Visiting London with kids: Keeping the cost down

Visiting London with your family means you're in for an extremely fun ride, as you'll not only discover landmarks and new places but you'll also get to see them through the eyes of your children too. Exploring with children often means that you will see things in a different light and probably appreciate much more too. However, the down side to this is that obviously the more people who travel, the more costly the trip will become, not only for travel but accommodation too. Family rooms are often more expensive than twin or double ones but can be far more spacious. If your children are of an age of maturity, it may be worth considering booking two twin or double rooms next to each other. This gives them a little bit of freedom, yet also allows you to keep a close eye on them. Of course, if you are travelling with babies or young children, then booking a family room will probably prove to be the best option in more ways than one. 

Travelling off-peak -why choose winter holidays?

There are ways of keeping the cost of booking a family room down though, which include  booking your accommodation through a last minute booking site, or shopping around in order to find the best rates and hotels with the best facilities for you and your little ones. Another big way to save when travelling is to travel during off-peak seasons as airfares, rail fares and hotels are often much cheaper than they would be during the height of summer. However, there are also many other reasons why to choose a winter holiday, such as tourist hotspots being less crowded or autumnal leaves making amazing photo backdrops in national parks. More so than that though, a little break in the midst of what would otherwise be a cold and bleak season can lift your spirits no end.

Where to stay

-Base 2 stay in Kensington

This is the ideal solution for a travelling family visiting London, as these apartments have a fully equipped kitchen and are  spacious enough to accommodate families. The fact that the rooms have all the necessary items to cook basic meals means that you can feed your family well, inexpensively and to your own schedule rather than being tied to eating meals at specified times. This is especially good news for those who have toddlers or babies, as they definitely eat to their own schedule and will often need feeding at inopportune times. This particular accommodation company also provide their guests with vouchers for nearby restaurants- great for treating the whole family for a fraction of the cost you would expect to spend in a London restaurant.

- Luna and Simone hotel

This family-run hotel near Piccadilly London goes all out to ensure that the families who stay there have a fantastic trip and leave wanting to come back soon. The friendly staff are customer focused and always ready to assist with any queries or requests. The hotel is also close to the Victoria line which makes it an ideal base from which to travel to the many London hotspots that draw in thousands of visitors each year. Whether you are looking to visit a Royal palace or garden to immerse yourself in British history or whether you are looking forward to a trip on the London eye to take in the spectacular city views, travelling to either is made easy by the Underground tube service. If you are planning to do quite a bit of exploring from place to place it is worth considering getting an Oyster card which can be used as an easy way to pay for fares across most forms of public London transport. This includes trams, rail, buses and the underground tube system too. It is also worth noting that children can travel for free when riding with an accompanying adult across these forms of transport, so perhaps sight seeing with the kids may be more affordable than you originally thought.

- Premier Inn County Hall

This is a conveniently positioned hotel for exploring London's hotspots, in fact, the neighbouring London eye experience is a must do for families wishing to see all of London from a bird's eye view. Once you've purchased your tickets (which are cheaper if booked in advance on-line) you'll be shown to a glass pod in which you stand whilst the ride is in motion. This is one attraction sure to delight every member of the family as you see London as you've never seen it before, in all of it's city-scape glory.

The Premier Inn County Hall is one of the best hotels near Piccadilly that is super family friendly, as it offers spacious family rooms to accommodate everyone and has a fantastic breakfast deal where up to two children can eat breakfast for free when dining with adults- so that's breakfast all sorted for half the price! 

If you're sometimes a little bit dubious about staying somewhere new in case the rooms aren't what you were expecting upon arrival, then opting to stay in a well trusted hotel chain such as the Premier Inn should offer added peace of mind. It is, after all, a well established brand whose main focus is customer comfort and satisfaction at a a price that's hard to beat.

In short, travelling to chic cities as a family can become quite costly very quickly when you take into account travel, accommodation, attraction tickets and eating out, but if you do your homework before you set off, there are clever little ways to make significant savings.