I booked my first trip back to London with kids after two years of not visiting. It was something to look forward to after our long two-month Japan / US journey. I guessed I’d be simultaneously exhausted from traveling but also depressed that our travels ere over! Well, this was a perfect mini-break and not too hard either since we could go by train (4 or 4.5 hours from Amsterdam).
I know London well after living there for 8 years. This time I chanced it with my kids and decided to stay with a friend. However, she had no crib — and my 1-year-old is NOT used to cosleeping, ugh. This made night 1 so hard, and although he got used to it on the other days, I think I broke his sleep habits, because he would not go to sleep on his own at all for two weeks afterwards. It was worth it regardless because I love London!
So here you go, my itinerary for 4 nights in London, solo with a 1 year old and a 4 year old. Keep in mind that I was not trying to sightsee in the typical sense since I know London well —it was more about revisiting old haunts and enjoying being in the city again.
Day 1: Eurostar to London with kids & Pancras Square Library
Arriving in London was actually just fine. We were crammed into a seat unfortunately without any windows with semi-drunk football fans across from us, but their noise actually made me less self-conscious about my baby crying, haha. The 1-year-old slept for about an hour and we had lots and lots of snacks to tide us over. We arrived with more energy than I thought I would have around pm.
This trip reminded me how busy London is and how important it is you plan in advance if there’s anything in particular you want to see. I’d wanted to go to the British Library for their maps exhibition, but it sold out a few days beforehand. I also wanted to try out their kids’ playroom, but that was booked out too! At the V&A Marie Antoinette exhibition was also completely sold out. We ended up wandering around Pancras Square upon arrival, and found this amazing library, Pancras Square Library, with a kids’ corner and cheap vegan cafe (£1 chai tea available). They also had a free secondhand clothing section! My sons loved it, played with all the other kids, and would’ve happily spent the whole rest of the day there.
We took the tube to Swiss Cottage, near my friend’s home, and met up with her for dinner at a Japanese place. This was probably the hardest meal I had with them. They were exhausted, it was not really a kid-friendly place, and too expensive for what it was. Still tasted good though and they were ravenous for the chawanmushi (egg custard soup) and Ebi fry.
One other tip I figured out with kids: take the bus if there might be a lot of walking / stairs on the tube. Generally this is anywhere that’s not the Circle or District line! Even with a baby carrier, which I travel with exclusively, it was hard to wander around underground with them too long with our luggage, and I preferred getting back to the train station via bus even though it’s theoretically a little longer.
Day 2: Trafalgar Square, Dishoom breakfast, London Transport Museum and friends!
So we woke up exhausted and a bit disheartened and even talked about potentially taking an uber to borrow a friend’s crib. It didn’t seem worth it though, and I was correct that by night 2 my son would be used to our cosleeping arrangement.
As a way to fend off my exhausted mood, we decided to just head out and went to Trafalgar Square (mostly because I knew it’d be deserted at 8am on a Saturday and wanted to show my son where I used to live, which was near there). Then, we went for the best breakfast in London — Dishoom! Their egg naan role is SO GOOD. I don’t know the last time I’ve had food this good in Amsterdam. It just makes me so happy. I actually went back two mornings later lol.
Then we met up with my friend who has a 2 -year-old. We wandered around Covent Garden a bit, and I marveled at all the things I used to know (like my old flat, some of the shops I used to frequent, the general vibe…) and also the new things constantly popping up – so typical of London – all the shops and restaurants are constantly changing. You start noticing the place change (yet stay the same) the moment you move away. I’d love to try out the new Seven Dials Market and the Guinness Open Gate Brewery on another trip.
For this morning, we headed to the London Transport Museum. Wow!! This museum was awesome! The ticket is also valid for a full year and I would definitely return if we come back. My toddler was so excited to just run around, and my eldest loved engaging with every aspect of the museum. 10/10 recommend but you MUST get there at opening as it got really busy shortly after (we went on a Saturday). My youngest was so exhausted he just fell asleep on his own in the baby carrier whilst I was sat down in the cafe.
Next up was another of my London favourites, Franco Manca. I arranged a big lunch with a bunch of friends and their kids. I love this chain’s pizza, but it was a bit meh this time around unfortunately — I’ve heard people complain they haven’t kept up their quality while expanding through London. This is true, but their kids menu is great and they do give colouring for the kids. By booking a bigger venue with a downstairs bit, we were able to make a lot of ruckus and not worry too much about the kid chaos, so all in all this was a good choice for lunch.
Afterwards I’d really wanted to go see the Egypt exhibit at Sir John Soane’s Museum but to my astonishment there was an hour long queue! We tried to go to the quirky Hunterian Museum, but this too was booked out. London on a weekend is not for the faint of heart. You need to be able to book everything, in my opinion. This is crazy because I used to do these types of obscure museums at the weekend without any problem 10-15 years ago.
There is a new cafe in Lincolns Inn Fields that was a nice place to chill out with my friends and family, so that was what we did for the remainder the day. Then I got Greggs for a casual dinner and headed back to my friend’s place.
Day 3: Museum and spa time for me followed by a Sunday roast
This was the day I was waiting for! I was so lucky to have my sister-in-law available and parents-in-law in town to watch my kids while I went for some much needed me-time. And my baby didn’t even freak out despite being quite clingy these last few months! They love their family. They took them to a kids museum in Stratford which looks super fun – the Discover Children’s Story Centre. They definitely had a good time.
As for me, I was heading to the Pan Pacific Hotel in Liverpool Street to use a massage voucher I had (SO relaxing). Before that, I went back to the Sir John Soane Museum and managed to get in upon opening. I’m glad I went and enjoyed the chance to do a museum on my own for once! Also I had a great latte and croissant from Roasting Plant Coffee for breakfast – I like that they let you choose your beans for the lattes.
I had had trouble picking a pub that would be good for a big group of people with kids nearby. In retrospect, I should have booked something like Wahaca (great Mexican chain in London) instead. The pub we ended up at in Spitalfields market was dark, the food was awful and my kids were pretty bored although it wasn’t the end of the world. I went by the (relatively new) Boxhall food hall on the way back and ate a taco and cookie as a way to top up after my sad meal, lol.
That said, I do miss a good Sunday roast but I think I’d only book one again if I knew the vibe of the place exactly rather than going off reviews.
Day 4: Richmond! An easy day trip from London
For breakfast I actually headed back to Dishoom, haha. I was craving their egg naan roll again and a bit down from the crummy pub roast the night before. So we trekked over to King’s Cross and had another one. It was so good.
We then went to the train station to say goodbye to the kids’ grandparents before they headed back up north. It was so lovely to see them in London! After saying our farewells, I reserved our last full day in London for for a trip west to Richmond to see some friends… also for my favorite restaurant in London – Chez Lindsay!
This place is amazing! They make authentic French buckwheat crepes with such delicious dry apple cider. 10/10 would come back every time. Even with kids, they were SO kind and patient. I did purposely go on a weekday afternoon knowing it would be very quiet at lunchtime, and luckily we were the only people there for much of it. It’s quite fancy so I probably wouldn’t do this when it’s busy. I also ended up having to change my son’s nappy on the floor of a narrow toilet while he wriggled around, and chasing him around to avoid him smashing the wine bottle decor… but worth it for the food and cider!
Another friend showed up towards the end of the meal with her baby and we took a stroll along the Thames River. This was a highlight of the day. My 4-year-old really had fun running around along the Thames Path (even though we didn’t go very far), and it’s the scenery is so pretty.
There is so much more to do in this part of London, such as go to Kew Gardens, or head to a museum or see the deer in Richmond Park. You can walk farther along the Thames, go to Kingstom-upon-Thames, eat at nice cafes all day… Hampton Court Palace is also not too far off. This day all we did was walk along here and then go and get a coffee and that was more than enough with two kids to feel refreshed and excited about being in the UK.
While it’s nice to be fairly central when staying in London, I realised on this trip just how crazily urban so many parts of London feel compared to Amsterdam. This was hard to adjust to when I first moved to the Netherlands. But I know now that I firmly prefer the parts of London that feel quieter / more green. You need to decide what your priorities are on a trip to London and base where you stay on that. But with kids, and more than a night or two, I would love to stay in southwest London again next time I’m there (think: Hammersmith, Putney, Richmond, etc). Added bonus they are easy to get to from Heathrow if you’re flying out anywhere.
The recently extended overground was a great way for us to get back to Swiss Cottage, otherwise it would’ve taken so long to travel back across London! We met up with two friends for some Vietnamese food (this place, Pho Ta, was awesome and also kind to our kids). But they were both exhausted by this point and the meal was a bit of a trial. I was also stressed that we needed to get up and leave by 6:30am the next day for our train. So we ate fairly quickly and headed home.
Day 5: Eurostar back to Amsterdam with kids
It turns out that a baby waking up at 5am can be a blessing. He was so exhausted by the time we got on the train that he fell asleep again shortly after and slept for 2.5 hours! I had a quiet time watching Netflix while my son watched his own stuff. The ride really flew by. On top of that, I had upgraded us to Premier and I have to say — if you have kids, getting a table to yourself, plus the food / drink service is such a nice perk. I wouldn’t pay more than £30 or so for the upgrade (per person), but it was worth it at this rate. By the end of the ride, there was barely anyone on the train. I really think most people opt to fly to Amsterdam which is such a shame. It is so much more relaxing to travel this way.
Anyway, after this pretty successful train trip, I impulsively booked to go on another 4-hour journey the month after this – this time in the other direction, to Hanover. Read about that trip here!
