London for a day

Posted: Mon, Jun 04 2012, 3:24 pm Post subject: London for a day

I will G-d willing be in London for the day in a few weeks with a few little kids. We have approximately 13 hours, from morning to night.
I am looking for suggestions of things to do with the kids, places to eat (not to $$), etc. We will be coming in and leaving from Heathrow, so we need to take travel time there and back into account (and airport security and things like that).
Generally we are not looking for expensive activities, mainly something the kids will enjoy before we stick them back on an airplane.
Thanks!

Posted: Mon, Jun 04 2012, 7:11 pm Post subject: re: London for a day

Would be helpful to know the ages of the children, but in general,

- Princess Diana playground next to Kensington Palace
- Science Museum
- British Museum (they have activity pack/treasure hunt for children)
both museums are free of charge.
- London Transport Museum (not free, but excellent, near Covent Garden)
- London zoo (best to buy tickets in advance online)
- Legoland in Windsor is quite close to Heathrow
- You can always have hop-on/hop-off bus for easy sightseeing, plus there's a riverbus
that connects several piers along Thames
If the weather is not nice, there's an indoor soft-play area at Army Museum, another one at Swiss Cottage leisure centre.

- YOu might want to check if there're childrens activities at Jewish Museum

As for places to eat
- Reubens near Baker St is the only casual kosher resto in central London
therre is a new deli called West One nearby but there's only a few tables and menu is more limited.
- Isola Bella at Westfield shopping centre (a few minutes from Shephards Bush)
- If the weather is decent, go for a picnic lunch
You can pick up kosher sandwiches/salads at Selfridge's food hall. It's by a kosher caterer Adafina.
Some large branches of supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury's) carry pre-packaged sandwiches from DD's.
- Check London Beth Din list--surprisingly few items carry visible hechshers.

Posted: Mon, Jun 04 2012, 7:28 pm Post subject: re: London for a day

A few more things...

Did I say it's cold here? The highest temp during the day is still like 15C. You'll need a jacket/fleece/light coat.

Kids under 11 can travel free on buses, tubes, but NOT on trains when accompanied by an adult. Heathrow Express is a total rip-off, there is a cheaper service called Heathrow Connect. Depending on a number of adults travelling, it may be cheaper to get a car service (not black cabs). The cheapest way to travel to central London is by tube (Piccadilly Line) but it takes nearly an hour and trains do get crowded during the peak hours. Best to get a one-day travel card.

At many tube stations, there are escalators but you'll also need to use stairs for the last bit going up/down the platforms. Just in case you're travelling with a buggy.

Platinum Member Joined: Apr 12 2010 Posts: 5773

The london eye is really nice you get to see all london from it but it is a bit $$ .

British museum and science are really fun.

Madame tussauds is nice but also a bit expensive.

Alternatively you could just take them to see big ben, parliament, queens palace or tower bridge. Not major trips, not too much time but fun enough for a picture and to say "I saw london!"
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Posted: Tue, Jun 05 2012, 2:46 am Post subject: re: London for a day

Thanks so much for the suggestions! Sorry. I meant to put the kids' ages. 4, 3.5, and 1.5.
They probably would like the zoo. I saw something online about taking a boat there, and you get a boat ticket together with a zoo ticket? Is this considered an expensive outing?
They probably would enjoy legoland as well. Is it hard to get there from Heathrow? I'd prefer to not take a car service, because I don't want to deal with carseats/boosters for all 3 kids. We'll probably take the tube (that goes from Heathrow into London?)
We will have a stroller hopefully but we'll deal with escalators if we have to.
We actually won't be there until mid-July I realized, as it's on our return trip to Israel, would I still need jackets then?
Also, is the list of kosher products available online?
Thanks again!

Posted: Tue, Jun 05 2012, 5:22 am Post subject: re: London for a day

Thanks for giving us the age, that's helpful. I would probably stick to hop on/hop off (short route) with river bus, the zoo, Transport Museum ( a must for any child crazy about buses, trains etc) or the science museum. 4yr old would probably be tired of walking at british museum. To be honest, I would skip the canal boat ride. It's very slow, and the boat is quite low (close to the water), you don't want to worry too much worrying about kids falling into the water.

Legoland--sorry I don't think there is public transportation access from Heathrow.

Mid-July--you'll still need a light jacket if your departure is in the evenings. It's usually warm till 7 or 8pm but then the temperature drops. Probably best to just pack a foldable raincoat. Fortunately you'll be visiting before the Olympics start (I recall 27th or 28th?)--Heathrow and central London would be chaotic during the Games.

Tube--it's not the escalators that's hard, I'm talking about STAIRS (most likely there's one from street level to the station hall, and from elevators to the platforms. You can manage with 2 adults though.

Baby/toddler related items--you can find them at Boots. You can usually count on Starbucks to have clean toilets, also at stations (usually with some coins). Bookshops and newsagents also have a sticker book that's London-themed.

Gold Member Joined: Jul 14 2009 Posts: 2094

we had that 13 hr layover in london last summer w/ 2 little ones, the train (Pickadeli Line-I believe) is right next to the airport. we wanted to do a sightseeing bus, but they were surprisingly expensive. We took the train to Buckingham Palace, there's a big park there, we brought balls, toys & food, we walked around....

Posted: Tue, Jun 05 2012, 6:38 am Post subject: re: London for a day

Here's LBD website. It's not a complete list (for which you'll need to buy the book) but you can look under product search and put in categories or brands.

http://www.kosher.org.uk/intro.htm

Forgot to say Reubens and Adafina are under SKA, Isolla Bella is under LBD, DD's sandwich are dual Kedassia/LBD.