It's London History Day and since we are discovering a new part of London every other week, I thought I'll share how to discover London and where are the most kid-friendly historic places to visit.
The best way for us to discover quirky places in London as well as historically significant places was by walking tours. Yes they are child-friendly walking tours. But these are not any walking tours. These are chocolate or cupcake and macaroons tours! Yes you heard that right! We went on both tours obviously and took us to different places using different routes. While we filled our tummies with delicious treats we also discovered new places such a hidden street where Harry Potter was filmed, the oldest bookshop, lots of blue plaques, etc.... The tours were very informative and easy access for pushchairs and wheelchairs! We loved discovering London by walking.
London is filled with historic places. There's so much to see and do hat we are still discovering. The famous landmarks of course like Tower of London, Somerset House, Big Ben, the palaces were all visited. With little kids, I usually go to such places if there's any kid friendly activities so they can make most of it and learn more. To me Hreenwoch is my most favourite. It is filled with history and can easily spend 2 days there going to Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory with the Greenwich line passing through and the National Maritime Museum. However, what we love are the hidden jewels of London such as London Bridge and it's tombs. Although a scary experience, the first half is very informative. Every time we go to the Southbank Centre, we go say hi to Lucky's hero, Mary Seacole's statue near St Guy's and THomas Hospital. Did you know that there's also a Little Florence Nightingale Museum in the hospital itself which hosts family activities too? There are some other great museums such as the Imperial War Museum and the RAF museum in Hendon which are great for war fanatics. Since we live near Harrow School, Lucky is always amazed that she's walking on the pavement that Winston Churchill has walked. But a visit to Harrow School grounds is well worth a visit. It's picturesque. For all the little scientist, St Mary's has a little museum dedicated to Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered penicillin. On that note, a visit to universities on their family open days, if hosting one,is another great hit with the kids especially when I tell them who frequented there. We also loved the Centre of the Cell, located in Whitechapel campus of Queen Mary University. With its ginormous pod filled with interactive games, they offer sessions on different science topics. We went to to a session all about the heart and circulation which Lucky loved and write a whole essay and presented it at school. She was in Year 1 at that time! There a few little museums I heard off and on my list to go and see. These are the Foundling museum, Sherlock Holmes and Charles Dickens museum.
We also love the Olympic Park in Stratford and regularly frequent it when there's a festival. We even went swim alongside paralympians who were training for Rio 2016!! Another landmark is Alexandra Palace. We last went there for bonfire night with a Dead Parade which was amazing to my gore-loving kids. Every year the palace hosts a family-friendly Summer festival with a giant water slide, outdoor cinema, food markets, ice skating and funfair rides. Of course, National Trust places and the Royal Parks never disappoints either!
London is so diverse and with so much history to it, you can never get bored. the capital has an enormous history and as I find new places, I fall in love with the city even more!
London needs to be celebrated for its history and what a great initiative #LondonHistoryDay is!
PS: please let me know of any other places which I have not covered so I can go visit them
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