Feature

While plenty of London staples like the British Museum, The National Gallery and the V&A claim family friendliness, with good facilities and easy access, we reckon they’ll always hold more interest for parents than little ones.

So what do you do when you’ve crossed Hamley's, The Tower et al off your London visit list, your budget is broken and the kids simply will not be dragged round any more galleries or landmarks?

Luckily, many of the best places and activities that truly indulge children in London, are the cheapest and often they’re completely free. The classic, must-sees are the free and ultra-interactive Science Museum and the adjacent Natural History Museum, but a little trip away from the central sites can be just as rewarding.

A good place to start (on a good day) is South East London’s Crystal Palace Park. Head straight to the dinosaur area, where life size (albeit slightly anatomically incorrect) replicas of prehistoric reptiles have dominated the landscape since the 1850s. A nice trick is to tell the kids it’s just a walk in the park and wait for them to spot the iguanadon crossing their path or the plesiosaur swimming in the lake.

From Crystal Palace station, it’s just a five-minute ride to Forest Hill, home of the highly recommended Horniman Museum. Start with the Horniman’s gorgeous award-winning gardens before proceeding inside to be met by the huge, slightly comically overstuffed walrus who “guards” the ultra old school, Victorian style Natural History collection. When they’ve had their fill of the stuffed and skeletal, check out the aquarium, the music gallery (1,600 instruments) and the awesome African Worlds collection.

The Horniman’s Hands On Base, where kids can touch and “study” an array of masks, nature specimens, musical instruments and other artifacts, is the real find here. Most weekends have ticketed (but free) timed sessions for a more in-depth, guided experience. For more hands on exploration, the recent addition of the Nature Base, which features a handful of live animals including the UK’s smallest rodent, the harvest mouse, rounds things off nicely.

So, you’ve seen the Horniman’s famous walrus, want to see what he looks like inside? The Grant Museum of Zoology is another Victorian institution we love and a treat for kids with a passion for the curious. Crammed to breaking point with specimens of the living and extinct, it offers an up-close and highly educational tour of the natural world. A dodo, an iguanadon and rows and rows of weird and wonderful creatures preserved in glass jars, what’s not to like? While it may seem a little creepy to mum and dad, in our experience most young’uns get wide-eyed at the site of bones and bisected heads.

There’s no substitute for the real, living thing of course, so a trip to the farm is highly recommended, especially for younger children. Yes, there are farms in London, 15 in fact. Our favourite is East London’s Hackney City Farm, which aside of housing a number of regular farmyard friends has some cute and cuddlies in the form of chinchillas, rabbits, degus and guinea pigs. The farm’s Frizzante Café offers award-winning Mediterranean style eats, all fresh, seasonal and locally sourced. Yum.

Don’t be put off by the location in one of the city’s poorest Boroughs either; make a day of it on a Sunday and you can visit the Columbia Road Flower Market & Shops. Just a stone’s throw from the farm, the market offers a cornucopia of eclectic and quirky gift stops.

Alternatively, if you’re visiting any of the other aforementioned attractions and want to stay South of the river, you could do a lot worse than a trip to Battersea Park Zoo. A lot smaller, but (at £6 for kids) also A LOT cheaper than London Zoo, this is the "up close and personal" version, with lemurs, Shetland ponies, meerkats, monkeys and much more. Absolutely perfect for smaller children, just make sure you’re there for feeding time!

Finally…if you're continent bound on the Eurostar from St Pancras International or just happen to be that way, be sure to pop round the corner to King Cross. Since being immortalised in the Harry Potter books and films, this gateway to the Hogwarts Express has become a reality. Sort of. Complete with its sign and half visible luggage trolley, platform 9 ¾ is a perfect photo memento spot. Any post-holiday stories about what happened "beyond" the wall can be left to the kids’ own imaginations.

Also see our feature on Getting Away From It All... In London. For more general information on London, please visit our destination guide

For more kids holiday advice and inspiration check out these features:

Top 10 Places for Kids in Barcelona

10 Must-see Experiences for Kids and Teens in NYC

How to Choose a Family-Friendly Hotel in NYC

Orlando: The Best New Attractions

Orlando: Beyond The Theme Parks

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About the writer:

Andrew is a member of the vtravelled editorial team.