Great Activities For Families In London

LONDON MANIA

Travel tips for kids extracted from kidsGo! London
By Mio Debnam, illustrated by Tania Willis




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Visiting London? Lucky you!

Not only is it the capital of the United Kingdom, it’s a city packed with loads of history, culture and fun!

There are many historic buildings in London, such as St Paul’s Cathedral. If you visit only one church, make it this one – it’s spectacular! Located on the highest point in London, the cathedral, which is more than 300 years old, has the second-largest dome in the world, and you can climb it – both inside and out.

To reach the famous Whispering Gallery, you’ll have to trek up 257 steps into the interior of the dome. It’s worth it though, as not only will you be able to see the painted frescos up close, you will also see how the gallery got its name. Ask your mum or dad to stand on the other side of the dome and you should be able to hear them whisper from more than 40 metres away!

There are also two galleries running around the outside of the dome. The topmost one is called the Golden Gallery and can be reached by a heart-pounding climb of 528 steps. You’ll be rewarded with a fantastic view over London!

One of the best ways to see London is on foot, and there’s a great walking tour in kidsGo! London, which takes you past Buckingham Palace, St James’s park, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and the Tower of London, which has a very bloody history. Along the way, go for a spin on the London Eye, visit the aquarium and HMS Belfast, or take a boat ride down the Thames.

The walk will also take you past the Millennium bridge, which was destroyed in the movie Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince! The Bridge, which is still standing in real life, has another claim to fame – during a charity walk on the day after it officially opened, the bridge started to sway from side to side, which earnt it the nickname ‘Wibbly Wobbly Bridge’. It was closed immediately afterwards for almost two years to fix the problem.

No trip to London would be complete without a visit to a museum, and there are many fab museums to choose from. We love the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Imperial War Museum. One that is less well known is the Ragged School Museum, where you can see what life was like for pupils in the 1870s. If you visit on a Sunday, sign up for a lesson in the Victorian classroom, with a strict form mistress. You’d better have neat handwriting and do your sums right, or you’ll find yourself wearing the dunce’s hat!

For more details and ideas on where to go and what to see, including the puppet theatre barge, the zoo, the maze at Hampton Court, the Changing of the Guards, and where you can go to get the best fish and chips, check out kidsGo! London.

Happy Holidays!

Text © copyright of Mio Debnam and kidsGo! Travel Series (an imprint of Haven Books)
Illustrations © copyright of Tania Willis and kidsGo! Travel Series (an imprint of Haven Books)
Reproduced here by Yummy Mummy with the permission of Haven Books Limited