My son and I went to London last month, and it was incredible. The weather even held it for us - a bit cool, but not a drop of rain and mostly sunny for the entirety of our stay, which is a rarity for the UK in March. The boy had never been, and I logged a single day as part of a work trip, so we spent a full week just in the city itself ... the only time we left was for a half-day tour to Stonehene (which was well worth it). We did all the typical touristy stuff - the Tower/Bridge, Eye, Westminster, etc. For someone that said nothing in London is free, both the British Museum and National Gallery are. They ask for relatively small donations, but it's entirely voluntary. We also did a couple of things relatively off the beaten path. We walked the crosswalk on Abbey Road and had lunch at Speedy's, the cafe that is a famous neighbor of 221B Baker Street on Sherlock (it's actually on Gower St). We also went to a soccer match, which was a blast even though I'm not a soccer guy at all. All of the Premier League matches in London were postponed due to the FA Cup, so we caught a lower-level game at Craven Cottage in Fulham. My son is 13 and a big Harry Potter fan, so we also did the WB Studio Tour in Watford, where they have many of the original sets and props from filming. He seemed to enjoy it, but it was the only place that was a pain to get to. It always amazes me how easy it is to get around in most large cities. We purchased a week-long Oyster card for about 30 pounds, and it gives you unlimited usage of the Underground and bus system. It didn't take longer than about 20 minutes to get anywhere in the city. I also second the Heathrow to Paddington Express train. We ran into another American father/son duo, and they said the worst part of their trip was getting from the airport to their hotel. We had tickets for the Express and it was quick and painless. From Paddington, you can catch a tube to pretty much any other part of the city. I think Scotland & Ireland would be an outstanding addition to the trip, and we'll probably adventure a bit more around the country the next time we return, but we had our hands full just trying to see everything we wanted in London itself.
