London is one of our favorite cities in this world. It’s Mr. Trent’s spiritual home, and the place where he wants to spend every Christmas forever after. There’s so much to love about London, but what we love best is that it is a great city to explore as a family. Kids ride free with their parents on the amazing and safe public transit. London is an extraordinarily safe and walkable city all around. It’s surprisingly affordable and accommodating with many free museums and activities.
We love this city, and highly recommend it for all families, especially families with little kiddos (the kinder and under crowd). Sometimes the idea of international travel can be daunting when you have little ones in the mix, but you can and should get out there and see the world and make memories. London is a great place to start.
Today I’m sharing my family’s recommendations for what to see and do in London if you are going with little kiddos. Keep in mind, we are not locals. We are not experts. We’re just a family who highly values travel and recognizes all the good it does us for all the many, many reasons. Travel works well for the neurodiversity that shows up at our house. If you think travel might work well for the neurodiversity in your life talk to your team and start a conversation. Even if neurodiversity isn’t one of your considerations, do your research and play to your strengths when you are planning. London is great for adults too, but absolutely consider taking your crew if you have one. Everyone can have a good time in London.
Affordability
Let’s talk for a hot second about affordability. Public transportation, which is the way to get around London, is free for the ten and under crowd. Many of the big amazing museums are free for everyone. The British Museum where you can see the Rosetta Stone: free. The Victoria and Albert where you can see Bernard Palissy’s pottery that inspired my novella: free. The Science Museum where you can see Charles Babbage’s difference engine that has inspired my [spoilers]: Free. The Natural History Museum where you can see a stuffed dodo and more fossils that you thought possible: Free.
You can walk into a Sainsbury and buy a healthy and tasty lunch for 3.5 pounds. If you track flights (which is easy to do with flights.google.com) you can find some exceptional deals. I looked today and I could buy direct round trip tickets for $550 from Denver International Airport. Rooms for families of four (two queens and a rollaway bed) can be had for 86 pounds a night at Premier Inn. Mr. Trent has found even better deals.
Lodging
There are lots of great options for families, but as I mentioned above, we’re fans of Premier Inn. It’s the largest hotel chain in the UK, and it is budge-friendly. Think Fairfield Inn or Hampton Inn here in the US. They have locations everywhere in London, and they offer rollaway beds, which is great when you are a family of four and need at least three beds. We often stay in the City of London area close to the Tower of London and across the Thames from Shakespeare’s Globe. There’s lots of Premier Inns in this area, and they’re often a little more affordable on this side of town.
Tips & Tricks
When we started traveling, our kiddos’ psychologist told us to structure our travel days with sightseeing in the morning, quiet afternoons at hotels, and then a second round for dinner time. Quiet afternoons didn’t necessarily mean naps (we were past that stage when we got out there), it meant pool time, bouncing around at a park, a movie, a hot bath, whatever they needed to decompress. Now that our kiddos are older, we still travel this way. We tend to plan the main event in the morning, have down times in the afternoon, and then catch more flexible sights in the evening. These days though down times can look like crawling a mall/shopping, a leisurely lunch, a swim in the pool, a nap at the hotel, or screen time at a park.
A quick word about museums. I love them. (The joy is real in the photo above). They are one of my happy places. Art/artifacts is a way that I feel connected to the story of humanity, and I feel a lot of joy and excitement seeing art/artifacts in person. I usually have a list of pieces that I have to see when we go to a museum. But not everyone shares my enthusiasm. Museums can be overwhelming and boring for some members of my family. So I turn them into quests. We are hunting for these ten pieces. When we catch them all on our bingo card (or get a picture on Mom’s phone), we are done and win a prize (ice cream, a trinket or post card from the gift shop). I’m not bribing anyone. I’m building positive associations. I’m making the art that I want to see accessible and manageable for my peeps. And if you keep your eyes open, you can see a whole lot of art and artifacts on your quest for the must-see-pieces.
Top Recommendations
The Natural History Museum–Dinosaurs and whale fossils and stuffed dodos! Oh my! Plus they filmed some of Harry Potter here and have a room that simulates an earthquake. This museum is in South Kensington, right next door to the Science Museum and across the street from the V&A. The museum is free for the entire family, but you need to book your entry time, and like the science museum, they can “sell out.” Plan in advance. You don’t want to miss this one.
The Science Museum –The cars, Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine, space, airplanes, a cellphone display that has the model I had in college behind glass. This is a fantastic museum with several hands on stations and lots of stuff on display to capture the attention of little minds. This museum is free for the entire family, but does require you to reserve an entry time on their website before hand. They can “sell out” so plan in advance.
Hyde Park–Running off energy is not optional when it comes to little ones, and Hyde Park is the perfect place to do it. It’s beautiful. It’s free. It’s fun. The Diana Princess of Whales Memorial Playground is here (technically it is in Kensington Gardens, which is the other half of Hyde Park, but when you’re there they all look like one big park), and it is extremely cool and popular. The peter pan statue is also here and fun to see with littles. I’m partial to Still Water at the other end of Hyde Park near Marble Arch. In any case, this is a big, popular park and some advanced planning about what you want to see and do here will be very worthwhile.
The Tower Bridge–This is the famous bridge that goes up and down. You can be there on the bridge, on the observation level when it raises, and we highly recommend that you do because seeing a boat sail underneath your feet is so cool. They post the bridge lift times on their website here. This is an attraction that you will pay for, but it give you a great view of the city, lots of history, and ends in an engine room with all kinds of fun things to see. It’s an outing that fills up a morning without getting too overwhelming. When we’ve been, we’ve done the stairs and there are a few of them, but if you go slow they are totally doable with littles. There is also an elevator for anyone who requires it that can get you to all levels of the bridge–including the engine room.
A Red Double Decker Bus–Climbing up the stairs to the top deck and sitting in the front seat of a double decker bus is an experience all on its own. Take your time and lots of pictures and enjoy an amazing view of London. The front seats are super popular, so you will need to get lucky to snag them. Remember transportation for kiddos under 11 is free.
The Tube–It’s so much fun, and kids love it. Plan on taking your time to explain things as you are getting to your platforms and talk beforehand about “mind the gap” and what the yellow lines mean. Safety is important.
Lions at Trafalgar–They are iconic and free, and pictures of your little ones next to them make amazing souvenirs/Christmas cards. Often on the way to and from Trafalgar square you can see Big Ben, the houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. This part of London is always the most crowded and some days getting a stroller across Wesminster Bridge looks downright impossible. So if we get to see these sights from the top of a Double Decker bus on our way to the lions, we call it a win.
If You Have More Time…
The British Museum–Unlike the other museums which are all clumped together in South Kensington, The British Museum is off on its own in Bloomsbury. It’s free, but check to see if you need to reserve and entry slot. Lines can be long for entry, but Sutton Hoo and the Rosetta Stone are spectacular. There is a replica of the Rosetta Stone in the Enlightenment Gallery that you can touch/poke/make a rubbing, which is often even more exiting that the original. Tour guides often stop here and tell fascinating stories about the history of the stone. Good stuff!
London Transport Museum–We hear it can be a bit of a maximalist experience sensory-wise. So we haven’t been, but we’ve also heard that kiddos can happily play here for hours. Also, apart from Shakespeare’s Globe this is the only other location in London to purchase The London Sock Exchange socks. Y’all. I live for these socks. Paid admission and advanced tickets required.
Saint Paul’s Cathedral–Come during a service because it’s free. The interior of this church is beautiful and awe inspiring, and the last time we were there the sculpture by Henry Moore could be touched/poked by little hands. We come early to look around and sit strategically so that we can make a quick exit if the organ music is too loud or our kids decide they’re done. Pictures aren’t allowed inside the church so snap some on the iconic steps outside or on your walk there.
Maybe Skip For Now…
Victoria and Albert–There are so many sculptures at the reach out and touch height that we recommend skipping this museum for a more tactile friendly experience.
London Eye–It’s pricey. It’s crowded, and it is slow. Seriously, crossing Westminster Bridge can take a long time with the crowds, and navigating a stroller through there looks impossible.
Shakespeare’s Globe–Sitting still and not being tall enough to see the stage could snuff out any young thespian’s spark. Wait until you’ve got school aged kiddos and come for the family play. They are spectacular and worth waiting for! Honestly, this is one of our favorite things to do now that our kiddos are older. If you want to learn about the Globe, but worry about how a performance might go, we’ve done the family tour and those are wonderful too.
Kew Gardens–This is my favorite, but it’s a hike out from London and there is an entry fee. As such it is a full day experience, which is hard when you need to observe the afternoon siesta. Plus, the glasshouses are under renovation for the next few years.
How Early is Too Early?
Sometimes parents ask if there is a minimum age a child should be before they set off on an international adventure. And I want to answer that question with a story. The first time I took my kiddos to the Louvre, my daughter was thirteen. We walked by a couple with a little bitty baby girl swaddled to the mama in a sling. This couple’s daughter was thirteen weeks old. “She won’t remember any of this,” they told me. “But you’ll remember.” I said. “And you’ll tell her all about it. And whenever you guys come back you’ll have the stories and memories to share.”
Travel is always a good idea. Rick Steves says that you should always travel with the perspective that you will return someday. It takes the pressure off of the moment so that you can experience it, and it’s a self fulfilling prophecy. We’ve been to London several times now (2017, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). Every time we find new and old favorites. We have plans on returning. We hope to see you there.
I love talking about travel, and I love hearing about travel. If you do too, please feel free to reach out on my contact form. Obviously there is more to London (or Tokyo, or Kyoto) than I’ve shared in this travel guide, and I’m always up for more discussion, learning, and sharing. Also, if you didn’t catch the recap of our Hot Cocoa Quest from our last trip to London, it’s worth checking out. Cheers!