Central London in a day with your kid(s)
The first time I went to London was a couple of years ago with one of my best friends. We had such a great time and I absolutely fell in love with the city. I knew the next time I came back I would bring Laila with me to experience the city and also experience her first proper afternoon tea. We made this stop in London on a European cruise, so I had to pick a few things I wanted her to experience in a limited amount of time. I decided to stick to exploring central London with Laila during our time there. I’ve outlined 5 fun things you can do with your kid(s) in Central London below.
High Tea
London as you can imagine is filled with tea rooms across the city. They range from ultra-pricey to a much more affordable price range, super dressy to ultra-casual dress codes, strict policies about the time you are able to remain at the tea room enjoying your refreshments to allowing you to leisurely move at your own pace, there’s just so many options you could spend all day trying to do the research to find the perfect one on your vacation.
The first time I went to London we had afternoon tea at the Ritz, it was AMAZING. It was also a splurge expense and I personally wouldn’t spend that much for a child’s afternoon tea. After doing some research I found some really cool places to have tea and ended up choosing Fortnum and Mason. It may still be considered a bit of a splurge, but it isn’t as pricey as the Ritz and it still allowed us to have a fun “fancy” tea party together.
There isn’t a strict dress code at Fortnum and Mason, so we went with casual dressy attire that would still be comfortable to wear sightseeing the rest of the day. Some of the women were super dressed up at what looked to be birthday brunches, while others had on very casual weekend clothes. Once we arrived at our reserved seating time (I highly recommend you make a reservation if you plan to have tea here), we were shown to our table and given menus to choose our food and a list of teas. I chose the afternoon tea without champagne for 55 euros per adult and Laila ordered from the kids menu at 26 euros per child. The service was amazing and overall, we had a great time. Laila typically drinks water, apple juice, and milk in our everyday lives, so she didn’t like the tea available. Instead they accommodated her (and other kids) with apple juice in her tea pot, they also have milk and hot cocoa available for kids to choose from. She’s really been into this cartoon called Fancy Nancy lately and she enjoyed pretending to be fancy with me for an afternoon. I really think this is a great activity to experience with your child if nowhere else than in London.
Buckingham Palace
Our next stop was Buckingham Palace. I really wish we would have been able to experience the changing of the guards together, but the day we arrived it wasn’t scheduled. Laila was so fascinated by how the guards inside the gates of the palace were dressed I think she would have enjoyed seeing them closer and moving in unison during the change. We spent some time looking at what we were able to see through the gates and a little time at the park next to the palace just people watching and enjoying the flowers. This is obviously a huge tourist stop when in London and can become extremely crowded, so feel free to take your time and move through the area slowly. I don’t know many kids who aren’t excited by the thought of seeing an actual palace, even if it’s from the outside.
London Eye
The London eye is also a great stop for kids to experience. The London Eye is a huge observation wheel that offers the 2ndhighest public viewing points of London (the Shard holds the #1 spot). Unfortunately we were restricted by time and the wait time was too long, so we didn’t actually ride it this trip. We still went to an area where Laila was able to see what it looked like and the next time we go to London we decided we would ride it together.
Parliament Square
Parliament square in London is situated next to the houses of parliament and is also next to Westminster Abbey (tourist can visit this famous church for a fee, but if you want to take the time to worship there it’s completely free). This is also where the famous Big Ben is located (although it’s currently under construction, so it doesn’t look like what you’re used to seeing). Although this area contains a lot of government buildings there’s a lot of green grassy areas that you can sit and relax in with your little ones to take a break from walking. This area also contains some of the cleanest famous red telephone booths that tourist love taking pictures with, I’ve seen them in other parts of London as well, but often time they don’t look as bright as the ones in Parliament Square.
Thames River Cruise
If you’re in central London hopping on a Thames river cruise boat is also a really fun idea to do with your child. You can choose from hop on/ hop off boats to explore the city, dinner cruises to see the top spots from the water, or even fun speedboat tours along the river.
I can’t wait to take Laila back to London to show her the rest of the city. Maybe the next time we return she’ll be into real tea for another fancy tea afternoon with me! Leave a comment below about your favorite experience in London.
