kevinm016

I am visiting London for a week in August with my 15 year old. We have all the usual boxes checked (Tower, Eye, Abbey and so on) but I was wondering what we hadn't thought of that would be good. Any suggestions - including suggestions for day trips outside of London? Thanks very much.

Gagravarr

What are they into? History? Science? Shopping? Architecture? Hiking? Certain sports?

kevinm016

science, planes/transportation, food, design, some sports (football, tennis)

Gagravarr

Science Museum in London should be on your list then, along with the nearby V&A for design stuff. The Thames Barrier out in Docklands could be of interest to, you could combine that with a visit to the Greenwich Observatory and/or the National Maritime Museum

If you want to get out of London, York has a pretty old historic centre, a nice train ride there/back, and a railway museum

If you're there a week, you should be able to find an interesting home football game to go to. Depending on interest, either splash out on tickets for a big match from a well known side, or pick a first division club and have a cheaper match where you'll be closer to the action in a smaller stadium. Tennis wise, you could always head down to Wimbledon to see the museum and look around, not sure if you'd be able to watch any matches though

MAN Pax

You can same some money on the cost of many of your attractions by using a 2 for 1 voucher in conjunction with a valid RAIL (not tube!) ticket.

More information on this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...ide-2for1.html

The advice is still good, and useful if you also need a ticket to go around London, or further out. You must buy a paper travelcard from a ticket counter at a mainline rail station - not from the tube ticket counters.

Edited to add:
Here's a really clear guide to the 2-1-4 on Tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-....1.Offers.html

stut

Depending on whether civil or military aircraft are more interesting, there is the RAF museum at Hendon, and the IWM Duxford. There's also the extremely odd Shuttleworth Collection, near me in Biggleswade (although a little distance from the town - only walkable if you know how...)

salut0

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Design museum is also worth seeing separate from the V&A

MAN Pax

And to add another places to visit Imperial War Museum at Duxford (http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford) A great place to spend the day.

Of course, if you go on the train, you also have a ticket for your 2-4-1 attractions....

Also second the idea of a trip to York - for the railway museum and many other attractions. Book tickets on the train ASAP for the cheapest prices if you want to visit.

Swanhunter

London Transport Museum is always a winner.

big_mac

Bear in mind that a paper travelcard is now significantly more expensive than using Oyster.

My sciency suggestions are the Faraday museum at the Royal Institution and Bletchley Park (40 mins from London).

Ldnn1

And if you hire a car, you could combine a morning visit to Duxford with an afternoon in Cambridge, finished off with an early evening punt along the river.

It's an easy drive up to Cam and one of my favourite days out for foreign visitors.

Microwave

London Transport Museum, V&A and Science Museum would be winners in my book.

lhrsfo

That would be great if your boy enjoyed The Imitation Game.

I would go for the Design Museum, plus all the cool stuff around Kings Cross - let's face it, Britain is not on the top of the world when it comes to modern science, but is when it comes to Design.

zebrametalevel

Oxford is an easy and rewarding day trip

Gagravarr

If you head to Oxford, you've got several great and free museums! The Museum of the History of Science is very central (Broad Street), and has some interesting + different stuff in it. The Pitt Rivers museum is brilliant and quirky, often described as an "Indiana Jones" museum! Ashmolean is good too, but probably just pick one or two rooms to see as it's got so much in. Other than that, pick one or two colleges to look round, maybe wander round Christchurch Meadows or the University Parks, and spend an hour punting. Oh, and a pub or two, but that'll be more fun if you return in 3 years when you can both enjoy a pint!