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Legendary London

Writer's picture: Karen AndersonKaren Anderson

Updated: Jul 1, 2024

If you want to educate your children, London has it all! Great history, great art, great transport and great fun! The hardest thing when planning is to work out what to cut off the list of must-dos. What you choose, of course, will depend on the ages of your children and their interests.


Tips for London

  • Transport is easy (although expensive). Use the Tube (underground railway system) and double decker buses to get around. We found the Tube was an attraction in its own right for our little travellers! It is easy to follow the maps and get to where you want to go, and this is a great activity to get the kids to do to work on their map reading and navigation skills. Paying for your trips is easy with a credit/debit card. We just used our special travel debit card which we had organised from the bank before we went. Look up this site: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/getting-around-london/best-ways-for-visitors-to-pay for options. Children travel free if they are under 11 years old on many services. You can also take buses - in fact, this is my preferred method of transport, as you can see everything from the top of a double decker bus as you ride. Riding in a London Taxi cab is also a unique experience

  • Uses the ordinary double decker buses to take a bus tour of the city. A few bus routes take you past some great sites without needing to spend a lot of money on a bus tour - look up Routes 11 and 24

  • Buying food out is expensive. We managed to find accomodation that supplied breakfast in their deal, and this was a good saving. Obviously, AirB&B's will save on needing to buy every meal out too. We used the Marks and Spencer (M&S) pre-packaged meals for lunches or bought from Pret (which seems to be everywhere!)

  • The London Pass may be worthwhile buying. You will need to do your sums to find out, as it obviously depends on what you want to see and how much stamina your children have! As many of the things we wanted to see were free, it was not worth buying for us


General books/activities/films about London


Here is a list of places in London that we have found to be worth seeing to educate your children. There are so many more to explore, such as Buckingham Palace, the Horse Guards, Kensington Palace, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, the Natural History Museum etc, but we ran out of time!


The British Museum

If you see nothing else in London, I recommend that you take your kids to The British Museum. The history contained in this place is mind boggling, from Egyptian treasures to the Rosetta Stone. It's also well worth talking to your children about how the British obtained all these artefacts, and whether it is appropriate for them to still have them today. 'Stuff the British Stole' is a great podcast and TV series that ponders this issue.


There are so many important things to see that it's hard to narrow it down, but here are some of my favourites for their educational value:

  • Rosetta Stone (the stone that unlocked the hieroglyphic language of ancient Egypt)

  • Bust of Ramesses the Great (Egyptian pharoah)

  • Hoa Hakananai'a (from Easter Island)

  • Mummy of Katebet (and all the other Egyptian items in these rooms)

  • Samurai armour

  • Frieze from the Parthenon

  • Sutton Hoo helmet


Tips

  • Book tickets. Entry is free, but the line to get in is often very long. I recommend that you book your tickets, and that way you can bypass some of the waiting time

  • Don't waste money on buying a map. Either use the QR Codes to access one on your phone, or go right inside where the dome is - free ones are given out at the information desks there

  • Read up about what you want to see before you go. It is so much more interesting if you know something about what you are seeing! The kids then can be charged with finding that item in the museum

  • Don't try to see everything. The museum is so immense (and so busy) that it can be overwhelming and exhausting. To make it manageable for our younger kids, we pick a few things that might be interesting.

  • Make a videoblog. Get your kids to create a videoblog that shows and talks about what they find the most interesting

  • Get an educational backpack. The British Museum have free educational backpacks that you can use for children



After all of this history, you will need a rest and caffeine. What better way to relax than the court cafes which are on the ground floor? You can have a rest while gazing up at that spectacular domed roof.


Recommended Reading/Listening/Watching


National Gallery

Another one of my all-time favourites! This art gallery houses some incredible art within a spectacular old building.


Highlights to see are paintings by:  Rembrandt, Monet, Picasso, Da Vinci, Titian, Pissarro, Sauret, Rousseau, Turners, Stubbs, Cezanne, and Van Gogh to name just a few!


Tips

  • Book your tickets. It is free to enter, but it is a good idea to book your tickets before you go, as the line can get very long

  • Read some books about artists and famous paintings before you go (see below). Your children will no doubt be much more interested if they have a connection with a work of art. Our children loved finding 'their painting'

  • Take art supplies with you. Try to bring a little blank notebook and some coloured pencils with you if possible. I recommend that you get your children to find their favourite painting and have a go reproducing it

  • Take a tour. The National Gallery has great tours. We joined one for school students and got a lot out of it

  • Visit the gift shop. This shop has fantastic books and prints in it, and is definitely worth a browse. We allowed our children to buy a small print of their favourite painting

  • Visit Trafalgar Square. This square is right outside. It's a good opportunity to talk about the statue of Nelson on the top, risk death by climbing on the lion statues, and fight off all of those pigeons by the fountain


Books and Activities






Imperial War Museum

This extensive museum has great displays on WWI and WWII as well as peace-keeping missions. There are a number of mammoth floors, so choose what you want to see wisely! Many displays are interactive and engaging. Some are very confronting, so take care with younger children.


Tips

  • Free and not ridiculously busy

  • This place has a great cafe. Stop awhile to refresh yourselves!

  • Read some history before you go in, so that your children know some of what they're looking at


Books and Games


British Library

You perhaps wouldn't have thought to visit a library in London, but this library is absolutely worth the trip! What's more, it is another free activity that is usually not too crowded. The British Library houses some incredible gems in its 'Treasures' room, which are more likely to be appreciated by older children Highlights include:

  • Shakespeare's First Folio

  • A Poem by Michelangelo

  • Sketches done by Da Vinci

  • Scores from Mozart, Handel and The Beatles

  • Beethoven's tuning fork

  • A Gutenberg Bible

  • A Tyndale Bible owned by Anne Boleyn

  • The Lindesfarne Gospels

  • The Canterbury Tales

  • The Magna Carta


Books and Activities


Greenwich

Visiting Greenwich is a bit of an effort and an all-day experience, but so worth it educationally. Where else can you talk about the latitude and longitude of the earth so well?


There is a lot to see at Greenwich, including:

  • The Royal Observatory- where Prime Meridian line is (ticketed)

  • The National Maritime Museum (free)

  • Queen's House (free)

  • Cutty Sark- an interesting old ship (ticketed)


Tips

  • Take the ferry (the Uber Thames one) there and back if you can. It is great to see London from the Thames, and you can point out landmarks as you go

  • Tickets for Greenwich can be confusing. The best option is the 'Combo' ticket which includes Cutty Sark and the Royal Observatory

  • Cutty Sark is an interesting ship to explore. Built in 1869, it was used to carry tea. It now has lots of hands-on exhibits for kids to play with and places to look around

  • The National Maritime Museum is well worth seeing. It also has lots of interactive displays and interesting artefacts eg Nelson’s actual coat, a ship simulator (my boys all loved this), a pocket watch from the Titanic, and an anchor from Roman times

  • Take the obligatory photo with a foot in each hemisphere at the Prime Meridian at the Observatory. This really helps cement kids' understanding of what the line means, and also sets up lots of discussion points about why Greenwich is the Prime Meridian

  • The Observatory is also the place to see the four timepieces made by John Harrison to find a clock that worked on ships and thus to navigate. This, again, is a great educational opportunity


Books and films




The Tower of London

This history-packed castle is an incredible place to visit. It's hard to avoid the crowds, but be sure to go anyway!


Tips

  • Get there early and book your ticket

  • Make sure you take a free tour with one of the Yeoman Warders. They are very funny, and although also popular, are well worth making the effort to stand with the crowd!

  • See the Crown Jewels (go early in here, as there are long lines) and the Koh-i-Noor. There is some controversy about the later item, which can be found out by watching the ABC program 'Stuff the British Stole: The Jewel of Denial'

  • Interesting places include the White Tower (which holds delights such as an executioner's block and armour worn by Henry VIII), Sir Walter Raleigh's study, the Beauchamp Tower (holding graffiti made by famous people), and the Bloody Tower (where it is suspected two princes were murdered)


Books



St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul’s is an incredible cathedral - well worth the expensive entry price (which apparently is for up-keeping of the building). There's quite a bit to see and talk about here: who designed this amazing Baroque building (Christopher Wren), how the other one burnt down in the Great Fire of London, who is buried in the crypt and what they are famous for, and even how pipe organs work!


Tips

  • Buy tickets online as they are more expensive at the door. You can go in free as a worshipper, but you will not be permitted to go into the main part of the cathedral (which is stunning) or up the dome

  • Definitely go up the dome. Although tiring with all of the stairs, this is very interesting and there are wonderful views of London from the top on the outside viewing platform

  • Visit the crypt where many well-known people are buried (eg Horatio Nelson, Alexander Fleming and Christopher Wren)

  • Try to visit at a time when you can hear the organ- it is amazing!

  • The audio guide is really engaging for kids


Books




The Globe

Another great educational opportunity not to be missed! Shakespeare's Globe theatre has been rebuilt after a fire, but it is still very worth seeing. It gives your children a great insight into how Shakespeare's plays are staged


Tips

  • Take the tour if possible to hear about the history of the Globe and Shakespeare

  • See a production of one of Shakespeare's plays. The standing tickets are very reasonably priced. Even if you think your kids won't understand a thing, you can just stay for a little while to soak up the atmosphere


Books and Films


Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street and the Horse Guards

You can't really go to London and not see Buckingham Palace! You can watch the changing of the guards at the palace if you get there about 11am (but check the times when your visiting, as it may change). We strolled through the parks to also walk past the Horse Guards (always a favourite for me) and 10 Downing Street (office of the Prime Minister).


Books


Diana Memorial Playground in the Kensington Gardens

This is a playground that we stumbled upon that the children loved. It has a huge pirate ship to play in, a sensory trail, teepees, and plenty of sand. I highly recommend visiting this if everyone has had enough of sightseeing! Kensington Gardens also includes a Peter Pan sculpture, not to mention beautiful fountains and flowers to sit by and enjoy life!


Books

'Peter Pan' by J M Barrie (book or Disney film)












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