What To Do FREE In London & Travelodge Docklands

It’s the Easter holidays and usually we would be in London moving and shaking, nipping about on the tube, frequenting our favourite museums and having entertainment for free or next to nothing on tap. Obviously since we moved to Norfolk things are a bit different and although we are loving our new life in the country, we do miss some of the amazing things on offer in the capital. Don’t get me wrong, there are amazing things for children to do here in Norfolk too but they’re very different and what we’re used to is being able to fill our days while still having full pockets. It’s kind of not like that here but then wait until the summer, the beach on tap will probably outweigh London in those warmer months.

I think really and truly there is a place for everthing and everything is to be enjoyed. I’ve met people since being here who have never taken their children to London, to their capital City?! I find that bonkers because wow, it’s not even that far away and why wouldn’t they want to go? On the other side of the coin I have friends in London who have never seen a Norfolk beach and blimey, you’ve not lived until then!

We are 2 hours away from London by train or car, it’s not far either way but we tend to stick to our own little pockets I guess. Well that’s great but it isn’t for me and if I couldn’t visit London then I’d be very sad indeed. So, this week we decided to make a mini break of it and with Katy from Modern Mummy (another ex London dweller moved to the sticks) we took the broods on a jaunt back to our old yard.

Now you CAN go for one day, this is absolutely achieveable but we had plans for two days running so booked a Travelodge for the night. we booked quite late on and couldn’t get anywhere in central London but Docklands is a mere stones thrown and an exciting ride on the DLR away (Jimmy thinks the DLR is a day out in itself) so we set off for fun in London!

We had bags of it on the South Bank, at The Globe Theatre, Taking afternoon tea in the Swan, visiting Selfirdges, dining at Verdi in the Royal Albert Hall and then we even, by special invitation, got to go up the BT Tower. I supoose we had a fairy expensive trip in the things that we did but you really can do London for free or very little and getting a hotel for the night is NOT an extravagance, especially when it’s a Travelodge! They are basic but clean and functional with big family rooms, coffee making facilities, baths with showers over them and televisions and one of the best features is that the breakfast costs just £7.95 per adult and up to two children eat for free with each paying meal! Whoopie!

Like I said, we booked late in the day but still our room would have been around £90 with breakfast and deals can be much cheaper if you plan ahead. \we were very impressed and what impressed me the most was the double comfort of the bed! we had a big double in the middle for me and a single either side for the children just as Katy did in her room opposite mine.

This is before! — I’m sorry the sheets look so crumpled, they honestly didn’t when we arrived but before I could get my camera out this happened…

You see the bed really is super bouncy which clearly means it’s good for jumping on as well as sleeping in! By the time we fell into bed exhausted from our packed day in London both children fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows. This meant I got that entire bed to myself ALL night and I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages!

I just want to get one to have at home! It was honestly so comfortable. I remember a friend of mine went to stay in Claridges just after she’d had her first baby as a sleep present from her husband. She got the whole night on her own in a double bed in a fancy hotel. Well, that’s lovely but if it’s sleep you’re after why bother with Claridges? Get a Travelodge and buy yourself some shoes with the rest I say!

We’d stayed out late having dinner before we’d returned to our Travelodge and although tired had had a night cap in Katy’s room (I’d been missing a toilet roll and the staff had insisted we have a drink on the house to make up for it – ok, ok, it could have been a cup of tea if we’d wanted but we were on holiday!) so we’d watched a bit of practical magic cosied up on her beds and it seems the comfort is universal. I’m sorry to keep going on about the comfort of the beds but seriously!!!!!!!!

And we woke up ready for day two in London, had baths and a brilliant breakfast to keep us going all day!

The kids all got thoroughly stuck in and enjoyed the choosing, pouring and eating by themselves (we let them have their own table)! They felt so grown up!

And the choice of breakfast is vast at a Travelodge with branded names for the products. Kellogs cereal, Heinz baked beans and the like. A choice of different breads and croissants is on offer to be warmed, toasted or eaten as is. Fruits, granola and yogurt is there for the healthier options and of course, there’s a cooked breakfast buffet. A hotel wouldn’t be a hotel without a cooked breakfast buffet which we all tucked into with delight!

And my less healthy but very welcome cooked breakfast main!

I thoroughly enjoyed breakfast which also had lots of tea infusions as well as breakfast and coffee and juices to choose from or water. It was the perfect way to set us up for day two and the children ate loads which is unlike them so it must have been good!

And that was that. Checkout was a key card drop in the box and we were off. A welcome, clean and hospitable stay for a very good price and with good food. Can’t ask for more than that now can you?!

The Docklands Travelodge is at East India Quay which is a bit industrial but a stones trhow from Canary Whrf where there are many shops, restaurants, bars and a fab museum for kids too!

And EVERYONE enjoys a ride on the DLR! I go out of my way to take the children on it so staying somewhere on the line was no hardship!

Getting to East India Quay in the Docklands is really best done on the DLR which is quick and takes about 20 minutes from Bank in central London. It’s worth noting that the DLR is also entirely step free if needed with lifts at every station. I wouldn’t bother getting a cab as it will be expensive and take a long time in traffic.

If staying at this Travelodge things on your doorstep are the shopping centre at Canary Wharf with many nice bars and restaurants as well as decent shopping both chain and independent. In the winter they also have an ice skating rink. At west India Quay there is a Cineworld cinema (kids cheap showings at weekend and school holiday mornings) and more restaurants along the water as well as an excellent museum in the London Museum Of Docklands. This has FREE entry and a soft play/interactive play area called Mudlarks for smaller children (time slots to be booked but no charge). The museum is very interesting and can easily take up a few hours. There is also Mudchute City Farm which despite its name is closest to Crossharbour and a short walk across the Asda car park.

Mudchute farm with the backdrop of Canary Wharf!

Building a dam at the London Museum Of Docklands!

Other FREE things I would recommend to do with children under 10 in London are The Museum Of Childhood in Bethnal Green (Central Line), The Science Museum and Natural History Museum in South Kensington (District, Circle and Piccadilly Lines), Corams Fields park at Holborn (Central Line), The Princess Diana Memorial Play Ground closest to Queensway (Central Line), The Imperial War Museum at Lambeth North (Northern Line), The Tate Modern at Southwark on the Jubilee Line or The Tate Britain at Pimlico (Victoria Line).

Hands on FREE fun at the Science Museum London!

These are all things that I like to do regularly with my children and I can highly recommend them. It’s really just a selection as I have loads of favourites but they are some of the best! If you’d like to spend a little money but still keep costs down there are a few more things you should take a look at as the Discover Story Centre in Stratford is inexpensive but utterly brilliant and you could combine it with a walk around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which had brilliant (and FREE) play areas at the Tumbling Bay play ground and the fountains for a warmer day! My other go to day out in London HAS to be the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line). Ticket prices sound quite high at £15 for adults but if you state you want the ticket to be an annual ticket they will print you one you can re-use as many times as you like for 12 months and children go FREE anyway! They’re a bit cheeky because they don’t really advertise this and WILL sell you a day ticket at the same cost as an annual unless you state this is what you want but now you know, you know!

Having fun at the Transpot Museum! — Having fun at the London Transpot Museum!

Princess Diana Playground Fun — Th Princess Diana Memorial Playground!

My recommendations are all based on the fact that there are things for the kids to actually DO! We like hand on play and not just looking at things so I hope that you do too. So, what are you waiting for, get your Travelodge booked and enjoy a very inexpensive weekend in London! I’ll leave you with my final top 5 tips for a family break in the Capital and keeping the costs (as well as aggro) down:

Buy an Oyster card and top it up. The cost of the card is refundable if you aren’t going to use it again but it cuts the price of journeys in half. You can also use your contactless bank card which will also charge the same rate and will cap at the maxium day ticket price just like an Oyster. Please note that buses in London are entirely cashless so unless you pay by card then you can’t travel! Children under 11 travel for FREE on public transport with paying adults. Travelling after 9.30am is of peak and a lot cheaper.
Look at your journey when in Central London and consider walking from place to place rather than tubing! If you use an app such as Walkit.com or an old-fashioned A-Z you might see a walk is much more time saving. Lots of people think getting on the tube to go one or two stops is the easiest way but actually the tube can go around the houses a bit and it is very small in Central London so a walk can be much more time saving as well as giving you the opportunity to see things you would otherwise miss. A good thing to do is an Urban Hike like the ones downladable from the Regatta website. This was you will see the real London that passes most of us by!
Eat somewhere exciting and different, perhaps out of your comfort zone. We love the ecclectic vibe of Brick Lane for a curry where alcohol can be ‘bring your own’ keeping the cost of dining down.
See the sights tours – but don’t pay a premium! Grab a boat (Oyster cards work on the Transport For London boats) for a little extra on top of your daily tube cap and nowhere near the cost of a tour boat. There are also bus routes which take the same roads as the tour buses but are inclusive in your day’s Oyster card! See this website for more info!
Don’t travel in rush hours if you can help it (it annoys Londoners, costs more and is not a pleasant experience anyway) and when you’re on the tube try to stand to the right so that people can walk to the left. It really irritates people in London when tourists don’t do this so it’s easier to just comply and hey, there’s lots of interesting posters to see as you go up anyway!