Arriving in London

We’ve been in England for almost two weeks now. We’ve been staying in London and I knew it would be big and busy, but I never expected it to be bigger and busier than New York City. It doesn’t help that we’re here during the Rugby World Cup AND the NFL Experience AND school kids are out for Halloween break. I guess we missed that important part in our research. ha! I recommend doing a little research in that area when taking the family to London.

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Cute little alley right by our flat!

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The Tower Bridge at day vs night.

Big Bus Tour

Since we had such a great experience on the Big Bus Tour in New York City, we decided to do it again here. Unfortunately, though, we were really disappointed. The routes are WAY too long, the traffic was worse than NYC, and they had some buses with a tour guide and the others just had headphones which played a recording. We bought a 3 day bus pass which included a boat ride and we only ended up riding the bus one day and skipped out on the rest.

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Waiting for the Big Bug outside of the London Tower castle.

Public Buses

We then turned to the tube and public buses and things got a lot easier. It takes a while to learn the process and the maps, but they’re the fastest way to get around. And kids 11 and under ride free on both! Like New York, though, elevators (they’re called ‘lifts’ here) are rare to find at the stations. We’ve gotten very good at carrying Grayson in the stroller up and down stairs. Most of the public buses are double decker buses and my kids loved sitting on the top. Brandon figured out that it’s the smartest to purchase “oyster cards” for Brandon and I. It’s a prepaid card, you get lower fares, AND you won’t be charged over a set amount. This means we can ride buses and trains all day long and once we reach the set daily amount, the rest of the rides are free! It worked great! (Note: The bus stops are FAST. Stay close to the kiddos and get on/off together as a group. You don’t have to take the baby out of the stroller on the bus.)

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Having a quick snack while waiting at the South Kensington Station.

Things to Do

There is not a short supply of things to do in London! We’ve been to a lot of cool museums, castles, and palaces. The kids are interested in the history more than I thought they’d be. It’s fun to see how their interests are specific to them. Liberty loves learning about princesses and love stories. Justice loves learning about battles and dungeons. Every place we visit has fun stuff for the kids to do, anything from family trails to easy crafts. Our two most favorite museums (Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum) are free and ask for donations only! (Note: The Natural History Museum is always so busy. You have to get there when it opens, otherwise the lines are wrapped around the building.)

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The GORGEOUS Banqueting House. Notice the bean bags on the floor for people to lay and just stare at the ceiling.

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Liberty and Justice with a Horse Guard. Justice got to pet it!

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Regents Street. Brandon had to make a stop at the Apple Store!

I’ll be honest, London is not my favorite. Although the history and architecture are amazing and worth seeing, the crowds are out of control and everything is overpriced. I can’t even imagine how it would be during the summer. Count me out!! If we had to do it again, Brandon and I agreed that we’d only stay 3-4 days in London and spend more time outside of the city. We loaded the family in a rental car and went on a little road trip outside of London – read about it here.

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