Half a lifetime ago I lived in London. It’s one of my favourite cities. Even living there for a year I think I only scratched the surface of what to see. When we decided to visit with the kids it was hard to narrow down what to see. We still had a whirlwind visit.

For the most part we were lucky with the weather with the exception of the first day. Gorgeous until we were ready to see the sights then it got cold and rainy. There was a scramble for umbrellas, shawls, and jumpers. It wasn’t too bad until the Tower of London when the skies opened up. Tipping down. We saw that the first day as there is a 2 for 1 if you see it the day you arrive on train. There are loads of sights that offer the deal. I think it was day out guide.

We did get in to see the Crown Jewels which was great timing as we had to escape the downpour. All the kids thought it was an adventure. My friend from up north came down with her family to visit. We’ve known each other for 40 years now. So we had to celebrate! Been too long as we hadn’t seen each other since 2009.

The next day was quite the adventure. We found out about the hop on and off river cruises that included tickets to the Tower Bridge Exhibition. It stops at a ton of piers on the river including Greenwich. We had a picnic at the park looking at the Royal Observatory. It was perfect for getting away from the crowds.

It was discovered that the Tower of London was a bit of a jinx with the weather as we had to walk by it to get to the Tower Bridge and it began raining again! As luck would have it it was the 120th anniversary of the bridge that day so we got a free guide book. I recommend going into the tower as you get fabulous views and you get to see how the steam engine rooms were like.

The sun came out as we were exploring and finishing the tour. As soon as we got near the tower again the skies opened up. We avoided the tower for the rest of the trip.

On our son’s bucket list was the London Eye. We couldn’t have picked a better day for it! We could see for miles. Buckingham Palace looked tiny as did Big Ben.

We managed the British Museum, the Science Museum, and the Transport Museum so we were walked off our feet by the time we caught the train back to Swanage. It was a great visit and a good introduction for the kids. They will have to come back!