The best museums in London for kids at a price you can deal with

London is a great destination for families.  But one detractor is the cost – a trip to this city isn’t necessarily all that cheap.  Hotels and restaurants can be quite dear – as can many of the most popular attractions.  But you can have a fabulous time and save a few dollars by heading to London’s museums.  They are fun, fabulous and best of all, FREE.

When James Smithson decided that the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, DC should be free of charge to the public, he was taking a page from London’s book.  In this old city on the Thames, you’ll find several great museums that only ask you to show up and enjoy.  Talk about a serious travel value.

1. The Science Museum

This is, by far, my favorite.  At London’s Science Museum, you can check out planes, trains and automobiles, learn more about the human body and even play with photography.  It has lots of kid-friendly exhibits and you’ll feel like a bit of a kid yourself as you run through the myriad of exhibits.

2. The National Gallery

Like DC’s version, this is an art museum that will impress.  The museum has over 2,300 masterpieces you and your family can enjoy for free including works by Seurat, Monet, Rubens and Holbein.

3.  The Natural History Museum

Who doesn’t love dinosaurs?  Take a wander around London’s expansive Natural History Museum to check out fossils, ancient Man, butterflies and more.

4. The Victoria and Albert Museum

Kids who appreciate aesthetics will love the V&A – from the beautiful exterior of the building to the incredible stuff inside, you’ll be overwhelmed by the pretty.  Here you’ll find a huge collection of decorative objects including ceramics, jewelry, sculpture and textiles – and enough kid-related exhibits to keep them happy, too.

5.  The British Museum

This is the next best thing to a trip around the world.  The British Museum houses artifacts from Egypt, Rome and Ancient Greece.  Your kids can check out the Rosetta Stones, Renaissance Drawings and a few crispy mummies.  What’s not fun about that?

Visiting Germany’s most delicious museum with kids
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side·track (sīd´trăk): n. 1. A diversion from the main course. 2. A detour taken with children that you would never, ever take without them.
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Who:
Myself, my husband, and our daughters, Zoe  and Cora (2 and 1).

What:
The Chocolate Museum in Cologne, Germany which sits right on the scenic Rhine River. The museum has signs at each exhibit in both German and English, and covers topics ranging from cocoa harvesting, the history of chocolate making and current production of chocolate.

Why:
After a long drive and checking into our hotel, we were strolling along the Rhine and could not possibly miss this opportunity for the sake of our children…and maybe because my husband is a bit of a chocoholic.

The High Point:
The exhibits were very hands on for the kids, and many of the displayed items were low enough that my two year old could reach them. The huge machines working away at stirring and pouring the chocolate towards the end of the tour were fascinating to my kids, who were also very taken with the glass elevator that shuttles you to all 3 floors of the museum.

For my husband and I, the high point was the throngs of samples at the end of the tour and the intoxicating smell of chocolate throughout.

The Low Point:
While my husband and I were nearing a chocolate induced coma from volume of chocolate we ‘sampled’ my two year old caught a glimpse of a chocolate fountain behind a roped off area which she quickly made a dash for and ducked under the rope. Fortunately, I have some experience in a past life as a hurdler and managed to vault over the rope, and reached her tiny hand just before it scooped into the forbidden fountain.

The Kids’ Take:
They loved the hands-on exhibits and the samples. I think they would have enjoyed it more if they were a bit older, but they certainly were content and interested throughout. There were many school aged kids visiting the day we were there and they all seemed to enjoy the exhibits, particularly the section about advertising and chocolate.

The Bottom Line:
The chocolate here is really out of this world. I have never been much for chocolate and indulge more in other vices of mine, but declare myself a changed woman after this museum. I have never tasted chocolate so pure, so smooth, so delectable! The museum was reasonably priced – 15 euro for both my husband and I with the kids being free. If you can exercise some restraint in the overpriced gift shop at the end it can make for an inexpensive, interesting, and tasty family outing.

Silver mining, gold panning, and enough Old West souvenirs to sink a ship
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side·track (sīd´trăk): n. 1. A diversion from the main course. 2. A detour taken with children that you would never, ever take without them.
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Who and What:
Me, my husband, and our 8 and 10-year-old kids. Calico Ghost Town, a settlement just outside of Barstow, California that became one of the richest mining districts in the state when silver was discovered here 127 years ago.

Why:
Because it’s halfway between San Francisco (where we live) and the Grand Canyon (where we were heading for spring break).

The Low Point:
There are a handful of original buildings here (and a mine shaft you can walk through for a modest fee), but there are also a lot of reproduction buildings and seriously schlocky souvenir shops.

The High Points:
The kids liked panning for gold even though a closer examination of the fruits of their labor revealed it to be Pyrite.  We still felt we got our $2 worth.

Another highlight was posing for an old-time photo, especially when we hit upon the idea of my husband and I going in drag.  We all agreed that it was $40 well spent. My daughter had been dying to do it forever and it saved us a trip to Pier 39 in San Francisco.

We also walked through an old mine and ate fudge, which was nice.

The Kids’ Take:
A good break from all that endless driving.  Two thumbs up for the fudge.

The Adults’ Take:
Worth seeing if only to check the “ghost town” box.  We thought it would be a lot more authentic, but it turned out the entire thing had been re-assembled around a few original buildings.

The Bottom Line:
Not worth a major detour, but not a bad way to spend two hours if you’re passing by.

You’re packed up and ready for that trip.  You’ve strategically placed three new coloring books, new crayons, a few small toys, snacks and who knows what else to help distract your child on that plane ride.  But what have you packed to distract you?

It’s not a rhetorical question.  And I know you’re thinking, “She’s got to be kidding me!  Like I’ll be doing anything on that flight but keeping my kids busy.”  But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Kids often learn by example.  And I’ve found that one of the best ways I can convince Chet to page through “Curious George” on his own or color quietly on his seatback table is if he sees I’m busy with my own book.  True story.

As you can imagine, Dostoyevsky’s Greatest Works is not the tome with which to try this scenario out.  You need a good book – something engaging enough to distract *you* from your kids.

That’s right – I put it just like that.  You deserve a break, too!  If the book is too boring, you’ll just put it to the side and focus on them (which means all you have in that book is 2 lbs. of extra stuff to carry).  So it’s got to be good but not so complex that you can’t put it down six times in 20 minutes for potty breaks, a pressing need for Goldfish crackers or some tears over a broken crayon tip without completely losing the plot.  So here are 5 books that even a traveling mom can enjoy*:

1. This is Where I Leave You

(by Jonathan Tropper) So I’ll admit that anything written by Tropper is a good pick for a plane read.  He’s all kinds of hilarious – and he seems to have channeled my family into most of his books.  But pick up This Is Where I Leave You to see what happens to a middle-aged man whose father dies right after he finds out his wife has been cheating on him.  I know that doesn’t sound funny but, trust me, you’ll laugh so hard your kids just may have to tell you to keep it down.

2. Dead Until Dark

(by Charlaine Harris) Fascinated with HBO’s TrueBlood?  Then read the books behind the series.  The first in a series of 10 books about Sookie Stackhouse’s vampire adventures, Dead Until Dark will tell you how Sookie met her first vampire – and how her life completely changed once she did.  It’s fantastic, campy fun.

3. The One That I Want

(by Allison Winn Scotch) What if you could see the future of those closest to you but not see your own?  That’s the problem Tilly Farmer is having.  And it shows her the perfect life she thought she had may be crumbling around her.  As a Mom, you might be able to relate to some of it.

4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

(by Rebecca Skloot) I know you’ve probably heard about this book on the Colbert Report or the Today Show.  And if you thought, “Well, sounds interesting but it’s about science and who has time for that?” you need to think again.  Skloot manages to explain all about HeLa cells while also telling the story of Henrietta Lacks, a 31 year old African American woman who became the unwitting donor of those immortal cells, and her family.

5. The Lost City of Z:  A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

(by David Grann) Grann’s book is all about the mystery of Colonel Fawcett, a famous British explorer who disappeared in the Amazon in the early part of the 20th century.  It’s a fascinating read that manages to mix biography, adventure and obsession.  Great stuff.

*This is the first of a series of book posts we’ll be doing here at Travel Savvy Mom.  For the most part, they won’t include travel books.  Not that we don’t love ‘em, ’cause we do, but we know you’ve already checked out 15 sites on the Internet and at least 2 guidebooks before you started your journey.  Sometimes you need to just sit back and get lost in your imagination before you get lost in the big, bad city, you know?

I’m pleased and a little surprised to welcome today’s guest.  He’s a long-time reader and commenter, but a first-time contributor.  He’s also my husband.

If you’re taking a family vacation to San Francisco, Alcatraz is probably on your list. And rightly so. While it’s best known for its 29-year run as a federal penitentiary in the 20th Century, Alcatraz’s history goes back to the Civil War and the island also played a key role in the American Indian rights movement.

Kids as young as six can enjoy the excellent self-paced audio tour (included with the price of admission).  Get your tickets in advance, because tours often sell out during weekends and holidays. Here are five more tips for having a good visit to The Rock with kids.

1. Plan for four hours

We did it in a little over three hours, but we only had time for the movie and the cell block audio tour. We would have loved to have another 30 minutes to explore the gardens and outside pathways.

2. Eat before you go

You can’t bring any food onto Alcatraz; in fact, they only allow you to bring water. We arrived early and ate a picnic on one of the many available benches at the mainland ferry terminal, leaving time for a stop in the clean bathrooms. If you are in a rush, there is a snack bar on the ferry, but there were still people waiting in line when the short 15 minute ferry ride was done.

3. Take your pictures on your way

The returning ferries are always packed and afford little maneuvering room to get the SF skyline or the Rock in the background.

4. Do the Junior Ranger program and get a free souvenir

Avoid the gift shop with its $9.95 minimum price. Ask any ranger for the junior ranger booklet when you arrive and your child will be instantly drawn into Alcatraz’s history. At the end of your visit, make sure you arrive 30 minutes before your departing ferry so the Ranger will have time to check your kids’ work and give them their badge.

5. Bundle up

Alcatraz is on the front line to get smothered with San Francisco’s trademark afternoon fog that blows through the gate. We enjoyed our picnic in calm 75 degree weather but were clinging to each other on the way back as the fog and wind kicked in.