We finally got the courage to head into London with the little ones, and I must admit that I was very anxious before heading to the city. Having a very active 2.5year old and a 1 year old I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
Here are a few tips which we learnt ourselves, and which others recommended for us too.
London Apps
Download the relevant apps for train times, and weather. Preparing for all types of weather is a must and remembering to layer up is a good idea.
London Transport
Transport – plan ahead. Work out the timings for transport and where the lifts are all located. Waterloo is currently having a refurbishment so even the loos were in a different location to when I last visited.
Prams & Slings
Little feet get very tired so taking the pram or a sling / carrier is a must. We all know how exhausting London exploring can be, I was so glad to take the double pushchair as meant the little ones were safely seated whilst we found our bearings and when it got too much they could rest and take a much needed nap.
Pre Book London Attractions
Pre booking any attractions which you would like to see. We used our Merlin passes to book ahead for the London Eye and Sea Life Aquarium, this just meant we saved that extra bit of time as didn’t need to que and also ensured we could go to those attractions.
We visited the London Eye which had a great free play park at Jubilee Gardens that we checked out too and then the London Sea Life Acquarium.
Dress of the Weather
Layer Up – wrapping up for the cold weather was a must, but when your on and off public transport and in and out of attractions you do get warm. So having easy to take off layers made this a lot easier to accommodate uncomfortable children.
Snacks & Drinks
When at home all the little ones seem to do is snack, so I made sure to pack extra refreshments. Having them on hand made their demanding requests easy to deal with, and during the attractions they helped to occupy the children.
Accept Help
Although London is a very busy city there were plenty of people to help us when we needed it. From asking for directions on how to find places, to where the nearest changing room facilities are and help getting off the train with the pram. There were alot of people willing to help us so don’t be afraid to ask.
We really enjoyed our day out in London and it wasn’t as scary as we thought!
