London with kids: Balancing History and Family Fun

My family and I recently returned from our first European vacation together. We spent a fun-filled week in London, followed by five days in Bruges, Belgium. This was our first time traveling overseas with our children and also our first family vacation centered around so many historical sites.

With three kids, ages 7, 10, and 12, I knew I needed to do a little creative planning to keep everyone engaged. My goal was to give the kids a chance to experience and appreciate London's incredible history while mixing in plenty of fun, active activities along the way.

Here is a breakdown of what we did each day, along with some ideas for families looking to add a little kid-friendly fun to their own London adventures.

Day 1: Harry Potter Walking Tour

After the long journey from Florida to London, we knew we needed to keep our first day relatively simple. At the same time, everyone was excited to get out and start exploring the city, so we booked a Harry Potter walking tour that we found on Airbnb.

We met our guide at Platform 9¾ in King's Cross Station. If you want to pose for a picture with the luggage trolley disappearing through the wall, I recommend arriving at least 45 minutes early. The line was long, and we waited about 45 minutes before reaching the front. Professional photographers and props are available, but you are also welcome to take your own pictures.

From there, our guide took us to several locations used in the filming of the Harry Potter movies. We did quite a bit of walking and also hopped on the London Underground to travel between locations.

It was a great way to begin exploring London while making the sightseeing especially fun for kids—particularly Harry Potter fans like ours. After the tour, we grabbed some dinner and headed back for some much-needed sleep.

Day 2: Tower of London and Spy Games

For our first full day in London, we made the Tower of London our main attraction. We took the Underground to the opposite side of the Thames so we could stroll along the river and walk across Tower Bridge on our way to the Tower.

We elected not to pay to go inside Tower Bridge, although that could certainly be a fun addition. We spent about three to three and a half hours touring the Tower of London. The kids especially enjoyed exploring the medieval apartments, visiting the White Tower, and seeing the Crown Jewels.

After several hours of history, I knew the kids would benefit from something more active, so I had booked an activity called Spy Games.

We took the Underground across town, grabbed a quick dinner at one of London's many convenient food markets, and then headed off for some family fun.

Spy Games has two different experiences, and you can book either one or both. We opted to do both and spent approximately two hours there.

The first side, Spy Games, consists of a series of interactive game rooms that you move between during your one-hour session. Each room offers a different physical or mental challenge, and you can either compete against each other or work together as a team.

One room is filled with lasers, and you have to make your way across without touching them, making you feel like a true spy in training. Other rooms have illuminated buttons covering the walls, with games that challenge you to hit the green buttons while avoiding the red ones. Another room is similar to rock climbing, requiring you to touch specific illuminated handholds. There is also a room with colored squares covering the floor, where you run and jump around trying to step on certain colors while avoiding others.

It was exactly what our family needed after a more serious afternoon of sightseeing and gave everyone a chance to burn off some energy.

The second experience, Spy Scape, is an interactive spy museum. It includes interesting exhibits about real spies, including stories from the Cold War, while incorporating hands-on challenges that test skills such as surveillance and lie detection, along with puzzles and other mental challenges.

We ran a little short on time toward the end of this section. It was very interesting, but I recommend keeping an eye on the clock and continuing to move through the exhibits so you have a chance to complete all of the interactive activities.

Day 3: Warner Bros. Studio Tour

This was easily one of the highlights of the entire trip for our family.

We traveled outside central London by train to visit the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. Our three kids are huge Harry Potter fans, and the studio tour was actually one of the reasons we chose London as our family vacation destination.

A complimentary bus from the train station made getting to and from the studio very easy.

We spent approximately six to seven hours exploring the sets, props, costumes, and exhibits from the Harry Potter films. Almost anything you can imagine from the movies was there. We saw the Gryffindor common room, Hagrid's Hut, the Great Hall, the Hogwarts Express, Privet Drive, Diagon Alley, the enormous model of Hogwarts, and much more.

My kids especially loved all of the interactive elements. They had fun pulling up mandrakes in the greenhouse, and there were countless opportunities for photos and videos.

Our favorite was making a green-screen video of ourselves flying on a Quidditch broom. Staff members called out different actions for us to perform while filming, and the finished video made it look as though we were flying around Hogwarts and London. We also took some great photos, with additional opportunities available on the Hogwarts Express, alongside the Wizard Chess pieces, and throughout the tour.

Of course, you can also sample Harry Potter treats such as Butterbeer and Butterbeer ice cream. The enormous gift shops, filled with seemingly every piece of Harry Potter merchandise imaginable, were another big hit with our kids.

If your family enjoys Harry Potter even a little, I would consider the Warner Bros. Studio Tour a must-do.

One warning: this is not an inexpensive day. Photos and videos cost extra, and the food and merchandise can add up quickly. For our family, however, it was absolutely worth the expense and ended up being our favorite day in London.

Day 4: Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, and Monopoly Lifesized

Today was all about balancing historical sightseeing with some kid-focused fun.

We began at Westminster Abbey. Before our trip, I had found a London scavenger hunt book for the kids, and it turned out to be a great purchase. The book included individual scavenger hunts for famous attractions, along with more general things to spot throughout London, such as red telephone booths and Underground signs.

There was a dedicated Westminster Abbey section, and having the kids search for items in the book made exploring the Abbey much more engaging for them.

After a quick lunch, we headed to the Churchill War Rooms. My husband, our older children, and I found them fascinating, although the experience was a little too history-focused for our youngest.

Fortunately, I had another fun family activity planned afterward: Monopoly Lifesized.

This ended up being a favorite for our whole family.

There are four different boards available, each featuring a life-sized Monopoly board with different spaces and challenges. We played together as a team against three other teams, with two game masters running the competition.

Teams take turns rolling a giant die and moving around the board. When you land on a property, your team enters a separate room and must successfully complete a game or challenge in order to purchase it. The challenges included laser rooms, memory games, puzzles, and all kinds of other activities.

There were also special games for Free Parking, Chance and Community Chest cards, and even Jail. If you land in Jail, you have to complete what is essentially a mini escape room before you can rejoin the game.

My kids love Monopoly, so they thought this was fantastic.

It is an expensive activity, although I was able to find a Groupon discount that helped with the cost. We also felt the experience would have been even better if each mini-game had given teams another minute or two to complete the challenges. Still, it was a very entertaining way to end the day.

Day 5: Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and More Monopoly

We started the day at Kensington Palace.

When we visited the Tower of London, we purchased a membership that also gave us access to several other historic attractions. Because Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace were already on our itinerary, the membership ended up providing good value for our family.

We enjoyed walking through the beautiful gardens at Kensington and seeing the Princess Diana statue. We also toured the Queen Victoria apartments, which provided an interesting contrast to the much older history we had experienced at the Tower of London.

After lunch nearby, we walked to Buckingham Palace to look around. The State Rooms were not open during our visit, but we still enjoyed seeing the exterior, and the kids were able to complete several more pages in their scavenger hunt book.

Since much of the day had been devoted to historical sightseeing, we decided to balance things out by returning to Monopoly Lifesized to try a different board.

It worked out perfectly. The second board featured different games and challenges, so the experience still felt fresh, and everyone enjoyed getting another chance to play.

Day 6: Hampton Court Palace

Today we headed outside the city to Hampton Court Palace, famously associated with King Henry VIII.

We really enjoyed Hampton Court, and it was another attraction included with our palace membership, making that purchase even more worthwhile.

The kids enjoyed touring Henry VIII's apartments, the Georgian apartments, and especially the historic kitchens.

Before our trip, we had read a Who HQ book about Henry VIII that discussed his enormous feasts and how much food was served at court. That made it especially fun for the kids to see the actual kitchens where those huge meals would have been prepared.

What we loved most about Hampton Court was that, despite being a major historical attraction, it offered something for everyone.

In addition to the beautiful gardens, there was a fun hedge maze and an impressive medieval-themed playground. My two youngest children spent more than an hour running, climbing, and playing there. There was also a water-play area, which was a welcome way to cool off on a hot day.

Having such a great place for the kids to run around after touring the palace made Hampton Court an excellent stop for our entire family.

Day 7: Greenwich, the Cutty Sark, and Royal Observatory

For our final full day, we once again ventured outside central London, this time to Greenwich.

We started at the Cutty Sark, a historic sailing ship involved in the tea trade during the late 1800s. Unfortunately, because of a heat wave, guided tours and costumed interpreters were not available on the day of our visit. Even so, we enjoyed showing the kids the old ship and introducing them to another part of British history.

From there, we had lunch at Greenwich Market before heading to the Royal Observatory.

At the Observatory, we took a guided tour that we found fascinating. We learned about the Prime Meridian, why it is located in Greenwich, and the different methods sailors historically used to determine their position at sea. Our guide was excellent, and the entire family enjoyed the experience.

To finish the day, we took an Uber Boat along the Thames back toward central London. It was a fun way to see the city from the water before enjoying one final stroll, some delicious dessert, and a little souvenir shopping.

Final Thoughts on Visiting London with Kids

We found London to be a fantastic destination for a family vacation. There was great food, an incredible amount of history, and plenty of unique activities to keep the kids entertained.

For us, the key was balance. We did not try to make every activity educational, nor did we avoid the major historical attractions because we had children with us. Instead, we tried to pair more history-heavy portions of each day with something active, interactive, or simply fun for the kids. That approach worked extremely well for our family.

Because many cruises depart from Southampton, London can also be a great place to spend a few days before a cruise. Arriving early gives your family time to adjust to the time difference while exploring one of the world's great cities before continuing on to other European ports.

We did not combine our London stay with a cruise on this trip, but I know many families who have and have really enjoyed the combination.

Hopefully our itinerary gives you a few ideas for planning your own family trip to London—and shows that it is entirely possible to introduce kids to London's remarkable history while still making sure everyone has plenty of fun along the way.