Finally Here!

We made it to London about a week ago and it has been busy but we have managed to sign a lease, get a bank account, and get a phone (contract) before my husband had to head to the office.

Now it is just the kids and I sitting in temporary housing until we can get our shipment in and move into the house.  Any suggestions for inexpensive things to do with kids in the city?  We have been hitting parks and taking lots of walks but I am afraid I will need to come up with something more.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Where in the city are you? London is an *incredibly* expensive town to entertain children in, but there are a few freebies.

A lot (not all) of the museums are free except for special exhibitions and a lot of them will have "kid trails" for lack of a better description or other activities for kids.

Tate Modern and Tate Britian:

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/ or for family activities at Tate: http://www.tate.org.uk/families/

The National Portrait Gallery has free kids activites at the weekend:

http://www.npg.org.uk/learning.php

The National Gallery:

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/families/

Victoria and Albert:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/f/families/

The Wallace Collection:

http://www.wallacecollection.org/education/activitiesforadultsandfamilies/familyactivities

How old are your kids? I am not a fan of London, but have always enjoyed geocaching there. If the kids are old enough it might be something to try. Except for travel it is pretty much free.

Brrrr...I hated geocaching in the city. Too many eyeballs!

That's what I like about the cities. You have to be so much more sneaky!

They are 12, 10, 7, and 5.  We are near Tower Bridge on the south side of the river.

We have done letter boxing before, but we don't have our stamp with us.   Maybe we will have to make a new one...

The Museum of London is free, too!  Another one that is definitely kid-friendly.

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/

I did Museum of London with my 9 year old daughter and we both really enjoyed it. Lots to see!

I was also thinking of trying some walking tours. I found this website (http://www.walks.com/London_Walks_Home/LW_TIMETABLE/default.aspx) and was thinking several sounded fun and kid friendly (like the Harry Potter one!) and there is even one in my neighborhood. It would be nice to know more about where we're living. Has anyone else tried this company (or another) for walking tours that they can recommend?

Tracy

PS: Welcome! We just got here a couple of weeks ago ourselves

Welcome!

I recommend a day out in Greenwich. You can take the over land train from central London (there's a direct one from Tower Bridge) and there's lots for kids - Greenwich park and the Maritime Museum is fab - children's hands on gallery, plus the markets at the weekend are great and fun for kids too.