best thing to do in London with kids?

jennet1

I am going to be in London next week with my 2 boys, youngest is age 5, and eldest age 8 who is wheelchair bound. We will have around 5 hours to spend doing something fun! What would you recommend?
we could do to stay around central London area, be wheelchair accessable and entertaining for a 5 yr old boy plus not too expensive HELP!!

PasturesNew

Is that entirely by choice? Lympix will be on and all the kerfuffery will impede your plans.

tanith

I was thinking the same thing , London's going to ram jammed with Olympic tourists for the next 2/3 weeks, travel is going to be problematic at best..

jennet1

I would have avoided if I have a choice,trust me, but my son has an appointment later in the day so we will have to suffer the crowds and chaos

barbarawright

Central London is a big place and the tube is very unfriendly to wheelchairs unfortunately. Where exactly will you be? I'm sure we can come up with something - the parks are all lovely as is the riverside.

[Deleted User]

Hopefully this map will help:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/avoiding-stairs-guide.pdf

It's a map of the tube with details of what stations have 'stair free' access

Where do you arrive into london? (e.g. what train station). Even 'central' London can be huge

duchy

barbarawright wrote: »

Central London is a big place and the tube is very unfriendly to wheelchairs unfortunately. Where exactly will you be? I'm sure we can come up with something - the parks are all lovely as is the riverside.

Not entirely true most stations have lifts (most not visible or accessible to the general public) and London buses are wheelchair friendly (and far more fun for kids as they can see out)

The Duck tour is great fun for kids if the weather is nice. I've not done it in London and I think with a wheelchair you'd need to book in advance.

Mrs_Arcanum

Science museum is always worth a visit. Free entry too, just have to pay for any of the special extras like the Red Arrows or IMax cinema shows.

mew

Predictable, expensive and busy but fun and accessible are The London Eye & London Aquarium. Also there is a river trip (accessible?) from the London Eye pier and usually plenty of street entertainers near by the London Eye.

barbarawright

duchy wrote: »

Not entirely true most stations have lifts (most not visible or accessible to the general public) and London buses are wheelchair friendly (and far more fun for kids as they can see out)

The Duck tour is great fun for kids if the weather is nice. I've not done it in London and I think with a wheelchair you'd need to book in advance.

Some stations do but not most.. The lift at my local station is out of order more often than not (it's not working at the moment). I think you'd be unwise to rely on tube travel (especially with another kid to look after too). Buses are a much better option - though it can be difficult to get drivers to notice a wheelchair.

But if you let us know where you have to be, I bet we can come up with really good ideas. The Tate Modern and whole area around there up to Tower Bridge is fairly wheelchair friendly for example.

xfive71

I would keep visiting the monuments etc to another time if possible.

But it is the Olympics and maybe you can go to Hyde Park for BTLondon Live. General access tickets are free although you can book for guaranteed entry before 2pm. from ticketmaster. I have checked and the availability for week days are good. Tickets are free but ticketmaster charge £3.50 for handling charges.