Food and Lodging for a Family Trip to London with Teens
Lodging . . .
is usually the aspect of the trip that I spend the most time on, wherever we’re going. It makes a HUGE difference to family morale and overall energy levels. My initial criteria were that we needed to stay in London itself – nice as it looked, I didn’t want to be in Kensington with an hour tube ride required just to begin our day – and that we needed separate space for us and the kids (they’re just too old and physically large for the four of us to share a bedroom for more than a night or two). Oh and we had financial criteria – didn’t want to blow the whole budget on lodging (already did that with the Harry Potter tickets!). So, I pretty quickly decided an apartment / flat with at least two bedrooms was the best bet. On to location.
In college, I spent six weeks in London as part of a summer study-abroad program, and we stayed in Bloomsbury. I have great memories of walking to everything along really beautiful and atmospheric streets. Of course I wanted my kids to experience that, so I concentrated my search on Bloomsbury and found . . . ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (in my price range). Expanded to Soho and still found nothing.
So, I started looking at areas of London I didn’t know so well, which involved a lot of toggling back and forth between listings and Google Maps and London Transit maps (had to be close to a tube station!). Saw some great listings near Tower Bridge and on the South Bank, but ultimately didn’t go for them since I was worried we would be too far from the “real” London. Thinking back on it, we would have been fine. Like any large city, London is made up of a ton of neighborhoods, and staying in an apartment gives you the chance to experience that neighborhood (and thus the city) somewhat how a local would. I wish I had focused less on proximity to tourist locations and tube stations and more on proximity to pubs, shops and restaurants – the things that really make a great neighborhood.
We ended up in Marylebone one block from the tube (yay!) but several blocks from restaurants and shops. The flat itself was nice enough with modern décor. It had two bedrooms on the top floor with a toilet (no sink though – ick!); a kitchen and sitting room with pull-out couch on the level below; and a full bathroom half a level below that.
The things I didn’t like and wish I had thought to ask about:
- There was no A/C and no fans provided – I should have asked for fans!
- The flat was one block off a very busy road. VERY BUSY 24 HOURS A DAY. We were forced to choose between windows open so it was cool enough to sleep or windows closed so it was quiet enough to sleep. Ugh.
- There were no shades on the windows in the sitting room, where one of the kids was sleeping (see pic).
- No hairdryer — this only bothered me and Emma. Happily, it was summer and quite warm so air drying was no problem!
Bottom line: it was fine. Neither a trip maker nor a trip breaker.
We rented from Uber Apartments. Ours was the one they have labeled “Character in Marylebone.”
Food
Our secret to having great meals in London on this trip can be summed up in one word: Gastropubs!
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it’s the simple yet brilliant combination of an English pub with high-quality food. The menus range in quantity and quality, but for the most part they are serving very tasty fare in a very pleasant atmosphere.
Here are a few that we enjoyed:
- The Larrik – 32 Crawford Place, Marylebone
- Windsor Castle Pub – 98 Park Road, Regent’s Park
- Cutty Sark Pub — 4-6 Ballast Quay, Greenwich (nice walk along the river to get there from the center of town
Finding good restaurants — there’s an app for that!
Other than finding The Larrik for our first night there, I did zero research on restaurants before the trip. Once there, I relied on on an app called “Great Little Place” to find restaurants near wherever we happened to be — it worked great! Through the app we found:
- Fire & Stone — nice pizza restaurant on a side street in Covent Garden
- Le Garrick — really cool French restaurant in Covent Garden– try to sit downstairs in the wine cellars
Secret to great mealtimes (with teens!)
Over the years and many trips, we have developed the family habit of playing cards at meals (well, except breakfast). We started this when the kids were really young to fill in that dreaded time between ordering and receiving our meals, and, over the years it’s just become our thing. In thinking through it now, I’ve decided it’s as brilliant a strategy for teens as it was for toddlers! Check it out:
- They put away their phones and engage with their family. Let me repeat: THEY PUT AWAY THEIR PHONES!
- They aren’t forced to actually TALK during cards, so it allows some decompress time when physical distance just isn’t possible.
- Eliminates the bored, sullen fidgets that might otherwise occupy the time.
- Almost always results in some laughs, so everyone’s in a good mood and ready to talk when the food arrives.
We favor games that aren’t too intense. This trip it was cribbage (we found an app so we could peg on one of our phones). Usually it’s a game that we call “Chicken Soup” but is actually elevator whist (also called “Oh Hell”, “Blackout”, “Blob” and many other variations)– always funny because the rules of the game require at least one person to lose each hand.
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Want more Afegirls in London?
Check out:
– Our complete one-week London itinerary.
– Afegirls’ guide to planning the London trip
– Our family’s Amazing Race competition through London
– Our top 10 list of things to do in London with teens
– A day out in Dover: Castles, Cliffs and Tunnels Galore
Trip Date: July 2016
Kids’ Ages: Jonny 16 & Emma 14