Archie's First Trip To London
If ever anyone comments on my love for Archie, I explain “he’s impossible not to love”. That’s the truth. If you’ve met him you’ll know. So kind, so sweet, so patient.
He’s the BEST big brother, in fact I think he’s thrived in that role for all three of his little siblings (he has a little brother on his mum’s side too) who really admire and look up to him.
He never moans that they’ve moved his toys, or played in his bedroom when he’s away. He’s gone from passing us wipes and nappies when they were babies to teaching Ollie how to build Lego and being a watchful eye while I take a shower.
Archie celebrated his 10th birthday at the start of December. We’re finding it’s becoming more and more difficult to buy him gifts every year. With a birthday so close to Christmas, there’s only so much “stuff” he wants.
So this year we decided to get him some experiences alongside his stocking. One of those was a trip to London, by himself, without his little brothers. Something we haven’t done in more than 3 years since Ollie arrived.
Archie’s never been to London and I don’t think he could quite believe it when we told him.
Colin and I work in London at least once a month and have done for years. And while Col has spent a lot more time working and exploring there, I haven’t enjoyed the capital city as a tourist since a was a little girl. It was going to be an adventure for both of us.
We filled a box with London-themed Christmas decorations and this little notice printed at the bottom – I made it really simply using Over Ap.
My lovely parents offered to stay at our house to take care of the little ones, leaving us free to have some quality time with our biggest boy.
We booked a brilliant little budget hotel at Paddington Station. It’s not fancy, but it’s stylish, modern and a perfect spot as a base for us as it’s right outside our station.
My Insta-Pals were amazing at recommending places we should visit, in fact the list was so huge, we gave Archie the choice, as there was way too much to fit into 24hours. A perfect excuse to go back again next year.
I thought I’d share a little run-down of what we thought of each activity here, should you be planning a trip too! There’s also a section at the bottom of all the other recommendations that’s Archie didn’t choose to visit this time, but we hope to enjoy later this year on another trip with him.
We left the house at 6am so arrived in London completely ravenous and ready for a good meal. Archie had requested Brunch at the Ivy after hearing us talk about our work meetings there, so we we decided we’d start the day there. Pancakes with berries for him, avocado for me and eggs Benedict for Col. Delicious.
Then we took the tube to Buckingham Palace. This was an event in itself for Archie who gazed in amazement at the maps, the escalator and the speed of the trains. He loved it.
Buckingham Palace is closed for tours in the winter, but we were just happy seeing it from the outside. There’s were loads of tourists who had the same idea, and it was pretty busy at the gates, but Archie managed to get close enough to see the guards marching outside.
Then we took a stroll through St James’ Park towards Westminster. It was a cold and cloudy day but the park was still bustling and full of atmosphere.
We walked though Parliament Square and spotted the Abbey under renovation before hopping on a boat to Greenwich.
I really loved this guided tour down the Themes River. It was bitterly cold on the top deck so we mainly stayed cosy in the bar on the bar and treated ourselves to a drink. We did however brave the wind as we went under Tower Bridge which was really beautiful from the river.
I loved Greenwich Village when we arrived, a really nice vibe and plenty of pubs and boutiques. Plenty to see there!
Then we took the DLR through Canary Wharf. I wasn’t expecting to see much here, more of a means to an end as Archie wanted to ride the Emirates Air Line, but I loved it! At risk of sounding like a total country bumpkin…. I found it almost futuristic. The way the driverless train weaves its way through the ultra modern and spotlessly clean buildings. I fully embarrassed Colin by exclaiming it was …”like the Fifth Element”… but it was! I loved it, so did Archie. We grabed a much needed coffee and gooey salted caramel brownie here and headed for the air line.
There was no queue for the Emirates Air Line, we just swiped our cards and hopped on, much like the tube. We tried to time it for sunset, but iunfortunately it was a pretty dull cloudy day so we missed the pink skyline.
t’s not expensive to ride, which is good because I must say I wasn’t very impressed. Before I make you write it off… I have to say that Col and Archie really liked it as you get amazing views over London City Airport, the O2, Canary Warf, Thames Barrier and lots more…but I thought it was a bit…underwhelming. Perhaps it would be better on a bright sunny day, when you could see further. Not sure I would put it at the top of my list. Next time we’ll brave the massive queue for the London Eye instead. At least Archie enjoyed it.
Anyway, after the short ride (or “flight” as Emerites call it), we took the DLR Back to central London to the bright lights of Leicester Square.
You could literally smell the chocolate fragrance pumping out of M&M World. This was one of Archie’s favourite parts of the trip. Four floors of chocolate heaven. It was bright, colourful and really busy!!! As well as an unbelievable amount of M&M merchandise, they have the option to print your face onto M&M’s. I can’t tell you happy he is with his personalised chocolates. So fun.
We took a short walk to Hamleys Toy Store on Regent Steet. Just wow! With seven floors and more than 50,000 lines of toys, it’s a children’s paradise. There’s plenty of demonstrators throughout the store which Archie loved watching. They were fab, and made him want to buy almost everything… but he refrained and used some of his birthday money to buy a light up drone and some little play mobile guardsman for his brothers. So sweet.
Regent Street is looking absolutely stunning still decorated for Christmas. I’m really familiar with this part of London but Archie was just so excited by the huge red buses, Black cabs and the pace of the streets. He loved it.
We visited a few more shops before devouring a Five Guys. Another request from Archie. He said it was the best burger he’d ever tasted.
We had originally planned to see a show while we were there but by this point in the evening Archie was so exhausted after a 5am start we didn’t want to keep him up any longer. So instead we ended the evening on the roof of John Lewis. A spot of ice skating for him and a Sipsmith Hot Gin Cocktail for Col and I.
The following morning, we woke up to bright blue skies and freezing temperatures. It would’ve been perfect weather for the London Eye, but we had our hearts set on the science museum. So, refreshed after a good nights sleep and a hearty hotel breakfast, we walked from our hotel through beautiful Regents Park to Kensington.
The museums are next to each other, but we knew we would only squeeze in one during our short time there, so Archie chose the Science Museum.
It’s brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Plenty to explore and enjoy for adults and children. It’s free to enter, although you are welcome to donate, but the ticketed exhibitions are worth paying for too. I asked Archie what his favourite part was and he said it was the simulator ride. I went on this with him as being thrown upside down isn’t really Col’s cup of tea. It was such fun.
We were there a few hours before we needed to catch our train home (and release my lovely parents of their childcare duties) but we could’ve stayed so much longer. A perfect excuse to go back I say!
All in all a really memorable and fun two days together. I’m so glad we did it, especially for some alone time with Archie. As well as all these pictures, Arch took loads of footage on his iPod, so tonight, once the little ones are asleep and we’re all unpacked, I’m going to help him make his first vlog of the trip.
If you’re touring London for the first time with your little one, you’re going to have an amazing time. The best bit of advice I could give would be not to plan too much, I think it’s pretty exhausting for children who aren’t used to the pace of London. It’s also so nice to have some time to enjoy each other without rushing from place to place.
We have a list of things ready for next time that I’ve added below.
London Eye
London Aqarium
Harrods
Kew Gardens
One of the many shows
Ripley’s Believe it or Not
Tower of London
National History Museum
Harry Potter Studios
The Shard
Thanks so much for stopping by to read this. I hope it was helpful.
You’ll be seeing a little more of me here in the next few weeks…and there’s a very special post on its way soon… 😉
Have a great weekend!
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