It’s never too early to start planning for your family’s summer holidays. The UK has a number of attractions that are perfectly suited for families and children of all ages, and there’s no better time to explore them than during the summer. So maybe skip the trip to Spain or Greece this year and instead spend a bit of time exploring Greater London.
Two attractions on the outskirts of London, and close to Heathrow, that families with children will particularly enjoy are LEGOLAND and Thorpe Park. A visit to one of the parks will take up the better part of a whole day, so plan accordingly.
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LEGOLAND Windsor is well suited for young children, as the park offers mostly leisurely rides based around the classic children’s toy. The Miniland attraction and its recreation of the world using LEGO bricks is one of the many fun attractions at the park.
A LEGO recreation of London at LEGOLAND's Miniland attraction. Photo credit Bixentro.Also west of London, Thorpe Park is the UK’s premier amusement park and thrill ride capital. Teenagers will absolutely love this park, as it has dozens of extreme rides, including the famed Stealth whose top speed of 80 miles per hour makes it the fastest roller coaster in the UK. The latest addition to the Thorpe Park repertoire is The Swarm, which, if early reviews are any indication, looks set to become one of Europe’s most revered thrill rides.
Thorpe Park's thrill rides are sure to please even the most discerning thrill-ride enthusiast. Photo credit Jeremy Thompson.Another, quieter, way to spend a day in West London is to visit the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – simply called Kew Gardens by most. A designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, this site is one of England’s most important cultural treasures, as it has a long royal history and is home to the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse. Families will especially enjoy its Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway, which soars above the trees at a height of 60 feet and stretches almost 700 feet.
The Victorian glasshouses of Kew Gardens seen through the trees. Photo credit Crispin Semmens / CC BY-SA.For some family fun that’s also educational, venture into the center of London to explore some of its incredible museums, the vast majority of which are entirely free!
The British Museum should be the first stop for families, as this museum is a literal treasure trove of art and antiquities collected from around the world during Britain’s century-long period as global hegemon.
The museum has over eight million items in its collection, which includes huge sections on classical Greek and Roman artworks and Egyptian antiquities. Even children who are disinclined to enjoy museums will admire the giant monolithic statues covered in exotic hieroglyphics.
The world-famous Elgin Marbles in the Ancient Greece section of the British Museum. Photo credit Stuart Pilbrow/ CC BY-SA.Another great museum to visit with the fam is the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. This museum is the place to go for giant dinosaur skeletons and other objects from the natural world like a butterfly collection and sabre-toothed tiger fossils.
Want to give the kids something truly special? Well, every few months the Natural History Museum hosts an event called “Dino Snores.” This sleepover is geared for groups of children aged 7-11 – there must be a minimum of five children and one adult in each group – and involves a ton of fun activities like a torch-lit walk through the dinosaurs gallery to see the animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex. Even adults will appreciate a night at the museum, as snoozing in a sleeping bag in the same room as the giant skeleton of a long-necked Diplodocus is a pretty unique experience to say the least!
The Natural History Museum's Diplodocus skeleton. Photo credit Niko Retro/ CC BY-SA.