Family days out with kids
We’ve put together some example itineraries for 1-day with kids and 2-days with kids, filled with the best family attractions. We’ve also written a Top 10 list of the best kid’s attractions in London. You can also search for kid’s events today, tomorrow, this weekend or in the coming months: April, May and June.
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Top 10 kid’s attractions in London
Here’s our pick of the best family-friendly attractions in London that make great days out with kids.
① Chessington World of Adventures
② London Eye
③ Cable car
④ London Zoo
⑤ London Dungeon
⑥ Warner Bros. Studios
⑦ London Duck Tour
⑧ London Aquarium
⑨ Natural History Museum
⑩ Science Museum
Craig recommends… The cable car is exciting (and cheap!) and The Shard will give them a thrill. The London Eye, Changing the Guard and a sightseeing bus are always popular (but a boat is better).
ArcelorMittal Orbit
The ArcelorMittal Orbit is a tall viewing tower overlooking the old Olympic Stadium, but it also has a twisting tube slide around the outside all the way down to the ground.
Battersea Park Children’s Zoo
If you can’t face the crowds and high ticket prices at London Zoo then try the monkeys, meerkats and farmyard animals at Battersea Park Zoo instead.
BFI IMAX Cinema
The BFI shows all the latest blockbuster movies on one of the country’s biggest cinema screens, plus some 3D documentaries about space, nature and dinosaurs.
Boat ride under Tower Bridge
A sightseeing cruise up the Thames is a great way to show your kids some of London’s landmarks without having to pound the pavement all day.
Changing the Guard
This parade is very popular with families, but be aware that the crowd size is in the thousands. If you have very little kids then the Dismounting Ceremony might be better.
Chessington World of Adventures
A cross between Alton Towers and London Zoo, Chessington has got rollercoaster rides, funfair rides, lions, tigers, an aquarium and themed hotels.
Christmas ice rinks
One of the best things about visiting London over the Christmas period is all the open-air ice rinks, decorated with festive lights and fir trees and fairground carousels.
Christmas lights
The Christmas lights start going up in early November and the big Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square appears in December. Why not take your kids to see them one night?
Clink Prison Museum
If your kids are too young for the London Dungeon then try the Clink Prison Museum instead because it’s a lot less scary – and much cheaper!
Docklands Light Railway
This is a monorail train with no cabin at the front, so you can sit directly behind the windscreen and see all the landmarks whizzing past.
Emirates Air Line Cable Car
Did you know that London has a cable car? It takes you across the river from The O2 to the Excel Centre – and all for the cost of a bus ticket.
Golden Hinde
HMS Belfast and the Cutty Sark are aimed at adults, but this one is better for kids. It’s like a pirate ship. They can steer the wheel on top and go below to see the cannons.
Hamleys
Hamleys is the biggest toy shop in London with five floors full of toys, games and gadgets. They have dolls, cars, planes and trains and more animals than London Zoo.
HMS Belfast
How about visiting a real-life World War II battle cruiser? You can explore the bridge, the missile room, and see the waxwork sailors playing cards in their hammocks.
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland is a huge Christmas-themed funfair with rides and rollercoasters that takes over half of Hyde Park for a couple of months every winter.
Leicester Square cinemas
Take you kids to see a blockbuster movie in one of Leicester Square’s big cinemas: the Odeon, Cineworld Empire and Vue West End.
London Aquarium
London’s aquarium has got a three-story shark tank with a glass walkway on top, an underwater tunnel past the flatfish and stingrays, and a North Pole zone full of penguins.
London Duck Tours
Here’s a sightseeing bus with a difference, because these amphibious boats can drive on land and water and show your kids the sights from the road and the river.
London Dungeon
Children usually enjoy this more than their parents! It’s a guided tour through some of the most gruesome and scariest events in London’s history, plus a couple of rides.
London Eye
Everyone ends up on the London Eye – it’s one of the most popular family days out. The queues can be quite long, but it’s worth waiting for the fantastic views at the top.
London Film Museum
If your kids are into James Bond then they’ll love this, because it’s full of props, bikes, boats and cars from the last fifty years of 007 movies.
London Zoo
How about a day at the zoo? They’ve got the Land of the Lions, Gorilla Kingdom, Bugs House, Reptile House, Outback zone, and a huge walkthrough bird aviary.
Madame Tussauds
See waxworks of famous sports stars, film stars, pop stars, politicians, and members of the Royals Family, and take a ride through London’s history in a black cab.
NAMCO Funscape
This place is like an indoor funfair with dodgems, bowling lanes, a lazer maze, and three floors of arcade games. They’s also got a bar and pool tables downstairs.
Natural History Museum
They call it the ‘dead zoo’ because it has a whole zoo’s-worth of stuffed animals in it. Kid’s usually prefer the animatronic T Rex and dinosaur skeletons.
Princess Diana Playground
This little corner of Kensington Gardens is only open to little kids. It’s just a playground with a Peter Pen theme, with a big pirate ship in the middle.
Royal Observatory Planetarium
If your kids are into space then they’ll love a visit to the Planetarium where they can watch the stars and planets on the darkened dome.
Science Museum
Skip the industrial machines and take your kids straight to the space section and the planes upstairs. They’ve also got some flight simulators and an IMAX cinema.
Serpentine boats
During the summer months you can wile away a pleasant hour by hiring a pedal boat on the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park (dad won’t mind doing all the pedalling).
The Shard
If your children are okay with heights then take them to the top of The Shard where they can see the whole of London laid out before them.
Shrek’s Adventure
Enter the world of DreamWorks’ Shrek and meet all the characters like Princess Fiona, Pinocchio, Peter Pan and the fast-talking Donkey in Far Far Away Kingdom.
Sightseeing bus
Riding around on an open-top sightseeing bus for a couple of hours is a popular way for parents to show their kids London’s landmarks without tiring them out too much.
Sky Garden
Their viewing deck on the 35th floor is a lot lower than the 72nd at The Shard, but the Sky Garden has something totally unexpected in theirs: a tropical rainforest!
Warner Br. Studios (Harry Potter Tour)
If your kids are into Harry Potter then take them to see all the original props, costumes and movie sets they used in the films at Warner Bros. Studios.