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Our family was looking for the perfect first trip to Europe to take with our children. After quite a bit of research, we finally picked our destination and got to planning. We chose London in England based on 3 main factors. It is one of the shortest plane ride to Europe from where we live (middle of the United States), the spoken language is English and the city itself has enough to do that we didn’t have to change location once at our destination. We spent a long time planning the perfect trip to London with teenagers and I’m happy to share our itinerary and experience.
Day 1 – Arrival/Trafalgar Square/Piccadilly Circus/Covent Garden
Our London with teenagers adventure started in Chicago where we boarded an overnight flight. It was the first time for our 2 teenagers (11 and 13 years old) on a flight that long where they would need to sleep. We prepped them well since both my husband and I had experience doing so. Everyone wore comfy clothes and ate dinner before boarding the plane so that we could settle right away and fall asleep soon after take off. We were all excited and in all honesty, it took a while to fall asleep but we tried.
Morning
We landed at Heathrow Airport in London at 8:30 am local time. The subway system, referred to as the tube or the underground connects to the airport which is really convenient. Therefore, we traveled using the underground to our flat located near Tower Bridge. The tube ride took approximately 40 minutes and we had a 5-10 minute walk from the tube station to our flat.
TIPS: I highly recommend downloading the underground app on your phone before you travel to London. It is really helpful to get around. Additionally, we chose to pre-order an oyster card which is essentially a pre-paid public transportation card. It was great to have it with us when we arrived so that we didn’t have to figure this part out while jet-lagged when we landed.
Afternoon
We got to our place, freshened up, and went back out to find some lunch and stay awake. We stopped at Anchor Bankside for some fish and chips and honestly, it was just okay. It looked great but it was just a very touristy restaurant. We mostly wandered the street the rest of the afternoon. We did stop by the Clink prison and visited it which was neat. We went back to our flat for a quick nap and headed back out using the tube toward Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Here are a few things we visited around Trafalgar Square:
- Britain’s smallest police station
- Benjamin Franklin’s house
- Leicester Square
- Covent Garden (try to find the hidden ears)
- Soho district & John Snow’s pump which was at the center of the cholera outbreak in 1854
- M&M store
We finished the night with a delicious dinner at Honest burger in Covent Garden then headed back to our flat where we crashed and got some much-needed rest.
Day 2 – Tower Bridge, Tower of London & HMS Belfast
Morning
We got up feeling well-rested and were ready to continue our exploration of London. Before leaving the US, we had purchased a London pass which gives you access to many attractions. It saves you from standing in line once you arrive on-site to purchase tickets and if you plan to visit many attractions, it will save you money. For us, it was totally worth it!
We left our flat at 9 am and walked to Tower Bridge. It is such an impressive structure to see. We even got to see it open up later that day to let a boat pass. The Tower of London is located across the river Thames when using the Tower Bridge to cross. We entered the site and waited for our tour to start. I highly recommend a guided tour. The tour guides are very knowledgeable and make the visit memorable. It was one of my favorite experiences during our London with teenagers’ trip and the kids loved it as well.
Afternoon
We grabbed lunch and walked around for a while. We came back across the Thames using the London Bridge and tried to stop by the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. However, we could not get a tour on that day. We came back to visit later in the week. Since that plan fell through, we decided to visit the HMS Belfast, a surviving World War II Royal Navy warship. This was a fun and also educational visit that I recommend.
After resting at the flat for a little bit, we changed and went out to dinner at a great Italian restaurant near the Shard. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name and this is a theme in this article since we took the trip before I started blogging. After dinner, we went up to the observation floor at the Shard to see the city at night from high up. It was a beautiful clear night and it wasn’t overly busy.
Day 3 – Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey & London Eye
Morning
Day 3 was our Royal Day. We did not purchase tickets to visit the inside of the Palace. However, it is an option if this is something you are interested in. Check out the website of Buckingham Palace for more information. We chose to go watch the changing of the guards. It is important to look at the schedule because this is not an option every day. Depending on when you plan your London visit, it can get really busy. We arrived early to get a good spot. We found that ultimately, it is a lot of waiting around. It was fun to see it but not the most memorable part of our trip.
We then went to see the Royal Mews exhibit. This was included in our London Pass so it just made sense to visit. It was actually pretty neat to see all the carriages the Royal family has had over the years.
After this visit, we took a walk through Hyde Park, went to see the Wellington Arch, and finally grabbed lunch at a Hard Rock Cafe in the area.
Afternoon
We started the afternoon by taking the tube to the area where Westminster Abbey and Big Ben are located. Big Ben was under construction so there wasn’t much to see. The line to go inside Westminster Abby was long and we decided not to go inside. We did visit the inside of St-Paul’s Cathedral on day 5 which is beautiful.
Instead, we decided to walk back to the other side of the Thames to ride the London Eye. This area is very touristy and the London Eye is quite expansive but overall we enjoyed it. You get a really good view of the entire city. Each bubble has air conditioning so it is comfortable during the approximately 30 minutes it takes to go around. We then grabbed a drink at Queen Elizabeth Hall roof garden bar.
Day 4 – Harry Potter studios
Our London with teenagers trip could not be complete without a trip to the Harry Potter Studios. Our family is a big fan and we were so excited for this day. We purchased our tickets before we arrived in London. We left our flat early and took the tube to King Cross station. From there, we boarded a double-decker bus which took us to the studios. The bus ride took about 45 minutes and they played Harry Potter during the ride. We spent several hours that day visiting the studios. If you are a fan, I highly recommend visiting. This was very cool!
Day 5 – More site seeing and formal tea time
We again started the day early to go have breakfast at the Sky Garden. This is the highest public garden in London and offers a 360 view of London’s panorama. We made a reservation at Darwin Brasserie and enjoyed a delicious breakfast with a magnificent view. We walked around the garden for a bit then went back out onto the streets for some sightseeing. On that day we saw:
- The monument to the great fire of London
- Leadenhall market which was an inspiration to Diagon Alley
- St Bartholomew the great church (oldest church from 1143)
- St-Pauls Cathedral is absolutely beautiful
- Hamleys toy store
Later that afternoon we had a reservation at One Aldwych for a proper afternoon English tea time. This was a fun experience with the kids, and we chatted about everything we had seen that day. As the trip was closer to the end, we were able to discuss what else we still wanted to see to make this London with teenagers trip perfect.
Day 6 – Prime meridian at Greenwich Observatory
Our kids love history and we wanted to make sure throughout this trip to sprinkle plenty of educational content. Therefore, our London with teenagers trip could not skip visiting the iconic Greenwich Observatory and learning more about how the Prime Meridian was determined. An underground and a train ride later and we made it to Greenwich in about 1 hour. We enjoyed our visit to the Observatory and I highly recommend it. We loved standing on the Prime Meridian and seeing the Great Equatorial Telescope. This was probably in our top 3 favorites during this trip.
We grabbed lunch nearby once we were done and then went to tour the Cutty Sark. If you are not familiar with it, the Cutty Sark is a historic sailing ship and the fastest of its time. We headed back to our flat later in the afternoon, which wrapped up day 6.
Day 7 – Hop-on-hop-off bus and Shakespeare Globe theater
This was our last full day in London. Therefore, we decided to take it easy without a formal plan. We got on the hop-on-hop-off bus to see more of the city. We also decided to go back to the Shakespeare Globe theater to see if we could visit and we were able to get tickets. I’m so glad we did. It was great to learn about this place which first opened in 1599 but then burnt down for the first time in 1613. If we go back to London, I want to go see a play at the theater.
Day 8 – Departure
We got up, packed our luggage, and headed to Heathrow airport using the underground. Our flight was at 12:15 pm which allowed us to have a good night’s sleep before the journey back home. We were glad we did because once we arrived in Washington DC for our connection, the weather was crazy and flights were being delayed and canceled left and right. Sure enough, our flight was canceled and we were rebooked late the following day. We ended up in a hotel with no luggage and were quite exhausted. We decided to rent a car to drive home the next morning instead of waiting all day for our flight. As a funny note, the teenage son saved the day as he was the only one with deodorant and a hairbrush in his backpack!
Must-have items for international trips
- Passport/document organizer for solo travelers
- Passport/document organizer for families
- International adapter
- Money belt (only way to truly protect your cards and money in crowded areas)
- Battery pack (a thin one that fits in your money belt)
- Travel pillow (for long overnight flights)
In conclusion
Our London with teenagers trip was truly amazing and one we will remember forever. London is a perfect destination to take your teenagers to Europe for the first time.
I hope this article made you consider taking your kids to London or that it has helped you plan your upcoming trip.
Safe travel! Cat xx