Tower Bridge London
← The Atlas

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

London

A beautifully paced family fortnight. Four days of London to start, a countryside reset through Kent, the Cotswolds and Bath, then back into the city for Harry Potter, Hyde Park and Notting Hill before flying home from Gatwick. Built so the four of us can just follow along.

11–26 July 202616 days · 3 to goAmit, Aastha, Aaina, Arth
Photo by David Monaghan on Unsplash
Day by day

The plan

Tap a day to see it hour by hour. Every stop links straight to directions.

a large indoor mall with peoplePhoto by Bruno Martins on Unsplash

Day 1 · London arrival, Soho & Covent Garden

A soft landing. Get to the Soho apartment, then an easy West End wander. No tickets, no rushing, an early night.

  1. 12:30Land at Gatwick

    Follow signs to the station.

    Gatwick Airport
  2. 13:45Direct train to London Victoria, then a cab to Soho

    Skip the Tube with luggage. Train to Victoria, black cab or Uber to the apartment.

    Directions
  3. 15:30Check in, unpack, freshen up
    Soho
  4. 16:45Quick bite at Bun House, Chinatown
    Directions
  5. 17:30Walk: Soho → Chinatown → Neal's Yard → Seven Dials → Covent Garden
    Directions
  6. 19:30Dinner at Dim Sum Library, Covent Garden
    Directions
Follow along

Everywhere, pinned

Pick a place to zoom in, then send it to your phone's maps for turn-by-turn directions.

What to pack

The forecast

Live daily weather for the trip dates, updated automatically as we get closer.

Weather in London

live · open-meteo
Where we ate

Food we'd go back for

Family-friendly, tested, with the one thing to order at each.

Book & budget

Tickets & prices

What costs what, what to book ahead, and where to buy it.

train, aqueduct, jacobite steam train, hogwarts express, steam train, hogwarts express, hogwarts express, hogwarts express, hogwarts express, hogwarts express, steam train, steam train

Warner Bros. Studio Tour

Kids · full day Book ahead

Book immediately, these sell out weeks ahead. Timed entry, allow 4–5 hours.

£53/adult£43/child · approx
Tickets
london, palace, architecture, nature, tourism, buckingham palace, gardens, darling, clouds

Buckingham Palace State Rooms

Royal London Book ahead

Book immediately. Summer opening only. Allow 2–3 hours.

£35/adult£20/child · approx
Tickets
london, britain, london eye, sky, landmark, nature, ferris wheel, tourism, skyline, attraction, city, people

London Eye

Views Book ahead

Cheaper booked online in advance; summer evening slots go fast.

£35/adult£32/child · approx
Tickets
windsor, castle, london, england, united kingdom, architecture, wall, tower, monument, sightseeing, tourism, building, windsor, windsor, windsor, windsor, windsor, london, london, london, united kingdom, united kingdom, united kingdom, united kingdom

Tower of London

History Book ahead

Family tickets available. Arrive at opening for the Crown Jewels.

£35/adult£18/child · approx
Tickets
london bridge, towers, tower bridge, london, bridge, historically, england, twilight, architecture, structure, infrastructure, suspension bridge, bascule bridge, famous, places of interest, london, london, london, london, london, bridge, england

Tower Bridge glass walkway

Views Book ahead

Do it right after the Tower, last entry is usually 17:00.

£13/adult£7/child · approx
Tickets
london, laptop wallpaper, desktop backgrounds, skyscrapers, free wallpaper, wallpaper 4k, beautiful nature, the scalpel, windows wallpaper, 4k wallpaper 1920x1080, nature, wallpaper hd, sky, free background, sunset, high rise, architecture, cool backgrounds, nature wallpaper, 4k wallpaper, hd wallpaper, sky background, full hd wallpaper, mac wallpaper, building, modern, nature background, background, beautiful wallpaper, wallpaper

Sky Garden

Views Book ahead

Free but book a timed slot up to 3 weeks ahead. Weekend access is later in the day.

Free
Reserve
lavenders, flowers, lavender field, purple flowers, bloom, blossom, hd wallpaper, flora, nature, flowering plant, fragrance, plants, inflorescence, flower background, field, purple, beautiful flowers, summer, flower wallpaper

Castle Farm Lavender Fields Walk

Countryside · Kent Book ahead

Book immediately for the field-walk slot. Farm shop alongside.

£8/adult£5/child · approx
Tickets
roman baths, bath, roman, ancient, historic, landmark, heritage, civilization, monument, architecture, england, uk, somerset, historical, travel, building, tourism, history, archaeology, archeology, old, antique, baths, touristic, ruins, roman baths, roman baths, roman baths, roman baths, roman baths, somerset, somerset, somerset

Roman Baths, Bath

History Book ahead

Book timed tickets. Bath Abbey next door is optional.

£28/adult£20/child · approx
Tickets
forest, wallpaper 4k, desktop backgrounds, trees, mousse, windows wallpaper, vegetation, undergrowth, rocks, beautiful nature, moss covered stones, lichen, pierre, cool backgrounds, free wallpaper, full hd wallpaper, trunk, bark, drink, wallpaper hd, landscape, green, mac wallpaper, nature, sheets, foliage, free background, 4k wallpaper 1920x1080, relax, hd wallpaper, nature background, restful, hiking, nature wallpaper, tree trunk, beautiful wallpaper, laptop wallpaper, field, tree branches, 4k wallpaper, wallpaper

Puzzlewood

Outdoors · Forest of Dean Book ahead

Book admission. Outdoor woodland walk, good shoes and a rain layer.

£10/adult£9/child · approx
Tickets
zoo, giraffe, tongue, people, nature, visitors, family, animal, wild animal, mammal, wildlife, africa, stains, neck, head, herbivores, wolf down, feed

Cotswold Wildlife Park

Kids · Cotswolds Book ahead

Buy e-tickets ahead. The little train usually runs in season.

£20/adult£14/child · approx
Tickets
bike, bicycle, street, urban, pavement, footpath, side walk, retro, shop, orange bike, city

Bicester Village

Shopping

Free entry, designer outlet. Better on a weekday.

Free
Reserve
national history museum, blue whale skeleton, exhibition, london, uk, whale skeleton, skeleton, england, museum, london, london, museum, museum, museum, museum, museum

Natural History Museum

Museum · wet-weather backup Book ahead

Free; reserve a free timed slot online. The cleanest rainy-day family pivot.

Free
Reserve
monument to the conquerors of space, star alley, rocket, astronautics, monument, rocket science, launch, flight, museum, blue sky, sky, space, vdnh, moscow, day, clouds, nature, clear sky, space museum

Science Museum

Museum · wet-weather backup

Free, hands-on galleries next to the NHM. Some special exhibitions are paid.

Free
Reserve

Prices are 2026 estimates for planning only. Always check the official site before booking, they change, and family tickets often save money.

Before you go

Trip checklist

Passports, bookings, insurance, tickets, everything we need to carry. The actual documents live in the private wallet.

3/8 sorted

Documents, all in the wallet

Have

Whole family

Passports, UK visas and eVisas, flights, both stays and the Sixt car rental are uploaded to the private wallet.

Book Warner Bros. Studio Tour ×4

To do

Whole family

The hardest ticket of the trip, book this first.

Book Buckingham Palace State Rooms ×4

To do

Whole family

Summer opening only, reserve a timed slot.

Reserve Sky Garden (free timed slot)

To do

Whole family

Free but books up to 3 weeks ahead.

Travel insurance

To do

Whole family

Buy it, then add the policy and 24h line to the wallet.

Cotswolds stay: Orion Holidays essentials

Have

Whole family

Orion Holidays 01285 861839 (24/7, also the emergency line), contact@orionholidays.com, office at The Gateway Centre, Lake 6. Check-in from 4pm on 16 Jul (they call when ready), checkout 10am on 22 Jul. Call them on 13 Jul for the key safe code; keep the code + directions email in the wallet.

South Cerney local numbers

Have

Whole family

Laurels Pharmacy 01285 861123 · South Cerney Surgery (GP) 01285 862112 · Elsey & Elsey Dental 01285 860712 · NHS drop-in, Cirencester Hospital 0300 421 6200 · Emergencies 999/112. Rebooking direct with Orion: code RG5OFF for 5% off.

Emergency card

To do

Whole family

999 for emergencies. Note the nearest hospital to each stay and the kids' details.

This is the checklist and the reference. Storing the actual documents (PDFs, boarding passes, scans) securely is the next build, see the note at the bottom of the page.

The memory bank

Photos

Albums for the trip. These fill up as we go, the plan first, the memories after.

London: river & royals

Palace, the Eye, the Tower

Empty, fills after the trip

Photo by Xavier Coiffic on Unsplash

Kent & the lavender

Farm reset, Castle Farm fields

Empty, fills after the trip

Photo by Mohammed Omar Rashid on Unsplash

The Cotswolds & Bath

Bibury, lakes, Roman Baths

Empty, fills after the trip

Photo by Andrea Pasquali on Unsplash

Platform 9¾

Harry Potter studio day

Empty, fills after the trip

Photo by Luka Fernandes on Unsplash

Markets & parks

Portobello, Hyde Park, Camden

Empty, fills after the trip

Photo by Mieke Campbell on Unsplash