London with Kids: The Ultimate 3-Day Family Itinerary
- Mar 1
- 7 min read
We were in England for a family party and decided to spend a few days in London. I used to live there so it was great to go back with the family and see the city from a different perspective.
We arrived at the train and our first stop was the Rainforest Cafe. I had always heard that it was a hit for families and Jude and Alba were so excited when we arrived it wasnt hard to see why. The entrance takes you through a shop and to get to the restaurant below, the only way down seems to be a large flight of stairs. There is an area to leave pushchairs at the top but for us, with Elio who can't use a high chair, it meant carrying the pushchair downstairs which wasn't ideal - I imagine parents with small babies would be in a similar situation.
We asked for a table with space for Elio next to it and were given a table with plenty of room for us all which was great. We found the service a bit hit-and-miss. They were very efficient when we first arrived but it was hard to get their attention later on which was a bit frustrating given that the restaurant wasn't terribly busy. We also noticed that, considering its a restaurant largely aimed at children, a lot of the staff didn't seem that « child friendly ». Alba tried to wave at a lot of the staff walking past the table and was rebuffed every time. The food was pretty good although relatively expensive for what it is. A meal of 2 adult burgers and two meals from the children's menu (we took Elio's food with us), a dessert to share plus drinks was more than £100.
The place itself is great, and we liked the fact that there is plenty to see from every angle. There are little animations at regular intervals which kept the children entertained — the elephants start to move, or there is the sound of thunder and flashes of lightening. Jude and Alba really liked the gorillas, and we encountered a big fish tank on the way to the toilets.
Speaking of the toilets — they were dirty with toilet paper on the floor and a general feel of grubbiness. The baby change area consisted of a cubicle with the door removed which house two large bins and a pull down changing table which, once flattened, came to about my shoulder height. I am not very tall and it was a struggle to haul Elio up there to change him. Again, this was a bit of a surprise for a restaurant aimed at the family market but overall we had a good time and would go back.
Later in the afternoon we hopped in a taxi and went over to the Natural History Museum.
I hadn't been there for a long time and dinosaur-mad Jude was beside himself with excitement, so we started with those when we arrived. There was a huge array of dino skeletons on display which was really interesting for all of us (except Alba apparently who slept during the entire visit ;-)).
Jude was completely in awe of the huge animatronic T-rex, so we spent a long time there for him to examine him from every angle.
We then passed through the mammals department before we decided we needed an ice cream.
The museum was rather warm and the children were getting tired, so we didn't see everything, but I am told from a friend who used to work at the museum that there is a great air-conditioned area in the basement which is a good place to stop for a picnic. The museum is free entry, so we didn't feel the pressure to see absolutely everything in one go and we will certainly go back.
On our second day in London we decided to take a wander around a couple of the Royal parks in the morning before it got too hot (Jean was surprised that excessive heat could be a factor in England :-)).
We started in Green Park where there are lots of deckchairs if you feel like sitting for a while and watching the world go by - although you do have to pay for the privilege. We then spent some time outside Buckingham Palace where there was a celebration for the RAF which Jude enjoyed as there was, amongst other things, a marching band, a horse and carriage and he was able to glimpse some of the soldiers and their beautiful horses.
From there we made our way to St James Park which I think is one of my favourites. We enjoyed a gentle stroll while admiring the gardens and trying to spot pelicans (apparently there have been pelicans in the park for nearly 400 years — the first one arrived as a gift from a Russian ambassador in 1664). I always like seeing Duck Island Cottage and there is a nice cafe in the park too and a small play area for children.
By that time we were hungry so we decided to head over to where we were having lunch. We looked for the best rated restaurants for families in central London and were pleasantly surprised when Masala Zone came up amongst the top as we LOVE Indian food. The restaurant has a few different locations, but we chose the Covent Garden one as we planned to spend some time in the area afterwards. The restaurant looks very smart from the outside and it’s warmly decorated in jewel colours inside with Indian style dolls adorning the ceiling. It was quiet when we arrived, and we began to doubt the wisdom of our choice with our noisy circus in tow so we were really relieved by the greeting and service we received. The place quickly filled up and the noise of other diners soon drowned out any noise from our tribe.
They gave us a nice big table where we could easily park Elio, and a high chair for Alba whose excited waves and chatterings were this time graciously received. They had a children’s menu with a mild curry and accompaniments which Jude delighted us by enjoying with gusto. We were mainly looked after by a lovely waiter called Thiago who deserves a special mention for his genuine hospitality and welcoming attitude to us all, but especially the children - he brought Alba some papadums and took the time to ask us where we were from and make the children feel special. It was really appreciated and Alba came away with a bit of a crush ;-).
After a post-lunch walk around Covent Garden market we stopped at the London Transport Museum. We hadn’t planned to go there but when we passed the door, the lure of the red buses proved too strong for Jude so we decided to go inside, and we were so glad we did!! The visit is really well laid out and the children were given numbered cards to punch or stamp as they passed through the corresponding zone of the tour. They were able to hop onto old style trains and buses and there were plenty of displays to look at as well as things to press and pull. There was a little area where they could "drive" a model bus as well as dress up in overalls and take care of some bus maintenance with plastic tools.
At the end is a great play area for children where they can climb around freely and there's a space with tables to stop and eat. The toilets are really friendly for children, the sinks are designed as one long undulating river which was a nice touch, AND there was a really spacious, clean and well-equipped unisex baby change room which was brilliant. For adults it is really interesting too and an easy way to discover the history of transport in the city from the early sedan chairs to the mammoth construction undertaking of the first tube and details of the plans for the future. It was money well spent and everyone came out happy.
The following morning we stopped at Kensington Gardens and made our way to the Princess Diana Memorial Park. It's such a wonderful place for children, it's hard to know where to start but let’s begin with the huge pirate ship in an enormous sand pit (wear flip-flops or something easy to remove while chasing after little ones) which the children were delighted to climb aboard, then we saw swings, teepees, elaborate climbing frames, and a lovely area of musical toys which we all loved. We really loved the fact that each narrow path around the park revealed a different and unexpected delight and the children were racing ahead to discover the next treasure. There is also a good picnic area near the entrance and a little cafe and toilets. It's really a perfect spot to keep the children busy for a couple of hours in the middle of the city.
"We asked Jude what had been his favourite part of the trip, and he said “everything”.
It was a wonderful experience going back to London with the children, and we really discovered the family-friendly side of the city that I hadn’t really been aware of before. We asked Jude what had been his favourite part of the trip, and he said “everything”. Needless to say we’ll be back soon as we didn't cover a fraction of the things we would like to have seen.
As a footnote, we have to give a huge shoutout to the wonderful Mohamed who looked after us on the Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Geneva. This wonderful man who volunteers for a charity helping the sick asked the passengers flanking Jean with Elio if they would like to move to more peaceful rows so that our sweet boy could have space to lie flat on the seats...Elio slept almost the whole way (whereas across the aisle Jude and Alba's reign of terror kept me busy apologising to other passengers whilst trying to occupy the little rascals with food)!
