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London with Kids

London is the rare major city where the best things for children cost nothing: the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the British Museum all charge nothing for general entry, and the royal parks add several square kilometres of free running space between them. Because those museums are indoors and enormous, London is also the one destination in the country that a full day of rain does not ruin. The trade-offs are accommodation, which is among the most expensive in Europe and where family rooms are small for the price, and scale — the map flattens distances that are really 40 minutes of travelling, so two or three neighbourhoods a day is the honest limit.

Best for ages
0+
Suggested stay
4–6 days
Best months
Mar–Oct, Dec
Daily budget
€340

Mid-range, family of four

Why London works with children

  • The headline museums are free

    Three of the museums children most want to see charge nothing to walk in, which changes the arithmetic of a city break.

  • Under-elevens travel free

    Children under eleven ride the Tube, buses and most London rail free with an adult, so transport for a family costs two fares, not four.

  • Large parks between the sights

    Hyde Park, Regent's Park, Greenwich and St James's all have playgrounds and space to run, and sit between the major attractions rather than off to one side.

  • The same day works for different ages

    A dinosaur gallery and a skate park sit within a few Tube stops of each other, which matters with a seven-year-old and a fourteen-year-old in the same group.

Where to stay

Best areas in London for families

4 areas cover most trips here; the difference is mainly museum-led first visits versus space and a slower pace.

  • South Kensington

    Best for museum-led first visits

    Three major museums within a few minutes' walk of each other and of Hyde Park, with a tunnel from the Tube station that avoids the traffic. The most expensive base on this list, and quiet in the evenings.

  • Bloomsbury & King's Cross

    Best for arriving by train, or onward travel

    Walking distance to the British Museum, with mainline stations for the Lake District and Scotland and a direct Tube line to Heathrow. Larger apartment stock than the museum quarter.

  • South Bank & Waterloo

    Best for walking the river

    A continuous traffic-free riverside walk links a large share of the paid attractions, with river-boat piers and step-free access along most of it. Busy and loud at weekends.

  • Greenwich

    Best for space and a slower pace

    A park, a maritime museum, a market and a river-boat ride into the centre, at lower nightly rates. The cost is 30–40 minutes each way to the West End.

Family hotel picks in London

  • Family rooms in the museum quarter
    South KensingtonHigher-end

    Family rooms in the museum quarter

    Three free national museums are within a few minutes' walk, which removes the transport leg from the two or three best days of a London trip and lets a family go back to the room mid-afternoon rather than pushing on.

    • Walking distance to the Natural History, Science and V&A museums
    • Hyde Park and its playground at the end of the road
    • Tube station with a tunnel that avoids the main road
    • Quiet residential streets after dark

    Fitting a family in

    Most stock here is converted Victorian townhouses, where a family room sleeps four in one tight space. Interconnecting rooms are the more comfortable option for five and should be confirmed in writing rather than requested on arrival.

    Watch out. This is one of the most expensive districts in the city and rooms are small for the money. Townhouse conversions often have narrow staircases and either a very small lift or none, which matters with a pushchair and luggage.

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  • Tower Bridge over the Thames in London
    Zone 2 — Bermondsey, Shepherd's Bush or StratfordMid-range

    Apartment on a Zone 2 Tube line

    A two-bedroom apartment outside the centre costs less than two central hotel rooms and adds a kitchen and a washing machine, which is what makes a week with children affordable rather than merely possible.

    • Kitchen and laundry
    • Supermarkets rather than tourist-priced cafés
    • Direct Tube or rail line into the centre
    • More floor space than a central hotel room

    Fitting a family in

    Two-bedroom flats sleep four to five without a rollaway bed, and sofa beds in the living room are common for a fifth.

    Watch out. Every outing starts and ends with 20–35 minutes of travelling, which is tiring at the end of a long day. Check whether the nearest station is step-free before booking with a pushchair, because most are not.

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Things to do in London with kids

  • Natural History Museum
    Museum

    Natural History Museum

    London

    A vast free museum in a cathedral-like Victorian building, with dinosaur skeletons, a blue whale hung in the entrance hall and an earthquake simulator. General admission costs nothing.

    Ages
    2–16
    Time
    3h
    Adult, from
    Free

    Good to know. Free entry means no crowd control by price: the dinosaur gallery is the bottleneck and is busiest from late morning. Reserving a free timed slot in school holidays avoids the door queue, and picking two galleries rather than attempting the building prevents the meltdown at hour three.

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  • Science Museum
    Museum

    Science Museum

    London

    Free general admission covering space capsules, engines, aircraft and medicine, a few minutes' walk from the Natural History Museum.

    Ages
    3–16
    Time
    3h
    Adult, from
    Free

    Good to know. The hands-on children's gallery is ticketed separately from the free museum and sells out in holidays, so book it before travelling rather than at the door. The IMAX and simulators are also extra.

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  • Tower of London
    CultureBook ahead

    Tower of London

    London

    A riverside fortress holding the Crown Jewels, with Yeoman Warder tours that carry the history as storytelling rather than as labels.

    Ages
    6–17
    Time
    3h
    Adult, from
    €40

    Good to know. The towers are reached by tight stone spiral staircases with no lifts, so pushchairs have to be left at the entrance to several buildings. The Crown Jewels queue is longest between 11:00 and 14:00, and the site is largely open to the weather.

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Getting around London

Contactless cards and phones are the system: tap in and out, and daily and weekly caps apply automatically, so there is no reason to buy a paper travelcard. Children under eleven travel free with an adult, and eleven to fifteen-year-olds can have a Young Visitor discount loaded onto an Oyster card at a ticket window. Buses are the pushchair answer — every one is low-floor with a buggy space — because fewer than a third of Underground stations are step-free. River boats are scenic and count as transport but are priced as a treat rather than a commute.

London tips for families

  • Money & costs

    Build the trip around the free museums, not around them

    General entry to the national museums is free and no ticket is normally needed, though reserving a free timed slot in school holidays avoids a queue at the door. Special exhibitions and some hands-on children's galleries are separately ticketed, so check which part of a museum is actually free before promising it.

  • Getting around

    Take the bus with a pushchair

    London buses are all low-floor with a dedicated buggy space and cost less than the Tube, while most Underground stations still involve stairs or an escalator. The top deck of a bus is also the cheapest sightseeing in the city.

  • When to go

    Book the paid attractions, skip the rest

    The small number of attractions worth paying for — the Tower, the observation wheel, a stadium tour — all sell timed slots that go early in summer, and walk-up queues are long. Everything else in a family week here can be free.

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  • Food

    Museum cafés are the budget leak

    Attraction cafés charge accordingly and are at their worst at 13:00. A supermarket stop and a park bench turns the most expensive meal of the day into the cheapest, and every major museum sits beside a park.

London with kids: common questions

How many days do you need in London with kids?
Four to six. That covers two of the free museums properly, a river day, a park afternoon and one or two paid attractions without the pace that makes children refuse to walk.
Is London manageable with a pushchair?
Yes, if the plan runs on buses rather than the Tube. Every bus is low-floor with a buggy space, while fewer than a third of Underground stations are step-free, and the ones that are often have long walks between platforms.
Which museums are free in London?
The Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate Modern and the National Maritime Museum all have free general admission. Special exhibitions and some interactive children's galleries are ticketed.
Where should a family stay in London?
South Kensington puts three museums on the doorstep at the highest price, Bloomsbury and King's Cross suit families arriving or leaving by train, and Greenwich trades a 30–40 minute commute for more space and lower rates.
Is London worth visiting in winter with children?
It works better than most cities because the main draws are indoors, and December adds lights and ice rinks. The constraint is daylight, which ends before 16:00, so outdoor plans have to happen in the morning.

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