The best kids' attractions in London: five we send families to

Families ask us this more than anything else. These are the five we send them to, and three of them cost nothing. The first three are in and around South Kensington, so one long day covers them; the other two are in Bethnal Green and Covent Garden. Book the free tickets where they exist, because free does not mean you walk straight in during the school holidays.

Natural History Museum, South Kensington

The one children remember: the blue whale skeleton hanging over Hintze Hall, the dinosaur gallery with its moving T. rex, and the earthquake room in the Earth galleries. The galleries are free. You do not need a ticket to get in, but at weekends and in school holidays there is a queue on Cromwell Road, and a free timed ticket booked on nhm.ac.uk is the way to guarantee entry. Be there for 10am and do the dinosaurs first: the gallery is a one-way route and by late morning it moves at a shuffle. Open daily 10am to 5.50pm, last entry 5.30pm. South Kensington station is five minutes away through the pedestrian subway, so you stay dry on a wet day.

Wonderlab at the Science Museum, Exhibition Road

Next door, and the one paid thing we would add to a free museum day. Wonderlab is the Science Museum's interactive gallery on level 3: about fifty hands-on exhibits across seven zones, giant slides that test friction, a Tesla coil that throws real lightning, a Chemistry Bar and live shows by the museum's Explainers through the day. It is pitched at seven to fourteen-year-olds, and children aged three and under go free. Day passes started from £13.50 when we checked. Prices move with the time slot, booking ahead is cheaper, and the first and last slots of the day are the easiest to get. A family pass (three to five people, no more than two adults) takes £3 off each ticket. Allow one to two hours. The rest of the museum is free, but book a free general admission ticket on sciencemuseum.org.uk as well. Open daily 10am to 6pm.

Diana Memorial Playground, Kensington Gardens

A wooden pirate ship run aground in a sand beach, with teepees, play sculptures and a sensory trail, all inspired by Peter Pan, for children up to twelve. It is free, and it is the best playground in central London, which is the problem: on sunny days and in the holidays a queue can start at the 10am opening and last until the last admission, so be at the gate for 10am. Adults only get in with a child, apart from a half-hour window from 9.30am for adults on their own. It opens at 10am every day and closes earlier through the winter: 3.45pm from November to January, rising to 7.45pm from May to August, with last entry fifteen minutes before. If you step out and want to come back, tell the staff on your way out. When we checked, the water play was switched off under a hosepipe ban. It is on the Bayswater Road side of the park, a few minutes from Queensway station, and about twenty-five minutes' walk up through Kensington Gardens from the museums.

Young V&A, Bethnal Green

The V&A's museum for children reopened in 2023 after a rebuild, so plenty of guidebooks still describe the old Museum of Childhood. Three big galleries, Imagine, Play and Design, are made for touching, building and dressing up, alongside pieces from the museum's toy collection. It is free and you do not need to book; some exhibitions charge. It is a calmer day out than South Kensington, and very good with under-fives. Open daily 10am to 5.45pm, with the galleries closing from 5pm. Bethnal Green tube is two minutes' walk and Cambridge Heath Overground five. There is a buggy park by the entrance, and the Town Square Café has highchairs and bottle warming; you are welcome to bring your own cold food.

London Transport Museum, Covent Garden

Buses, trams and Tube carriages you can climb aboard, in the old flower market building on Covent Garden Piazza. Children aged 17 and under go free, but everyone needs a timed entry ticket, so add the children's free tickets when you book the adults' online. The adult ticket works as an annual pass, so a second visit within the year costs nothing. If you can go on a weekday after 2pm, the off-peak pass was £22.50 when we checked. Open daily 10am to 6pm, last entry 5.15pm. It pairs well with the street performers on the Piazza outside, which are free too. Covent Garden station is three minutes' walk.

• Natural History Museum: daily 10am to 5.50pm, last entry 5.30pm. Free; a free timed ticket guarantees entry. South Kensington 5 min.
• Wonderlab: daily 10am to 6pm. Day passes from £13.50, three and under free, family discount. Same station as the Natural History Museum.
• Diana Memorial Playground: daily from 10am, closing 3.45pm from November to January. Free, children up to 12 with an adult. Queensway 5 min.
• Young V&A: daily 10am to 5.45pm, galleries until 5pm. Free, no booking. Bethnal Green 2 min.
• London Transport Museum: daily 10am to 6pm, last entry 5.15pm. Under-18s free with a timed ticket; the adult ticket lasts a year. Covent Garden 3 min.
• A South Kensington day: the dinosaurs at 10am, lunch, Wonderlab in the afternoon. In summer, walk up to the playground after; in winter, do the playground first, before it closes at 3.45pm.

Where we would stay with children

For the South Kensington day, Melbury Cottage in Holland Park is our closest house to the museums and Kensington Gardens, a short bus or taxi ride away. It has five bedrooms for up to eight guests, a courtyard garden and a cinema room for the evening after. In east London, the Luxurious House in Walthamstow sleeps seven, with a garden and patio; the Overground from Walthamstow Central runs straight to Cambridge Heath for Young V&A, and the Victoria line takes you into the West End. For a family of four, the Stylish Apartment in Buckhurst Hill is on the Central line, which runs straight to Bethnal Green for Young V&A and to Holborn, a ten-minute walk from Covent Garden. Every one of our London stays is priced in full on the page, with nothing added at checkout.