FAMILY-FRIENDLY THINGS TO DO IN LONDON
London has so many great family-friendly museums. Since moving here 6 months ago, we’ve been on a mission to try them all out. One that we’d never heard of is the National Army Museum London and it was surprisingly great for little kids.
They actually have a role-play area and soft play designed just for kids under 8 and we’ll tell you more about that and the rest of the museum below, so read on!
For reference, my boys were 4.5 years old and 16 months at the time of our first visit here.
READ OUR FAMILY-FRIENDLY LONDON GUIDES:
6 LONDON MUSEUMS WITH KIDS PLAY SPACES
THE BEST ONE DAY IN LONDON ITINERARY
HUGE MUSEUM BUCKET LIST
GUIDES & TIPS ON ALL THE MUSEUMS WE’VE BEEN TO
GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
GETTING THERE: You’ll find this museum in the beautiful area of Chelsea. The address is National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 4HT.
The closest tube station is Slone Square (just a 10-minute walk), however, this is not an accessible station. If you have a pushchair (stroller), be prepared for escalators and around 50 steps.
London Victoria Station is the closest accessible option. It’s a 20-minute walk and it is a beautiful walk, so I’d recommend doing that!
ENTRY: The museum is FREE! The play space costs £6.50 per child with a £1 booking fee if you buy online.
Note: the museum and play space are closed on Mondays.
ACCESSIBILITY: The museum is very spacious and accessible for pushchairs. This museum is generally a lot quieter than some of London’s other museums, making it easier to manage two children on my own there.
Some of the baby-changing toilets weren’t large enough to fit the pushchair in and one didnt have an adult toilet which was slightly annoying for a mum on her own with two kids!
EATING: The museum has its own cafe offering a range of meals and tea/ coffee and cakes. Alternatively, there are some benches you can use if you’d like to eat your own picnic.
THE NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM WITH KIDS UNDER 5
If your kids love planes, trucks and tanks, then they’ll be happy here! As you enter, there’s a suspended helicopter hanging in the centre. You’ll also get a good view of it from the cafe which is really fun for little kids.
You can pick up a free activity sheet/ treasure hunt from the cart just past the front desk.
The museum isn’t massive compared to others such as the history or science museums, you probably need 1-2 hours here (excluding the play space.)
The museum recommends you start on the lower level and work your way up. We found, there isn’t much for kids on the lower level so we just had a quick look there. Floors 2 and 3 were best for kids. There are some kid-friendly activities including an army tank kids can go inside. The tank was quite dark and playing some loud rumbling sounds so my 4-year-old old didnt like it, but I’m sure other kids will love it!
Of course, the museum focuses on various wars that have taken place throughout history. This led to a lot of questions from my eldest, some of which were difficult for me to answer! MUM TIP: tell them to ask Daddy when they get home!
PLAY BASE AT THE NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM
This space is really great for central London! It has an assault course-style soft play area with a climbing wall, rope bridge and slide. They also have a small soft area for babies.
Along with the soft play, there’s a roll play area. Here you’ll find, dress-up items, a large kitchen and an army tank you can ‘drive.’ In my opinion, this area could be improved, for example, the kitchen has a small amount of food and a few plates but no pots and pans. They also have a lot of army-related items in boxes that children can look at but not play with.
COST: as I mentioned above, this play space costs £6.50 per child plus a £1 booking fee if you book online. This is for a 1 hour play session.
Adults are free, however, on their website, it says only 1 adult is allowed with two children and 2 adults with 3-4 children. On the day we visited, we were the only ones in the play space so I’m sure they would be flexible on the number of adults if they’re not fully booked.
They also don’t usually allow photography. Again, as we were the only ones there, They were happy for me to take photos!
Thank you so much for reading our guide on the National Army Museum London. I hope we’ve inspired your trip. We’ve lived in London for 6 months now and have written lots of family-friendly guides. Don’t forget to check them out!
READ OUR FAMILY-FRIENDLY LONDON GUIDES:
6 LONDON MUSEUMS WITH KIDS PLAY SPACES
THE BEST ONE DAY IN LONDON ITINERARY
HUGE MUSEUM BUCKET LIST
GUIDES & TIPS ON ALL THE MUSEUMS WE’VE BEEN TO
Happy Exploring,
