City breaks with kids: London

I’m bored

Some of London’s most popular attractions are also its most expensive – looking at you Madame Tussauds (from £107 for a family of four), London Zoo (£84.60), London Sealife Aquarium (£136). On the plus side, most major museums are free – though a donation of around £5 per person is suggested – and offer dedicated trails, activities and sometimes apps for children. The Natural History Museum, Science Museum, British Museum, Museum of London, Imperial War Museum are all worth a visit.


The Horniman – with its eclectic natural history and musical instrument collections and a mini aquarium with poisonous frogs (£9 for a family of four) – is a firm favourite with south London families. My six-year old loves drawing and art but dismissed both Tates as “boring.” At his age it’s all about interactive exhibits and the Science Museum’s new gallery Wonderlab delivers on that front with all the buttons, pulleys and experiments a small child could wish for – plus live shows with explosions. It’s not free but costs less than many other London attractions (£20.20 for a family of four).

Beyond the museums, a sure-fire hit for us is the Southbank Centre, which hosts dedicated kids’ activities and events throughout the year, ramping up the offering during school holidays: coming up is the Imagine Children’s festival (9-19 February – make sure you book ahead). The Southbank has its own cafe and a bunch of chain restaurants, including Wagamama, Giraffe and Yo!Sushi, but we skip those in favour of the food market behind the Royal Festival Hall, which has dozens of street food stalls. Fuelled by a hotdog (proper sausages) and an ice-cream, in summer we then head to the Appearing Rooms fountains (bring spare clothes) overlooking the river. If we venture further, there’s a good hour or so worth of distractions including skateboarders, sand artists on the tiny tidal beach outside Gabriels’ Wharf and street entertainers – the bubble man outside Tate Modern always has a crowd of kids in thrall to him. On a similar note, there are nearly always good street entertainers in Covent Garden too.


West End shows are ludicrously expensive but outside central London there are fantastic theatres staging on innovative performances as well as activity sessions. Check out the programmes at the Polka children’s theatre in Wimbledon, Battersea Arts Centre, Unicorn Theatre near Tower Bridge, Little Angel Theatre in Islington and Hackney Empire (a vibrant production of Michael Morpurgo’s Running Wild from 22-25 March has rave reviews). Shows cost from as little as £8, – just make sure you book in advance.