Half Day in London: Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace

One of the goals we have as a family during our three years here is to really get to know London as well as we can. It seems only natural to take advantage of our close proximity to one of the world’s greatest cities (we’re just a couple hours away by car, or 45 minutes by train).

So I’m kicking off what I hope is a series of posts on how to spend a full day or ½ day in London with young kids.

For our first day trip, just 4 days after arriving, we hopped on a train in Peterborough bound for King’s Cross station, one of the main train stations in London. Given that it was a rare sunny day, we planned to spend the bulk of our time in Hyde Park, so from King’s Cross, we took the tube to the Queensway stop on the red (Central) line. (This stop does not have elevators, so you'll have to navigate your stroller up some stairs.)

Exploring Peterborough

Our first two days in England were full of errands. Tracking down car seats, car shopping, unpacking our few belongings, finding a grocery store, etc. And negotiating with overtired kids, one of which was sick. But since we were in a very small temporary apartment during our first week, after a couple of days we were itching to get out and explore.

We still had a lot on the to-do list, so we didn’t venture far that third day. Our apartment was in Peterborough, a fairly large city by English standards. My husband’s company is in the process of opening an office here and he’ll eventually be commuting here. So it was a good chance to familiarize ourselves with the area.

The boys were up really early that day (thanks, jet lag). Naturally our first stop was here.

There should really be a limit on how many tantrums can be thrown before parents are properly caffeinated.

Fueled up and ready, then it was on to St. Peter’s Cathedral. Probably what Peterborough is most known for, at least from a tourist’s perspective. It dates back to the 12th century, although it has sustained some damage over the years. Henry the VIII’s first wife is buried there, and more recently Queen Elizabeth has visited on a couple of different occasions.