London with kids

A couple of weeks ago I went to London with my daughter… She is now of the age that I can do weekends with her as she enjoys going around with me… This is so special to me!

I planned the weekend so that she would not get bored…. I was not alone, as I was traveling with a friend who had a son at the same age.

First, let me make a couple of comments in respect of the hotel. We stayed at the Park Inn Plaza at Victoria. It was just the perfect choice for us. Reasons??? It is just across the street from Victoria Station so, if you are flying to Gatwick… No reason to stress…

Secondly… The hotel is comfortable and has great suites! So, you can easily accommodate 4! Also, the breakfast is great! Full of choices, from cereals to different types of bread and cheese… Not to mention the hot buffet with the full English breakfast…

We arrived quite late Friday evening… Then, after breakfast on Saturday we hit the road… First stop… The London Eye…

For those who may not know, it is the big wheel on the river bank of Westminster… You must book in advance; otherwise you will not be able to do ride! The kids loved it and my brave friend made it too, as she is super afraid of heights… I am proud of her…

The view is incredible and we were extremely lucky with the weather… Big Ben was just there… You cannot stop looking at it!

From there we had to run to the West End. Again, I booked well in advance to see Aladdin!  Pure magic! A total delight! The musical has great critics and we had the perfect seats! Kids did not even blink… They only remembered they did not have lunch when the show made a pause… Ice creams were super welcome!

Next Stop… Leicester Square… By now you may be thinking that I am a crazy mother.. Well, we did eventually stop to eat in a Brazilian churrascaria – Rodizio Preto… It felt great and tasted even greater!

Going back to Leicester Square… We went to the Lego shop… Paradise for kids but also for the adults. We had booked the newest attraction… The photo booth. Lego has developed a photo booth which prints the picture in Lego pixels which allow you to have your own picture in Lego pieces! My daughter loved it and now we are building the souvenir of the trip!

By now we could hardly walk and decided to go back to the hotel… Pizza Margarita for the kids and a bottle of chardonnay for the moms… Room service… Best solution!

Bed time… ZZZZZ

Sunday morning… Up and running… Breakfast and here we go to see the Shrek attraction! We had a lot of fun! The whole ride takes a little over an hour and the aim is to meet Shrek… Do you think we achieved??? I let you go and find out for yourself….

From there we had to keep our promise and take the kids to Hamleys.. it is the oldest and largest toy shop in the world. We spent hours in there… floor by floor! We had so much fun! Our kids were super behaved and kept their word to chose one toy… they looked at everything and in the end each chose what they liked best…

The trip could not be complete without a meal in an English pub… Fish and chips… Cottage pie and wine for the moms! For those who follow my Instagram probably saw that the kids tricked me by placing a rubber lizard in my glass… So funny!

We had so much fun…Time just passed too quickly and it was time to go back get the luggage and go back… Until next time…

Where should I go next with her?

XX Valentina