julieleigh

How much is it recommended to tip a driver? I want to arrange a car from the airport to London. Also, is it a good idea to get admission tickets to Tower of London in advance? Are there great lines in the summer?
Can anyone recommend good restaurants that kids would love?

Tulips

There will be lines at the Tower in the summer; don't think there's any way around that. How old are your kids and what do they like? Mine (9 and 11) like Yo Sushi, Sticky Fingers (burger place owned by Rolling Stone), Rainforest Cafe, but if you are from the US you will get plenty of that at home. They also like large brasserie-style restaurants like Quaglinos (near Jermyn Street) and the Bluebird (Kings Rd).

PatrickLondon

You can get tickets for the Tower from tube stations, and, yes, it is a good idea to do so. There may be still be crowds of people and queues to get through security and so on, so you might as well try to cut out queueing for a ticket. For the least fraught experience, try getting there early in the day.
www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/tower_home.asp

Keith

Actually you get a voucher to turn in for a ticket. But when I was there, the line to _buy_ tickets had a few hundred people. The line to redeam the voucher had one person.

Keith

Retired_teacher

We were in London the end of July in 2001 and used London Walks (www.london.walks.com) for entry into the Tower of London to avoid the lines. You might also want to consider taking the Heathrow Express out to Paddington Station and then using a black cab to get to your hotel if you are located nearby? I'm sorry that I can't make any restaurant recommendations for your children, but as a former teacher, I tend to avoid the type of facilities you are seeking.

mclaurie

Heathrow Express is not cost efficient for you with kids. Since no one has answered your tipping question, I'd say 10% tip is enough unless the drver does something really special. Tipping in London is not as generous as the US in my experience. Tipping a taxi driver, you can just round up to the nearest pound.

Cicerone

If you buy a day or multi-day pass for the London bus tour (double deckers that you can hop on and hop off at various points all over town) you get a special pass to the Tower and Madame Tussauds which allows you to by-pass the lines. Definitely worth it. I believe the pass is also good at other London attractions. The bus is such a great way to get an idea of the city and see the sights, the kids will love being outside on the top of the double decker. Take a look at www.bigbus.co.uk I believe there are other bus companies offer essentially the same packages.

For restaurants, I just topped a thread for you with some suggestions ("Kids in Pubs?&quot. I think there have been other threads on this subject, run a search.

earl30

Does the driver get out and help you with bags? If so, give 10%. if not, round up to nearest pound.

bellairegirl

As to kid-friendly restaurants: I don't know how old your kids are, but my sons (then ages 12 and 14) LOVED Pizza Express. It's not as sterile or as "grab and go" as it sounds. It looks like an upscale Italian restaurant, and has really wonderful thin crust pizza. We must have gone in 4 different ones all throughout town (even in Greenwich), as my kids really enjoyed it (as did my husband and I), and it was reasonably priced. We also noticed much younger children eating there too, even little ones in high chairs.

They also liked Belgo Centraal, which is very reasonable if you go early for dinner and order their "beat the clock" meal. If you go at 6:00, it costs 6 GBP. Aside from the mussels (which my one son liked), they also have very good roasted chicken with fries (and mayonnaise). Also they have excellent desserts.

Another place for a lunch that you will find all over town is Pret a Manger. They have excellent sandwiches, salads and wraps that are in a refrigerated case and you help yourself.

Your kids should love London. We enjoyed it so much, we already have a return trip planned!

Susan