All places in this area
57 places in this part of town
Wellcome Collection
A quirky museum exploring medicine, health and human life through bizarre historical objects, art and a wonderfully comfy Reading Room.
See details
Word on the Water - Floating Bookshop
A 100-year-old Dutch barge on Regent's Canal turned into a moored floating bookshop, with children's books, cosy nooks and rooftop live music on sunny afternoons.
See details
Inflata Nation Colindale
This massive indoor arena gives kids the chance to enact their Gladiator dreams - it's packed wall-to-wall with connected inflatable activities. Race down giant 11-meter slides, tackle the obstacle ball course, jump onto tipping slides, and scramble up climbing walls. There's a dedicated, sealed-off area for under-4s so toddlers can bounce safely away from the energetic older kids. It's a nice workout for both kids and adults, or the on-site café balcony means parents can watch the action from above.
See details
Regent's Park
This sweeping Royal Park is packed with formal rose gardens, boating lakes, and excellent playgrounds. Our favourite itinerary is to start at the Marylebone Gate Entrance and hit the Gloucester Gate Playground first (featuring a v long zip wire, massive climbing frames, and inclusive water-play features). Then head south toward the Boating Lake to rent a pedal boat or rowing boat if you fancy, stop for coffee and sourdough pastries or ice cream at the Boating Lake Café, take a short detour across York Bridge Road to find the Community Wildlife Garden, featuring a peaceful pond, natural balance logs, and wild meadow planting, then finish up at the Hanover Gate Playground to conquer the huge wooden treehouse structure and giant sandpits.
See details
Arsenal Emirates Stadium Tour
A behind-the-scenes look at the Premier League winners’ home stadium, with touch-screen audio handsets helping explain all. Fans can walk through the home dressing room, take photos in the press conference room, walk down the tunnel, and sit in the manager's pitchside dugout. The ticket price includes entry to the Arsenal Museum, where you can view historic match kits, trophies, and memorabilia from the club's history. Note that stadium tours do not run on home match days.
See details
TeamSport GoKarting & Activities Brent Cross
Perched on the top floor of Brent Cross Red Car Park - glam, we know - this indoor entertainment venue features a 400m multi-level electric karting track that our kids love. There are adult and junior high-speed karts, plus a separate mini track for four-to-seven-year-olds. You can easily pair a race session with their on-site duckpin bowling, electronic games arcade, pool tables, and diner food. Or pop next door to Brent Cross for a shop and eat.
See details
WeJam - The Family Rockband Experience
Head down the stairs beneath Camden Guitars into a real recording studio for what might be one of the coolest family music bonding experiences in London. You do not need a single ounce of musical talent: smart tech and color-coded instruments mean even total beginners can pick up real electric guitars, bass, drums, and keys instantly. A live session musician guides your family as you jam along to bangers by Queen, Billie Eilish, or Harry Styles, with software dynamically adjusting difficulty levels for each player. At the end, you walk away with professionally mixed audio tracks of your actual performance to brag about ... forever. Or at least make people listen to!
See details
Belmont Farm
A working farm tucked inside the M25 where kids can get up close to over thirty kinds of animals, including alpacas, sheep, goats, and wallabies. Jump on a tractor trailer ride to tour the fields, buy small bags of animal feed at the entrance to provide your own snack time, and stop at the farm café for a decent lunch. It is far less manic than the mega farm parks, making it ideal for a relaxed morning out with younger children.
See details
Rosewood London Art Afternoon Tea
A stunning, sophisticated option for older kids. The pastries are edible masterpieces inspired by famous artists like Hockney or Dali - currently, it's Monet. Kids get their own painter's palette with squeezy tubes of jam and curd, and the cakes are serious works of art - as you'd expect for the price! There's no minimum age, but the set-up is smart and sophisticated and I got the feeling that screaming toddlers wouldn't be overly welcome.
See details
Lee Valley White Water Centre (Water Tubing)
This 2012 Olympic venue offers plenty of ways for the whole family to get wet, from family paddling sessions to water tubing and inflatable obstacle courses on the calmer lakes. There is a sandy beach play area and a terrace cafe beside the white-water course.
See details
Go Ape Alexandra Palace
Finnegan's World Website: finnegansworld.co.uk Nearest Tube: West Ealing (Elizabeth Line) / Ealing Broadway (Central, District, Elizabeth Lines) Location: 41 Broadway, West Ealing, London (W13 9DD) Price: £8 per child, £1.50 per accompanying adult. Open weekends only (10am to 5pm). Blurb: Set inside a converted former bank on West Ealing Broadway, this lovely, independent soft play café is designed for babies, toddlers, and young children. The venue focuses on imaginative play with miniature shop setups, soft climbing ramps, and sensory toys - it’s far more than the usual blocks and slides. Parents can sit back with decent coffee and a slice of cake while keeping a direct line of sight on their kids.
See details
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Britain's only permanent open-air theatre sits right in the middle of Regent's Park, staging a summer season of musicals, Shakespeare and family shows beneath the sky (bring a coat or sunscreen depending on the day - performances go ahead rain or shine). Family-friendly productions and a dedicated Family Takeover Day feature among the summer's line-up alongside bigger name shows, and you can bring a picnic to eat on the lawn or in Queen Mary's Gardens beforehand. Leave plenty of time to find the thearte - it's a walk from the nearest tube through the park with limited signposting.
See details
The British Library (Family Trails)
Book-loving kids will enjoy an hour here among the world's most famous manuscripts, from the Magna Carta to Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks and Beatles lyrics, mostly in one ground-floor exhibition hall. There are free weekend family workshops too.
See details
Apple Town Soft Play
We like this bright, well-run indoor soft play, with multi-storey play, slides and a toddler zone. A decent rainy-day escape valve when the walls start closing in! Under-5s get the most out of it, but there's enough climbing, jumping and slides to keep older kids going too. There's lots of parent seating with easy supervision, and VR plus trampolines too. Insider tip: book the first session of the day; it's calmer, cleaner and you'll actually get a table with a plug socket and a coffee.
See details
Camden Market
Camden is a teen-favourite, but our younger kids enjoy a day here too. There's the famous sprawling market filled with quirky crafts, street food stalls, vintage fashion, and unique stores (rubber duck shop, anyone?). Kids love the variety - vibrant street art, fun toy shops, and extreme desserts (like liquid nitrogen ice cream and churro loops), it gets super busy on weekends so avoid pushing a buggy down the main cobblestone alleys - it can be wall-to-wall crowded. Take teens down to the Stables Market section for the coolest retro clothes and street food. There's often family activities in the indoor market areas, Plonk Crazy Golf (pictured) is small but lots of fun; Babylon Park is another fun (but expensive) indoor theme park, and a stroll along the canal is lovely in spring and autumn particularly.
See details
Alexandra Palace Ice Rink
London's largest indoor ice rink, open 364 days a year for family skating and available for kids as young as toddlers, it's big enough to accommodate beginners taking their first steps on the ice, families looking for a day out, and kids wanting weekend ice discos. Skate hire is included in the general ticket price (skate sizes start from toddler sizes), penguin and seal skate aids are available too. Weekday morning and early afternoon sessions during term time are by far the quietest times to skate. Weekends, school holidays, and evening disco sessions tend to be heavily booked and crowded. Nearby is Ally Pally playground, boating lake and the Little Dinosaurs soft play centre if you want to max out your day - and Muswell Hill is a short walk away with approximately two million restaurants!
See details
Hampstead Heath & Parliament Hill Playground
Wild, sprawling countryside right in North London, with swimming ponds for adults and older teens, kite-flying hills and a vast playground with a paddling pool.
See details
F1® DRIVE London
Got a young racing enthusiast in the family? Head underneath Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the world's first official Formula 1-branded electric karting venue! Custom-designed karts come with authentic F1 steering-wheel displays, engine sounds and real-time telemetry, so kids aged 8+ can test their skills, battle for lap times and chase the chequered flag on a slick 500m track. Grown-ups can race too — expect serious family rivalry.
See details
67 Sourdough & Pitstop Play Café
London has plenty of child-friendly pizza spots, but few capture young imaginations quite like 67 Sourdough. Set inside an active classic car showroom a short walk from East Finchley station, you can eat delicious 48-hour sourdough pizza right next to classic Porsches, Lamborghinis, a BMW Z8 and an F1 simulator. The newest addition is the Pitstop Play Café, designed specifically for little ones aged 5 and under. A one-hour play session costs £10 for one child plus one adult, and the space is split into zones built for tiny hands: automotive pretend play with mini driving setups, track tables and car-themed toys where toddlers zoom their own wheels around; a soft play and climbing area with padded zones, low steps and balance blocks for burning off energy; and role-play and sensory stations packed with wooden toys, pretend tools and light-touch activity boards. The treat that seals it: kids' meal deals come with their very own Hot Wheels toy car to take home. Grown-ups get genuinely good pizza and coffee, and nobody has to pretend the sourdough is the main event — the supercars are. If you're after an easy morning that keeps a toddler happy and the adults fed, this is one of the most fun stops in North London.
See details
Lightroom London
This four-storey immersive digital art space is a sensory feast - a purpose-built projection space in King's Cross with frequently-changing immersive shows from major artists and creative names - past programmes have included David Hockney's 60-year retrospective, Prehistoric Planet's life-sized dinosaurs, and a journey through David Bowie's world narrated by the man himself. Floor-to-ceiling laser projection and a powerful spatial sound system wrap around you as you wander freely through the space, with each show running on a loop of around 45-60 minutes so you can stay as long as you like. It's welcoming for children of all ages, and there's a St John-run café bar for snacks and drinks afterwards. Now showing: Larger Than Life, a brand-new 50-minute immersive experience starring Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Morph. Floor-to-ceiling projections put families right in the middle of the Aardman studio, showcasing iconic sets, original puppet characters, camera rigs, lighting and real animators hard at work bringing the classics to life. It combines behind-the-scenes magic with bespoke new animation made especially for the space - a nostalgic treat for all ages that shows exactly how clay figures turn into big-screen legends.
See details
London Canal Museum & Boat Trip
Housed in a Victorian ice warehouse built for ice cream pioneer Carlo Gatti, this interactive museum lets kids sit inside a replica narrowboat cabin and learn how canal families lived. Try to book your visit to align with one of the museum's seasonal narrowboat trips through the 878-yard-long Islington Tunnel - it's a lovely ride. If not, walk outside to Battlebridge Basin to catch a public London Waterbus down the canal to Camden Market.
See details
Gorilla Circus Flying Trapeze School
This outdoor aerial circus school offers flying trapeze classes for beginners in London's parks during summer. Age 8+ kids get high-flying adrenaline as they harness up to jump off a high platform and perform real trapeze tricks into a safety net. Gorilla Circus has been teaching Flying Trapeze in London since 2009, and is the only Grand Volant flying trapeze in London. Classes are released in blocks every four weeks and book up quickly. But it's only open Spring until late September each year.
See details
The Sherriff Centre (Hullabaloo Soft Play)
Soft play inside the nave of a stunning 19th-century church - Hullabaloo at The Sherriff Centre is one of London's most unusual places for children to burn off energy. The former church at St James' has been reinvented as a bustling community hub, with a dedicated toddler area for under-2s and a multi-level junior play frame for children up to ten, all set beneath soaring ceilings. There's a newly introduced outdoor nature trail too, so you can mix indoor climbing with a breath of fresh air. It runs daily, and once a month the church stays open late on Friday nights for the popular Soft Play Lates - a chance for kids to play after dark while parents kick back with drinks and snacks from the on-site bar and café. It is a lovely way to make an ordinary evening feel like an occasion, and a brilliant rainy-day option that doesn't feel like a compromise.
See details
Hobbledown Heath
No child can fail to fall in love Hobbledown - one of the biggest indoor and outdoor adventure parks in London, it's built around a whimsical world of mystical creatures and outdoor play villages. Outside, kids can climb high wooden towers, balance across sky bridges, jump on inflatable pillows, participate in massive marble runs, dig in sand pits, and visit capybaras, goats, and meerkats in the animal enclosures. Inside, the huge Great Barn features multi-level soft play, climbing structures, and indoor dining. There are animal and bird shows and talks, but you'll have to haul the kids away from the playgrounds first. It is a big, open site with plenty of walking - we like bringing a buggy to schlep the lunch / snacks/ waters around.
See details
The Novelty Automation Arcade
An eccentric arcade packed with satirical, hand-built mechanical machines by artist Tim Hunkin. Kids buy copper tokens to operate contraptions like a machine that walks a mechanical dog or an auto-frisking booth.
See details
Trent Country Park
Stretching across 413 acres of ancient woodland, lakes, and open meadows, Trent Country Park is a massive green oasis sitting right at the end of the Piccadilly Line. Beyond the newly opened mansion museum, it’s one of North London’s absolute best spots for an active, budget-friendly family day out—featuring a volunteer-run animal centre, robust adventure playgrounds, high-ropes courses, and vast open space for kids to run free. There's... The Wildlife Rescue & Animal Centre - Tucked near the old visitors' centre, this sanctuary (run by the Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service) is home to rescued farm animals, domestic pets, wildfowl, goats, sheep, and ponies. Little ones can visit the animals, play in the small adjacent play area, and grab a treat at the delightful tea room. Entry is just £4.50 for adults and £3.50 for kids (ages 3–14), with proceeds directly funding wildlife rescue! Woodland Adventure Playgrounds: Scattered near the main paths you'll find a robust wooden adventure playground set amongst the trees—featuring climbing frames, swings, slides, and natural log trails that let kids scramble and play outdoors. Go Ape High Ropes: For bigger kids and brave pre-teens, the on-site Go Ape offers treetop canopy crossings, rope bridges, and thrilling zip wires high up in the forest canopy. Café & Picnic Spots: Stop by the main park café for ice creams, warm paninis, and coffee, or set up a picnic by the newly restored wildlife pond on Limes Avenue to feed the ducks (bird seed only!).
See details
Clissold Park & Animal Enclosures
A lovely community park with deer enclosures, goats, aviaries, a splash pad, a wheels park for scooters and a skate park.
See details
Trent Park House of Secrets Museum
London's newest intelligence museum has opened inside the grandly restored Trent Park mansion. Dubbed the "House of Secrets", it reveals the WWII story of the Secret Listeners — a covert team of German-speaking refugees, many of them Jewish, who bugged the rooms of captured German officers and listened in from hidden basement rooms. Designed for older kids and curious minds, the museum blends 1930s high-society glamour upstairs with interactive listening rooms, AI-animated archival film and hands-on secret-agent history in the basement below.
See details
Willows Activity Farm
Breathe the country air and release the energetic toddlers and kids - this huge farm park is themed around Peter Rabbit and his friends. It's a pricey entrance fee but then everything's included - from bounce on giant inflatable pillows to the chance to drive miniature tractors, hop on the Tristan the Runaway Tractor ride, meet real farm animals in the undercover barn - plus the real winner on rainy days: the huge indoor soft play area, complete with slides and obstacle courses. Pre-booking online is a good idea as peak dates regularly sell out. Breathe the country air and release the energetic toddlers and kids - this huge farm park is themed around Peter Rabbit and his friends. It's a pricey entrance fee but then everything's included - from bounce on giant inflatable pillows to the chance to drive miniature tractors, hop on the Tristan the Runaway Tractor ride, meet real farm animals in the undercover barn - plus the real winner on rainy days: the huge indoor soft play area, complete with slides and obstacle courses. Pre-booking online is a good idea as peak dates regularly sell out.
See details
London Zoo
The world's oldest scientific zoo is in the heart of London, hugging Regents’ Park and featuring Land of the Lions, Penguin Beach, and an immersive Rainforest Life walk-through. It’s pricey but a thorough day out and your money all goes towards animal conservation. Don’t buy tickets at the gate - book online at least 48 hours ahead for the best rate. Save little legs by skipping the walk from Camden Town and catching the 274 bus straight to the main gate, or walk in scenic style along the Regent's Canal towpath from Camden Market. Under 7s will love a visit to the new(ish) ZooTown - an vast, immersive make-believe play area which is particularly brilliant if it rains!
See details
Better Walthamstow Leisure Centre
Better Walthamstow Leisure Centre is an affordable soft play and swimming pool with family swim sessions - handy on rainy weekends; the prices are lower than private activity centres. Check the Better website for the family swim timetable before you go, as general-lane swimming is not always ideal with young children. Pair it with a walk around nearby Walthamstow Wetlands for a full day out.
See details
Junior Learn to Sail at Welsh Harp Sailing Club
Set on Brent Reservoir—London's largest body of sailable water—kids can learn dinghy sailing under the backdrop of Wembley Stadium's iconic arch. RYA-certified junior courses teach safety, steering, rigging, and wind reading across weekend taster sessions and holiday camps. There are Thursday Evening Tasters for non-members, described as a great way to try sailing and get a feel for the club, for £15 per session (refundable if you join as a member)
See details
Indoor Caving at HarroWall
Explore an enormous indoor caving system (Europe's largest) with 170 metres of twisting tunnels and hidden chambers underneath HarroWall. Equipped with helmets, head torches, and knee pads, children crawl, climb, shimmy, and slide through guided sessions. Suitable for ages 6+, but they cannot run this session in the rare instance there is just one under-18 booked on. Coming as a pair is recommended so you have a caving buddy.
See details
Castle Climbing Centre
Premier indoor rock climbing centre housed inside a stunning Victorian former water pumping station that looks like a ... castle (duh). Kids enjoy the castle-climbing adventure while getting a full physical workout. Book a registered "Family Taster" or kid's session in advance if you're not an experienced climber yourself, as parents need certification to belay independently.
See details
Harry Potter Platform 9 3/4 & Foundling Museum
Pair a pop-culture photo opp with rich London history. Start at King's Cross Station for the iconic Platform 9 ¾ luggage trolley photo and shop (there might be a queue but it moves fast). Then walk seven minutes south to the Foundling Museum, which tells the moving story of Britain's first home for abandoned children, founded in 1739 with support from artist William Hogarth and composer George Frideric Handel. The Granary Square fountains are nearby if it's a warm day - its 1,080 choreographed jets are a huge hit with younger kids in summer (bring a spare set of clothes). Coal Drops Yard next door has shops and food for older kids/teens who've outgrown splashing about.
See details
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
Set in the restored 18th-century New River Head waterworks in Clerkenwell, the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is the UK’s national flagship for picture-book magic and visual storytelling. While entry to its main exhibition galleries requires paid tickets, the venue is a masterclass in welcoming families on a tight budget - between the free-to-enter library space, interactive drawing areas, sensory gardens, and £1 tickets for low-income families, you can easily spend a full morning here without draining your wallet. The free Library and activity space lets kids curl up with over 1,000 picture books, graphic novels, and art materials. The main gallery exhibitions change regularly, and the weekly Little Owls drop-in sessions on Wednesday mornings are specifically for under-fives, packed with interactive songs, rhymes, and picture book readings. Don't miss the gated outdoor play garden if it's sunny.
See details
Estorick Collection
The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art - which opened in London in 1998 and is housed in a Grade II listed Georgian town house - might not sound like a family-friendly activity. But this hidden gem of a gallery, which specialises in modern Italian art, Futurism, and sculpture, is small enough to prevent museum fatigue in children, hosts a free Family Trail to help you explore the Futurist art movement and portraiture in its collection, features a tranquil garden café serving excellent Italian food, and has Mini Marvels, an interactive and sensory play space designed for families with young children, which is free for kids (aka included in the adult ticket price.)
See details
clueQuest
An award-winning escape room centre built around secret agent missions led by a fictional mouse spy named ... Mr. Q, of course. It's high-tech, with immersive puzzles but no 'jump scares', making it more accessible than some escape rooms for younger codebreakers. Best for ages 8 plus, the PLAN52 room is its classic starter mission, which is ideal for families trying an escape room together for the first time. When to go: Rainy afternoons and weekend slots.
See details
Coram's Fields Playground
This 7-acre urban oasis features adventure playgrounds, a city farm with small animals, sandpits, and adults are only allowed in if they're with kids. Its annual free play day includes even more activities, from crafts to bouncy castles and snacks.
See details★ 4.7
Babylon Park
Indoor theme park and arcade centre in Camden - including a mini rollercoaster, bumper cars and simulation rides
See details★ 4.4
Camley Street Nature Reserve
Former coal drop for Kings Cross railway has been transformed into this urban garden, a rich habitat for birds, butterflies, amphibians and plant life, with children's trails, weekend activity drop-ins and a small but lovely cafe.
See details★ 4.6
Kings Cross day out
This redeveloped area is mostly traffic-free, so great for scooting and wandering around the wide areas, fountains, small parks and shops. Pop-up (paid for) events include petanque and curling, our kids always enjoy gaming at the Samsung store in Coal Drops Yard, there are food markets, the Everyman cinema, you can stroll to Camley Street Nature Park, walk along the canal and get snapped with the Harry Potter sign at Kings Cross station. Visit the floating bookshop on the canal, cool off at the Cubbitt Sq fountains and check out the small Handyside playground and birdcafe swing outside KX station for a quick energy release.
See details★ 4.6
Parkland Walk
The longest linear nature reserve in London - which follows the former railway line connecting Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace that opened in 1873 -is a fab flat 5km adventure for kids. Bring the bikes for a cycle/walk combo - it's no good for scooters though as too bumpy. Let the kids hunt for the hidden sculptures (like the famous Spriggan figure near the Highgate tunnels), spot wildlife, and jump on the old, overgrown platforms.
See details★ 4.6
Walthamstow wetlands
You won't feel like you're on the doorstep of central London in the fresh air and beautiful scenery of Walthamstow wetlands. Take a leisurely stroll, or follow the designated cycling route; there's a bevy of wildlife to spot... and a great cafe to bribe unwilling kids with cakes and ice creams. Mini beast hunts, forest school sessions and storytelling run frequently too - some charges apply.
See details★ 4.6
British Museum
Houses millions of historic artifacts, including ancient Egyptian mummies and the Rosetta Stone. Grab a free family activity trail map at the Information Desk in the Great Court to turn your visit into an engaging scavenger hunt. Book your (free) ticket online first, you'll probably still have to face a short queue but it moves quickly.
See details★ 4.2
Postal Museum & Mail Rail
London's best rainy-day secret. Ride the Mail Rail — the world's first driverless electric railway — through the original tunnels 70 feet below the streets, which once whisked four million letters a day between Paddington and Whitechapel from 1927 to 2003. The 15-minute ride runs through open-top miniature carriages with audio-visual storytelling along the way, then it's up to the museum galleries for interactive exhibits spanning five centuries of postal history. The current family exhibition, The Jolly Postman, runs into January 2027, bringing the classic picture book to life through an interactive story world. There's also Sorted!, a separate-ticket play space for ages 1–8, if little ones need to burn energy after the ride. The museum and Mail Rail sit in two separate buildings across Phoenix Place from each other, so head to Mail Rail first and check in ahead of your printed time slot. Book online in advance — timed Mail Rail slots regularly sell out on weekends and school holidays.
See details★ 4.6
Young V&A (Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood)
A museum completely redesigned for children, with interactive design, building toys, display cabinets of toys from parents' own childhood (way to feel old), performance spaces, and creative play zones. Large cafe on the ground floor and a temporary exhibit space as well as a large theatre area where kids can act.
See details★ 4.4
Kentish Town City Farm
On the edge of trainlines is this lovely local gem - a free-entry city farm with horses, pigs, chickens and other animals and frequent low-cost activities, including horse-riding, a chance for young people to learn about the vegetables and fruit grown on the farm, and animal encounters.
See details★ 4.3
Grant Museum of Zoology
A 19th-century cabinet of curiosities packed floor to ceiling with over 68,000 animal specimens: a jar of preserved moles, dodo bones, a quagga skeleton and a brain collection. Weird, slightly spooky and compact enough to see in 45 minutes.
See details★ 4.8
Gobions Wood
This 36-acre ancient woodland nature reserve is the perfect walk and picnic spot - it has carpetings of bluebells in spring, and 500 species of fungi to spot in autumn - but for kids, the best part are the logs to balance on, large lake with ducks and tadpoles, a playground area near the car park, and a large field perfect for picnicking and games. The trails are flat, and buggy-accessible. Park at the North Mymms Parish Council car park (off Jonas Way) for direct access to both the children’s play area and the woodland trail entrance.
See details★ 4.6
Berkhampstead (castle, canal, playground)
Historic market town Berko is a rural day-trip close to northwest London - it has an idyllic canal, castle ruins dating back to 1066, and plenty of family-friendly playgrounds. For history-loving kids, toddlers who enjoy spotting trains and boats, and parents wanting great independent eateries, this is a great day out. Baby parents: leave the buggy behind if you plan to explore the castle ruins, as the path isn't very buggy-friendly, and use a sling instead. Lots of eateries around Lower King's Street if you don't fancy a picnic.
See details★ 4
Woodberry Wetlands
This regenerated urban nature reserve offers smooth, buggy- and scooter-friendly boardwalks surrounded by wildlife, reedbeds, and play areas. It’s ideal for families with young children, birdwatchers, and anyone looking for a fresh, scenic walk. Park near Bethune Road or Lordship Road, bring scooters for the kids to zip along the paths, and don't forget to visit the historic Coal House Café for great coffee and sourdough lunches.
See details★ 4.6
Finchley Nurseries
More than just a standard plant nursery, this friendly local garden centre has an aquarium section with fish, a small outdoor play area for children, and a lovely on-site cafe with homemade cakes and toasties. During the summer months, there's a pick-your-own flowers field to cut a bouquet to bring home. Free parking.
See details★ 4.7
Kenwood House & Grounds
Perched on the edge of Hampstead Heath, Kenwood offers sweeping grassy hills, duck ponds, tree-climbing and historic architecture. It’s fantastic for families, dog owners, and picnickers looking for open space to run wild. Insider tip: walk downhill from the main house and search for the famous "Hollow Tree" (searchable on Google Maps) for a natural climbing structure the kids will love. Inside the main house, there's art galore, often a kids' trail, and children's dress-up outfits and games to keep the history alive. There's also an ice cream cafe and a restaurant at the main house. Paid parking in the car park, free on local roads. No formal playground here, but trees provide plenty of fun - and you can walk through to Hampstead Heath and its playgrounds if you need.
See details★ 4.7
Golders Hill Park & Hill Garden Pergola
Adjoining Hampstead Heath, Golders Hill boasts a free animal zoo area including deer, birds, and a butterfly house; there's a duck pond, ornamental gardens, a large playground, bandstand and a huge amount of space to run around. Take a sharp left upon entering from North End Road to discover the grand, secluded Hill Garden and Pergola, a stunning ruined terrace popular for photos. The cafe is decent with excellent gelato.
See details★ 4.7
Highgate Wood & Queen's Wood
These twin ancient woodlands offer dens, stick-building spots, and miles of shaded walking trails alongside Highgate Wood's superb playground with dedicated toddler sections, swings, zipline and dual sandpits. Highgate Wood's Pavilion Café has delicious café food and coffee, while the smaller (and quieter) Queen's Wood has a small cafe too.
See details★ 4.7
artsdepot
This busy arts centre in North Finchley has a strong programme of children's theatre, especially adaptations of favourite picture books. There are several stages, and a little soft play in the cafe which makes for a free / cost of a coffee morning or afternoon out. It's super inclusive and accessible, with a frequently-changing schedule of shows, exhibitions, dances and more.
See details