I’m traveling to London (from Chicago) at the beginning of December with my husband and two young children to celebrate my 40th birthday. London is my favorite city although I haven’t been in 10+ years. I’ve never been at Christmas and this is a bucket list trip. My boys are age 7 and 5 and this will be their first travel out of the U.S.

We will be there Thursday-Sunday with roughly 2.5 days of doable time, accounting for travel time. My husband and I have both visited London before and have done most of the must-dos and then some. I spent a semester abroad at a university in Twickenham during my junior year of college and have taken two week-long trips back to London since then (accompanied by my husband during one of them). My last trip was in 2013.

Our December trip is short and we’ll potentially be dealing with some seriously jet-lagged children. However, my husband and I don’t feel pressure to squeeze in a ton of touristy stuff because we’ve already done it, and we plan to take the boys back for a longer trip when they’re older. We also understand the stress that can come with packing in way too much for two tired children (and adults). This trip is all about experiencing London at Christmas and enjoying some of our favorite cultural experiences (classic pubs, afternoon tea, fish and chips, London transportation, Indian food, walks around the city). With such a major time change from Chicago to London, I want to be able to wake up when we want and go to bed when it makes sense and not try to wake at the crack of dawn just to squeeze in as many activities as we can.

I would love some specific suggestions (locations, times of day, etc.) to build our London itinerary. Keep in mind that we’re most interested in uniquely London experiences and not just classic big city attractions (for example, although I know London has great children’s museums/zoos, we live outside Chicago and are an hour’s drive from world-class aquariums, zoos, museums, etc. so while I’d love to visit these places sometime, that’s not what we’re lookin for on this trip).

Key background/needs:

  • We are staying in Islington, near the Angel tube stop.
  • I suspect we’ll need to keep Thursday low key. We’re taking a red eye flight from Chicago and land around noon. I anticipate arriving at our lodging in Islington around 2/2:30 p.m. after clearing customs and traveling from Heathrow. I suspect we’ll be running on fumes. Fingers crossed my kiddos sleep on the plane but even if they do it won’t be a full night’s worth. So I’m keeping my expectations for Thursday evening/night low but would still like to do something on our list. I’m thinking walking around (where?) and cozy pub for dinner?
  • What I REALLY need help with is building a specific itinerary. I have a list of everything we want to hit (see below), but with only 2 full days and 2 small children, I want to be as efficient as possible.
  • I also need recommendations on specific places (e.g. I know I want to hit a classic pub(s) with a roaring fire and Christmas decorations but need recs on which ones and where it fit in with the other things we want to do).
  • I am celiac and require a gluten free diet. I was diagnosed 2 years ago and haven’t been to London since so this is unchartered territory for me. As much as possible, I want to eat all my favorite London things (fish and chips, scones, Cornish pasty, etc.) while also understanding it may not be possible.

Here’s what’s on our list so far (please weigh in!)

  • Christmas Markets:
  • Covent Gardens is high on my list, so is Borough Market. Should they be? And are there any others I’m overlooking? And how many markets are worth hitting? I’m envisioning us walking through them on the way to do other things. We do have pop-up German Christmas markets in Chicago so I’m looking for markets that are more specific to London.
  • I’d love to do Greenwich Market/Cutty Sark/etc. though I’m worried it doesn’t make sense during such a short trip (prove me wrong!)
  • Christmas:
  • Give me all your recs that are London specific and different from what we might experience in Chicago.
  • London Transportation
  • My 5 year-old is a vehicle/transportation aficionado and we want to do as many forms of London transportation as we can:
    • Double deck bus (would love recs on the best routes to take to see sights and Christmas lights + routes that hit the other items on our list)
    • Hop on hop off bus (I’m considering doing this one day as a relaxed way to see a lot of sites without having to track timetables/routes, etc. However I’ve never done one and would love feedback.)
    • Tube (no brainer)
    • River boat (I’ve read that the Uber boat could be a good option for us? Any itinerary ideas around that are appreciated. Or other boats we should consider.)
    • I’ve heard the London Transport Museum in Covent Gardens is awesome for kids (and maybe free?) and since I want to CG anyway, thought it might be fun to pop in if we have time. Thoughts? I’ve also heard the Postal Museum has fun transportation features for kids. It wasn’t as high on my list but I see that it’s not far from where we’re staying in Islington so that might be fun to do as a filler activity if we have time.
  • London Eye
  • Touristy, yes, but my kiddos will love and it’s such a fun way to see the city. I’ve done it once, as a college student, during the day. I’d love input if it’s better at day or night.
  • Retail (Yes, we have toy stores in Chicago, but it’s Christmas and my kids will love it. We plan to give them some spending money as an early Christmas gift. Plus, I figure it’s a good way to enjoy Christmas decorations?):
  • Hamleys Toy Store
  • Lego Leister square
  • Should we go to Harrods too? (I’ve been but it was before I had kids)
  • Princess Diana Memorial Playground:
  • I experienced a very cringey moment when, as a royal obsessed 22 year-old, I tried to visit this playground not realizing visitors had to be buzzed in by a security guard and adults were only allowed in if they were accompanied by children. I tried to open the gate and a loud voice came over a loudspeaker and told me I wasn’t allowed in without a child. This visit with my children is 100% about me but I suppose they’ll enjoy it too (yes, I’m being sarcastic).
  • Afternoon Tea:
  • My husband found a fully GF afternoon tea menu at St. Ermin’s in Westminster that I think we’re going to book.
  • Classic pubs with fireplace!
  • My husband and I love British pub culture. I’m dreaming of spending every night eating in a classic pub next to a roaring fire. I need the coziest pub recommendations of all time. And I need the best GF pubs. And I need them to be the same thing.
  • Islington Recommendations:
  • Best places to eat, visit, see, walk, to in Islington. If things go south with the kids and we need to stay close to our hotel (near Angel tube stop), I still want to make the most of it. Would especially love recs of Islington’s coziest pubs and best GF restaurants.
  • Food we want to eat (and needs to be GF)
  • Fish and chips
  • Afternoon tea/scones
  • Cornish pasty (I don’t know if GF ones exist…help!)
  • Curry (luckily Indian food is 95% GF anyway so I’m not worried about this but would love recommendations that fit with the rest of our itinerary)
  • Other amazing GF English food?

Ok, I’ll end this novel but saying THANK YOU in advance for any and all recs!