6 Day London Vacation Itinerary for Families

If you are planning a family trip to London, use this London Vacation Itinerary as a guide to planning your trip. I received hundreds of suggestions + input from friends who reside in London to plan a near perfect first trip to London!

Matthew and I decided to take this trip in October when we came across a flight deal that was too good to pass up. Though we are divorced, it is important to us to still do 1-2 vacations a year as a family. We traveled to London on January 1 and arrived on January 2. We departed on January 8. We loved visiting at this time of year because we got to enjoy many Christmasy things still in the city. The weather also wasn’t too cold.

Day One London Vacation

We had an overnight flight from the states and arrived at 10:30 am. Our first flight was delayed and we almost didn’t make our connection. They held the plane for us and we were so, so thankful.

We got to our AirBNB around 11:30 and then walked to lunch. We stayed at this AirBNB and I must say, the location was excellent. The tube station was across the way, tons of restaurants, easy cab rides and plenty of room. I found a lot of London AirBNBs had small beds, but this one did not, which was great for our family. We really loved it and would absolutely stay there again. I also think South Kensington was a really nice neighborhood to be in and pretty easy location

After lunch, we had planned to go to the Natural History Museum, but it was sold out for the day, so we pivoted and went to Piccadilly to do some shopping.

The kids and I rode the Tube for the first time and were quite proud of ourselves.

I didn’t expect the area to have Times Square vibes, but it totally did! Lots of screens and ads and stores galore.

We stopped in lots of shops including Fortnum and Mason to see the dancing Christmas puddings.

We also visited Hamley’s Toy Shop, which was a highlight for the kids. Five stories of toys! It was really magical and I think a must stop on any trip to London. I have never seen a store quite like it in the states.

Day Two London Vacation

I bought tickets ahead of time for the Tower of London for right at opening. I highly recommend this, as the Tower of London is one of the most popular sites in London and gets busier as the day goes on. When we got there, we went straight to the Crown Jewels, which is the most popular thing to see at the Tower of London. We were able to walk right in and it was not very crowded. An hour later, there was a massive line and we were told people often wait 1-2 hours to see them.

After seeing the jewels, we did the free Beefeaters tour. These men are icons of London and they are smart and funny. The tours run every half hour and we all loved it! Note: If you are planning a trip to London, you will see sites selling tickets to the Tower of London and Beefeaters tours. Do not buy these – buy directly through the Tower of London site.

The Tower of London is right by the iconic Tower Bridge. We had plans to walk over to it, but it started pouring rain, so we opted to skip it. We grabbed lunch at a sandwich spot outside the Tower of London and then took a cab to Southwark Cathedral, which is one of the oldest Cathedral’s in London. I wanted to see it because of a limited installation that was supposed to be there, but it was no longer there. This was also right by Borough Market, which we were excited to visit, but it was closed on Tuesdays.

We then saw the West End production of Frozen, which was absolutely spectacular. It had new music not in the movie and frankly, a slightly better story. It was a highlight of the trip. I cried because it was so good.

Frozen is very close to Covent Garden, so we then wandered the shops and enjoyed the Christmas decorations. Afterward, we ate dinner at Boulevard Brassiere, which was near the theater.

The kids and Matthew went home and I took a cab to see Dear Edwards with Joseph Fiennes. It was such a dream to see Joseph live because one of my favorite movies is Shakespeare in Love, in which he plays Master Shakespeare. I bought tickets directly from the box office just a few minutes before the start of the show and was able to get $250 tickets for only $80. (Unfortunately, the show closed on January 13. However, the theater is where MJ will be playing and I LOVED that show on Broadway. The Tony Award winning star is going to be doing the show in London, so definitely see it!)

Day Three London Vacation Itinerary

The original Globe theater burned down, but a replica was built in the late 90s. We did the 9:30 am tour and it was so neat to learn more about how plays were done at the Globe. Again, as a fan of Shakespeare in Love, I absolutely loved it.

On our way to the Globe, our cab driver pulled over and had us get out to show us the spot where the original Globe was – so fun! We found that lots of cab drivers were like mini tour guides and offered a lot of helpful information.

We then went to the Natural History Museum. I think if you haven’t been to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, this museum is worth visiting. Otherwise, I think it could be skipped. All of my kids liked it, but weren’t as blown away as I expected. The tickets to the museum are free.

The museum is in walking distance of many restaurants, so we ate lunch in South Kensington and then the boys went back to our AirBNB and Adeline and I went to Harrods.

We were fortunate to be hosted for a private tour of Harrods and then have tea in their famous tea room. It was so special and something that I think we will remember forever. Afterward we stopped at Zara.

We had tickets to A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic, so met the boys for dinner and then saw the show. I was in A Christmas Carol twice as a teen and have seen it at least 4 or 5 other times. I love this show and this production far exceeded any I have ever seen. It was creative, beautiful, interactive and so well done. I wish it ran year round so everyone could see it. Wow, wow, wow. We all loved it so much.

Day Four London Vacation Itinerary

During the winter, the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace Happens Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. You can certainly see this free of charge, but after reading about people going and not knowing where to stand, etc. I decided to buy tickets to experience this with a guide through Get Your Guide. I think this was VERY worth the cost and would never do it another way. Our guide took us to multiple spots and we wouldn’t have known about any them. We saw multiples points of the process and got great views and pictures. It was very cool.

During this process we also got to see Buckingham Palace, which was a dream come true for me. I couldn’t get over seeing it in person after years of seeing it in the media.

The tour then walked us over to Westminster Abby and Big Ben. We did not have tickets for Westminster Abby, so we couldn’t go inside, but we did take a few pictures outside and then to the bridge for photos of Big Ben.

It was lunch time and things were very crowded. If you want a photo with less people, definitely go earlier in the day.

I had booked 2:30 tickets to the Churchill War Rooms (2 pm would have been better), so we had a little bit of waiting after lunch and before the experience. Of everything we did in London, it was my family’s least favorite thing. I LOVE WWII history, so I enjoyed it, but looking back, I should have booked something else.

Afterward, everyone was tired, so Matthew took the kids home and I ran to Liberty London, a store we missed on day one (located off Regent Street). I then went back to Westminster for the 5:00 service of Evensong. These services are every day and are a way to see inside the church without a tour. It felt surreal to be in the same church that William and Kate got married in and so many other iconic royal moments have been set in.

Day Five London Vacation Itinerary

We wanted to do one day out of the city, so decided to book a 12-hour bus tour to Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath. I booked this the day before on Viator.

We boarded the bus at 7:30 am and departed at 8 am. We were in Windsor at about 8:45 and they open the doors to Windsor Castle at 9:45 am. We had a little time to see some of the shops before and after the Castle. The Castle is a self-guided tour and no photos or videos are allowed inside. It was truly astonishing to see so much luxury, gold and history. We all enjoyed it immensely.

We grabbed sandwiches for lunch and then headed back on the bus to Stonehenge. We had an hour there. It was a marvel to see in person.

We then drove 2.5 hours to Bath to see the Roman Bath and the town of Bath. It was lovely and everything you imagine a little English city to be. I especially loved the bookshop!

We loved this day BUT in hindsight, we totally could have skipped Bath. I think Bath would be lovely to visit for a day, but it was a very long drive to this third stop and didn’t entirely feel worth it to our family. You can book tickets to just Windsor and Stonehenge, which I think would have sufficed. (Alternatively, I considered booking a day trip to Scotland, but it was sold out. Matthew really wanted to see Stonehenge, so this was perfect.)

Day Six London Vacation Itinerary

This was our last full-day in London and we squeezed a lot in.

We started the day at the Shrek Experience, which was especially for my younger kids. Multiple Londoners told us it was worth the ticket price, so we decided to go for it. We all really enjoyed it. It was like a 45-minute Disney experience + interactive play all rolled into one. This is located on the river bank right by the Eye of London. Most of our family was not interested in doing the Eye, so we skipped this pricey experience.

After Shrek we took a cab to Notting Hill. We shopped the Portobello Road Market, saw the iconic Travel Bookstore from the movie Notting Hill and then had lunch at Brasseria, a wonderful Italian restaurant. Everything was delicious.

We then went to Kensington Gardens for the kids to play at the Princess Diana Playground and meet up with our friends the Harbucks. The playground had lots of fun spots and the kids didn’t want to leave. After awhile, we walked up to the Princess Diana statue and Kensington Palace.

After the Gardens, we headed to the British Library to see the Magna Carta. It was surreal to see such an old and important document. Then we walked next door to Kings’ Cross to go to the Platform 9 ¾ Harry Potter platform at the train station. The line was about 25 minutes to take a photo, but it was worth it.