London is expensive and if you prefer to spend your cash on the incredible experiences the city has to offer, rather than on a place to sleep, you'll be looking for a great deal on cheap or budget family accommodation in London. This could be hotels, hostels, apartments, B&Bs or other family accommodation. Budget and cheap are two different things, one person's budget could … [Read more...]
Luxury Family Apartment in Central London
This family apartment in Kensington,London, was so lovely that we just wanted to drop the packs and stay forever. It was in West Kensington, just a couple of minutes walk from West Kensington tube station. This area has a lot of huge old buildings and many have been converted into short let flats and apartments. The buildings themselves are full of history and character … [Read more...]
Going Up The Shard.
We've admired The Shard from a distance for a long time now. We've seen her sparkle in summer sunshine, glisten in rain and glow in the Christmas lights of London. My kids have dreamed of going up the Shard for years, so I thought I'd better take them. Experiences and how to go up the shard, from a bad mother, acrophobe and travel blogger. Booking tickets for the Shard and … [Read more...]
The Grant Museum of Zoology. A Great Free London Museum For Kids
You could spend a lifetime exploring London's free museums, particularly if, like me, you have kids to educate. I've already posted about London's biggest and best free museums that appeal to kids, The Science Museum, The V&A, The National Gallery, The British Museum, The Tate Modern and the V&A's Museum of Childhood, but here's another little gem for you, The Grant … [Read more...]
The British Museum with Kids
The British Museum is billed as a place to see the world without leaving London, and it's true. The museum is a treasure house of amazing art and ancient artifacts spanning all of human history and every culture, housed in a visually spectacular and historic building in Bloomsbury, Central London. I've lost count of the number of times we've been, one visit could never do it … [Read more...]
Tate Modern Kids. Art for Kids Tour of the Tate Modern London.
Having an enjoyable and worthwhile visit to a modern art museum with kids is probably one of the harder tricks to pull off. I've only got my kids to go by. I don't know yours, sorry, but mine have zero interest in looking at paintings and art work unless something seriously kid-friendly and incredible is going on. We took the along to London's Tate Modern Museum and tried a … [Read more...]
Ripley’s London. Expect the Unexpected.
Here at World Travel Family we're converts to Ripley's Believe it or Not and Ripley's London was a big hit with us all. You can book your Ripley's London tickets and find out more about their dozens of global sites here. (link opens in new tab) We ventured into our first Ripley's Odditorium in freezing New York City in January last year. I'll be honest, we only went in to … [Read more...]
How to Get to Greenwich, London and What To Do There
Admittedly, Greenwich is a little way out of central London and if time is tight you may have to skip her, but if you possibly can fit in just one day in this historic area, you'll reap rich rewards. Greenwich has certainly been one of the highlights of our time in London and I wish we'd had more time to explore and appreciate her fully. Two days wasn't nearly … [Read more...]
Free Things to Do in London With Kids
Readers have been asking me for London itineraries for kids, some sort of plan to make best use of limited time in my home city. I can't really do that, the amount of time you'll want to spend at each attraction will vary enormously and the ages of your children may limit the amount of pavement pounding you can do. What I can do is give you a few suggestions, let's start with … [Read more...]
Platform 9 3/4 London. Tourist Trap or Fun?
We've known for a while that Platform 9 3/4, the secret platform accessible only to wizarding folk departing for Hogwarts, really does exist in London, but it's taken us 6 months to actually get there. Why? My elder son is as big a Harry Potter fan as you could possibly imagine, claiming to have read the whole series 22 times, you'd think it would have been top of our … [Read more...]
London on the Cheap.
Housing and holiday accommodation in London is pretty high up on the global price chart, nobody is arguing with that. So how on earth are we managing to live short-term ( or, enjoy a very long vacation, what they call slow travel ) in a beautiful and desirable areas of outer London, on the tube line, on just one fairly-modest salary? A look at cheap slow travel in … [Read more...]
10 Reasons to Visit the Cutty Sark at Greenwich
We've spent 3 fabulous days down on the Thames at Greenwich. It's a little bit of a hike for us to get there from Richmond, but it's so worth it for the attractions, history and general ambiance of the place. There are a whole heap of free experiences, just strolling around the area is lovely in itself, but we decided to try one of the paid attractions, the magnificent Cutty … [Read more...]