Have Fun planning a Trip To London: Everything You Need To Know
Planning a trip to London read on for advice on what you can see in London on a budget and my list of must see attractions.
London On A Budget
It is surprising how much you can do in the capital on a restricted budget. I thought we would be throwing money around the place left, right and centre and come home to nurse the overdraft. But we did do a couple of lovely things for practically small change or no cost at all. So if you are hoping to discover London on a budget do read on. I have been to London heaps of times, one of my friends lives there so it makes visiting easier.
Play in the Sand
I loved the Rainbow Park full of coloured sand at South Bank Centre. The boys were thrilled to see it, whenever we have played with sand before it has been the bog standard variety so this was a real treat. Completely free, you just dive in to climb, build and play.
We were spoilt and treated to free whippy ice creams by Mastercard. They do a timed treat because supposedly everyone deserves one! For the five us of it was a huge bonus and simply priceless. I do not know how often they do this promotion. But if you happy to be in the area look out for a notice board just in case.
Check Out The Statues
Also at South Bank (close to the London Eye) we dished out a few pounds here and there and enjoyed some fairly unique and memorable photo opportunities with the living statues. It was relatively inexpensive and the boys really enjoyed it! I think a walk through this area is a fun experience. There were other acts too, involving bubble nets, break dancers and musicians. A good lively buzz in the air, lots of tourists milling around here! I am just impressed the statues can stay still for so long, I would admit defeat after a couple of minutes.
Natural History Museum
Finally of course there is no shortage of free museums, as time was limited we only went to the Natural History Museum, which was absolutely amazing. I am so impressed that they can give free entry to such a well stocked and fabulously presented museum.
My boys were in awe of the dinosaur exhibits. Of course we did spend a small fortune in the gift shop, but I am sure you could side step the shop and make a sharp exit to save money! I love that you can borrow a little explorer’s set, eldest was in his element wearing a little hat, diving into the backpack and checking out the clues.
He was fascinated by the whole experience. This is a must for any visit to London!
Another thing you could do is visit the LEGO shop in Leicester Square. My boys enjoyed a visit to the M&M store. But if you will spend too much on retail therapy that might not help if your plan is London on a budget.
Ideas For Attractions To Visit When Planning a Trip to London
I enjoy visiting London, as there is much to see and do. Where we live in Wales is lovely don’t get me wrong, just there isn’t a huge amount in the way of attractions. We make up for it with picturesque scenery of course but I crave a bit more action at times and London is the place to be. Fortunately the boys godmummy lives there, so we have very reasonable board and lodging!!! But London attractions themselves can be expensive and it pays to look for deals and discounts wherever possible. I can see why so many people choose to visit London.
Here are some of our favourite attractions.
London Zoo
Our holiday to the capital would not have been complete without a visit to ZSL London Zoo. A trip to the Zoo might not help if you want to do London on a budget. But it is a wonderful day out so it comes highly recommended anyway.
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The boys delighting in the fact daddy is scared stiff of Peacocks (when planning their route!). We had a lovely time strolling around seeing all the animals. The enclosures are clean and well maintained.
Penguin Beach
The new Penguin Beach exhibit looks fantastic. I was slightly envious as it was so hot that day. I could have dived in myself! The penguins all looked very happy. They were chilling out in the water and sunbathing on the rocks. It is a sign of a good zoo when the animals are so content and thriving.
Keeping with the penguin theme I have no excuse anymore to complain about missing sleep as poor penguins only ever have power naps. As you can see below.
There was so much to do. We actually did not leave ourselves enough time. We could have easily spent another couple of hours walking around. So I do recommend giving yourself a full day for your visit. Especially if you have any little legs with you like we did.
Plus once they saw the face painting stand, zoo fair ground ride and bouncy castle, they just had to do all of that!!!
But it’s all based in one section so if you are watching the pennies you could give it a wide berth and try and skirt round it!
Make The Most Of The Live Shows
They have a very full schedule of live shows; a number of which had been inspired by the London 2012 games. We managed to watch the Animal Athletes in Action and were very impressed. The boys sat patiently watching, it was that good we had no wondering off or messing about, which meant it was worthy of their full on concentration. I liked that after the show the presenter mentioned how the skills the animals are demonstrating are all about survival for them and talked a little about conservation, so it becomes more than just a parade but an important lesson for our children.
Tunnel Exploring
Other highlights for the boys were going through a tunnel and finding the sleeping Aardvarks.
They looked very rested. I must admit I was slightly envious, as I was dashing around everywhere after two very excited boys! The boys also enjoyed jumping around in the little water fountain section, the only problem I had was getting them back out again! There really is so much fun to be had here!
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| Making new friends! |
Keepsake Booklet
On leaving the Zoo you had an opportunity to buy a keepsake booklet for £15. On the way in I heard the lady say how much they cost and had not planned to buy it thinking you just got one picture and it was awfully expensive. But the boys’ godmummy sneaked over and bought it for us anyway, I am so glad she did as you get so much more than one picture. You get information on the animals, postcards with your picture on and two larger pictures, all with different backgrounds and animals on. You also get to make a keyring and magnet to treasure. So all in all, its not a bad deal!
Entrance would have cost us £72 (with booking online to save 10%) and given how many hours you could spend here I think it is a must see attraction. Each enclosure has lots of information about the animals so it is a very educational experience. My wildlife mad boys were in their element learning so many new facts.
You can find out more information on the website.
Coca Cola London Eye
I love this attraction for views across London, the queues are a bit epic but it was worth it. We went up in the day but I could imagine it would be even more beautiful at night with twinkling lights everywhere.
River Thames Cruises
Booking a River Thames Cruise is another great way to sight-see or even combine the experience with afternoon tea to make it all the more indulgent. We have done a Duck Tour before but for our next London adventure I would like to try something else like the River Thames Speedboat, the speed looks quite exhilarating. Discount London has some great deals on all types of cruises.
Ripley’s Believe it or Not! London
Children will like this, lots of random exhibitions that will capture their interest, some of it is very obscure. My youngest liked this artwork made just from kisses!
Shrek’s Adventure
This is good as a one off if you have fans of DreamWorks films in your group, the 4D tour ride being a definite highlight. For the price though the attraction duration is quite short, we were all done after an hour and a half. The actors fair play are great though entertaining and funny and the scenes are well designed. At the end of the adventure you can take lots of pictures of models from all the different DreamWorks films.
