A Magical Day Out In London With Merlin

Jimmy is at nursery half the week now and the other half of the week we get to be fancy free and live it up in London – while we still can and before we move to Norfolk! I am trying to make the most of our time together before he starts big school next year and being in the capital city, we are, thankfully, spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing things to do!

In London we have great museums and lots of wonderful resources which are very often for free. Because of this it’s nice to occasionally splash out and do something really special. I wanted to have a ‘big day out’ with my boy, using London as our playground and I wanted to make it something that we wouldn’t be able to do every week but something for a real treat. London is the most vibrant city, everyone wants to be here and it’s easy to see why! Also easy to see why our flat would rent out on Airbnb whenever we are away making our holidays pay for themselves when we aren’t here. GuestReady is an Airbnb Management company who take all the hassle out of renting our place out from increasing our rental income by as much as 60% without us so much as lifting a finger, to covering all the details regarding bookings and services. All we have to do is go away to play elsewhere allowing someone else to play here in our London yard. Just where we get to hang out most of the time and boy do I make the most of it with Jimmy!

Bearing in mind we only really have from 9-3 while Florence is at school we couldn’t travel too far but Waterloo is easy to get to on the tube from Stratford, is step free and right in the heart of lots to see and do for our special day.

We walked from the station to the South Bank and there we stayed trying out a trio of the entertainment that Merlin offers here in Central London. We went on a London Eye River Cruise, the London Eye itself and then into the London Sea Life Aquarium. It might sound a little ambitious time wise but it worked out perfectly for us and we had THE most brilliant day!

So, we started on the river with a guided tour (thanks James, you were funny and informative in just the right measure and kept us entertained) from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament all the way down to the Tower Of London and back again taking everything in between in. I learned so much about the buildings (and not just the ones we all know but others I’ve not even noticed before), bridges and historic London just from this short 45 minute tour but what really surprised me was how much Jimmy took in. He’s only three and although I thought he’d love the experience of being in a boat I hadn’t reckoned on him actually being interested in the information but he absolutely was.

Listening intently to Jame's commentary on the London Eye River Cruise! — Listening intently to Jame’s commentary on the London Eye River Cruise!

HMS Belfast is covered in Dazzle paint as this made it very difficult for the enemy to attack. I know HMS President from when I was little and being on board the former warship at an event my Dad's work had but I didn't know this about its paint job so I learned something new! — HMS Belfast is covered in Dazzle paint as this made it very difficult for the enemy to attack. I know HMS President from when I was little and being on board the former warship at an event my Dad’s work had but I didn’t know this about its paint job so I learned something new!

The river cruise might not be an obvious choice for a three year old but it absolutely should be!

The staff were very helpful with my buggy and reassuring about safety advising how to use the life jacket around myself and Jimmy in case of an emergency. This left us able to thoroughly enjoyed the cruise setting us up really well for the next adventure of going on the London Eye!

We always see the ‘big wheel’ as we go past and although Jimmy has been on it before, he was quite tiny and doesn’t remember. He was very excited to get inside our pod (you can take buggies on if you fold them down or store them in their safe office) and immediately started pointing out the buildings we had learned about on the cruise. Another passenger from a foreign country commented that Jimmy knew so much about London. And he does thanks to James’s guided tour cruise on the boat!

Pointing out all the sights to the tourists!

London Eye 4 — The London Eye is a fantastic experience and if you don’t know what you’re looking at the iPads are there to guide you!

Aside from Jimmy’s running commentary the pods on the Eye are silent (or at least ours was) which meant we could just take in the spectacular scenery and enjoy it. For those that haven’t yet learned all the building names there are iPads with all the information on them including the buildings marked clearly. It was such a lovely day weather wise when Jimmy and I went up last week that we couldn’t concentrate on iPads and just wanted to look out. Jimmy adored the experience and after the cruise and the Eye was feeling like he’d already had a super day out but we still had our aquatic experience to go!

At the end of the London Eye trip we went inside the main building for the 4D experience which is just 5 minutes long and very impressive. The 4D experience is included in the London Eye ticket price!

A quick picnic lunch walking slowly along to the entrance of the London Sea Life Aquarium (the cruise leaves from next door to the Eye and the Aquarium is opposite) and we were standing over sharks beneath us before we knew it!

If I’d thought Jimmy was having a brilliant time before, then I knew he certainly was now! He beamed from ear to ear and it took us a good ten minutes to get past the entrance area where the pathway over those sharks is. He just couldn’t believe it!

We had two hours to do the Aquarium so I was keen to get going around in case we’d have to miss anything. As it turned out this was ample time for us to see everything, linger at our favourite stops and leave knowing we’d not missed out. It would have been nice to go back and see some of the things again and had we had more time we would have done so but we didn’t feel cheated or let down at having to stick to our tight time frame and the day was absolutely doable in (after travel time) 4 and a half hours.

Jimmy loved the rock pool area and got to touch a star fish and a crab. He was also fascinated by the jelly fish, turtles and of course those sharks! We saw fish we were familiar with (Jimmy spotted Nemo) and other creatures we didn’t even know existed. The Stingray tank is amazing and it’s wonderful how close you feel to everything, like you’re entering a secret world! That’s how I felt about it so now wonder Jimmy has talked of it so much ever since! They even have crocodiles (Jimmy was scared) and penguins (we did a lot of awwing)! Brilliant, brilliant place to visit!

Such a great time at the London Sea Life Aquarium!

I said it was a treat day and it was but even though it costs a bit of money to do these three things they were absolutely worth it. Balance it out with all the free museums in London and all three are must dos when in town for a visit! As a Londoner (for now) I would seriously consider buying an annual pass for the Aquarium as Jimmy absolutely adored it. It’s the sort of place you can pop in for half an hour to see your favourites or make a whole day of it. I might even look into an annual Merlin Pass which gives access to ALL the attractions in the country. In London alone there’s so much and I have my eye on Madam Tussaud’s, The Planitarium and Shrek’s Adventure for another day! It’s worth noting that when doing more than one Merlin attraction in London you can get combined tickets for most of them making them cheaper!

A thoroughly great day was had by us and we want to do it all over again with Florence and Daddy next time!