Anything and Everything London

[cmdnewton]

I would love any suggestions and recommendations.

My family and I are headed to London for five weeks in April/May. My children are 3 years old and 1 year old. My mom is going to join us for a few weeks, so we can do a few non-family friendly things as well!

We are looking to rent an apartment and set up a home base. I have looked at some apts using vrbo and homeaway. I would love to find a place where someone has already stayed. Is craigslist too sketchy to find an apt?

I appreciate all of your help. Thank you.

[mskitty]

I would love any suggestions and recommendations.

My family and I are headed to London for five weeks in April/May. My children are 3 years old and 1 year old. My mom is going to join us for a few weeks, so we can do a few non-family friendly things as well!

We are looking to rent an apartment and set up a home base. I have looked at some apts using vrbo and homeaway. I would love to find a place where someone has already stayed. Is craigslist too sketchy to find an apt?

I appreciate all of your help. Thank you.

London Walks are awesome! We really loved doing them. It was worth the two hours to get the highlights of a museum or a walking tour of a neighborhood. We also did the Stonehenge/Salibury tour which was excellent and cheaper than doing it ourselves at the time we went several years ago. The tour guides really turned it into an experience. http://www.walks.com/

Some of the other things we really liked:
Tower of London
Churchill's War Rooms
Tea at the Orangery in Kensington
Changing of the Horse Guard
Windsor Palace

mskitty

[LMPC]

With 5 weeks in London, you can do some awesome side trips! For a long weekend, I would suggest the Lake District -- simply beautiful!

As for London itself, I have always stayed with family or at a hotel...so sorry, not too much help there. I will tell you that you will find lots of yummy food for your DC's -- it's so much easier to find organic and fresh food in London. I like the grocery store Waitrose. Their store brands are nice.

I would suggest the National Art Gallery -- yep, even for the little ones. First of all, it's free...so if you get there and it's a total bust, you can just leave. Greenwich has a nice (and free) Maritime museum that is kid friendly.

The aquarium is a bit pricey, but decent enough -- unless of course, you have been to the ATL aquarium!

I would also suggest checking out a guide book from the library. When I went to London in January, I remember seeing listings for lots of parks and kids' museums that will be good when the weather is warmer.

Have a great time! I love London :)

[catroddick]

I have nothing of value to add- except "Lucky!"

Mom and I went to England a couple years ago, and I am dying to go back. Have a blast!

[mommylamb]

I'm so jealous!!! I went to grad school in London and it is my favorite city. That said, I can't help on the renting issue. I lived in grad student housing owned by the university. You've gotten some great advice on places to go.

Personally, I love the various markets. If you rent an apartment, make sure to go to borough market, which is where they have all the gormet foods. If you have a kitchen, that would be really cool.

Take the kids for a ride on the London Eye.

I LOVE the Tate Modern museum.

[lizzywednesday]

I haven't been back since my one and only trip in high school. In 1995.

Definitely do the National Gallery, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London (LOVE the yeoman warders - a.k.a. Beefeaters), British Museum (I didn't; opted for the Tower that day instead) ... Covent Garden is a great place to browse all kinds of shops.

If you're into "true crime", lots of people recommend the Whitechapel Jack the Ripper tours (also didn't have a chance to go on this; it was a highly chaperoned trip for high school kids ... we had a curfew!) and visiting Fleet Street, where 'Sweeney Todd' takes place.

I second the idea for day trips ... I'd have loved to have gone to Salisbury & Stonehenge. We toured a stately home in Derbyshire as well as the Royal Crown Derby pottery (basically a china factory) ... lots of information about stately homes and hours of operation is available at the National Trust website. I also recommend Stratford-on-Avon (it's like Shakespeare Disneyland), which was our first stop after landing at Heathrow, but I don't have a sense of where it is in relation to London. If you're into singing groups, see if you can attend Evensong at King's College - Cambridge. The King's College Chapel Choir is one of the best in the world and Evensong with them is ethereal.

For Christmas the year I was to go on the trip, my father bought me a copy of Fodor's Guide to England as well as two maps of London - "Streetwise" and "Artwise" London. I have no idea who publishes them, but I have seen them for a great many cities, including New York. I loved my maps, which have likely disappeared through the many moves my family has been through since I was in high school, and I would certainly get more if I were ever to visit again.

[jent]

Well, we're planning our own shorter trip to London and I've found this guide to be helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-London-Kids-Your-Family/dp/0470504676/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266896802&sr=1-1 . They have suggestions for a lot of kid-friendly sights and attractions.

Haven't figured out our accommodations yet so I can't be of help there. MIL is looking into VRBO.

[Neatfreak]

Well, we're planning our own shorter trip to London and I've found this guide to be helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-London-Kids-Your-Family/dp/0470504676/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266896802&sr=1-1 . They have suggestions for a lot of kid-friendly sights and attractions.


We've used that book for two trips (once when DD1 was 3.5 and more recently when the kids were 5.5 and 15 months) and it's been worth the investment.

For our last trip we rented a two bedroom unit at 51 Buckingham Gate and were really happy with it. It had a small fridge, stove, microwave, and a washer/dryer. It would have been nice to stay somewhere with a playground nearby, though. There was a grocery store about a ten-minute walk away. I think it was a Stainsbury's.

The Museum of Natural History was awesome for both kids!

[WatchingThemGrow]

There are a few ipod/iphone apps for London. This one looks interesting http://www.appsafari.com/travel/6911/pocket-london/

[LMPC]

Just something else to note....lots of museums are free....Tate, Natural History Museum, Maritime Museum. It makes touring the city much more pocketbook friendly.

A few other things to throw out there...
the view from the Tate Modern Cafe (7th floor?) is to die for! And surprisingly, the cafe is kid friendly!

There's a pastry shop called "Paul" -- it's chain but is very good for an afternoon snack -- try the almond croissants!!!

most cell phone companies do nice pay-as-you-go plans. Not sure if this is something you will need

Alright...that's all I can think of right now :)

[cmdnewton]

Thank you all for your suggestions!

I feel like I have done nothing but research the past few days, but I think I am ready to book everything tomorrow.

I appreciate the reminder about iphone apps....I'm such an iphone loser. I should really use it for more than just making calls and checking email.

Jent - make sure you look at the tripadvisor forums. I found lots of great info about accomodations.

[jent]

Jent - make sure you look at the tripadvisor forums. I found lots of great info about accomodations.

Thanks! I didn't realize they had forums-- just used them for reviews so far.

[cmdnewton]

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g186338-i17-London_England.html

I just booked a flat this morning in Kensington using Coach House rentals. http://www.rentals.chslondon.com/

I also spoke with Ann at Farnum-Christ http://www.farnum-christ.com/ - she was really helpful. Unfortunately, they didn't have what we needed when we need it. They are based in TN, so it was nice just to be able to call.

[nfowife]

There is a small children's puppet theater in the Islington neighborhood....definitely check it out: http://www.littleangeltheatre.com/lat/

A great, inexpensive chain restaurant is giraffe. Very kid friendly, casual, and all over the city.

The science museum in South Kensington is great- free and a great kid's play area in the basement with climbing structure, water table play area, and pretty good cafeteria as well.

Don't miss the Peter Pan playground (Princess Diana Memorial Playground) in Hyde Park. It is a must must do!!

I've heard good things about Coram's Fields near Russell Square- supposedly tons of kid-friendly stuff in there. We didn't get there on our short visit in October, but you will have plenty of time!

And the kid's floor of Harrods, it is awesome. Will entertain for hours for sure!!

We did a day trip to Greenwich and that was a lot of fun. The observatory is in a big park with lots of green space. The town itself is also really cute.

[codex57]

Gah! I'm soooo jealous. My high school bad stopped by there after performing in Ireland. That city is soooo cool.

[TwinFoxes]

I lived in London for a year after college. It is one or my favorite cities ever! There's a quote from the writer Samuel Johnson which parphrased is "if you're of London you're tired of life" and it's so true! There's so much to do and see and experience. Most of my tips are outdated, but I have a couple:

Get out of the Tube! The London Underground is awesome, but London is a very walkable city. It can be tempting to take the Tube everywhere, but try to walk around and look at the architecture and neighborhoods. One thing I love about London is History is RIGHT THERE and you never know what you'll stumble across. Also, some the buses are very convenient and sometimes quicker than the tube. (Definitely get a pass for the tube though, much cheaper than individual rides, and they're good on the bus).

Speaking of busses, long distance coach service is much nicer in Britain than it is here. It's more like Southwest Airlines than Greyhound. You get drinks and a film. So if you want to go up north, it's a good option.

Check out Camden Market on the weekends. Great for picking up cool clothes and much more! Great people watching. Harrod's is a must do! It's not like any other department store. Hyde Park has lots of stuff for kids. Oh, and try to get a glimpse of the royals! It's easy to do, their schedules are printed. I saw Princess Di very close up, she was lovely. I also saw the Queen in her ceremonial carriage during the state opening of the Houses of Parliament. Oh, and the Houses of Parliament at night from the banks of the Thames is an amazing view.

I'll stop now. You will have a BLAST!!