London is one of the cheapest big cities to visit with children once you know the rules — and one of the most expensive if you don't. This guide covers fares, car seats, step-free stations, the free list, the paid list, where kids eat free, and how to move a family of five without splitting into two cabs.
Key takeaways
- Under-11s travel free on buses, and up to four free with a fare-paying adult on the Tube, DLR, Overground and Elizabeth line.
- 11–15s pay half with the Young Visitor discount loaded onto a Visitor Oyster at a Tube station (14 days) or a Zip Oyster photocard (£15, apply 28 days ahead).
- Car seats: in licensed taxis and minicabs a child may ride in the back without one if none is provided — but pre-booked cars will bring one if asked.
- Free: Natural History, Science and British Museums, Diana Memorial Playground, Coram's Fields, city farms, parks.
- Paid, worth it: Zoo (£31–33 adult, £22–23 child), Warner Bros Studio Tour (£58.50/£47, family £188), Legoland Windsor (£29–45 online).
01 / FARESChildren's fares and the Young Visitor discount
- Under 5: free everywhere.
- 5–10: free on buses and trams; free on Tube, DLR, Overground and Elizabeth line when travelling with an adult using contactless or Oyster (up to four children per adult). No ticket needed — walk through the wide gate with staff.
- 11–15: need a ticket. Cheapest route for visitors: buy a Visitor Oyster for each child, then ask staff at a Tube station or Visitor Centre to add the Young Visitor discount — half adult pay-as-you-go for 14 days. Longer stays: an 11–15 Zip Oyster photocard (£15, apply online with a passport scan at least 28 days ahead, collect at a Visitor Centre) gives free buses and child Tube fares.
- 16+: adult fares, or a 16+ Zip card for residents.
- Adults: contactless, capped at £8.90 a day in Zones 1–2; bus cap £5.25.
02 / CAR SEATSCar seats, taxis and minibuses
UK law requires children under 12 or under 135cm to use a child seat in private cars. In licensed taxis and minicabs (including app cars) the law allows a child to travel without one in the rear seat — under-3s without a belt, 3+ with the adult belt — if no seat is provided. That is the legal minimum, not good practice: a pre-booked car with a seat requested is safer and no more expensive. Rushxo provides child and booster seats on request and runs 7-seat MPVs and V Class minibuses, so a family of five with luggage travels in one vehicle at one fixed price.
03 / STEP-FREEPushchairs and step-free stations
- 95 of 272 Tube stations (about 35%) are step-free; the Elizabeth line and DLR are 100% step-free and the best lines for buggies. Jubilee line extension stations (Westminster to Stratford) are step-free too.
- Buses have a dedicated buggy space (one or two per bus) and ramps; drivers kneel the bus on request.
- Escalator rule: fold the buggy or carry it; staff will help with lifts where they exist. TfL's journey planner has a 'step-free' filter.
- Pushchair hire: Baboodle and Babonbo deliver prams and car seats to hotels in London from about £12 a week.
04 / FREEThe free list
- Natural History Museum (dinosaurs, the blue whale) and Science Museum (free; Wonderlab from £13.50) — book free timed tickets; both have cloakrooms and picnic rooms.
- Diana Memorial Playground, Kensington Gardens — free, under-12s only, pirate ship; queue on sunny weekends; closes 15:45 in winter and 19:45 in summer.
- Coram's Fields (Bloomsbury; adults only with a child), Hackney City Farm, Vauxhall City Farm, Mudchute Farm on the Isle of Dogs.
- Changing of the Guard and the Horse Guards at 11:00; feeding the pelicans in St James's Park (14:30); the deer at Richmond Park.
- British Museum family trails, Museum of London Docklands, the Horniman in Forest Hill (free museum and animal walk).
- Parks: Hyde Park's Serpentine, Regent's Park playgrounds, Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory hill, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park's Tumbling Bay playground.
05 / PAIDPaid attractions and 2026 prices
- London Zoo: adult £31 off-peak / £33 peak, child 3–15 £22–23, under-3 free; no family ticket; online is up to £4 cheaper.
- Warner Bros Studio Tour (Harry Potter): adult £58.50, child 5–15 £47, family of four £188, under-4 free; sells out months ahead; 20 minutes by car or shuttle from Watford Junction.
- Legoland Windsor: £29–45 online, up to £68 at the gate, under-90cm free; 40 minutes from west London by car.
- London Eye: about £29–33 adult online, child 2–15 £27–29, under-2 free; no family ticket. Free alternative: Sky Garden or the Horizon 22 viewing deck.
- Tower of London: £38 adult, children's prices online; book the first slot.
- Kidzania Westfield, Sea Life, Shrek's Adventure — bundled Merlin tickets are cheaper than separate ones if you do two or more.
06 / EATINGWhere children eat free or cheap
A rolling list of chains runs kids-eat-free or £1 deals, especially in school holidays: Bella Italia (Sunday–Thursday year-round), Franco Manca (Monday–Thursday), Mamuśka! (daily), Gordon Ramsay restaurants and others in holidays. Pub chains (Wetherspoons, Hungry Horse) have £5 children's meals. Markets (Borough, Seven Dials, Mercato Mayfair) let everyone eat differently for £8–12 a head. Supermarket meal deals and park picnics cover lunch for £4 each. Tap water is free in any licensed venue.
07 / STAYFamily rooms and where to base yourself
- Premier Inn and Travelodge family rooms (two adults, two children) from £120–180 central; hub by Premier Inn is too small for families.
- Apartment hotels (Citadines, Staycity, SACO) give a kitchen and a washing machine — the single biggest saver with children.
- Areas: South Kensington (museums on the doorstep), Waterloo/South Bank (Eye, Sea Life, river), King's Cross (Harry Potter platform, Coram's Fields), Paddington (Heathrow link, Hyde Park), Stratford (Olympic Park, Westfield, cheaper rates).
- Airport arrival: most long-haul flights land at 5–7am and rooms are not ready until 15:00. Book luggage storage or a hotel that holds bags, or pre-book a car and go straight to a park and breakfast.
11 / WINTERWinter 2026/27: dates, prices and what to pack
London in winter is dark by 16:00, 4–10°C, and rains about one day in four — and it is also the best-decorated, best-value and least crowded time to visit, outside the week before Christmas. Everything below is confirmed for 2026 unless marked.
- Lights switch-ons: Carnaby 4 November; Regent Street and St James's 5 November (free street event 17:00–21:00); Knightsbridge 10 November; Marylebone and Old Spitalfields 11 November; Covent Garden 12 November; Leadenhall 19 November; Oxford Street early November.
- Southbank Centre Winter Market: 2 November 2026 – 4 January 2027, daily 11:00–22:00, free entry.
- Skate at Somerset House: 11 November – 10 January, adults £15–28.50, children £11.
- Christmas at Kew: 13 November – 3 January, from about £25 adult, £20 child, under-4s free.
- Hyde Park Winter Wonderland: 19 November 2026 – 3 January 2027 (closed 25 December), 10:00–22:00. Entry is free off-peak (Monday–Thursday in November, must be booked), £5.50 standard, £8.25 peak, or free with £25 of pre-booked rides. Rides and bars are where the money goes.
- Trafalgar Square tree: lit in the first week of December (Norway's annual gift); free carols most evenings until Christmas.
- Christmas Day (Friday 25 December): no public transport at all — no Tube, bus, train or Elizabeth line. Pre-book any car journey weeks ahead. Boxing Day runs a reduced service; sales start 26 December and most stores open with shorter hours. The substitute bank holiday is Monday 28 December.
- New Year's Eve fireworks: ticketed only via Ticketmaster (2025 prices were £40–55; 2026 on-sale date to be announced in October). Westminster Bridge and the riverside are closed without a ticket; Primrose Hill, Greenwich and Alexandra Palace are the free vantage points. Tube is free from 23:45 to 04:30 on the night.
- New Year's Day Parade (1 January, free along Piccadilly, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall); Canary Wharf Winter Lights free in late January; Burns Night 25 January; Chinese New Year 6 February 2027 with the Trafalgar Square and Chinatown celebrations the following weekend; Pancake Day 9 February.
- Pack: a waterproof outer layer, a warm mid-layer, scarf, and waterproof walking shoes. Umbrellas lose to wind; hoods win. Indoors is well heated, so layers you can shed.
On the one day a year with no transport, and on the nights when the apps surge, a pre-booked flat fare is the difference between a good evening and a £90 ride home. Rushxo runs through Christmas Day and New Year's Eve at the price agreed when you book.
13 / SAFETYSafety, scams, health and emergencies
London is safe for visitors. The one crime you must plan around is phone snatching: around 72,000 phones were stolen in 2025 (falling in 2026 after a police crackdown, but still roughly 160 a day), typically by riders on e-bikes grabbing phones held near the kerb on Oxford Street, around Leicester Square, Westminster Bridge, Camden and Shoreditch.
- Keep the phone away from the road edge; step into a doorway to use maps. Turn on Find My / Stolen Device Protection, set a SIM PIN, and note your IMEI.
- Scams: charity collectors without a permit, fake theatre tickets around Leicester Square, 'can I borrow your phone' and group-photo grabs, cup-and-ball games on the bridges, unlicensed minicab touts outside clubs (illegal — only pre-booked minicabs and hailed black cabs are legal), 'helpers' at ticket machines, counterfeit goods on market edges.
- Emergency: 999 (or 112). Non-emergency police 101. Medical advice 111, 24 hours. Pharmacists at Boots handle minor ailments.
- NHS for visitors: A&E, urgent treatment centres and 111 are free at the point of use; admitted and outpatient hospital care is charged to most visitors at 150% of cost. EU/EEA/Swiss visitors with an EHIC/GHIC, and Australians and New Zealanders under reciprocal agreements, are covered for necessary care. Everyone should still have travel insurance.
- Night: night buses and the Night Tube are safe and busy. Pre-book your ride home for late finishes rather than relying on apps at closing time.
Frequently asked questions
Do children travel free on the London Underground?
Under-11s travel free with a fare-paying adult (up to four per adult) on the Tube, DLR, Overground and Elizabeth line, and free on all buses.
How do 11–15 year olds get child fares in London?
Buy a Visitor Oyster and have staff add the Young Visitor discount (half fare for 14 days), or apply for an 11–15 Zip Oyster photocard 28 days ahead.
Do I need a car seat in a London taxi?
Legally, no — children may ride in the back of a licensed taxi or minicab without one if none is provided. For safety, pre-book a car and request a seat.
Is there a family ticket for the London Eye or London Zoo?
No family tickets in 2026 at either. Book online for the lowest individual prices, or choose free alternatives like Sky Garden.
What is the cheapest way to get a family of five from Heathrow?
A pre-booked 7-seat MPV at a fixed fare with child seats — one vehicle, no surge, no splitting across two cabs.
Fixed Price, Child Seats Included
Family of five? One car, one price.
7-seat MPVs and V Class minibuses with child and booster seats on request, flight tracking and meet-and-greet at every London airport. The fare is agreed before you fly.
Prices, fares and rules were checked in October 2026 and change frequently. Confirm with the operator, venue or gov.uk before you travel. Rushxo has no commercial relationship with any venue or provider named.