OT Things to do in London

[S Viemeister]

I took my kids to the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh - they enjoyed it, and so did I.

[Bob Eager]

Again not in London, but great fun...the Toy Museum in Brighton. A nice trip. Interesting stuff such as a history of Meccano (all the different colours over the years), and stuff like Bayko.

Get the train to Brighton, come out of the station and go down the road that runs beneath the forecourt. There it is.

[Robin]

You may well think it's aimed at adults but the V&A (of which it is part) disagree.

It has changed a bit since you were a child. (For one thing it's a lot warmer in winter than it used to be!)

[Nick Odell]

Great idea. And Brighton is only four minutes away from London by train. At least, it was in 1953. It's probably even faster now.

Nick

[S Viemeister]

Added to the list - thank you.

[Bob Eager]

It was still four minutes in 2013:

I do remember a reliable 55 minute service to London when I was a teenager. Although you often had to pay half a crown extra.

[alan_m]

Plus every time I've used it in the past few years - much faster traffic flow and fewer road works. I do turn off to the west before getting to Birmingham (M42).

[alan_m]

There is better modern art at your local rubbish tip than at Tate modern.

[Tim Streater]

Wasn't that if you went on the Brighton Belle? First class only *and* an extra half a dollar.

[Tim Streater]

I'm with the German general on this one.

[Tim Watts]

Agreed. Whilst you will find the odd Dali and a couple of others at the TM, much of it is stupid bollocks like "room full of plain white stuff" and other nonsense.

Last time we went, I mocked most of it openly much to the amusement of the kids :->

[Terry Casey]

If it runs out of oofle dust, don't buy another one. Just use any contactless credit or debit card. If you've got more than one, make sure you use the same one for all journeys to take advantage of the daily caps.

For example, bus fares are all £1.50/trip - any distance. Daily cap £4.50.

How about a visit to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich?

[Bob Eager]

Yes - most of the fast services were Brighton Belle. If you didn't want that, you had to wait for the next one. Or, in my case, you didn't notice, got on and were charged by the conductor! Last time I did that was about February 1970.

[Bob Eager]

But if you have a Senior Railcard (or indeed any Railcard), keep the Oyster card, go to a Tfl customer centre and get them linked. Then you get discounted off-peak Oyster travel. You can't do that with a credit or debit card.

[Robin]

In addition I'll confess to feeling happier lending an Oyster Card to some visitors than I would a contactless credit/debit card.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yup - again going by river.

[whisky-dave]

you can also geta free bus ride if taken within an hour of the previous one IIRC.

[whisky-dave]

That's that big cold wet thing that seperates sarf London from civerlisation. You don't want to go crossing that.

[Terry Casey]

Correct but, if you are taking several bus rides in the course of a day, the cap is still £4.50, so the odd freebie doesn't really make any difference

[Andrew]

The pathological museum at st Bartholomews Hospital (but I used to work there so could get in any day for nothing).