How to Spend One Day in London with Kids
One day in London with kids works best when the route is simple, the distances are short, and there's enough variety to keep everyone moving. The best way to achieve this is by using a guide, and when you have kids with you, an audio guide is even better - it makes it possible to plan your own time and pace.
The StoryHunt app is a great tool for making an audio walk, that can create a route for your one day in London with kids. Simply open the interactive map, find your location in London, and it shows you the top stops nearby so you can build a route that fits your kids' pace, not the other way around.
What to see in one day in London with kids
A good one-day family itinerary tries to touch on a few different aspects of London, giving kids a taste of how varied the city is rather than spending the whole day at one attraction.
- Start at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. The Natural History Museum is one of London's best free museums for kids, with interactive exhibits and enough space to keep children entertained for a full morning without costing anything to get in.
- Walk through Hyde Park to Kensington Palace. The park gives kids room to run around between sights. Inside Kensington Gardens you'll also find the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground, which is free and a genuine highlight for younger children.
- Head to the South Bank and the London Eye. Near the London Eye you'll find the Sea Life Aquarium and other family attractions, and from the Eye itself you get excellent views of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben across the river.
- Finish at Leicester Square and Covent Garden. Kids usually love Leicester Square for the buzz and excitement, with the LEGO Store and M&M's store both nearby. Covent Garden's street performers are usually a big hit too.
Practical tips for a day in London with kids
- Pick one museum, not three. A full morning at the Natural History Museum is far better than rushing through three. You could genuinely spend a full day in either the Natural History Museum or the Science Museum alone.
- Build in park time. Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens break up the walking and give children space to reset before the next stop.
- Book the London Eye in advance. Queues on busy days are long, and standing in a line for an hour is where family days go wrong.
- Start early. Getting to the Natural History Museum when it opens means shorter queues and calmer galleries before the school groups arrive.
Let StoryHunt plan your one day in London with kids
Keeping a family day in London on track means spending less time deciding where to go and more time actually being there.
The StoryHunt app's interactive map shows you what's around you at any point in the day, so if a stop takes longer than expected or a child refuses to walk another step, you can adjust the route on the spot.
It works across cities worldwide, so the same tool that gets you through London works just as well on your next family trip.
