Premier Inn London County Hall
Why we like it: Two minutes from the London Eye and eight from Westminster. With one adult paying for breakfast, up to two children eat breakfast free.
Duration2 to 5 days, your way
BaseOne hotel in London, no car
Getting aroundTube, bus and boat
Book aheadStudio Tour, Science Museum, Sky Garden
AgesFrom pushchair to 15
With children, London's problem is not what to see, but how much they can take. A big museum lasts them two hours, a twenty-minute queue ruins the morning and the Tube at rush hour with a pushchair is an ordeal. This plan does not give you a fixed timetable: it gives you the pieces that work best with children, grouped by what they ask for (time, booking, age, weather), and an order for each number of days. The rule that holds everything together is simple: one paid thing a day and the rest free, and half a day of museum followed by half a day outdoors.
First: free and tiredness-proof
Start at South Kensington. The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum are door to door, charge no admission and can each fill a morning. The first is open from 10:00 to 17:50 and it is worth booking the free ticket to avoid queuing at the weekend; at the second, booking is compulsory. Inside the Science Museum, Wonderlab is paid, from £13.50, designed for children aged 7 to 14 and free for under-3s.
For the afternoon, the river. The Uber Boat is the Thames's regular boat service: it passes under Tower Bridge and reaches Greenwich. Under-5s do not pay (up to two per adult) and children aged 5 to 15 pay half if they carry an Oyster with the Young Visitor discount. In Greenwich the Maritime Museum and the Queen's House are free, the Cutty Sark costs £22 for adults and £11 for children, and the park is big for running around. The Royal Observatory, the one with the meridian, is closed for works: the planetarium keeps running meanwhile inside the Maritime Museum.
What needs booking
Three things do not allow improvisation. The Harry Potter Studio Tour is sold only online, with a set time: £58.50 for adults and £47 for ages 5 to 15 in 2026, or £188 for the family ticket; under-4s do not pay. In school holidays it sells out weeks ahead. The Sky Garden is free, but tickets are released three weeks ahead and give you an hour up there; under-16s cannot enter after 18:00 on weekdays or after 21:00 at the weekend. The Tower of London can be bought at the ticket office, but in summer it is best to bring it already bought: £38 for adults, £19 for ages 5 to 15, under-5s free.
If it rains
Everything in South Kensington is indoors, and the Studio Tour too: if you can move your dates, leave it for the day with the worst forecast. It takes the whole afternoon plus the journey: Tube to Euston, a train of about 20 minutes to Watford Junction and a shuttle. Halfway round is the Backlot Café, with non-alcoholic butterbeer. The Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the Tower, with their interiors, also save a grey morning.
By age
With a pushchair or under 6. Half days: the two South Kensington museums, the boat and Greenwich park. The Tube is the hard part, because many stations have only stairs; the bus, with room for pushchairs, is more comfortable, and under-11s always travel free on it. The Studio Tour, with under-5s, only if they already know the story: it is a walk around sets, not a theme park.
Ages 7 to 11. This is the age for the Studio Tour, if they have seen the films, and for the Tower of London with the Yeoman Warders and the Crown Jewels. Add the photo of the trolley at Platform 9¾ at King's Cross, free, first thing. On the Tube they do not pay if they travel with a paying adult, up to four children per adult.
Ages 12 to 15. Give them a little independence: two hours in Camden Market, open every day from 10:00 to 19:00, with a set meeting time; the Sky Garden before 18:00; the Millennium Bridge on foot from St Paul's. On transport they pay half with the Young Visitor discount, which is put on an Oyster at a Tube ticket office with the young person present and lasts up to 14 days. From age 16, they pay as adults.
A day out
With five days, Hampton Court Palace is the excursion that works best for families: 35 minutes by train from Waterloo, with the Tudor kitchens, the gardens and the maze. Adults pay from about £30 in low season, and in winter it closes at 16:00, so set off early.
An order for each number of days
Two days. First, South Kensington: a museum in the morning and Hyde Park afterwards. Second, the Tower in the morning, the Millennium Bridge and lunch at Borough Market, which is closed on Mondays.
Three days. Add the boat to Greenwich, with the Maritime Museum and the park.
Four days. Add the Studio Tour, preferably on the rainy day, and King's Cross on the way to Euston.
Five days. Add Hampton Court or, with teenagers, Camden in the morning and the Sky Garden in the afternoon.
Where to stay with children
The recommendation is the Premier Inn County Hall, next to the London Eye: family rooms with a big bed and a sofa bed or extra bed, a free cot and, when an adult orders breakfast, up to two children aged 15 or under eat breakfast free. From the door you can walk to Westminster, the South Bank and the boat. If you would rather cook and have a living room, the Citadines Holborn has one-bedroom apartments for four with a kitchen. On a tight budget, the YHA London Central has private en-suite rooms, cots and a kitchen; under-16s must be with an adult. And for Harry Potter fans, the Georgian House Hotel, in Pimlico, has wizard rooms for families, with an extra bed for children up to 12.
For eating with little ones, Honest Burgers has a children's menu with a drink and branches next to several stations.
Map
The stops, in order
What to do
Eat
88 €Stay
Services
Plan the trip
London, step by step
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
When to go to London
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Best timeGood timeLow season
How you travel
The same break, your way
The plan stays the same. What changes is where you sleep, how you get there and how much you spend.
Direct flight, then a train or the Tube to the centre
London has direct flights from almost all Spanish airports, in a little over two hours from Madrid or Barcelona, to four main airports. None is in the centre, but all have a fast train. In the city you do not need a car: transport is paid for with a contactless card or your phone, and for day trips (Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Windsor, Brighton) the train leaves from the central stations.
- Getting thereHeathrow (LHR), to the west…
- Getting aroundTube and bus with a…
- Where to sleepPremier Inn County Hall, next…
- ServicesFrom Heathrow to the centre
Getting there
- Heathrow (LHR), to the west: Heathrow Express to Paddington in 15 minutes, the Elizabeth line or the Piccadilly line on the Tube, the cheapest
- Gatwick (LGW), to the south: Gatwick Express to Victoria; Brighton is on the same line
- Stansted (STN), to the north-east: Stansted Express to Liverpool Street; the closest to Cambridge
- Luton (LTN), to the north, with a shuttle to the station and a train to the centre
Getting around
- Tube and bus with a contactless or Oyster card, with a daily cap
- Trains to Oxford and Bath from Paddington, to Cambridge from King's Cross, to Brighton from Victoria
- To the Harry Potter studio, train from Euston to Watford Junction
Where to sleep
- Premier Inn County Hall, next to the London Eye, for the first night with children
- Citadines Holborn, apartments with a kitchen in the centre
Services
- From Heathrow to the centre
- From Gatwick and Stansted
- Oyster and contactless
Where to stay
Where to stay if you're flying
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Hostel
YHA London Central
Why we like it: A hostel with private family rooms, with bunk beds. The cheapest option in the centre: there are few and they sell out early.
Apartment
Citadines Holborn-Covent Garden
Why we like it: An apartment with a bedroom and a sofa bed, ten minutes' walk from Covent Garden. Being able to eat dinner in saves a lot in London.
Georgian House Hotel
Why we like it: A hotel in a nineteenth-century house in Pimlico with themed rooms: the Wizard Chambers, on the ground floor, reached along a corridor with portraits and candlelight. They have stone walls, stained glass, four-poster beds and cauldrons…
Services for this trip
Where to eat
Where to eat in London
Dishoom Covent Garden
What to order: a dal and a grill dish to share.
Book before 18:00; after that only groups of 6 or more can book, and the other tables are walk-in: expect a queue
Burgers
Honest Burgers
What to order: a burger with its rosemary chips; children's menu with a drink.
Children's menu with a side and a drink · branches in the centre and next to several stations
Halfway round the Studio Tour
Backlot Café
What to order: a burger, wings or a hot dog, and a non-alcoholic butterbeer at the Butterbeer Bar.
Only with a Studio Tour ticket
Takeaway and markets
Borough Market, Southwark
Tips
Worth knowing first
Local tip
Each adult needs their own contactless card or Oyster: two adults cannot go through with the same one. Children aged 11 to 15 need theirs with the discount applied.
We'd skip it
Chaining two museums on the same day. The two in South Kensington are side by side and it is tempting, but by the third hour nobody is looking at anything: one in the morning, park or boat in the afternoon.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
From what age is the Studio Tour worthwhile?
Around 7 or 8, if they have seen the films or read the books. Under-4s go in free, but a three-and-a-half-hour walking tour feels long to them.
Can you go with a pushchair?
Yes to the museums, the boat and the Studio Tour. On the Tube, many stations have no lift: get around by bus or check TfL's step-free station map.
Do children pay for transport?
Under-11s do not, with a paying adult. Ages 11 to 15 pay half with the Young Visitor discount on an Oyster. On the boat, under-5s travel free.
What can you do with teenagers who get bored in museums?
Camden Market on their own, with a set meeting time, the Sky Garden and the Studio Tour, where they go at their own pace and see how the effects were made.