Done the London Eye? Here's what the kids will actually remember

Ask children what they remember of London a year later and it's rarely the London Eye or Buckingham Palace. It's the dinosaurs, the boat through the tunnel and the goats, because the city's best family days are built around free museums, canals, parks and a proper night at the theatre.

Museums, canals and city farms

The Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the V&A sit side by side on Exhibition Road and Cromwell Road, and the permanent galleries at all three are free. The Natural History Museum opens daily from 10am, so get there at opening and do the dinosaurs first, leaving everything else for when the school groups pile in. Because entry costs nothing, coming back another day for the parts you missed is no bother.

The London Waterbus Company runs narrowboats from Little Venice along the Regent's Canal to Camden Market, a trip of about 45 minutes that goes right past the edge of London Zoo. Children love the tunnel, while adults tend to prefer the houseboats and the gardens backing onto the water, and if legs allow you can walk back along the towpath.

London also has working city farms, and they're free. Vauxhall City Farm, with its café The Old Dairy, and Surrey Docks Farm in Rotherhithe both have goats, pigs and ponies, and neither takes more than an hour, which makes either one a good reset after a morning indoors.

Kew, Hampton Court and a West End show

Kew Gardens needs a whole day. For most children the Treetop Walkway, 18 metres up in the canopy, is the highlight, and the glasshouses are warm on a cold day. Hampton Court Palace is further out, by train from Waterloo, with the maze and enough Tudor kitchen detail to keep older children interested, and Bushy Park next door has deer.

For a family night out, the long-running musicals are still the safest bet. The cheapest seats lately start at around £25 for Matilda, with The Lion King and Paddington The Musical a bit more. Matinees cost less and suit younger children better, and aisle seats make life easier for anyone who'll need a break.

What wears families down in London is the travelling and eating out three times a day. A base with a kitchen and separate bedrooms, close to a park or one of the South Kensington museums, takes care of most of that.

London weather by month

July is the warmest month, averaging 23°C by day. July has the fewest wet days (9) and October the most rain (80 mm). For sightseeing on foot, June scores best on our combined warmth-and-dryness measure.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain	Wet days	Chance a 7-day stay sees a washout	Record high / low
January	8°C	2°C	74 mm	13	53%	16°C / -12°C
February	8°C	2°C	51 mm	10	43%	18°C / -8°C
March	11°C	4°C	45 mm	9	44%	23°C / -7°C
April	14°C	5°C	54 mm	10	44%	26°C / -3°C
May	17°C	8°C	54 mm	9	39%	30°C / -1°C
June	20°C	11°C	58 mm	9	35%	34°C / 2°C
July	23°C	13°C	52 mm	9	34%	34°C / 4°C
August	22°C	13°C	68 mm	9	37%	37°C / 4°C
September	19°C	11°C	62 mm	9	39%	29°C / 2°C
October	15°C	8°C	80 mm	11	47%	27°C / -2°C
November	11°C	5°C	76 mm	12	52%	18°C / -6°C
December	8°C	2°C	69 mm	12	50%	16°C / -8°C

Calculated NOAA GHCN-Daily observations at the Hampstead weather station, north London (records 1960–2015; averages from about 25 years per month). A wet day has 1 mm of rain or more.