Reply With QuoteThe Science Museum, visited a couple of years ago and loved it.
Back in 2012, I asked the same question for my oldest and myself when we visited the Olympics (one of the nicest things we've ever done together, btw). This time, my wife and youngest want to visit London this Summer when my oldest and I are off for the World Championship Sailing - 40 miles from home.
My wife travels to London on a regular basis, but always for business - I even asked here for the quickest transport between Heathrow and Waterloo a few months back. My youngest is 13, nearly 14 in the Summer and he's very much into science-stuff: e.g. the human body explained, astronomy, physics etc. Not only on display but very much interactive etc. Next to that, the British Museum is already on the list. Especially, the Egyptian period.
Next up: where to stay? My wife and my youngest visited NY last year and had a great AirBnB apartment with two bedrooms. Ideally that's what they are after again. But then, what's a good neighbourhood? I remember staying in Hammersmith during the Olympics. The neighbourhood was fine, but the distance to (e.g.) Exell was pretty large...
On behalf of my wife: all tips, do's and don'ts are welcome!
Menno
The Science Museum, visited a couple of years ago and loved it.
The Wallace collection is mostly boring paintings (in my uncultured opinion), but has a great weapons section. There are also a few old clocks and watches from a long long time ago.
Natural History Museum, Science Museum and V&A Museum (if your wife is into arts/design) are all within metres of each other.
www.nhm.ac.uk
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
www.vam.ac.uk
For astronomy stuff, Greenwich Royal Observatory should be a good start
www.rmg.co.uk/royal-observatory
I can also recommend getting London Passes. Not sure what falls within the areas of interest you've specified, so you need to check the list of attractions it covers, but it works out cheaper to see the 'touristy stuff' (I can recommend the Tower of London if either of them is remotely interested in history - check what times the tours start). Also well worth it are the Churchill War Rooms and HMS Belfast. St. Paul's Cathedral is stunning inside and if you climb the stairs to the roof, about halfway there is a 'whisper room' and you also get a really nice view of London from the roof
www.londonpass.com
www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/#gs.im5Bc94
www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms
www.iwm.org.uk/visits/hms-belfast
www.stpauls.co.uk
I wouldn't waste my money on Ripley's believe it or not (it's a ripoff) and Sea Life (small, cramped and full of people taking pictures of fish on their iPads)
And speaking of what not to do, on behalf of all the commuters in London, if you're getting around by tube, please don't stand on the left on the escalators, don't suddenly stop in the middle of the walkway to check your map or what platform you're supposed to be on and, more importantly, don't block the doorway once you do get on the tube, move inside the carriage so other people can get in too
Last edited by asteclaru; 23rd April 2017 at 08:01.
Wherever you end up just make are that when using the tube you always stand on the left and when attempting to exit or enter the barriers you congregate in a large group and give everyone their ticket then collect it off everyone on the other side. Oh and make sure you take a backpack each full of food and water as it can be difficult to find supplies in town.
RIAC
Try the Horniman Museum....it's a bit quirky and interesting.
Yes it is, nice gardens too. The John Soames Museum is another quirky one.Originally Posted by village
London Sightseeing Bus Tours: Hop on Hop Off
Purchase the tickets online.
3 routes: yellow, orange and blue. 80 stops ,complimentary hop-on hop-off Thames river cruises.
3 walking tours: Changing of the guards, Jack the Ripper and Rock'n Roll. The tickets are valid for 24 or 48 hours.
Choose the English speaking bus driver( so you don't have to use earphones)
Enjoy !
Last edited by stormy; 23rd April 2017 at 13:28.
You could guarantee being on the receiving end of (justified) verbal abuse if you follow this tongue-in-cheek advice.
Back to the question, the London Transport museum at Covent Garden is interesting and enjoyable.
When I first moved to London my best friend gave me a book and I'm certain this exact advice is in it. There's also some useful tips on the use of a tightly-furled umbrella as a defensive measure against hordes of French schoolchildren.
I must have it here somewhere.
Make sure you visit Harrods and Fortnum & Mason museums, walk slowly to ogle and loudly discuss everything you see. Oh, and don't forget to wear sailors waterproof jacket, tactical troosers, countryside walking boots and bring DSLR camera with huge zoom lens ;)
Seriously though, just wanted to say that when I go abroad, I usually try to stay in the centre and within walking distance of the main attractions, so I'd suggest South Kensigton/Mayfair area. If you're planning to visit the National Gallery or Trafalgar Sq/Covent Garden, you may want to spend an hour or two (weather permitting) at Vista rooftop bar at Trafalgar Hotel https://www.thetrafalgar.com/vista-homepage/
Also, I'd suggest to visit The Shard http://www.the-shard.com/viewing-gallery/ and Borough Market http://boroughmarket.org.uk
Last edited by VDG; 23rd April 2017 at 13:45.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
We go to London often and are always on the lookout for more unusual things to do as we have done so much.
based on his likes check out the following - especially the first one:
Hunterian Museum - Royal College of Surgeons
https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums-and...terian-museum/
Amazing collection. Definitely get the audio guide and wander, you will end up spending ages looking at all the weird and wonderful exhibits. Off the typical tourist radar too so much calmer than the 'big' mueusme.
Old Operating Theatre.
http://oldoperatingtheatre.com/
Discover Europe’s oldest surviving operating theatre. Dated to 1822 it was housed within the attic of an 18th century church. Get on the optional tour, definitely worthwhile.
Also the Bank of England Museum
Fascinating as it goes into the basis of money, cash banknotes basically cheques etc. Even got a bar of solid gold.
Only problem id it's not open weekends, or didn't used to be.
All are great but the Hunterian is highly recommended.
If you know the dates already, why not do the Ceremony of the Keys?
Entry Passes, to see the Ceremony of the Keys are issued by Historic Royal Palaces.
From January 2015 you can book online up to twelve months in advance. Tickets are free but a transaction charge of £ 1.00 (GBP) is made for online bookings.
Tickets are available 12 months in advance.
It is illegal to sell or purchase tickets for the Ceremony of the Keys via third parties and Historic Royal Palaces reserve the right to refuse permission, if a valid form of ID is not presented on the evening.
Between 1 April and 31 October there can be up to to 6 in a group.
From 1 November to 31 March, inclusive, up to 15 in a group.
To book Ceremony of the Keys tickets go to Historic Royal Palaces website.
On behalf of my wife: Thanks a lot for all the info. I've copy pasted all the links and sent them to her email. Knowing my wife, she will make a complete study out of it and come up with a wonderful itinerary for their (my son's and her's) London Week!
Menno
The Royal Observatory would cover the science and astronomy bases and both the Cutty Sark and the Naval Museum are nearby, a river cruise from Greenwich to the Houses Of Parliament is a pleasant way to spend an hour as well.
Great view over the city as well.
This is the time of year when Buckingham Palace is open to tourists. I can definitely recommend it. Tickets are already on sale:
https://tickets.royalcollection.org....ate-rooms/2017
My pied a terre flat is a bit further east on the Shooters Hill slopes, so I get a similar view over London from my windows. The SE London / docklands area is an interesting mix of urban regeneration, some old brownfield/industrial sites (the Thames Path makes for interesting walks with a "Long Good Friday" feel) and some surprisingly leafy green open spaces with interesting wildlife that includes very fearless foxes and feral green parakeets.The Royal Observatory would cover the science and astronomy bases and both the Cutty Sark and the Naval Museum are nearby, a river cruise from Greenwich to the Houses Of Parliament is a pleasant way to spend an hour as well.
Great view over the city as well.
As the previous poster says, you can see this part of London best from the river. No need to look for pleasure cruises, the scheduled Thames Clipper boats run all the way past the Thames Barrier to Woolwich Pier several times an hour.
We were in Greenwich last weekend to watch tall ships sail away - excellent day out 'in the sticks' ;) highly recommended.
Fas est ab hoste doceri
When it's hot and stuffy on the tube, why not travel in style, comfort and with speed on a Thames Clipper catamaran, whilst an adult River Rover might seem expensive at £16 for a day it's only £32 for a family ticket (2+2).
Details are here: https://booking.thamesclippers.com/t...er-roamer.html
PS I'm biased as my son has just qualified as a skipper for Thames Clippers (he's just passed his BML) and is also an Apprentice Waterman.
The efficiency and dexterity with which those guys handle those vessels is really impressive. I use them quite often.
One of my favourite things about London is that new things to do pop up for a few days all the time, then they just disappear.
There are a few sites that keep you up to date with them.
Sign up for the www.Londonist.com daily newsletter. You get an email each day telling you of a few things you can do in town the next day and on a Friday it covers the whole weekend. Worth reading them a few days in advance because each activity is generally only featured once (eg. if it starts Wednesday and runs to Sunday it'll be featured in Tuesday's email, so if you might like to do it on a Saturday you won't know about it if you only read Friday's email)! You'll be able to unsubscribe once the trip is done too.
Also, for similar, follow the Handpicked account on twitter...
https://twitter.com/LDN?ref_src=twsr...Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Skint London too: https://twitter.com/skintlondon?lang=en (Good for cheap things to do).
By all means do the touristy things but for a real London experience find the pop-ups and mix with the grumpy locals!
Also, book in advance and go to Swingers. (It's not what it sounds....) Great night out (I've been on a couple of date nights there with the missus), and it's brilliant for kids too if you go in the day. http://swingersldn.com
Toby
If it's a sunny day, hire a little boat at Hyde Park.. - nice way to spend an hour or two
Tower of London, The London Dungeon, Camden Market, Chelsea Cruise (last Saturday of the Month) - for your inner petrol head.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
There's a really good exhibition on robots at the science museum currently. Well worth a look.
Having made two visits in the last week I would thoroughly recommend the newly-revamped National Army Museum in Chelsea. For those that knew the old museum the work is more akin to knocking down the old institution and building a new one; the Marengo skeleton and the Waterloo diorama were really the two exhibits that I remember from previously. There's still some details to iron out (e.g. an LMG captioned as a Bren gun) and I miss some elements but it's largely a huge improvement. I don't know how old your youngest is but they have a special programme for kids (apparently up to 8) called Playbase.
https://www.nam.ac.uk/
https://www.nam.ac.uk/families/play-base
The cafe is also worth a visit (something you could never have said in the past) and was arguably as busy as the museum itself on Wednesday.
Around the corner is the Chelsea Physic Garden which is a real bit of hidden London.
http://chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/
The cafe in the garden is very good.
The View from the Shard is pretty good, but not cheap if you just turn up without a pre-booked ticket (£30.95 for adults, although we got a 'special' price of 'just' £20.95 for some reason!) Advanced price is £15.95 which, whilst not cheap, is more manageable.
My wife always raves about a visit to Tower Bridge to see how it works and that seems very good value.
M
Free Admision sounds good too!
A bit out of the centre, but not too far, the RAF Museum at Hendon is likewise FOC (unlike the FAA one at Yeovilton for some reason!) and extremely good if you like aircraft.
M
Sort update: Well, they (my wife and youngest) joined the ranks of AirBnB once again and found an amazing looking apartment in Mayfair. I think they hit the jackpot with this one.
Definitely all go and see the show, "The play that goes wrong" it's family friendly and will have you in fits of laughter, I'm sure you'll all enjoy it.
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