LONDON

We went to London when we had a 9 month old and three year old. It sounds a bit crazy even typing that, but it was actually a great holiday, even having to factor in all the food allergies. The hardest part is the meals on 2 very long flights; we stopped overnight in Hong Kong so that I could replenish food supplies to bring onboard. And once you get there, there is so much to see and do and it is a great city to get around using public transport (the Tube) and to walk around, and very allergy-friendly. Not only do they understand food allergies as they have a high incidence of food allergies similar to Australia, but in our experience, the restaurants generally cater for allergy-sufferers more consistently and thoroughly than I have experienced in Australia. They also have more options for food allergy sufferers, both in the restaurant offerings and grocery store items.

GETTING THERE

We flew Cathay Pacific, with the above mentioned stopover in Hong Kong (we stayed at an airport hotel - SkyCity Marriott - due to its proximity to the airport, and from memory (it was a few years ago now!) they were able to make some simple meals for us to eat at one of their restaurants, but probably best to email whichever hotel you decide to stay at prior, to be sure they can cater for your kids’ allergies. For Cathay Pacific, at the time the process was to complete a medical clearance form and we could request that non-peanut snacks be served onboard, but probably best to check when researching flights what their latest procedures are. I ordered a raw vegetarian meal for my child allergic to nuts and sesame at the time; from memory the veggie plate came with hommus so he could not have this (as hommus usually has tahini ie sesame paste), but he was able to eat the fruits served. I also brought food for him to eat (see my tips on managing allergies while travelling for ideas on the types of things to bring; a thermos of stir fry and rice or spaghetti bolognese usually keeps warm for a few hours so good for the first part of the flight, and then we usually rely on non-perishable snacks like crackers and dried fruit after that, and also sometimes bring cherry tomatoes and ham and pack in an insulated bag with an ice pack). We also asked Cathay if we could board early to wipe down the surfaces of the seats and tables on the plane prior to the kids sitting down, and this note was put into our booking. For the baby, I just brought the pre-packaged baby meals and he was also breastfed. Figure a few pre-packaged meals while we were travelling was fine! Then I cooked him proper food once we got to our accommodation in London.

WHERE TO STAY

There are plenty of lovely places to stay in a London; we chose to stay in an Airbnb in Islington, about half way between the tube stations for Angel, and Highbury & Islington. It was a short walk to Sainsburys, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer. The only thing was that there weren’t a great deal of parks close by, but thankfully the kids didn’t have cabin fever when we were home because a walk to the shops to get some groceries was enough to break it up a bit. A lot if tourists tend to stay on the other side of central London, that is, in South Kensington because of its proximity to the Piccadilly line which brings you in from Heathrow and also takes you onwards to Leicester Square (where all the West End shows are showing), and is close to several museums including the Natural History museum and Hyde Park.

Other areas in London that are lovely are Richmond, parts of Camden, and Little Venice. My main criteria is usually close to both grocery stores and a tube station (walking distance).

PLACES TO VISIT

Where do I start? There is so much to do in London (yes, even with little ones!). I’ve listed just a few of the places we visited below, but there may be events around the time you are visiting, so you may want to look this up when booking (eg Notting Hill Carnival). I’ve grouped them based on those close to each other. Keep in mind, our kids were 3.5 years and 9 months old at the time.

WESTMINSTER / THAMES

- London Eye, walk along the Thames (including crossing the pedestrian bridges nearby)

- Big Ben

- Westminster Abbey

GREEN PARK / REGENT ST

- Buckingham Palace

- Green Park

- Horse Guards Parade

- Hamley's (and other shopping around Regent St which starts at Oxford Circus and goes down to Piccadilly Circus).

SOUTH KENSINGTON

- Natural History Museum - be prepared to line up.

(There are a bunch of other museums in this area too that we didn't manage to fit in, but if you have more time, check out the V&A and the Science Museum).

- Hyde Park / Diana Memorial Playground (we actually did this on a separate day to the Natural History Museum).

COVENT GARDEN

- High St shopping and restaurants (set amongst the historic cobblestones of Covent Garden)

- Transport Museum (my favourite museum!)

TOWER BRIDGE

- Walk along and take pictures of the famous Tower Bridge (which people think is London Bridge, but the real London Bridge is a fairly plain bridge nearby that has a rich history of having shops and buildings on it - but is now just a fairly plain bridge)

(try to fit in the Tower of London if you can - we didn't manage to with the kids but we've been in there pre-kids and it's quite interesting from a historical perspective! It may be worth booking tickets in advance to get the timeslot you are after).

The following are in the same area but we did them on a separate day:

- London Bridge

- Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (we just walked around the outside this trip)

- Borough Market on the South side, then cross the Millenium bridge to get to St Paul's on the North side of the Thames.

LEICESTER SQUARE / WEST END

- Watch a show (my then 3.5 year old watched the Gruffalo with my husband while I took the baby for a walk in the pram)

- Piccadilly Circus / Regent St (and Hamley's toy store if you missed it up above in the Green Park section)

- Soho

- Trafalgar Square

- Fortnum Mason (which we did on a separate day to the above, but it is in this general area, closer to Piccadilly Circus).

BANK / MONUMENT

- We visited these landmarks on the way to/from lunch at the walkie-talkie building (20 Fenchurch St) with its amazing sky garden and beautiful views of London.

Other great places to visit that we didn't manage to include in this trip include the British Museum, National Gallery (at Trafalgar Square), the colourful houses and markets in Notting Hill, and Greenwich Park (where the Meridian Line is). If you have time to fit in day trips - Windsor and Stone Henge are great and only a couple of hours away (best to rent a car if going to Stone Henge), and if you have more time, then Bath, Stratford-Upon-Avon (ie birthplace of Shakespeare and the Cotwolds are also lovely.

If you are there in winter, some of the things I love are ice-skating at Somerset and the Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park, but on this trip with the kids it was very summery so we made the most of the awesome outdoor weather.

GROCERY SHOPPING

I love grocery shopping in London - so much choice and great quality food. My favourite is Waitrose, but Sainsbury's have an awesome Free From range too. Marks & Spencer has some great fresh food and ready-made meals but were a bit lacking in the Free From range when we were there. I also really love the selection in WholeFoods, if you happen to be staying near one.

OTHER TIPS

I actually did an online shop at Waitrose and had it delivered to our Airbnb the evening of our arrival, but if you are staying close to grocery stores, you can also just pop in and pick up what you need (some grocery stores in London even allow you to do your grocery shopping and then have it delivered at some point - this is handy if you have too many bags to carry).