A day trip to London to visit the Tower of London and tour around some other fave spots🇬🇧💂
We headed up to the capital for a day trip after the Tower of London was requested by one of the kids. Alongside the popular tourist attraction, here’s an overview of what we got up to if you want some ideas on a day trip with kids in London.
Getting there
Drive, train, or coach hmmm. On this occasion we opted to drive up as, for a family of four, the train was looking like £160 return from Southampton, so based on a recent work trip I booked a car park right by Southbank on the website yourparkingspace.co.uk. It cost £23.49 from 6am to 9pm.
The car park location for reference was Cornwall Road, SE1 9PP. We left rather early doors to avoid the congestion charge which is 7am to 6pm so we arrived before 7am, but the advantage of our own car meant pillows and blankets in the backseat for kids to continue their sleep!
Borough market
As London was waking, we wandered at a leisurely pace along the Thames and past iconic sights like Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe to feast at one of our faves… Borough Market! It officially opens at 10am, but there are plenty of spots that are open before then too. Here’s our breakdown of our eats
✨Monmouth – Cappuccino – Arriving early meant avoiding their normally huge queues due to their very popular coffee,
✨ Maria’s cafe – Full English with their specialty bubble and squeak – a traditional longstanding spot with very friendly staff
✨ Ginger pig – sausage roll – This is how you do sausage rolls!
✨The black pig – The Best One – Call this brunch as very filling…Slow roast free-range pork shoulder, honey truffle mayo, salsa verde, fennel & apple slaw with 30mo aged parmesan & peperoncini s’ott olio on toasted ciabatta
✨Turnips – Strawberry pot with chocolate – You can’t miss this viral spot right in the centre of the market, simple yet delicious, fresh strawberries with melted chocolate poured all over them.
✨Bread ahead – honeycomb doughnut – famous for its amazing looking and tasting doughnuts, this was the perfect sweet treat
Tower of London
Full bellies, we walked 15 minutes or so across London Bridge and to the popular tourist attraction.
Haven’t been here since I was a kid! Always good to combine visits to historical places with what the kids are studying at school. Similar to English Heritage, National Trust, etc. Singular entry prices can be expensive so we were easily tempted into buying their annual family membership to ‘Historic royal palaces’ which gives us an excuse for some other days out to their venues which we also haven’t visited.
£110 – One year for Two named adults and up to six named children (between the ages of 5 and 15) – Free and unlimited entry to Hampton Court Palace, Tower of London, Kensington Palace and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens
Yes, it’s very busy, but as a longstanding attraction is very well organised, well-staffed, and has good crowd control, so we weren’t in queues for very long as they keep it flowing. It’s huge with so much to do, see and read up on. From the historical artifacts, and sparkling crown jewels to the ravens and more, they even had a Halloween event with a ghost trail for the kids to spot the various wandering ghosts who were brilliant actors.
Chinatown
Hopping on the underground, we headed to Leicester Square where after many hours spent enjoying Tower of London we swang by another fave of ours for good eats, Chinatown.
✨Chinatown Bakery – Taiyaki – These fish-shaped cakes are filled with hot custard and so moorish, only £2.50 for four of them.
✨Golden Gate cake shop – £2-3 Super soft pandan cakes and more
✨ Takeaway buffet box £7.50 or how high can you go/jenga 😅 plenty of these spots around
Hyde park
Walking to Hyde Park from Chinatown takes around 30 minutes and lots to see on route including another London site of Piccadilly Circus, we need some chill time after all the crowds and Hyde Park is a great place to relax. We met plenty of confident squirrels and were surprised at how many bright parakeets there were now, we relaxed by the large lake ‘The Serpentine’ as the sun quickly came down. Plenty of space to run around and find quiet spots too.
On route back to the car in Southbank we strolled Oxford St, Regent St, visited Hamleys, through the hustle and bustle of Soho, and finally the illuminated Thames from the lights of the London eye which was perfect for some last snaps.
