The 26 best things to do in London with toddlers and preschoolers

It’s easy to think you should put off a family holiday in London until your kids are a bit older – but the city is full of kids, and with so many things to do in London with toddlers and preschoolers, there’s no reason to wait.

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I’ve been exploring London with my daughter since she was a baby – she was a toddler when we first visited some of the major museums and braved the tube with a buggy, so the key is planning carefully and choosing your attractions wisely.

While all these ideas are targeted at kids aged five and under, as any parent knows, there’s a big variation between an 18-month-old toddler, and a four-year-old preschooler, quite apart from accounting for their own likes and dislikes – but with ideas for 26 things to do in London with young kids, all recommended based on my own experience, you’ll have plenty of inspiration for a great day out.

London Zoo

With more than 750 different species and thousands of animals to discover at the zoo – the world’s third oldest after Vienna and Paris – this makes a fantastic day out in London with toddlers.

Sprawling across 15 hectares, you do need to allow at least half a day to make the most of it. There are three colour-coded routes, so if your kids have a few favourites they want to see, it’s easy to focus first on the furred and feathered inhabitants they’ll love most.

There are special areas for different habitats, from rainforest to penguin beach, as well as the land of the lions, gorilla kingdom, the chance to walk with lemurs plus reptiles and insects… too many to count really. There are a couple of walkthrough enclosures which are especially fun for little ones (unless you’re worried about little grabby hands near the animals).

Tickets cost from £27 for adults, from £18.90 for children aged 3-15. Under threes go free, and you can also prebook flexi tickets, plus there are discounted options for those on Universal Credit (and some other benefits).

Check out my tips on visiting London Zoo with kids including tips on finding discounts

Battersea Park Children’s Zoo

This little children’s zoo is great for younger kids – less overwhelming than the main London zoo, less far to walk around and still plenty of animals to delight, especially if you’re short of time (a couple of hours is plenty) or visiting London on a budget.

Because while London Zoo is a fantastic day out with kids, there’s no question that it’s a pricy one – and for younger toddlers, they’re often as excited by a rabbit as something rare and exotic.

You won’t find bigger creatures but there are monkeys and lemurs, wallabies, farm animals, birds, reptiles and assorted small furry things. There’s also an adventure playground to entertain – as well as plenty of space in the park around the zoo.

Tickets cost £12.50 for adults, £10.50 for kids aged over two, under twos are free. Family tickets are also available. Online tickets are valid for 30 days from purchase.

You can also explore more of London’s smaller zoos, including a little free zoo in north London – check out this post for more, as well as our day out at Battersea Park Children’s Zoo

Sea Life London aquarium

A lovely alternative to the city’s zoos for animal lovers, London’s aquarium is a great place to visit with younger kids – the Sea Life London Aquarium near the London Eye can get busy at peak times and on rainy days though.

One of the biggest collections in Europe, the aquarium houses over 500 species, 14 themed zones and more than 2 million litres of water with some unusual creatures, as well as some favourites including penguins and clownfish.

Tickets cost from £28 for adults, from £25 for kids if you book online, and kids under two go free.

Go to a city farm

If you’re visiting London with kids who love animals, add one of the many city farms to your list – there are half a dozen sites dotted around the capital which are free to visit.

For example Freightliners City Farm (between Caledonian Road tube and Highbury & Islington) has some rare breeds, as does Spitalfields City Farm.

At Vauxhall City Farm, you’ll find alpacas alongside farmyard animals and even a couple of cats, while there are llamas at Mudchute. Hackney City Farm has some smaller fluffy inhabitants including rabbits and guinea pigs as well as larger creatures too.

For more ideas of free things to do in London with kids, check out this post

Open-top bus tour

London isn’t a small city, and walking for miles isn’t going to go down well with younger kids – rather than wearing out your own legs, or heading underground to catch the tube, it’s easy to combine getting around with some sightseeing on an open-top bus tour.

London has various open-top bus sightseeing tours to choose from so there are plenty of different options, depending which routes and times you want – check out my comparison of the best bus tours in London with kids here.

Tootbus (formerly The Original Tour company) has a special 45-minute London Kids tour which is fun for short attention spans, as well as the classic hop-on hop-off tour around the city.

Or the London Big Bus Tours has its own hop-on hop-off routes, with 24 and 48-hour tickets available. Kids under five go free, although if you want to guarantee a seat, it can be wise to book in busy holiday periods – having a toddler on your knee is one thing, having a four-year-old sitting there is less fun!

Hop on a boat

Another fun way to sightsee is by taking to the Thames – in my experience, this is better with preschoolers than toddlers, who tend to get bored on a longer journey down the river.

If you’re wary about paying for a sightseeing cruise that your kids might not love, or from being stuck on a boat for ages, it’s easy to get a little taste and hop aboard Uber Boat by Thames Clippers which runs regular routes along the river, and you can pay as you go.

Check out more of the different boat tours of London with kids for more ideas

It’s not necessarily the fastest way to get around, but you could cruise a couple of stops from around Westminster, Waterloo or Embankment down to the Tower of London, for example (or the opposite direction).

City Cruises also has various sightseeing cruises which let you hop on and off, including ones with afternoon tea so you can enjoy the sights over some scones to help entertain your kids.

Get 20% off all City Cruises sightseeing tours using code CC20 until the end of 2024 – click here to get the discount and 50% off adult and child 24-hour river pass tickets if you book before May 24 using the code welcome50

Find Paddington

For little fans of Paddington Bear (and who isn’t?), you can spot Paddington in several places around London.

Start with a visit to Paddington Station, where the furry hero of the books was first found by the Browns and received his name.

The lifesize bronze statue with the label asking people to look after this bear is back in its usual home by Platform 1, after a brief stint near the Praed Street entrance. Keep an eye out for a plaque marking his appearances on the page and on screen too.

You’ll also find the Paddington bench in the station, where kids can pose for photos next to him.

You could even let Paddington be your guide to London too – one of my picks for the best kids’ books about London – or check out the best places to find Paddington in London

The station is also the starting point for the Pawprint Trail – three trails, in fact, each with one of the Paddington statues from the 2014 collection dotted around the city.

For a less well-known statue of Paddington, head to St Mary’s Churchyard at nearby Paddington Green, where you’ll find him commemorated with his creator Michael Bond, one of the Sustrans portrait benches dotted around the country. Or he also pops up with a marmalade sandwich in Leicester Square.

For more things to do around Leicester Square with kids, check out my top picks

Natural History Museum

One of the best museums in London with a toddler – although older kids will also love it here too – there’s the chance to see Andy’s clock if they’re fans of CBeebies shows Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures and Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures, plus the famous dinosaurs and blue whale skeleton in the entrance hall.

That’s all just the start of what you can see at the Natural History Museum. Braver preschoolers will love the earth sciences section, including a simulated earthquake, after being whisked upstairs by an escalator rising towards dramatic rumbles and red light.

My daughter couldn’t even be persuaded on the escalator as a toddler but younger ones will enjoy the mammals section and you can even have a little break in the Wildlife Garden as well.

It’s unsurprisingly popular, so the free tickets for weekends and school holidays do get snapped up fast – don’t leave it too late to book.

For my tips on visiting the Natural History Museum with young kids, click here

Science Museum

A short walk from the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum is another of my favourite places to visit with younger kids and apart from the interactive exhibits of Wonderlab, which does have a booking fee, there’s no charge to visit.

Toddlers and younger kids will love the hands-on area called The Garden, including a water play area, making music, sensory displays, puppets and giant blocks.

For more things to do in South Kensington with kids, check out my pick of the best

The Pattern Pod is another great one for preschoolers – you may need to put your name down on a list at busier times as numbers are limited, so it’s worth checking as soon as you arrive.

Not forgetting the fabulous gallery filled with vehicles, as well as the space gallery and displays on communications – effectively an overview of 250 years of scientific and technological advances which have transformed our everyday life.

Prebooking is recommended during holidays and at weekends and you’re advised to allow at least two hours for a visit. 

For my tips on visiting the Science Museum with kids, click here.

Victoria & Albert Museum

The third big South Kensington museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum (or V&A) is one which often gets overlooked by families – but there’s more to see and do here than you might expect, if you’re visiting London with toddlers.

The world’s largest museum of decorative and applied arts has some fantastic family activities to try, even for the youngest visitors, which are great for bringing the collection to life.

See the costumes from the Lion King, eye-catchingly dramatic court dresses, and a very unexpected automaton of a tiger eating a man, as well as statues, sculptures and more, it’s a fabulous treasure trove to explore with kids.

Prebooking is recommended during the holidays, although the V&A tends to be the quieter of the South Kensington museums. There are also free family events during school holidays and some weekends, as well as digital and physical trails to follow (the family backpacks are currently unavailable).

For my tips on visiting the V&A with kids, click here

Young V&A

The sister museum to the V&A in South Kensington, the former London Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green reopened in summer 2023 with a new look and a new name – the Young V&A.

With its displays of toys and games, it has been a family favourite for years (not least for the nostalgia value), and the much-loved highlights are also back – look out for one of the original Paddington Bear toys.

However while the building is the same grand hall, kids have been involved in coming up with the redesigned look, now themed around three galleries: Play, Imagine and Design.

Best of all there are plenty of chances to get hands on, whether that’s creating your own board game, listening to storytelling, or hitting the sandpit, as well as new items going on display, with a total of 2,000 items to enjoy.

Free to enter, it does get very busy at weekends, so arrive early if you can.

British Museum

You definitely don’t need to be school age to enjoy the British Museum, but this is one place that I would recommend for older preschoolers rather than toddlers, with some fun trails designed for those aged three and up.

They’re a great way to introduce younger visitors to some of the 80,000+ items on display (check out my visit to the British Museum with a three-year-old), with trails themed around numbers and colours, as an easy to way to bring some of the artefacts to life.

Otherwise, the mummies and the Ancient Egypt galleries are among the most popular (and usually the busiest) but are never less than fascinating. But you can discover Anglo Saxon treasure, games which date back thousands of years, gods, jewels, everyday items and unique finds, not to mention Romans, Greeks, Vikings and a huge amount more.

Only the special exhibitions have a charge – prebooking free tickets is recommended at busy times and you can download trails in advance (limited paper copies available).

For my tips on visiting the British Museum with kids, click here.

The Horniman Museum

The only drawback to this lovely museum is that it’s outside central London, because with a little bit of everything, it’s particularly fun with younger kids – ideal if your toddlers feel overwhelmed by the city too.

With galleries on different themes, the Horniman is good for little attention spans as you can wander from the famous walrus in natural history to world music and culture, to see butterflies and wander the grounds outside, where you’ll find more animals.

The Nature Base gives kids a chance to get hands on, including stroking a stuffed fox and badger, while older ones can learn more about conservation too.

There’s also a little aquarium, which has a small charge – as do the temporary exhibitions – but otherwise it’s free. The museum can be reached by train from London Bridge station.

Read more about my visit to the Horniman museum with kids here.

Postal Museum

The Postal Museum might not be the city’s best-known museum, but there are a couple of reasons why it’s a great one if you’re looking for things to do in London with toddlers and preschoolers.

First of all, you can hop on board the Mail Rail – underneath the museum are the original tunnels and station platforms of London’s 100-year-old postal railway, which once delivered mail across the city. 

It stopped being used back in 2003 which means that visitors can now travel through those same tunnels on a miniature train.

It’s also home to Sorted! The Postal Play Space – a play area that’s designed as a mini town, with streets and buildings, plus lots to push, pull, slide down and more. Sessions last 45 minutes and must be prebooked.

For more tips on visiting London’s museums with toddlers and preschoolers, check out this post

London Transport Museum

There are few toddlers who aren’t fascinated by vehicles – which makes this museum small child heaven, complete with vintage buses, old tube trains you can climb inside, and various other interactive elements.

Preschoolers will love the London Transport museum too (as will any older siblings), as you go on a journey through London’s transport history, from sedan chairs, carriages and river transport through to the first omnibus and later taxis, doubledecker buses and the underground.

With lots of quirky facts, including the eye-watering amount of dung scooped off London’s streets during the days of horse-drawn vehicles, and lots of displays where you can get hands on, there’s lots to entertain kids.

For younger visitors aged under seven, there’s also the All Aboard play area, with a fleet of mini vehicles and dressing up (riverboat captain or bus driver? Hmmm), plus the Baby DLR area if there are even younger siblings to entertain.

Tickets cost £24 for adults, including unlimited return visits for a year, and is free for kids – you can get a discount if you book via tiqets using my code, MUMMYTRAVELS6.

Check out my review of a visit to the London Transport Museum with kids and the museum’s Acton depot

Discover Children’s Story Centre

You don’t have to be able to read to get lost in stories at Discover: Children’s Story Centre in London’s Stratford, aimed at kids aged from 0 to 11.

This fantastic multi-sensory play space in east London is perfect for young children, complete with two floors of magical Story Worlds and a Story Garden, featuring everything from a pirate ship to a spacecraft and plenty of other fun imaginary lands for kids to explore.

There are various timed activities and you can build your own session, including any special exhibitions and storytelling, plus the play spaces across the two main floors.

Tickets cost £9 for adults and children aged over two, £3 for one-year-olds, and under ones go free. There are also family tickets, while exhibitions and some activities have an added charge of around £2-£4

One of my top unusual things to do in London with kids – you can check out the rest here

London Eye

There’s something very fun about sailing around above London in an updated ferris wheel that’s going to appeal to a lot of younger kids, especially if they can pick out some London landmarks from on high.

However, tickets to the London Eye aren’t cheap, so it’s another attraction that I’d recommend for preschoolers rather than toddlers, especially those who are likely to get bored fast or want to run around. Too little, and they just won’t appreciate the experience.

Once you think your kids are going to enjoy soaring above the city, it’s worth checking out fast track tickets – there are always timed slots for your ‘flight’ but that still involves a reasonable amount of queuing, so the fast track option lets you to skip the queue.

You can choose between two options, where you get priority boarding at a specific time, or more expensive open tickets, where you turn up whenever you want and get priority boarding. You can also find combined tickets with other Merlin attractions on the South Bank, including the aquarium.

Explore the Sky Garden

For a garden that’s rather different from your average park, head to the Sky Garden, London’s highest public garden.

Sitting at the top of the skyscraper Londoners know as the Walkie Talkie building (if you’re struggling with directions, it helps to know what to spot), the garden is free to visit, although you do need to book in advance to soak up the views and to have ID to enter.

With a covered terrace, you can get some amazing views across to the Shard (which has its own impressive views!), St Paul’s, Tower Bridge and along the Thames during your hour slot.

Not far from Monument station, you can also stroll past the famous Monument itself on the way (whether you fancy singing London’s Burning together is up to you!)

For more of the best viewpoints in London with kids, check out my top picks including some more free options

Visit a park

London is a much greener city than you might expect, with parks galore across the city – each has its own attractions, so they’re destinations in their own right, but also great to combine with an indoor attraction.

Coram’s Fields is walking distance from the British Museum, for example, so a great way to burn off some energy after looking at the exhibits. Or Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are a good option if you’ve been to the nearby museums and are looking for more things to do in South Kensington with kids.

Kensington Gardens is also home to the impressive Diana Princess of Wales playground (click here for more ideas of the best playgrounds in London), while Hyde Park has the Diana Memorial fountains, or you could spot pelicans at St James’s Park, across the river from the London Eye.

A little further west, there are peacocks in Holland Park while Regent’s Park surrounds the zoo.

Or if you’re heading out of the centre, you can’t miss the dinosaurs at Crystal Palace Park.

Check out my post on the best free things to do in London with kids for more details on London’s parks

Check out a playground

Sometimes all you need is a bit of time playing to boost flagging energy levels – and you’ll find play areas both in London’s parks and dotted around the city for when toddlers and preschoolers need a break from exploring.

A stone’s throw from the London Eye, Jubilee Park & Garden has its own playground for example.

For playgrounds that are almost destinations in their own right, the Diana Memorial Playground is one of the best known, in the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, with a huge wooden pirate ship as its centrepiece, plus a sensory trail, play sculptures and plenty more.

There’s a toddler playground in Holland Park, as well as its adventure playground for more adventurous preschoolers, while if you’re out by the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Tumbling Bay playground has sand, wobbly bridges, pools and more to play in.

Or in Greenwich, this new play area by the National Maritime Museum puts other playgrounds in the shade. The Cove is all set around a ship with sea creatures, designed to bring children’s imaginations to life as well as letting them climb, clamber and play to their heart’s content.

And for somewhere really special, head to Paddington Recreation Ground playground, aka Paddington Rec near Maida Vale tube – designed for all ages and abilities, it’s intended to encourage creative play… you’ll find a steamliner, train, tunnel, musical instruments, a forest play area among the trees, plus the highlight, pastel coloured playhouses which look like terraced houses.

Click here for more ideas of the best playgrounds in London

Splash in the fountains

This is one to save for a sunny day, but when the city basks in a heatwave, the best thing to do in London with young kids is to splash in one of the fountains which have started popping up in recent years.

Some of the best are at Granary Square near Kings Cross. Made up of 1,080 separate jets, they dance in patterns, as kids splash excitedly among them.

You can also find more fountains in the courtyard of Somerset House off the Strand, as well as The Riverside at More London near Tower Bridge, 200 jets arranged in lines which spring up to catch the unwary.

Or check out the Appearing Rooms on the South Bank, an art installation created from the fountains here which spring into life, vanish and reappear again. Do come prepared with spare clothes, and kids need to wear a top in this particular splash zone!

For more things to do on the South Bank with kids, check out my tips

Enjoy some street theatre

One of the great joys of London is simply wandering around, seeing what’s on and discovering something new – although if you’re visiting London with toddlers and preschoolers, a specific goal is often better than an aimless wander to see what you see.

So head for Covent Garden and the South Bank, where there’s almost always something to entertain. At Covent Garden, the street performers audition for the coveted slots here, so you might spot anything from magic tricks to music.

At the South Bank, you could stumble across anything from a festival to a temporary beach – but even if there’s nothing particular taking place, the pedestrianised bankside is lovely for a walk (with high walls so you’re not going to lose toddlers into the Thames), the little playground of Jubilee gardens and the Golden carousel just beyond.

Kew Gardens

With 300 acres to explore, it quite simply takes years to see all of Kew Gardens – my daughter’s first visit came at a few weeks old, and I’ve lost track of how many times we’ve been back since… but we still regularly discover something new in this corner of west London.

The children’s playground here is fantastic: inspired by themes like light and earth, there’s everything from water play to climbing and mini trampolines that’s huge fun, and fits well with your surroundings.

You’ll also find regular family trails and child-friendly activities during school holidays; previous ones have included a Beano-themed event and another themed around Shaun the Sheep.

Add in endless space to run around, other unexpected highlights like the dragons on the pagoda and a carved statue of a bear, the humming Hive installation, plus some very good ice cream, and it’s a lovely day out at any time of year.

Tickets cost from £12 for adults off-peak, £4 for children aged four to 16. Under fours enter free. If you’re visiting at busy times, it’s worth prebooking tickets including entry to the children’s garden playground, as there are limited numbers and timed slots, but at quiet times you should be able to get them on the day..

Read my tips for visiting Kew Gardens with kids

London Wetland Centre

Just across the river from Hammersmith, the lovely London Wetland Centre at Barnes is another fun day out with preschoolers and toddlers in London.

As well as paths through the wetlands, you’ll find regular family events here too – for example giant Lego sculptures have appeared on several occasions – as well as toddler friendly activities like pond dipping, plus a very fun playground with tunnels to scramble through and more water play (so spare clothes are a good plan).

It’s also home to a pair of short-clawed Asian otters: often hard to spot outside feeding time, you’ll see them scampering around when food appears, playfully pestering staff with an affectionate nibble on their wellies if they’re being slow with the fish, and darting and frolicking in the water.

Tickets cost from £17 for adults, from £11 for children aged four and up. Under fours go free and there are family tickets available.

Cutty Sark

One of the first things you see as you step off the boat at Greenwich pier or out of Cutty Sark DLR, a visit to the historic clipper ship makes a really unusual day out with a preschooler.

It’s another option that’s better with slightly older kids than toddlers, not least because of the journey to Greenwich (unless you happen to be staying there), although it’s perfect to combine with a boat trip along the Thames.

If you do fancy making a day of it in Greenwich, head to the National Maritime Museum as well – it’s free to enter, and kids can play with the interactive great map, while preschoolers will enjoy the Sea Things gallery

There are children’s trails to follow around the Cutty Sark but you can also wander through the ship peeking inside cabins, discovering the cargo she carried, plus various interactive displays including a chance to try sailing a virtual ship (harder than it looks!)

Best of all, you can explore right from the copper-bottomed hull to the deck (watch out for the carved monkey). Get discounted tickets via tiqets using my code MUMMYTRAVELS6 

Read what we thought of a visit to the Cutty Sark with a preschooler.

Go to the theatre

The West End is rightfully famous for its theatre, but there’s plenty for younger visitors to enjoy as well, with great toddler-friendly shows and some amazing children’s theatres.

The Little Angel Theatre in Islington has some fabulous puppet and marionette shows, which even the youngest kids will be mesmerised by, while the Unicorn Theatre near London Bridge has shows aimed at mini theatregoers aged six months and up.

In south-west London, the Rose Theatre in Kingston often has adaptations of Julia Donaldson books, while the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon is also hugely child-friendly.

But you’ll find performances in central London as well: at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the Tiger Who Came To Tea has been a regular summer option. Watch out for Kids Week too (which actually lasts for a month in August) with free child seats, or shows based on Julia Donaldson books.

And most excitingly for older preschoolers, Frozen the Musical is on at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane until September 2024 – minimum age is 4+ and it’s recommended for 6+ though.

Tips for visiting London with toddlers and preschoolers

• Don’t pack too much in – with younger kids, you can easily fill a day with one attraction and a chance to play in the parks or playgrounds, or some low-key sightseeing like an open-top bus tour.
• Limit your travelling – London is a big city, so you could easily find yourself needing to criss-cross back and forth on the tube to pack everything in, which is tiring for littler ones. If you can spend the day in one area or within walking distance, it’s a lot easier.
• Bus or tube? If you have a buggy, be prepared to carry it down stairs in a lot of tube stations, as there are limited lifts – check out my tips for using the London Underground with toddlers. Buses can be more straightforward but you might have to fold your buggy and there’s a limit to how many are allowed on.
• Stay somewhere central – if you’re visiting London with toddlers, it can help to choose a more central location to stay in. First, it avoids long travel times in and back at the start and end of the day, and if your kids need a bit of time to chill out after a busy day exploring, it’s possible to head back for some down time, even a nap, then venture out later.
• Download the Flush app, which tells you the locations of the nearest public toilets – very handy when you have to find somewhere urgently.

*First published 2021, last updated 2024*

PIN FOR LATER: THINGS TO DO IN LONDON WITH TODDLERS AND PRESCHOOLERS

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission

Main image/London Zoo/Paddington bench/Natural History Museum/British Museum/Horniman/London Transport Museum/London Eye/South Bank fountains/Kew Children’s playground/London Wetland Centre/Cutty Sark copyright MummyTravels; City Cruises boat courtesy of City Cruises; rabbit/Diana Memorial playground courtesy of Depositphotos

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