Postal Museum
Most tourist guides don’t include the Postal Museum, which is surprisingly interesting. The museum is in the old mail depot and has a 15-minute train ride through underground tunnels along the old mail route.
The two-foot-wide (610-millimeter-wide) narrow-gauge train is great for kids and exciting for adults who want to see a part of London that is only for subway workers. “Sorted!” is the name of a play area at the Postal Museum. The bright and airy space reminds me of the best children’s museums I’ve ever been to.
Because you need a ticket to get in, the number of people is limited to 20, and there is always a spot to play. It’s a small town with a sorting station and trolleys to move the mail. My son liked it so much that we had his third birthday party there, and he wants to do it again.
Location:
Clerkenwell. 15-20 Phoenix Place is at WC1X 0DA. It was a little hard to find. The train ticket also gets you into the museum on the other side of the road, next to the kid-friendly café. The train announcer talks about World War II’s Blitz bombing campaign, which can be a little scary for young children. There are many places to eat nearby. Any black-cab driver in London will know the name “Mount Pleasant,” which is what the old mail depot was called.
Cost:
Sorted! costs $6.50 for the play area only (you need a ticket, and kids ages 0–8 are recommended; adults get in for free), $15.50 for the play area and a train ride for kids, and $22 for adults. All tickets for the mail rail include admission to the show.
Hours:
Every day from 10 am to 5 pm
London Transport Museum
We visit the London Transport Museum at least once a month with my sons. Normally, I wouldn’t be interested in a museum with about 200 years of transportation history, but this one is great for kids and adults. It has great play areas for kids ages 0–7 called “All Aboard,” where they can pretend to drive buses and taxis. It also has interactive areas where older kids can play many driving games.
For people under 17, it’s free. The adult ticket is expensive for London ($22.75), but it’s good for a whole year. You can’t give it to someone else; the museum checks IDs very carefully. If you’re staying in a London hotel near Covent Garden, you might want to go there more than once, especially if it’s raining.
During the British school year, the museum has a sing-along and story time on Tuesdays. During British school vacation weeks, there is a full schedule of tours, stories, and crafts.
Location:
Covent Garden Piazza
Cost:
17 and under are free. Adults pay $22.75 at the door or $21 if they book online.
Hours:
Open daily 10 am–6 pm (last entry 5:15 pm)
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Museum of Natural History
The Natural History Museum is hard to match since it offers free admission to all visitors, a full-size tyrannosaurus as the center of attention, plenty of light and airy space, and kid-friendly restaurants, all housed in a stunning Gothic structure designed in the founder’s vision as a “cathedral to nature.” Try the dinosaur-themed T. rex Grill café for kids (open from 11 am to 4 pm) and the Darwin area, where older kids can learn more about natural science.
It’s best to start at the Science Museum around the corner, have lunch, and then spend the afternoon exploring the Natural History Museum.
The museum is always looking for new ways to attract more people. For example, it has late-night hours and a program called “Dawnosaurs” that lets kids on the autism spectrum come to the museum with their families and siblings before it opens.
Location:
South Kensington, London. Cromwell Road SW7 5BD
Cost:
Free, but some temporary exhibits cost money.
Hours:
Open daily. 10 am– 5:50 pm (last entry 5:30 pm)
Science Museum
Even though the Natural History Museum is right next door, the Science Museum is the most kid-friendly museum for people of all ages. “The Garden,” an interactive space for kids ages 3 to 6, is in the basement. I’ve taken my kids there since they were just a few months old. You can get there by going through the Space exhibit and then taking the elevators down. It has a water station with raincoats, a small climbing frame, and a sensory area with instruments and lots of things for little ones to do. Most of the time, you need to be there when it opens to avoid lines. Since it opens at 10 am, families with small children can usually make it, depending on how much jet lag they have.
Older kids love going to the Science Museum with the app Treasure Hunters, which lets them take pictures of places in the museum and compete with other visitors. In other parts of the museum, there is an Imax theatre and hands-on experiment displays.
After going to the South Kensington museums, you can run outside in Hyde Park, just around the corner.
Location:
South Kensington, SW7 2DD Exhibition Road
Cost:
Permanent exhibits are free, but the Imax and special exhibits cost extra.
Hours:
Open daily 10 am– 6 pm (last entry 5:15 pm)