Where to stay with kids in United Kingdom

Family hotel picks in United Kingdom

• 

  South Kensington€€€Higher-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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• 

  Zone 2 — Bermondsey, Shepherd's Bush or Stratford€€Mid-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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• 

  Newquay / Padstow€€Mid-range

  Self-catering cottage near the north-coast beaches

  A beach week generates wet wetsuits, sandy towels and salty clothes every single day, and a cottage with a washing machine, an outdoor tap and somewhere to hang things is the difference between that being manageable and being the holiday.

  • Kitchen, washing machine and drying space
  • Off-street parking, which beach car parks cannot guarantee
  • Walking distance to sand at the better-placed ones
  • Enclosed garden at many properties

  Fitting a family in

  Two and three-bedroom cottages sleep four to six. Bunk rooms are common and are usually the smallest room in the house, so check which child is sleeping where before booking.

  Watch out. Peak-season lets run Saturday to Saturday with a seven-night minimum, and August rates can be double or triple the shoulder season. Many cottages sit on steep, narrow lanes with exactly one parking space, which is a problem for a family arriving in two cars.

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• 

  Falmouth / Helford€€Mid-range

  Small hotel on the sheltered south coast

  The south coast's sheltered beaches and creek water suit children too young for north-coast surf, and a serviced hotel removes the cooking and cleaning that self-catering adds to a trip with a toddler.

  • Calmer, shallower water than the Atlantic side
  • Breakfast included at most properties
  • Boat trips and ferries from the harbour towns
  • Shorter drives between beaches than on the north coast

  Fitting a family in

  Family rooms sleeping four exist but are limited in number at small properties; interconnecting rooms are the alternative and cost close to two rooms.

  Watch out. South-coast beaches are smaller and rockier than the north's, and fewer of them have seasonal lifeguard cover. Older seafront buildings frequently have stairs and no lift, and sea-facing rooms are also the noisy ones in July and August.

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• 

  Fort William / Glen Nevis€€Mid-range

  Self-catering lodge near Fort William

  Restaurant kitchens close early and choice is thin in the west, so a kitchen converts the 20:00 problem into a non-event. A drying room or a utility space matters more here than anywhere else in the country, because kit gets soaked most days.

  • Kitchen, washing machine and drying space
  • Parking at the door
  • Glen Coe and the Mallaig line both within half an hour
  • Space indoors for a rained-off afternoon

  Fitting a family in

  Two and three-bedroom lodges sleep four to six, and the layout is usually more generous than a hotel family room at the same price.

  Watch out. Mobile signal and broadband are patchy in the glens, which affects navigation and parking apps as well as evenings. The nearest full supermarket can be 20 minutes away, and midges make the garden unusable on still evenings from June to August.

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• 

  Inverness€€Mid-range

  Family rooms in Inverness

  Inverness is the one place in the region with an airport, full-size supermarkets, a hospital, indoor options for a washed-out day and a real supply of rooms that sleep four — which makes it the low-risk base for a first Highland trip with younger children.

  • Supermarkets, pharmacies and a hospital
  • Indoor options when the weather closes in
  • Direct trains south and an airport for arrivals
  • Loch Ness and the Moray Firth boat trips within 30 minutes

  Fitting a family in

  Rooms sleeping four are easier to find here than anywhere else in the Highlands, and the price gap between a family room and two doubles is at its smallest.

  Watch out. Inverness is a base rather than a destination: the scenery families come for starts an hour's drive away in every direction, so a stay here trades atmosphere and short mornings for convenience and supplies.

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• 

  Windermere / Bowness€€Mid-range

  Family rooms near Bowness pier

  Staying within walking distance of the pier means the boats, the shops and the evening meal all happen without getting back into the car, and it is the only base in the park where a full day of rain has indoor options on foot.

  • Launch and steamer piers within walking distance
  • Branch-line station from the west-coast mainline
  • Restaurants and shops that stay open later than the villages
  • Seasonal buses to the main valleys from the same streets

  Fitting a family in

  Family rooms and interconnecting pairs are more common here than elsewhere in the park, though many are in Victorian villas where the family room is on the top floor.

  Watch out. Bowness is the most crowded and traffic-bound spot in the national park in August, and parking is often one space per room or none at all. Victorian conversions rarely have a lift.

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• 

  Keswick / Derwentwater€€Mid-range

  Self-catering cottage around Keswick

  Keswick puts the launch pier, the shops and the start of the Catbells approach within walking distance, and a cottage with a boot room and a drying rack handles the wet gear that a walking-led week produces daily.

  • Kitchen, washing machine and space for wet kit
  • Walkable town with the launch pier at the lake shore
  • Borrowdale and the northern fells within 15 minutes
  • Cheaper evenings than eating out every night in Bowness

  Fitting a family in

  Two-bedroom cottages sleep four to five, often with a small second bedroom or a bunk room rather than two equal doubles.

  Watch out. Peak-season minimum stays of three to seven nights with fixed Friday or Saturday changeovers limit flexibility. Many cottages sit on narrow lanes with permit-only street parking, so confirm where the car goes before arriving with a full boot.

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• 

  Llanberis / Nant Peris€€Mid-range

  Self-catering cottage around Llanberis

  Staying at the foot of the mountain is what makes an early start possible, and the early start is what decides whether a Snowdonia day works: the rack railway, the main walking route and the Sherpa bus stops are all in the village, and a cottage has somewhere to dry the kit that gets soaked most days.

  • Kitchen, washing machine and space for wet boots
  • Parking at the door rather than in a car park that fills by 08:00
  • Rack railway and the Llanberis Path from the village itself
  • Lake, waterfall and a slate museum walkable for a rest day

  Fitting a family in

  Two and three-bedroom cottages sleep four to six, usually with a bunk room as the smallest bedroom. Older stone cottages have steep, narrow stairs and low beams.

  Watch out. Llanberis is the busiest village in the park, and the through road and its car parks are gridlocked by mid-morning in the holidays. Mobile signal and broadband are unreliable in the village and effectively absent in the pass above it, which affects navigation and app-only parking alike. Peak lets are weekly with a fixed changeover day.

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• 

  Betws-y-Coed / Conwy valley€€Mid-range

  Family rooms in Betws-y-Coed

  Betws-y-Coed has the park's widest supply of rooms that genuinely sleep four, plus the shops, outdoor retailers, cafés and indoor options that matter on the day the mountains are written off, and a station on the branch line for families arriving without a car.

  • Rooms sleeping four easier to find than anywhere else in the park
  • Shops, cafés and outdoor retailers within walking distance
  • Branch-line station from the north-coast mainline
  • Waterfalls and woodland paths straight from the village

  Fitting a family in

  Family rooms and interconnecting pairs are comparatively common here, though many sit on the top floor of Victorian buildings with no lift.

  Watch out. It is 30–45 minutes from the Yr Wyddfa trailheads, which undoes the early start the mountain side of the park demands. The village straddles a main trunk road with steady coach and motorcycle traffic through the day, so a road-facing room is a noisy one.

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• 

  Porthmadog / Criccieth€€Mid-range

  Coastal apartment or holiday park around Porthmadog

  The coast is the honest answer to Snowdonia's weather: sand, a castle on a headland, Portmeirion and both narrow-gauge railways sit within a few miles, the mountains are still inside an hour, and the strip beside the sea is often dry when the summit is not.

  • Beaches and a seafront promenade within walking distance
  • Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland railways from Porthmadog
  • Kitchen and laundry for a week of wet clothes
  • Pools and indoor facilities at the larger holiday parks

  Fitting a family in

  Two-bedroom apartments and static caravans sleep four to six, with the fourth and fifth beds usually a sofa bed or a bunk in a very small room.

  Watch out. It is 40 minutes or more to the Llanberis side of the park, so every mountain day starts with a drive. Peak-season lets run Saturday to Saturday with a weekly minimum, and the estuary sands nearby have soft ground and tidal channels, so they are for walking rather than swimming.

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