Mudchute Park & Farm
The spotlight has been on East London for the past two weeks, with more visitors exploring the area than ever before. To fill the gaping hole left by the end of the Olympic Games, and before the crowds arrive for the Paralympics, this week’s post is a review of Mudchute Park & Farm on the Isle of Dogs, London’s largest city farm…
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Olympic Park – visiting with a baby (Part 2)
You may recall that we first visited the Olympic Park in February (click here) to attend a test event at the Velodrome. This time, we didn’t attend an Olympic event, but had tickets to spend the day visiting the Olympic Park itself. It’s amazing how much work has been done since February to convert what was still mostly a building site back then into the final park. The result is overwhelmingly impressive, although there are a few areas where there’s room for improvement. Here’s how we rated our experience…
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BT London Live – Hyde Park
It was the first proper day of the Olympics in London today, so we decided to get a free taste of the action. After watching the men’s cyclists set off from The Mall in the road race, we headed to Hyde Park, where BT is hosting the free London Live festival every day during the Olympic Games.
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Summer in London: 10 budget family activities
It’s the start of the school holidays and Olympic mania is about to descend on London. What activities do you have planned for the summer? We’ve compiled our top ten list of budget activities for all the family…
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Coram’s Fields
This week we spent a sunny afternoon at Coram’s Fields. Located in the heart of Bloomsbury, Coram’s Fields is a park and playground reserved exclusively for under 16s – in fact, adults are not allowed into the park at all unless accompanied by a child. The park is named after shipwright, sailor and philanthropist, Captain Thomas Coram, who created the Foundling Hospital for abandoned children in the eighteenth century following a long campaign to obtain the necessary Royal Charter (see our review of the Foundling Museum). The Foundling Hospital stood on the site of the present day park until the building was demolished in the 1920s – the land was saved thanks to fundraising and charitable donations so that it could be preserved for the use of children living in or visiting London.
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Green Park and St James’s Park
At last! Summer is here (even if it may have departed again by the time I publish this post) and so what could be better than a picnic in the park? Before Jubilee fever grips the country this weekend, we decided to explore two of central London’s most famous Royal open spaces: Green Park and neighbouring St James’s Park.
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Battersea Park and Battersea Park Children’s Zoo
If you read this blog regularly you will know that we generally try to review destinations that are free or have low cost admission. This week, however, our trip coincided with a special occasion and so we decided to splash out on a visit to the (really quite reasonably priced, all things considered) Battersea Park Children’s Zoo.
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Dulwich – Picture Gallery and Park
We were hoping for a bit of fresh air this week, but the incessant rain meant another museum-based babydaytrip. Nevermind, there are more museums and galleries in London than you can shake a stick at and this week it’s another good one, Dulwich Picture Gallery. The rain cleared whilst we were inside the Gallery, so we headed across the road for a stroll in Dulwich Park once we were done – bonus!
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Horniman Museum and Gardens
I have to declare an interest in the subject of this week’s post: the Horniman is my local museum and my son and I have spent many a happy hour there. Behind its attractive Arts and Crafts exterior, this quirky South London museum houses the eclectic collections of the tea merchant and philanthropist, Frederick John Horniman. With 16 acres of gardens, an aquarium, and its famous, stuffed Victorian Walrus (yes, really), the Horniman Museum is a great, family-friendly destination.
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Crystal Palace Park
After our successful trip to Greenwich Park a couple of weeks ago, this week we set off to explore another of London’s fantastic, green spaces: Crystal Palace Park. Although the Crystal Palace that gave the area its name is long gone, the Park retains a number of quirky attractions that make it worth a visit.
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Greenwich Park and National Maritime Museum
If you live in London, the chances are that you have been to Greenwich at some point. One of the capital’s prettiest and most historic areas, with its bustling market, quirky boutiques and riverside location – it’s an appealing, if touristy, place to hang out. But unlike many areas of London, Greenwich’s charm only increases once you have children, with its fantastic park and Royal Museums offering all you could need for a family day out. The Borough was bestowed with Royal status this year to mark the Queen’s Jubilee and Greenwich Park will host the Olympic equestrian events this Summer, making 2012 the perfect opportunity to discover (or rediscover) Greenwich’s charms. There’s too much to do in one day, so this time our babydaytrip took in Greenwich Park and the National Maritime Museum.
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A springtime stroll: Kenwood House and Hampstead Heath
The unexpectedly clement weather over the past week spurred us to set off for a babydaytrip in the fresh air, after weeks of sheltering from the winter chill in museums and shopping centres. When a kind friend proposed an outing to Hampstead Heath and Kenwood House (the latter being somewhere I’d always intended to visit, but hadn’t quite got around to it), we eagerly took up the offer.
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