Planning a kid friendly London itinerary wasn’t too difficult; London is a great city for kids! We spent 9 life changing days in London full of museums, parks, history, pastries, and more. There are endless kid friendly activities in London, and after some research and planning, this is what we narrowed it down to.
I created a map with our kid friendly London itinerary all mapped out. You can click on the arrow box in the top left of the map to view the key, or click the icon on the top right to view it in a new tab. Click on each icon to see what the item is, and you can map out your own itinerary using Google Maps.
London DAY 1-Thursday
The Itinerary
We arrived in London after a redeye flight around 2 in the afternoon. We wanted to jump right on our London itinerary before we fell asleep, so we took the bus to Westminster and walked around near Big Ben. We also grabbed a couple pastries from Brigit’s Bakery.
London DAY 2-Friday
The Itinerary
- Played at Little Dorritt’s Playground
Cost: Free. This playground is a tiny little park between a couple buildings. It was a great stop for us on the way to Borough Market (It’s about .4 miles away), but not worth going out of the way for.
Find a playground that is on the way to wherever you are going, because London is full of exciting and unique playgrounds! - Walked around Borough Market
Cost: Free. There are so many fun shops to look at with all sorts of products-food, ingredients, bath/beauty products, home products, flowers, etc.
Tip for parents: it’s very loud and busy inside, so plan ahead where you want to stop and prioritize those first in case your kids are having a hard time. Because of how busy it is, it’s also not a stroller friendly place. Plan accordingly! - Harry Potter Studio Tour
Cost: £51.50/person (under 4 are free). This has been on my bucket list since it opened in 2012. I wasn’t sure if it would be very kid friendly, but I wanted to go bad enough I was willing to risk it. It ended up being so fun for everyone! My kids loved it. It was super hands on with so much to see and experience. We spent nearly 4 hours there and we could have spent more. We had a great time!
The Food
- Traditional English Breakfast @ Premier Inn London Clapham
- Pastries from St John Bakery
We got a chocolate doughnut and another pastry. The chocolate donut was delicious, and the other pastry was forgettable (hence why I can’t remember what it was!) - Raclette from Kappacasein Dairy
Cost: £8. I talked more about it my in First 24 Hours in London post and in this Youtube clip. - Donuts from Bread Ahead
Cost: £4.50. We got the Strawberry Creme one to share. It was delicious!
London Day 3-Saturday
The Itinerary
- Slept in until 12:30 PM! After that, we felt pretty adjusted to UK time.
- Explored the British Museum
Cost: Free. Lots to see! This museum was very kid friendly. Ask at the information desk for one of the children’s trails. They have little pamphlets with pictures of things to look for throughout the museum. My kids, especially my 5-year-old really enjoyed following the trail.
We went in July during a heat wave, and it was pretty hot and humid inside, so bring water if you’re visiting during the warmer months! - Walked around Kensington Palace
Cost: Free. Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens are huge, so plan ahead which parts you want to visit. - Played at the Diana Memorial Playground
Cost: Free. It was tough to find the playground! My phone took us to the Diana Memorial Fountain first, and then we had to walk another mile to get to the playground. It’s just north of Kensington Palace.
I am a life long Princess Diana fan, so I wanted to visit and sort of pay tribute to her. My kids had a great time playing on the ship and in the sand. If you’re visiting Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park with kids, it’s definitely worth a stop!
The Food
- McDonalds
Cost: ~£20. Ok, hear me out! One of my favorite parts of traveling is trying new foods/restaurants. However, we also have two semi-picky kids and it was important to me for them to have familiar foods, as well as trying new ones.
McDonalds has familiar foods, is budget friendly, and always has a bathroom. We could feed our family for around £20, which was next to impossible at any other restaurants.
London Day 4-Sunday
The Itinerary
- B.Bakery Peppa Pig Afternoon Tea Bus Tour!
Cost: starting at £38/kid, £48/adult. This 90 minute bus tour was a great way for us to see a lot of the London highlights: Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, etc. The food was delicious, and it was enough that we were full afterwards.
My kids loved singing along with the “Bing-Bong Song”. We got to take home our cups and the kids got activity books at the end. Between the sounds of the bus and the Peppa show, the city sounds, and the heat of London in July, one of my kids got pretty overstimulated and had a hard time towards the end. One of the employees was so helpful in trying to help my child feel better, and I appreciated that so much! - Played at Victoria Embankment Playground
Cost: Free. This playground is right near where we boarded/unboarded for our Peppa Tour. It was a fun little stop and great for the kids to be kids before we went to a quiet museum. - Observed and admired art at the National Gallery
Cost: Free. I love this museum so much. So many incredible works of art. I could have spent an entire day there! It was more kid friendly than expected, too. My kids enjoyed looking at paintings for about an hour and I knew going in that our time would probably be short. I took pictures of all my favorites so that I could learn more about them later. - Stopped in the Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 3/4
Cost: Free. Stopping here wasn’t in our plans since we had done the studio tour, but we ended up at King’s Cross Station, so we decided to pop in. We visited several different Harry Potter themed stores across England, and this was my least favorite. The selection wasn’t great and it seemed overpriced compared to other places, but maybe worth stopping if you’re a fan and aren’t doing the studio tour. - Played at Tumbling Bay Playground at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Cost: Free. This playground is quite a ways from what I think a typical tourist would consider “London,”, so not really close to any hot tourist spots. I thought it looked like a place my kids would love, so we figured if we were ever “close” to that area, that we would go.
We had extra time, so we decided to trek out there. I believe it was out of Oyster card zones, so it did cost extra as far as transportation. But, it was a spectacular playground and my kids had a great time. There is a mall nearby with several restaurant options for refueling after the playground.
The Food
- All sorts of goodies on the Bus Tour
- Nando’s
Cost: ~£40 for our family of 4. Nando’s is on practically every “Best of London” list, so we knew we had to try it. To be honest, we did not have a great experience here, but it wasn’t the restaurant’s fault. Their ice machine was broken on a super hot and muggy day, and that combined with spicy food was sort of miserable.
Unfortunately, my son wiped his eye after eating a spicy fry and was in a lot of pain for a bit. Luckily, we got it washed out and he was ok. The food was good though, and I’m sure under other circumstances we would have loved it. I would definitely go back for a redo!
London Day 5-Monday
The Itinerary
- I took a Landscape Painting class at London Fine Art Studios from Monday-Friday, so my husband and kids got to explore by themselves during the day, and then we met back up at night.
- Exploring the Natural History Museum
Cost: Free. Loads of ancient bones, fossils, natural wonders, gems, natural disasters, and more. Very kid friendly! There are lots of fascinating things to see. Fun for any age, and their gift shop is well stocked for souvenirs, too.
The Food
- Meal Deal from Tesco
This is another good budget friendly option. You can get a sandwich, chips and a drink for around £4 and there are Tesco’s all over the city. - Five Guys
We picked this because it was conveniently located near the Natural History Museum without much walking, plus American food, so familiar for the kids. It was a mistake! Expensive and not that great. We stuck to McDonalds or Tesco for our quick/easy meals the rest of the trip. - Cookies from Ben’s Cookies
Cost: around £2/cookie. I thought these cookies were great! I liked that they use chunky mix-ins. The orange chocolate tasted very British to me (in the best way) and I also really enjoyed the macadamia nut cookie.
London Day 6-Tuesday
The Itinerary
- Playing at Battersea Park
Battersea Park is a huge park on the south side of the River Thames, across from Chelsea. It has tons of bike and walking trails, a zoo, boating lake, and an excellent playground. There is equipment for children of all ages, a sandbox, and lots to climb on. This was our favorite park we went to in London.
The Food
- Sandwich & Crisps from Pear Tree Cafe at Clapham Common
Cost: around £15. They had lots of food options. I chose a premade sandwich and a bag of crisps. They have picnic tables to sit on and it was a great little place to take a break from painting. - Sandwiches made with ingredients from Tesco. We did this several times on our trip and it worked out pretty well. We bought a loaf of bread, peanut butter, honey, cheese, and some sort of meat. We didn’t have a refrigerator in our hotel, so we had the meat/cheese sandwiches immediately. Then, the next day we used the peanut butter, honey and leftover bread for breakfast or lunch.
London Day 7-Wednesday
The Itinerary
- Playing at Clapham Common for my family
- Ropes Course @ Battersea Park
Cost: starting at £23/person, depending on the course. While playing at Battersea Park the day before, my 5-year-old saw the ropes course up over the park and really wanted to do it.
I was a little nervous about it, but he had a great time. My husband went with him, and my 3-year-old and I played at the park below and watched them climb around.
The Food
- Hot Dog & Crisps from Pier Point Cafe
Cost: around £7. This little cafe was right next to where I was painting at Battersea Park. - Pizza from Pizzeria Pellone
Cost: around £30. Their specialty is neapolitan wood oven pizza. We ordered two pizzas after our kids were asleep. We really enjoyed it! I liked the texture and chewiness of the crust and the toppings were a great combination.
London Day 8-Thursday
The Itinerary
- Army Museum
Cost: Free. My husband said this was his favorite museum that they went to and that it had the most hands on things for them to do. It was also much less busy than any of the other museums. They showed me some pictures and it looked like a a great kid friendly stop! - Hamley’s Toy Store
Cost: Free, or $$ if you buy toys! This was a fun and crazy stop. Tons of people and lots of toys. I wish we had time to go through it a little slower, but we were running behind on time. We picked out some really fun souvenirs though, including Double Decker Bus Legos, Royal Guard Mini Figures, a Peppa Pig sticker box, and Paddington at the Palace (affiliate link). - Frozen the Musical at the West End
Cost: £20/person. This exceeded all my expectations! It was so magical and the cast was just incredible and so talented. We bought tickets through Disney Magical Mondays. At noon on Monday, they release a limited amount of tickets for the week at a discounted price. They go fast! They have ice cream, drinks, and other snacks at intermission, which was a nice surprise.
The Food
- Cheese Toastie, Crisps, Tea from Pier Point Cafe
Cost: around £10. A convenient stop near where I was painting. - Pizzeria Pellone
Cost: £30. Yes, again! We chose to be more adventurous with our pizza choices, and we were a little disappointed. They were still satisfying, but the ones we had the first night were so delicious!
London Day 9-Friday
The Itinerary
- Explored the Science Museum
Cost: Free for general entry, £9 for the Wonder Lab. - Walked around Hyde Park
Hyde Park is huge, so if there are specific things you want to see/do there, plan accordingly! We felt fulfilled by everything we had seen and done in London that week, so we just leisurely walked through the park and reflected on our week. - Played at the Hyde Park Playground
This was a smaller and very busy playground, but still a great place to stop. My kids loved climbing on the ropes and stepping on the tiles that played music. - Walked around Chelsea/Belgravia
We walked around on the way to the bus stop and enjoyed seeing lots of interesting architecture, cute houses, unique churches, etc.
The Food
- Pear Tree Cafe @ Battersea Park
Cost: around £15. I grabbed a sandwich and crisps from their ready made section, and some homemade dog treats for my pup back home. - McDonalds for the kids
- Bombay Bicycle
Cost: around £40. The butter chicken was so good! We talked about it the rest of our trip, and even months after. It was very memorable.
My Must Haves For London with Kids
*This part of the post contains affiliate links, so I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through these links at no additional cost to you.
- Travel Journals-These are the best souvenir and it was a fun activity to work on when we had down time during the day on trains/busses or waiting for the next activity. Check out the post for all the supplies and tips.
- Individual Bleach Wipes-I used these for a quick clean of tables at restaurants or picnic tables
- Hand Wipes-We really didn’t want any sickness to ruin our trip, so staying on top of the handwashing (especially for the kids!) was key.
- Stroller-We brought a single umbrella stroller for our two kids to take turns with. I cannot say enough good things about the Summer Infant 3D Lite Stroller. We bought it when our 5-year-old was one and it has survived several vacations and local outings. It handled the cobblestone streets of England and Scotland amazingly. I love how much storage it has, too!
If you’re planning a trip to London with kids, I think you’ll find no shortage of kid friendly activities. There is so much to see and do, and a lot of it is free! I hope this kid friendly London itinerary is helpful for planning your own London vacation.
