Weekend in London
My wife was working in London Wednesday-Friday and we thought why don’t I fly down with the kids on Friday evening to spend the weekend there. I should point out that the weather was roasting and we were there on the hottest day of the year.
So we flew down British Airways on Friday evening into London Heathrow Terminal 5, the staff were great and let the kids go in the cockpit and see the pilot. Louise met us at arrivals and we got the free Elizabeth Line service to terminal four where we were booked to stay in the Premier Inn.
I had requested led a runway view room as I am a keen airplane photographer and I thought the kids would enjoy watching the planes. You can request a runway view room but they are not guaranteed but we were lucky. The room itself was a double bed and 2 single beds and was perfect for what we needed.
Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Premier Inn which was included in our stay, a large hot and cold buffet breakfast and it was great. Set us up for the day. Before we headed into London we had just enough time to head to the infamous Myrtle Avenue and watch a few planes flying very low in front of us. We got the Elizabeth Line from the airport to Paddington and made our way to the Hamleys toy store. We easily spent more than an hour in there venturing through the many floors. There was lots to see and lots of people demonstrating the toys for the moment. The kids loved it, we even saw Blue the Raptor on the way out.
We then found a restaurant called Happy London between Piccadilly and Leicester Square. The food was decent and the service was swift.
After this, we made our way towards the Sealife Aquarium where we had pre-booked tickets for 3.30 pm. We thought we would be allowed in early but they were dead set against that and you weren’t allowed to join the queue until 3.30 pm. Slightly annoying as it was so hot but understandable since rules must have been put in for covid. Whilst waiting we went to Jubilee Gardens Playground and the kids had a great time. Once we got into the aquarium we were actually surprised at how big it was. The kids really liked it, lots to see and do and we got to touch a starfish.
After the aquarium, we made our way back along the river bank the short walk to the London Eye. Now, this London Eye Queue was absolutely massive. No shade and went right past the Jubilee Playpark. Again we had pre-booked these tickets but like the aquarium, you could only join the queue at your time slot which for us was 5 pm. After we eventually got on and the kids had an ice cream whilst waiting we were a bit gutted that the kids weren’t really that impressed by it and couldn’t wait to get off it. We had been on it before so also probably could have done without. Definitely, something to think about there if you take young kids. By this point we were all shattered so made our way back via Sainsbury's for bottles of water due to the heat, (went through a lot of water) to the station and headed back to the hotel. We chose to eat dinner at the hotel. The food was good. The kid's meals were huge and really good value for money.
Sunday morning Once ready for the day we got an Uber to take us to Feltham station to board the train to Windsor where we got off at Windsor & Eton Riverside station. We then got another Uber to take us to LegoLand where we were spending the whole day. In hindsight we should have just got an uber to take us straight to Legoland, we did an Uber on the return journey and it Cost us about £40.
Legoland on one of the hottest days of the year. What can I say, was difficult. UK theme parks aren’t set up for hot weather, the queues had hardly any shade if any and the ones which did had no air conditioning. It was very hot and sweaty. We were constantly topping up our water bottles.
Unfortunately, there were some technical issues due to the heat. Power surges meant that most rides were closed for long periods of time. However, we were eventually able to do most of the rides we wanted to. The splash park was a huge hit ( we took swim shorts and towels with us). Pirate Falls was great fun, we got absolutely soaked but in this heat, we didn’t mind. The kids got their driving licenses however our favorite ride was Flight of the Sky Lion. It was the kids' first simulation ride and it was really magical. We did lots more rides too which were great. We really liked Mini Land which we spent time looking at on the way back to the exit. It was nice seeing Edinburgh and other places all made out of Lego and with lots of moving parts. Once the Uber took us home, we were once again shattered and just wanted to eat dinner at the hotel and go to sleep.
Monday - was the actual hottest day of the year. The underground had a speed limit of 25mph when overground which for us travelling into the centre from Heathrow was quite far. A lot of water was drunk.
We got the underground to South Kensington and there was a tunnel walkway that took you to the National History Museum and the Science Museum. We went to the National History Museum. We had booked in advance (for free) but you could just turn up as tickets were not checked.
We spent the morning there seeing Dippy the Diplodocus and a massive dinosaur display which the boys loved.
Once we left there we really had to be careful how far we went outdoors due to the heat, it was just too hot, so we managed to find a McDonald’s and sat in for lunch. We made a quick toilet stop at Harrods before making our way back to the hotel to get our bags for our flight home.
Overall it was a very tiring trip but we still enjoyed ourselves