London is our home turf. We’ve done the museums in the rain, the parks in the sun, the Tube at rush hour with a double buggy (never again), and the overpriced hot chocolate at every South Bank café going. We know what works with kids and what’s a waste of money. And in London, that distinction matters — because this city will happily drain your wallet if you let it.
The good news? Some of the best things to do with children in London are completely free. The bad news? You’ll still spend more than you planned. That’s just London.
Here’s everything we’ve learned from years of doing this city with kids in tow.
Free Museums — The Absolute Best Thing About London With Kids
This is where London genuinely has every other capital city beat. The Natural History Museum, Science Museum, and V&A are all free. Free. No booking required for general admission, no suggested donation guilt trip at the door, just walk in.
The Natural History Museum is the obvious starting point. The dinosaur gallery is spectacular and every child under 10 will lose their mind. The blue whale skeleton in the main hall is properly awe-inspiring. Go early — by 11am on weekends and school holidays, the queues stretch around the building.
Right next door, the Science Museum has hands-on galleries that actually work for children. The Wonderlab is the standout — it’s the one bit that charges (about £10 per person) but it’s worth it for under-10s who want to press buttons and pull levers for an hour. The rest is free. The space exhibition is brilliant.
The V&A is harder with small children, honestly. It’s enormous, the collections are mostly “look don’t touch,” and a four-year-old is not going to care about medieval tapestries. For kids 8 and up, though, the fashion galleries are surprisingly engaging.
The British Museum is free too, and the Egyptian mummies and Rosetta Stone are genuine must-sees. But it’s a difficult museum with small kids. Massive, crowded, not much interactive. Ages 7+, plan to see three or four things and leave.
Practical note: museum cafés are expensive. Pack sandwiches. A family lunch at one will cost £40-50 easily.
London Zoo
Let’s talk about the price first. Adults are £30+, children £20+, and a family of four is looking at over £100 before you’ve bought a single overpriced ice cream. That’s a lot of money.
Is it worth it? For a half day, yes. The Land of the Lions exhibit is well done, the penguin pool is always a hit, and the gorilla enclosure is properly impressive. You can see everything in 3-4 hours.
The real bonus is location. London Zoo sits inside Regent’s Park, so after the zoo you’ve got massive open green space, a boating lake, and excellent playgrounds — all free. We always plan zoo visits as a full day: zoo in the morning, picnic and park all afternoon. Book online in advance — cheaper and you skip the queue.
The South Bank Walk
If you do one free thing in London with kids, make it this. Walk along the South Bank from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge. About two miles, flat, pushchair-friendly, something to see every few minutes.
You’ll pass the London Eye, street performers, the Southbank Centre, food stalls, the Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe, Borough Market, and Tower Bridge. On a decent day, it’s one of the best walks in any city anywhere.
The Tate Modern is free and the Turbine Hall is worth ducking into — an enormous industrial space with large-scale installations that kids find impressive. Good wet-weather pit stop. The skatepark under the Southbank Centre is weirdly mesmerising for children. Even non-skaters will stand and watch for ages.
The London Eye: £30+ per person, family ticket around £100, for a 30-minute ride. Our honest opinion? Overrated with small kids. Queues are long, little ones get bored in the pod quickly, and the views aren’t dramatically better than free viewpoints elsewhere. Over-8s who are desperate? Fine. Otherwise, spend that money on something better.
London’s Parks
We’re biased because we live here, but London’s parks are world-class. They’re enormous, beautifully maintained, and completely free. On a sunny day, there is genuinely nothing better to do with kids.
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens form one massive green space in central London. The Diana Memorial Playground is one of the best in the country — a huge wooden pirate ship, teepees, sensory trails. Brilliant for under-8s. The Serpentine runs through the middle with pedal boats in summer.
St James’s Park is smaller but has pelicans. Actual pelicans, just hanging about by the lake since the 1660s. Kids are fascinated. The views from the bridge — Buckingham Palace one way, Horse Guards Parade the other — are postcard London.
Regent’s Park has four separate playgrounds, a boating lake, and summer open-air theatre with family-friendly productions.
Greenwich Park is further out but worth it. The views from the hilltop are the best in London. The Royal Observatory lets kids stand on the Prime Meridian line (they enjoy this for about 90 seconds). Recently redone playground.
Pack a football, a frisbee, snacks. An entire afternoon, not a penny spent.
Harry Potter Studio Tour
Right. This isn’t in London. It’s in Leavesden, near Watford, which is about 45 minutes from central London by train plus a shuttle bus. Don’t make the mistake some travelers do and turn up at King’s Cross expecting to find it.
(There is a Harry Potter photo opportunity at King’s Cross — Platform 9¾ with a trolley going into the wall — and a shop. It’s free to take a photo, the queue is usually 20-40 minutes, and the shop will relieve you of a frankly alarming amount of money.)
The Studio Tour itself costs £53 for adults and £43 for children (prices as of 2025, they creep up every year). A family of four is over £170. That’s not cheap. But honestly? It’s worth it for genuine Harry Potter fans aged about 6 and up.
You need a good three hours, possibly more if your kids want to linger. The sets are real — Dumbledore’s office, the Great Hall, Diagon Alley — and even we got a bit emotional walking through them, and we’re only casual fans. The butterbeer is sickly sweet and overpriced but your children will demand it. Just accept this.
Book months in advance. We cannot stress this enough. Tickets sell out weeks ahead, especially during school holidays and weekends. You choose a specific entry time and they don’t budge on it. Check the website the moment you know your London dates.
West End Shows
Taking kids to a West End show feels special. The theatres are gorgeous, the productions are spectacular, and children old enough to sit still for two hours will remember it.
The Lion King has run since 1999 for good reason. The opening number with the animal puppets is jaw-dropping. Ages 6+, though the second act is long for younger ones. Matilda is our favourite for families — very funny, kids relate to it immediately. Wicked suits older kids (8+) who can follow a more complex story.
Prices vary wildly. Full price runs £60-150 for good seats, but matinee kids’ tickets start around £25 if you book ahead. The TKTS booth in Leicester Square does same-day discounts of 30-50% — queue moves quickly.
Most West End theatres are old and cramped. Minimal legroom, short intervals, queues for the loos. Some provide booster seats for small children — phone ahead.
Getting Around London
Use contactless payment or an Oyster card for buses and the Tube. Both cap your daily spending automatically — zones 1-2 caps at around £8.50 per adult.
The big win: children under 11 travel free on buses and the Tube with a paying adult. Up to four kids per adult. Enormous saving. Eleven to fifteen-year-olds get free bus travel with a Zip Oyster card (apply online before your trip).
Avoid rush hour. 8am to 9:30am and 5pm to 6:30pm, the Tube is sardine-tin packed. With a buggy, nearly impossible. With tired children, miserable. Travel outside these times and it’s actually pleasant.
Buses are often better than the Tube with small kids. Top deck of a double-decker is a sightseeing tour in itself, there’s more buggy space, and kids enjoy them more. The number 11 bus from Liverpool Street to Fulham Broadway passes St Paul’s, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Better than most paid tours.
Where to Stay
London accommodation is expensive. Accept this early and it hurts less. A family room in a decent hotel will run £150-250 per night minimum in central areas, and that’s not luxury — that’s “clean, safe, and not too far from a Tube station.”
South Kensington is our top pick for families with younger children. You’re a five-minute walk from the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, and V&A. Hyde Park is right there. The Tube station connects you to the rest of London quickly. Plenty of restaurants and a Waitrose for stocking up on supplies.
Bloomsbury works brilliantly if the British Museum is a priority. It’s quieter than the West End but walkable to Covent Garden and King’s Cross. Some lovely garden squares where kids can run about. Generally a bit cheaper than South Ken.
Covent Garden and the West End put you right in the middle of everything — theatres, restaurants, Leicester Square. It’s exciting and convenient. It’s also noisy, crowded, and significantly pricier. Great for a short trip with older kids who want the buzz. Harder work with toddlers.
If budget is tight, look at aparthotels or serviced apartments. Having a kitchen saves a fortune when you can make breakfast and pack lunches rather than eating out every meal. Premier Inn and Travelodge have family rooms from about £100-130 in zone 2 locations — they’re not glamorous but they’re clean and consistent.
Where to Eat
You can eat magnificently in London. You can also spend your entire holiday budget on three dinners. With kids, we aim for the middle ground: good food, reasonable prices, places that don’t make you feel guilty when your toddler drops rice on the floor.
Borough Market near London Bridge is brilliant for families who like to graze. It’s an open food market with stalls selling everything from fresh pasta to Ethiopian injera to toasted cheese sandwiches. Everyone picks what they want. Kids can try small portions of different things. It’s busy on Saturdays but weekday lunchtimes are more manageable. Budget about £8-15 per person depending on appetite.
Dishoom is our go-to recommendation for a proper sit-down family meal. It’s Bombay-style Indian food, the portions are generous, the atmosphere is warm and lively, and children are genuinely welcome. The black daal is legendary. Multiple locations across London — the King’s Cross branch is the biggest. Book ahead, especially for dinner.
For reliable chains that work with kids: Wagamama has good kids’ meals and the communal bench seating means nobody notices if yours are fidgety. Nando’s is Nando’s — kids love it, you know exactly what you’re getting. Pizza Express does decent children’s portions and the dough balls buy you twenty minutes of peace.
Don’t overlook pub lunches. Plenty of London pubs serve excellent food and are family-friendly during the day. Sunday roasts in a pub with a garden are a proper London experience. The prices are fair — typically £12-16 for an adult main, £6-8 for kids’ meals.
Day Trips From London
If you’ve got a week or more, a day trip breaks up the intensity of the city and gives everyone a change of scenery.
Brighton is about an hour by train from London Victoria. The beach, the pier, the lanes for shopping, fish and chips — it’s a classic British seaside day out. Kids love the arcades on the pier, even if you’ll lose £10 in 2p machines. The Sea Life Centre is decent for younger children.
Windsor Castle is also about an hour from London Paddington. It’s the oldest occupied castle in the world and kids who are into royalty or history will enjoy it properly. The State Apartments are impressive and the changing of the guard happens most days. Adult tickets are about £30, under-15s £17, and if you get them stamped on the way out they convert to annual passes.
Legoland Windsor is nearby and exactly what you’d expect — brilliant for ages 3-11, exhausting for parents. Book online for cheaper tickets and go on a weekday if humanly possible. Weekend queues in summer are brutal.
Canterbury is an hour from London St Pancras on the high-speed train. The cathedral is stunning, the old town is walkable and pretty, and it makes a calmer day out than the seaside options. Good for slightly older kids who can appreciate a bit of history.
The Practical Bit: Budget and Planning
London is expensive. There’s no way around it. For a family of four, you should budget £100-150 per day as an absolute minimum, and that’s assuming you’re doing free activities, eating cheaply, and your accommodation is already paid for. Add in a paid attraction or a nice meal and you’re looking at £200+ easily.
Here’s how to keep costs sane:
Lean on the free stuff. Free museums, parks, the South Bank walk, watching the Changing of the Guard (also free) — you could fill three or four days without paying for a single attraction. That’s not a compromise. Those are genuinely the best things to do.
Transport caps save you. With contactless or Oyster, your daily travel costs are capped. Don’t buy day travelcards or tourist passes — contactless caps are almost always cheaper and you don’t have to do maths at the start of the day.
Pack food. Breakfast from a supermarket, packed lunches for museum days, snacks in the bag always. Eating out for every meal in London will add £60-80 per day for a family without blinking.
Book ahead for paid things. The Harry Potter Studio Tour, West End shows, London Zoo, popular restaurants — all cheaper and less stressful when booked in advance. Last-minute in London means paying more and queueing longer.
Consider a London Pass cautiously. The Merlin annual pass is worth looking at if you want to do multiple Merlin attractions (London Eye, Madame Tussauds, Sea Life, London Dungeon). But only if you’re actually going to do several. For most families sticking to free museums and one or two paid things, individual tickets work out cheaper.
Our Honest Take
London can feel overwhelming when you’re planning. The sheer number of things to do, the cost, the logistics — it’s a lot.
But don’t try to do everything. Pick a few things each day. Build in park time. Let the city happen around you. Some of our best London days with the kids have been unplanned — a bus ride through the West End, a street performer on the South Bank, an unexpected hour in a playground we didn’t know existed.
London is brilliant with kids. It just needs a different kind of planning than a beach holiday. More “have a rough direction and be flexible” and less “tick every attraction.” The city rewards slowing down, which is handy because with children you don’t have a choice.
If you’re considering other family destinations, Japan with kids is a trip that works brilliantly — surprisingly easy and completely different from anything in Europe.
London’s right here on our doorstep and we still find new things every time. You never really finish this city.