are plenty of things for them to do in London.

If you haven't checked it out already, take a look at http://www.coramsfields.org/ and/or http://www.visitlondon.com/attractio...ors/city-farms.

You could, for example, combine a trip to Greenwich (boat one way, and the driverless Docklands Light Railway the other) with stopping off the DLR at Mudchute to visit the City Farm, and possibly a look at the Museum in Docklands (also on the DLR):
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/
http://www.mudchute.org/
http://www.museumindocklands.org.uk/English/

hetismij

You could also consider the Chatham Dockyards http://www.thedockyard.co.uk/ if you decide on a day out of London.

Jhstubbs

I would vote for another day in London. I just don't see kids that young enjoying Bath.

Have you thought of taking the children to London Zoo? I bet they would enjoy that. http://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/

Also, there is an amusement park called Thorpe Park that kids as well as adults might enjoy. I have never been but when we go with our family (including 2 teenagers) at the beginning of April we will be going there. It says it is only about 30 minutes away by train from London. Here is the link to that one: http://www.thorpepark.com/

BKP

As the mother of an almost 6 year old I vote for one more day in London. There is PLENTY do there with small children.

But, if I had to vote for a day trip out it would include a castle. If you visit Portsmouth there is a castle about 25 minutes away called Portchester Castle that's amazing. You could also visit Hever Castle (not my favorite but other people here love it) on the way to Brighton. There are several castles around Bath, or on the way to it. These would be hard to see if you're relying 100& on public transportation but you can make it work.

For the record -- I hate it when people ask "Should I visit Paris or London?" and someone says "No, visit Rome!" but I really just wanted to throw this option out there! Sorry!

BigRuss

I agree that if you daytrip out of London you should see a castle. Are your kids boys, girls, one each?

Dover Castle would be best, I'd think, because it has the underground tunnels the little monkeys can run around in. Plus, the train from St. Pancras is fast.

BKP

BigRuss -- Dover is a good suggestion! I was trying to think of a castle that would be an easy train ride. We drive everywhere so I was a bit stuck. Dover is a great castle!

BigRuss

The only reason we didn't go to Dover last time we were in the UK (with a small hobbit) was that the fast train from St. Pancras wouldn't start service for another 7+ months. The fast train has turned a 2+ hour trip into 68-85 minutes, depending upon which train you catch.

janisj

The Tower of London is the obvious castle. IF you have the time, then Dover would be great. But it sounds like you already have some sort of out of town plans since you say you'll be there a week but a >><i>Fourth Day of Sightseeing in London</i><< is one of the options. If so, 4 days is way WAY short for London - especially w/ children.

BudgetTraveler

Thanks everyone for your responses! It seems that the consensus is option 3: fourth day in London; plus write-in option 4: fifth day in London. For what it's worth, the children (girls) are great sports and will enjoy themselves anywhere. Unfortunately, Legoland doesn't open until April -- after we leave. We intend to go to Hampton Court on one of our other days. You've pretty much persuaded me that we should spend a fourth day in London, but we're still looking at one more excursion farther afield, hence the choices between Bath and the south coast. We don't know when we'll get back to the U.K., so we'd rather spread ourselves thin . . . Thanks again, and keep it coming!

irishface

I think Dover Castle would be a great trip for a day out.

Someone mentioned Legoland and Windsor Castle, which would be my first choice for your young girls. You can catch the changing of the guard at Windsor. The Queen's Dollhouse there is a fascinating look at miniature. Even my two nephews were enchanted with it.

There is so much to see for kids in London itself that you could spend your whole time there. I liked the Museum of London which puts history in an interesting collection of pictures, artifacts, audio-visual and lots that is interesting to children.

There is also a museum called, I think, Sir John Soames House which has a great collection of toys, dolls, etc. (I'll look up my scrapbook and see if I've remembered the name correctly.)

Also think the zoo is a great outing for the girls. (Don't know where you live and maybe you have a good zoo near you.)