Tracey in TX Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 DH has business meetings in London next week. He agreed to take the oldest two DCs because we're studying middle ages. So thrilled that they are going! Working on itinerary. There just isn't enough time to see and experience everything, but they will visit the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and Harrods. Buckingham Palace does tours now! (I lived in UK and wish I could share in their experiences. Reliving my youth vicariously through DCs!) Our exchange student from Norway is meeting them for the weekend. Can anyone think of off the wall places/sights they would take their children? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 British Museum, Natural History Museum, Cabinet War Rooms, Victoria and Albert Museum. They're not specifically Middle Ages, but they're all great, and free now - well, I'm not sure if the CWR are free, but the others are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 The British Museum is overwhelming--you could spend months there. I recommend going online to plan a strategy for specific exhibits that you wish to visit. There are amazing walking tours around London to suit all personalities. We did the Shakespearean walk, but I have heard rave reviews of the Jack the Ripper and Beatles walks. I hope that your daughters are able to attend a theatrical performance. I also recommend lunch in the crypt of St. Martin in the Fields. Combine this with a lunchtime concert for a good midday break. Wishing I could accompany them... Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 The Globe is wonderful - I don't know if it's open for tours at this time of year - a bit late for middle ages.... Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apiphobic Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Who cares about the middle ages? This is London, baby! The London Eye! London theatre! Hampton Court Palace! The Tower of London! The Big Bus tour! Medieval Banquet! You can also get some ideas from this site: fun things to do with kids in ... London or tripadvisor.com - London I wish you were all going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I third the British Museum. I remember standing awestruck in front of the Rosetta Stone and trying to imagine the moment when it all clicked. But let's face it. With only two days in London, they are going to miss out on a lot of first-class sites. With the Middle Ages, Tower of London was the first site that jumped to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 The British Museum is overwhelming--you could spend months there. I recommend going online to plan a strategy for specific exhibits that you wish to visit. There are amazing walking tours around London to suit all personalities. We did the Shakespearean walk, but I have heard rave reviews of the Jack the Ripper and Beatles walks. I hope that your daughters are able to attend a theatrical performance. I also recommend lunch in the crypt of St. Martin in the Fields. Combine this with a lunchtime concert for a good midday break. Wishing I could accompany them... Jane THey may enjoy doing a brass rubbing, also in the crypt. I believe they're open late-ish in the evening, after the museums close. They might like the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower, when they go through and lock everything up for the evening. Agree about theatre - our London favorites are Les Mis and Lion King. Here's a place for discount tix http://www.lastminute.com/site/entertainment/theatre/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 British Museum, Natural History Museum, Cabinet War Rooms, Victoria and Albert Museum. They're not specifically Middle Ages, but they're all great, and free now - well, I'm not sure if the CWR are free, but the others are. They're not but well worth the 10 pounds or so. Churchill took a nap there every day during WWII. Fascinating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 (edited) We took our kids there 2 years ago...we would put our top 7 London things to do.... 1. The Tower of London 2. Buckingham Palace and Mews (need to preorder your tickets some days are busier than others, you can buy them online) 3. British Museum 4. A night at the theater (we saw Mary Poppins...but it's a must do thing for the kids, they loved it) 5. National Gallery of Art...oh my...we just loved this place!!! 6. St. Paul's Cathedral...they have organ music and/or boys choirs sing on certain nights, incredible.. 7. Dennis Sever's house...amazing and creepy! :) (Sorry have to add that the kids really did learn a lot from the Cabinet War rooms..it is really well done, and to be honest, we all really loved the City of London museum...it takes you back to Roman British times to the present...it's close to St. Paul's Cathedral and the War Rooms so you could do all three of those on a triangulation trip) http://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2006/07/05/history_meets_imagination_in_eccentric_london_home/ I really encourage them to see it...it's perfect for this time of year and I remember it as being free...my kids also liked the Natural History Museum...but would choose the others first... I would skip Madame Tussaud's...I would also encourage as many strolls through St. James Park, Hyde Park...any of them, they're just lovely to have a picnic at during the lunch hours! Last mention! We did the ceremony of the keys and while it's short (really only about 30 minutes) it was really neat to be down there when there were no crowds and it was very quiet...the beefeaters made my daughter the 'leader' of the pack and my daughter continues to this day to remember Mr. Patrick's words on children "children ought to be boiled and eaten." Wish you could go with them!! :) Tara Edited October 13, 2008 by ma23peas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeacherZee Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 6. St. Paul's Cathedral...they have organ music and/or boys choirs sing on certain nights, incredible.. I second this one even without the choirs. The crypt made me cry. And there are loads of famous people buried there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Who cares about the middle ages? This is London, baby! :iagree: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretchen in NJ Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 We just returned from England/Scotland September 14th. Dh had a business trip. We were there for over two weeks. It was wonderful. We had a great time. We only spent 3 days in London. While there we saw, Buckingham Palace, The Queen's Gallery and Mews. Dh purchased tickets in advance and got a family discount. The next day we did The Tower of London, Big Ben, The Tower Bridge, and Westmister Abbey. We did splurge on lunch on day. We ate at one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants. It was wonderful! We also went to Windsor Castle. Windsor is beautiful: the town and the castle. It is only an hour outside London and you can take the train there. We did go to Harrods. We found it to be a complete waste of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in TX Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 My ds (same age as yours when we visited) loved these: War Cabinet Rooms (we found a buy one, get one free coupon) Imperial War Museum (ds's absolute favorite, especially the recreation of a Blitz bunker, etc) The Tower (we found a buy one, get one free coupon for this too) and the Ceremony of the Keys - (have to buy tickets ahead of time, and they mail them to you) British Museum (Rick Steves tells you the main things to see, and even maps out a route for you - make sure to see the Rosetta Stone, Assyrian statues, Elgin Marbles - the panels from the Parthenon in Athens, ) Trafalger Square The Globe (see a Shakespeare play, don't do the tour; we saw Coriolanus, which we weren't too excited about, but it was fantastic, especially because we had just toured Rome!) Specific Middle Ages stuff to see: in the British Library: Magna Carta, King James Bible (an original), other illuminated manuscripts, Gutenberg Bible, Tower of London (take the Beefeater Tour, see the crown jewels, do the Ceremony of the Keys) Big Ben, Halls of Parliment, Buckingham Palace We traveled by tube (subway) all the time, well, maybe bus once - a very visitor friendly place to get around. Walk past the Golden Hinde (Sir Francis Drake's 16th century ship) but don't bother getting on it. We wanted to go to Westminster Abbey, but the line was about 3 hours long (this was right after Da Vinci Code opened, so lots of interest -- maybe not so bad now). We would have loved to go to Greenwich, but didn't have time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 They're not but well worth the 10 pounds or so. Churchill took a nap there every day during WWII. Fascinating! Ohhhhh, I just knew he was a napper. Sure wish I'd met Churchy. For Middle Ages, the Tower. Are they old enough to be a huge case of laughter at Henry VIII's codpeice? One of the best laughs I had as an adolescent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Just affirming the Tower of London tour. This was the best one I have ever done on any vacation, hands down. The Beefeaters do a wonderful job giving tons of information and sprinkling it with jokes and anecdotes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I haven't read all the posts yet, so I might repeat stuff. I did scan down a little bit, and someone mentioned the London Eye. That's a definite must. I was 5 mo. pregnant with first dd when we went for dh's brother's wedding to an English girl. Dh doesn't particularly like heights--he's o-k with them, but not a huge fan. I liked leaning against the railing when we rode the Eye, and the glass walls curve around from the floor to ceiling, so when you're leaning, you're kind of out in that glassed area. It freaked dh out that I was standing there. It was cool! The Tower of London can take a whole day, if you want to. We didn't spend that much time there, but I wish we could have. We definitely didn't see as much as we could have. That's all I can think of for now. We did a lot of walking around and general sightseeing. We rode on a double decker bus that had a tour guide mentioning landmarks. That was interesting. We rode on top. We went partway into one of the cathederals. I think it might have been St. Paul's. At the one we went into, you couldn't go very far in unless you pay, or if you're attending a service. We didn't do either one, but later we went to Paris and attended a service at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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