Five fantastic free things to do in London with kids

It's January and some of us are a bit short of cash (all those presents take it out of you, don't they?). So, I thought I would try to be useful. Here are 5 great free things to do in London. Save on entrance fees - and treat yourself to a coffee and cake instead....

Please note that, once I started on this post I realised that there are so many brilliant free things to do in London, we are all spoilt for choice. And I haven't even mentioned the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery which have some wonderful children's trails and often have workshops for kids too, nor the many city farms including Spitalfields and Kentish Town!

1) The Diana Memorial playground in Hyde Park

London has some absolutely gorgeous parks - perfect for the kids to let off steam. You can enjoy magnificent views from Primrose Hill in North London, or go boating in Regent's Park (one of my favourites). But if I only had to pick one for families, it would be the Diana playground.

Set up in memory of the former Princess, mother of Princes William and Harry, and located near her home at Kensington Palace, this play area is wonderful, imaginative, clean and fun. Aimed at children under 12, adults are only allowed in if they have a child with them and the masterpiece is the huge wooden pirate ship. Most children love this, enjoying the pulleys and ropes, walkways and more. It's all lovely and safe, surrounded by sand and has a lovely Peter Pan connection through various scenes from the famous story.

But there is more to it than the ship. There is a giant swing, tunnels, sensory trail and lots of sculptures to discover too. There are also enough toilet facilities, plus nappy-changing and a café. My only warning is that it can get extremely busy.

[caption id="attachment_947" align="aligncenter" width="940"] There is so much to see at the British Museum[/caption]

2) Enjoy the museums

This is the most obvious of my suggestions, but it's still worth emphasising. London has the most fantastic variety of museums and some of the best will cost you absolutely nothing to explore! Most of them also offer children's trails, activities and even backpacks which contain anything from puzzles to quiz questions and which you can borrow while you find out what's on offer.

Try the Natural History Museum if you crave some dinosaur action (but note that it is always busy), the Science Museum for hours of experimental fun (you can return to this one over and over again) and the British Museum for ancient Egypt, the Rosetta Stone and more. The Museum of London is a wonderful place to visit, with or without kids, and tends to be a little less busy than the others. There you can find out about anything from the capital in Roman times to the Great Fire. Its partner museum, the Museum of London in Docklands, is another gem, telling you about how important the Thames has been. It also has a lovely "mudlands" kids' play area.

 

[caption id="attachment_949" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Big Ben is just one of the landmarks you can see while walking around London[/caption]

3) Take a walk along the South Bank

This is my favourite part of London as it seems to sum up the history, beauty and bustle. I'd recommend that you take the tube or a bus to Westminster, where you can marvel at the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, as well as explore Parliament Square and its multitude of statues (including one of Winston Churchill). Then cross the bridge (enjoying the views) and walk down towards the National Theatre (you're now on the South Bank!). You will pass the London Eye and Aquarium among other attractions, and also come upon various stalls as you make your way towards the Royal Festival Hall. If you want to keep walking, you can continue on past my favourite bridge (Tower Bridge) the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern, all the way to London Bridge and treat yourself at Borough Market. However, if you have young kids, they may not want to go this far! Wherever you end up, you'll love the views and get a real sense of what this fantastic city has to offer.

4) Somerset House

This beautiful Georgian building - once home to Anne of Denmark, Henrietta Maria and Catherine of Braganza - has a magnificent courtyard and offers some great views of the Thames from its balcony. But it's particularly worth a visit because of its summer fountains - which your kids will love jumping in and out of, and you might enjoy too - and its winter ice rink.

If you have older kids, you might enjoy one of the free guided tours (check for details, but these are usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays and some Saturdays). For children aged 6-12, there are regular family themed workshops (usually on the first Saturday of the month), with the next one, on Saturday February 7th, all about 3D mapping!

[caption id="attachment_951" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Visit the Tower of London late in the day and watch history come alive in front of you![/caption]

5) The Ceremony of the Keys

If you book this online, it will cost you £1, so it's not entirely free, but it's definitely worth it - even if you have to plan your visit in advance. When else do you get to go to a ceremony which has been performed regularly for 700 years?
The ceremony is at 9.30pm each evening, so may not be suitable for very young children, but it will excite most ages. It lasts about 40 minutes and is essentially the formal locking of the gates at the Tower by the Chief Yeoman Warder and his accompanying guards. The same wording is used each night, starting with "Halt, who comes there?" Not to be missed!

We'd also recommend The Changing of the Guard, Kenwood House, some of the London markets (although beware of pester power here) and many more!

A Visit To The Sherlock Holmes Exhibition at the Museum of London

I had wanted to visit the Sherlock Holmes exhibition at the Museum of London ever since it opened - I have read loads of the books and am obsessed with Sherlock on BBC! Mum and I visited it on Sunday, and were not disappointed.

The exhibition is full of drafts, magazines, films, pictures from London during the time of Holmes and props from the BBC TV show, including the coat worn by Benedict Cumberbatch in the Reichenbach Falls at the end of series two. I thought that this was really cool, and something I definitely would not have expected to see.

[caption id="attachment_785" align="aligncenter" width="768"] Benedict Cumberbatch's coat[/caption]

We learnt lots from the exhibition - I hadn't known that A Study In Scarlet, the first Holmes book, was originally published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. However, it was only when the stories were printed in the Strand Magazine that they became well known. Copies of the magazines were on display, and they were wonderful.

A large portion of the exhibition is what life was like during the times Holmes existed, and what the places he visited would have looked like. Therefore, walls were covered with photographs and paintings of these times. Although many of these were fascinating, I felt that there were rather too many, and the sheer amount of them was slightly overwhelming.

My favourite part of the exhibition was seeing a film of Arthur Conan Doyle talking in a filmed interview from 1927. He talked about the take off of the Holmes books, describing them as a “monstrous growth from a comparatively small seed”. His voice was incredible - a strange mixture of English and Scottish - and I was amazed that I had the chance to listen to it.

Mum and I also saw lots of manuscripts, photographs, typewriters, forensic kits, maps, and books throughout the rooms. We got to see Conan Doyle's actual handwriting and a postcard that he sent to his son, which I thought was brilliant.

Something we also really enjoyed was the room at the end of the exhibition, which is full of props and costumes from film and TV adaptations of Holmes. As I said before, a major highlight was a coat worn by Benedict Cumberbatch, but there was also loads more, including the "wall of rats" from a Sherlock episode.

Overall, mum and I really enjoyed our visit to the Sherlock Exhibit at the Museum of London, however we felt the fixation of life in Sherlock's time was too great. We spent a good hour and a half going round the rooms and I would recommend it to any Holmes fan out there.

Sherlock Holmes: the man who never lived and will never die is on at the Museum of London until April 12 2015. Tickets cost: Adult £12.55 (£11.45 without donation) Child/Concession* £10.45 (£9.45 without donation)
Flexible family tickets, £9.95 (child) / £10.05 (adult) per person (£8.95 child/adult without donation). Children under 12 go free.

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