Snapshots of London with Kids

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When Simon, Ben and I left Aberdeen at the beginning of July with Peter and Whitney and our cousins, we stopped first in London.

It was the boys’ first trip to London, and so we had a list full of what we hoped were kid-friendly places to go.

We arrived SUPER late into London (thank you EasyJet) and took the train from London Luton Airport to Pancras International which happens to be right next to Kings Cross station. Before taking a cab to our hostel, we decided to run over and see if we could still get in to Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross and you know what? It turns out that 1am is the PERFECT time to go see it. There was no one there. Just us and our cameras and backpacks.

So, everyone might look a bit sleepy in the photos but how fun was it that we got to check this off our list as soon as we arrived in London?

Next it was off to the YHA Central, our home for the next three nights. The gals at the front desk got us all checked in and were super friendly even though it was practically the middle of the night by the time we arrived. We all fell into our bunks and went straight to sleep.

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Day 1

The next morning it was raining but we set off to find some coffee and what we had heard was the world’s best croissant. Trying almond croissants turned out to be a bit of a theme for our whole European adventure. Whitney and I both love them, and we had many delectable ones!

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After coffee, we hopped onto our first of many double decker buses. I cannot possibly overestimate how much our boys loved those buses. They would run up the stairs and try to get the top front seat every time, and if someone was already there, they would sit behind them and then take the seat as soon as it became available.

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It turned out to be such a great way to see a lot of London, and we did so much walking that everyone was always relieved to sit down and ride for a while.

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Sometimes we intentionally chose a long route just to give the boys more time on the bus.

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Our first morning we went to St Paul’s Cathedral, walked across the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern and then had Mexican food at Tortilla (yes, please!)

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After lunch we walked along the Thames all the way to the Tower Bridge.

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From there we took a cruise on the Thames, and then we met up with our friends Tanja and Chipper.

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Tanja is my dear friend from years of Saturday morning Bible study, and her son Chipper just graduated from high school, so they were doing a celebratory trip. They were staying one night in London around the corner from us so they came along with us to our next stop.

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At Ben’s request, we made the trip to 221b Baker Street and everyone had to have their turn posing as Sherlock and Dr. Watson.

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Next was a wander in Little Venice, which we really only knew about via other travelers’ Instagram pics. Ah, Instagram, you’re always showing us the world and helping us find those perfect photo spots + making us all want to go to Croatia. (Or maybe that’s just my feed.)

In Little Venice, the kids were all suddenly a lotta hungry. And the adults were too. We could only find a couple of little pubs and they were both spilling out into the street with folks stopping in for a drink on their way home from work.

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Most people were not ordering food, but we found one that was willing to serve us up some cheese platters, burgers and fish ‘n chips, so we all piled around small tables for local beers, ciders and pub food.

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The sun was setting as we walked back over the little bridge to catch the bus to our hostel. Such a great first day in London!

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Day 2

We started much the same way, with pastries and coffee, followed by a stop at a giant toy store that was on everyone’s must-see-with-kids list in London. Hamleys was really close to our hostel so we actually made a second trip there the next day. Also, I was meeting up with Tanja and Chipper, so I did not get to see it the first time around and Simon was determined to show it to me. And honestly, it was AMAZING.

I can’t decide what I liked the most.

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The Underground, where you could try out the games and toys, including shooting arrows from a real bow.

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Or maybe seeing the Royal Family made entirely out of Legos.

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And if I was not sufficiently wowed by the inside of the store,  just down the street, the bus stop near Hamleys is also constructed entirely out of Legos.

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Crazy cool.

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After the toy store, we went to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

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Then we stopped in at the Tate Britain.

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Mostly because I really wanted to see this staircase. (Thank you again, Instagram.)

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But I ended up laughing really hard at Chipper’s take on Modern Art.

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Our next stop was slightly disastrous and will hereto be referred to as That Trip To The Market That Will Not Be Named. All I can tell you is that some of London’s markets are a bit too crowded to go with a group of nine, and if the crowds don’t get to you, then the seagulls will.

After lunch we said goodbye to Tanja and Chipper and it was raining again so we decided to head to a museum we thought the kids would enjoy. We landed on the Natural History Museum because of the dinosaurs. And while the building was really gorgeous and we were so glad the museum is free to visit, the museum was mobbed. Like, really ridiculously crowded.

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The dinosaur room is set up like a rat maze. And dear goodness, once you go in, you can’t get out except by moving forward like a mouse after the cheese. Only you are the mouse and the cheese is AIR TO BREATHE. Simon had a wee panic attack and felt it was the worst museum he had ever been to. We got out of there as quickly as we could and went for coffee and cookies, which pretty much fixes everything.

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Then we went to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground, and it really fixed everything. The kids were in heaven. They played and played and never wanted to leave. We stayed until we were literally kicked out at closing time, and the kids begged to return the next day.

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We grabbed some food on the way home to fix at the hostel and had dinner in the community kitchen there. Everyone was plenty exhausted after a long day of sightseeing, so we agreed to take it slow the next morning.

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Day 3

We had a late breakfast at the hostel before checking out. It was our last day in London and we considered leaving our backpacks at the hostel, which they are happy to let you do, but we opted to keep them with us so we wouldn’t have to come back that afternoon.

We decided that after we stopped in again at the toy store, we would go to Regents Park to play for the afternoon.

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We wanted it to be an easier day because our flight to Paris was at 7pm and with the time change we would not be arriving in the city until nearly 11pm. So we ran by Buckingham Palace to say hello to the queen and then we went to play at the park until it was time to catch our train to the airport.

The boys favorite parts of London:

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Thames River Cruise
221b Baker Street
Hamleys
Princess Diana Memorial Playground

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If you have taken your kids to London, I would love to hear what their favorites were!

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I received a discount on our stay at the YHA in London as part of a blogging partnership with them to encourage more families to give hostels a try! We also stayed with them last October at Buttermere (in the Lake District) and again this summer at Windermere (post coming!).