12 Things to Do in London with Kids

If you’re planning a family trip to London soon, you’ll no doubt want to organise some activities during your stay so that the children can have fun too and make the most of the experience.

The range of leisure activities in the British capital is vast, and there’s plenty to see and do there. To help you choose, in this post you’ll find several suggestions and tips for making the most of London with the kids. We’re sure that when you get home, you’ll have loads of stories and fantastic memories to share!

During your holiday in London, the children are sure to be thrilled to visit the Harry Potter Studios, the place where all the films in the series were shot. It’s a magical place!

They’ll have a brilliant time exploring the original film sets, learning how the films were made and the special effects used to recreate this fantasy world. For a moment, they’ll feel part of the story, as if they were just another pupil at the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry.

• Tip: tickets sell out fast, so buy them in advance online to make sure you don’t miss out.
• Find out more...: don’t miss the post on tickets for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter London.

Attending one of the West End musicals is an essential activity to do in London with children one afternoon during a city break. After spending the whole day visiting museums, monuments and shops, the little ones also need a bit of time to have fun during the trip.

The best way to round off a day of sightseeing with the parents is to immerse yourself for a few hours in the fantasy worlds of the West End musicals, letting yourself be transported by their fabulous stories, staging and musical numbers brimming with lights, magic and colour. What’s more, they’re some of the best in the world (with apologies to Broadway!).

• Tip: lots of people want to go, so my advice is to book your tickets in advance to secure your seats for a specific show on the date you want.
• How to buy tickets: the best way is online, as this allows you to book them from home before you travel. This way, you’ll avoid queuing for ages with the children at the theatre box office and can spend your time making other plans with them in London.
• Can we go without knowing English? Of course! Many of the musicals currently running have film adaptations (Mary Poppins, The Lion King, Cinderella, The Prince of Egypt, etc.), so even if you don’t speak the language, you’ll be able to follow the plot easily.

If you think London’s museums aren’t for children, you’re wrong! There are several options they’re bound to love. Here’s my personal selection of those they’ll really enjoy:

• Madame Tussauds Wax Museum: the wax museum is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. All visitors can interact with the figures and meet their favourite artists and fictional characters such as Taylor Swift, Little Mix, One Direction, Spider-Man, Captain America or the Hulk, amongst many others, with whom they can take as many photos as they like.
• National Gallery: if you’d completely ruled out the National Gallery on your visit to London with children, you might have jumped to conclusions. The museum organises guided tours for children and the whole family led by an expert who will bring culture to the little ones in a masterful way.
• Science Museum: at this fun museum, they’ll have the time of their lives, as many of the areas feature interactive activities or virtual reality experiences where the little ones can entertain themselves at their own pace.
• Postal Museum: at this museum, children can become postmen for a day and discover the history of the postal service in a really fun way.

Are the youngest members of your group football fans? Then don’t miss out on a guided tour of two of the city’s most famous stadiums, home to two of England’s best-known clubs:

• Chelsea Stadium Tour: Chelsea is the most successful English club of the 21st century, and on this guided tour you’ll explore the stadium and its museum for 90 minutes with a professional guide. You’ll also visit areas such as the changing rooms and the tunnel.
• Arsenal FC Stadium Tour: on this tour, you’ll explore the Emirates Stadium for an hour and a half using an audio guide. Older children will enjoy this, but if they’re still too young, the audio guide might bore them a little.

On a trip to London with children, a visit to some of the city’s most entertaining themed attractions is a must. You can also visit amusement parks, but if the little ones are afraid of heights, here are some great alternatives so they can have just as much fun without having to leave the ground:

• Life-size Monopoly: children love this famous board game, and at this attraction you can all enjoy a life-size Monopoly together whilst playing a game. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?
• Shrek’s Adventure: what child doesn’t love Shrek? This cartoon character has his own attraction in London where the whole family can visit the film’s most iconic locations, meet the characters and enjoy a total of 10 attractions.

There isn’t a child alive who doesn’t enjoy animals, and with a ticket to London Zoo, they can do so in style. Of course, it’s something adults enjoy immensely too, sometimes even more so. So it’s a perfect activity for the whole family.

Gorillas, lemurs, tigers, giraffes, reptiles, lions, penguins... There’s even a butterfly house! This zoo is home to over 17,000 different species. But the most interesting thing of all: did you know that London Zoo is the oldest in the world? Seriously, don’t miss it – you’ll have an incredible day.

London is one of the largest cities in Europe and there is often a considerable distance between its various tourist attractions. Walking the length and breadth of the city sightseeing to reach each one might be a very appealing plan for adults with an adventurous spirit , but for children it can be incredibly tiring. Especially for the little ones.

So that they too can enjoy the more touristy side of London without getting tired too quickly, and can save their energy for visiting the city’s various museums and monuments, I recommend booking tickets for the London sightseeing bus.

• Route: the main sights of the British capital, with a total of 45 stops.
• How it works: you can hop on and off at whichever stop you like to explore a particular area.
• To find out more... Read the post ‘The best sightseeing buses’, where you’ll find all the details about this activity.

I’m sure that at some point, the children have seen a photograph in a book or brochure of the “Foot Guards” and asked you who those people are wearing red tunics and huge black fur hats. If these soldiers catch their attention, take them to meet them at Buckingham Palace during the famous Changing of the Guard. They’ll be amazed!

What’s more, for children, this will be a very original and enjoyable way to experience British culture. They’re sure to love the experience.

What is the experience like?

It is a spectacular military-style parade lasting around 45 minutes, which takes place at the main entrance to Buckingham Palace to relieve the Queen’s Guards responsible for the security of the royal residence.

During the ceremony, you’ll see regiments of mounted and foot guards accompanied by a military band playing some rather unusual music to liven up the display (The Lion King, The Beatles, Star Wars, etc.). It’s great fun!

The little ones will surely be thrilled if you buy them a souvenir from your trip to London, but where can you find the perfect souvenir for children? If you want to get the gift right, I recommend you visit Hamleys, one of London’s oldest toy shops, dating back over 250 years. That’s quite something!

It’s a multi-storey shop divided into different sections: outdoor toys, teddy bears, video games, board games, sweets and much more. The interesting thing about Hamleys is that, as well as being able to admire thousands of toys on the shelves, the shop staff also put on live demonstrations and even organise games with the children.

• Location: at 188-196 Regent Street, one of the busiest shopping streets in central London.

There are :::link|text=tickets available for daytime cruises on the Thames|element=pa-2233:::, which offer special prices or rates for children and are shorter in duration than the evening cruises.

This way, children can experience the thrill of boarding a boat and sailing along the river whilst having fun looking at the monuments lining the banks and imagining they are intrepid explorers.

• To find out more... Take a look at the post ‘The best Thames cruises’, where you’ll find some really cool ideas for family outings.

Visiting the Sea Life Aquarium means experiencing the largest aquarium in England. And, as I mentioned earlier, children really enjoy seeing the animals. So if they had a great time at the zoo, don’t hesitate to pay a visit here.

It is home to over 500 different species of animals, including sharks, seahorses, octopuses, penguins and manta rays, among others. They are spread across themed areas where you can learn lots of interesting facts about their habitats and way of life – it really is an amazing experience!

• Location: in the heart of the city.
• What you mustn’t miss: in my opinion, the most impressive part of the visit is the glass tunnel, a corridor submerged in water through which you can walk whilst accompanied by ferocious sharks and other aquatic creatures.
• To find out more... Read the post about the Sea Life Aquarium

Amidst so many activities, you always fancy taking a breather and finding a moment to switch off from all the tourist hustle and bustle. Some places I love for enjoying a peaceful atmosphere are London’s parks. If it’s a sunny day and the temperatures are right, a really fun plan for the whole family is to go for a picnic in one of them.

The little ones will love having a bit of free time amidst all the sightseeing to jump, run and play to their heart’s content. Here are some of the coolest playgrounds you can take the children to:

• Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens.
• Coram’s Fields in Camden.
• Timber Lodge and Tumbling Bay Playground in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
• Kilburn Grange Adventure Park in Kilburn Grange Park.
• St James’s Park Playground in St James’s Park.

If you decide to :::link|text=take a cruise along the Thames|element=pa-2233::: with the children, at one point during the river tour you’ll see the HMS Belfast moored on one of the banks – a huge destroyer that took part in numerous naval operations during the Second World War and the Korean War. If the children like ships, they’ll really enjoy this visit, so don’t hesitate to add it to your itinerary

. The ship looks impressive from the outside and is absolutely brilliant on the inside! HMS Belfast is now a Royal Navy museum ship that opens its doors to show what life was like at sea on a vessel of this kind in the past.

London isn’t exactly a cheap city. So, if you’re travelling there with the family, you’ll no doubt want to know how you can save a bit of money during your holiday.

A good way is to take advantage of reduced rates on children’s tickets for various tourist attractions. Babies up to 3 years old usually get in for free, but this depends on the activity and the age range. In any case, you’ll find some very attractive prices for children. Here are a few examples:

• London Eye: from €35 (ages 3 to 15)
• Sea Life Aquarium: from €28 (ages 3–15)
• Madame Tussauds: from €32 (ages 3–15)
• Harry Potter Studios: from €46 (ages 5–15)
• HMS Belfast: from €14 (ages 5–15)

How to get these prices

For example, when you book your tickets online in advance on websites such as Hellotickets, you can select the children’s age group, so the reduced rate you’ll need to pay for each of them is calculated instantly.

As for babies, although they can access many activities for free, it is best to select their free ticket as well, as this will avoid any confusion when entering monuments, museums or other places of interest.

If you’re planning to visit lots of places during your holiday in the British capital, London tourist passes can help you stick to your plans without breaking the bank.

They’ll give you access to a multitude of attractions whilst saving you money by not having to pay for each ticket separately, and with reduced-price passes for children. It’s also a fantastic option to consider when travelling with children, as they offer special deals at many theatres, restaurants, shops and other leisure venues.

• London Pass: from €57 for a child’s pass.
• London Explorer Pass: from €46 for a child’s pass.
• Merlin’s Magical London Pass: from €47 for a child’s pass.

If you want to find out more about these tourist passes, don’t miss the post ‘The best tourist card in London’, where they are all analysed in depth.

When it comes to family sightseeing, the best time of day to plan your outing is early in the morning, as children tend to wake up quite early and are full of energy. This way, they’ll be more alert and active for a day out or cultural visits.

What’s more, first thing in the morning there aren’t usually as many visitors or large groups at London’s tourist attractions, so you’ll avoid the crowds that can test the little ones’ patience when there are queues.

Finally, I suggest that in the afternoons, when they are feeling more tired, you plan an activity where the children can have fun before heading back to the hotel to rest and recharge their batteries for the next day. For example, pop round some of London’s toy shops, visit Madame Tussauds or the Sea Life Aquarium.

This is no trivial matter, because although the city has a wide range of dining options, it is also a very touristy place and at peak times of the day (especially on public holidays or in high season) it is no easy task to find a free table in certain areas without a booking.

This could be a problem if you don’t know London very well and, after finishing an activity, you have to wander around the city centre looking for a free table because everywhere is full. The children might end up losing their patience and throwing a tantrum if they’re very hungry! That’s why it’s always a good idea to carry a few snacks in your bag and, of course, to know in advance some good restaurants to eat at near tourist attractions such as:

• The London Eye
• The Shard
• Tower of London