Rainy Day Activities in London for Kids: 20+ Indoor Adventures
This post is part of our archived content. While we’ve shifted focus, it still may be useful.
Stuck indoors with restless kids and grey skies?
London might be known for its drizzle, but it’s also packed with brilliant indoor places where children can run, play, learn and burn off energy come rain or shine.
Whether you’ve got a toddler in tow or a tween who needs more than soft play, we’ve updated our guide with the best rainy day activities across London: from hands-on museums to under-the-radar play spaces, and even a few spots where parents can sip coffee in peace.
Got your umbrella ready? Let’s dive in.
Best Rainy Day Indoor Attractions for All Ages
For families who love books, or being surrounded by books, or who simply like to drop in to free creative events, the British Library is a must.
There are downloadable free family trials that lead you around, helping you uncover the Library through puzzles, drawings and games, as well as family events for kids aged between 5-11 all through the year.
The Library holds manuscripts and printed material relating to children’s authors from the UK and Ireland such as Alice’s Adventures Under Ground and manuscripts for The Jungle Book.
With personal letters from J R R Tolkien to his grandson Michael, it is a literary treasure trove.
Just up the road a bit and behind Kings Cross/St Pancras is the canal, Coal Drops Yard and Granary Square; places full of bars, restaurants and street food vans if all that reading and making has made you hungry.
The Science Museum (South Kensington)
With interactive exhibits, the Wonderlab for hands-on science fun, and an IMAX cinema, there’s something for every age group. You’ll need to book in advance to visit the popular areas.
The Postal Museum (Clerkenwell)
Kids can explore the surprisingly exciting world of post, and the highlight is a ride on the underground Mail Rail. There’s also a soft play area for under-8s.
Recently reopened, the museum offers interactive exhibitions focused on creativity and design. It’s perfect for younger children and includes a play space.
London Transport Museum (Covent Garden)
Kids can climb on old buses and trains, enjoy hands-on exhibits and follow family-friendly trails.
Less crowded than central museums, with a small aquarium, musical instrument gallery and regular kids’ events. Depending on the weather, there are often indoor and outdoor events running.
The Wellcome Collection is a free museum and library that aims to challenge how we all think and feel about health.
Centrally located on Euston Road, it sometimes hosts Saturday Studio sessions for teens, explorer packs for younger kids and holds collections containing human remains and images of surgical procedures – fun for the non-squeamish.
The Royal Academy of Arts allows kids under 16 free access to all RA exhibitions and offers artist-led workshops, galleries and at-home art activities.
The Tate is always a welcome respite from the Thames chill, with a well-stocked gift shop, weekend activities and special events during the school holidays.
Borough Market is close by (and partially covered) for the best roast pork rolls in the city and bagels heaving with salt beef and nose-tickling mustard.
Exhibitions at the V&A (South Kensington)
If cost is an issue, just go to the V&A for the free tours where you can educate yourself on the beautiful objects on display and get warm for a bit.
Wallace Collection (Marylebone)
If you’re feeling particularly wet and cold, get back into the warmth at the Wallace Collection in Marylebone – an internationally renowned collection of paintings, sculpture, furniture, arms, porcelain and armour.
Built up over the 18th and 19th centuries by the Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace it was gifted to the British Nation in 1897.
For families, it hosts free drop-in sessions from drawing workshops, armour handling and sometimes has tours by teens, the idea being that a young person takes your young people on a tour of the collection, giving a fresh perspective on the objects.
That’s how you best get your teen off a screen. Maybe.
Afterwards, go find something to eat in Marylebone – on Sundays it hosts a farmer’s market just behind the high street with very good sausages in a fresh crusty roll.
Play Cafés & Soft Play for Younger Kids
Gambado (Chelsea)
A classic soft play with climbing frames, ball pits, and even mini dodgems. Make sure you book ahead on weekends.
Jungle Rumble Cafe (Hornsey)
A welcoming space with climbing wall and baby slide, and a selection of books and toys. Great for under 5s. The Caribbean menu is delicious!
Creative + Artsy Indoor Options
Pottery Cafés (Various Locations)
Places like Biscuiteers in Notting Hill, Pottery Cafe in Battersea and Art4Fun in West Hampstead give kids the opportunity to paint ceramics and get creative while staying dry.
Clip ’n Climb in The O2 and Wandsworth are all-weather spaces where adults and kids can try out individual and climber wall challenges.
Theatre for Young Audiences
Check listings at Britain’s first purpose-built theatre for children, the Unicorn Theatre in Tooley Street.
We also like Little Angel Theatre and Half Moon Theatre – specialist children’s theatres that all offer kid-friendly productions, often under an hour long.
Free Creative Workshops
Apple’s Today at Apple stores offer free tech/art sessions for older kids (ages 8+), like music-making or digital art.
Rainy Day Ideas For Older Kids
Outernet London (Tottenham Court Road)
A massive, immersive digital space with wraparound LED screens. Free entry and highly visual, it’s perfect for older kids and teens.
Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel (Waterloo)
Covered, colourful and full of ever-changing street art. Great for a quick, rainy photo stop.
There’s bowling and indoor ice skating at Queens with an in-house branch of Meat Liquor for absurdly good burgers, and, if all else fails, the Lego Store in Leicester Square has lots of hands-on play and inspiring displays and, obviously, lots of Lego to say “not until it’s your birthday” to.
Bookshops with Kids’ Corners
Try Foyles in Charing Cross, Waterstones Piccadilly, or Tales on Moon Lane in Herne Hill for reading nooks and storytelling events.
Free Indoor Options
The National Gallery (Trafalgar Square)
Surprisingly family-friendly, with free kids’ trails and activity booklets. We especially enjoy their weekend workshops.
An expansive indoor space with art installations, music events and family programming, it’s ideal for a rainy wander.
Local Libraries
Many London borough libraries offer baby rhyme time, storytelling hours and craft sessions.
Check your council website to see what’s on offer and when.
Looking for places to go on a rainy day when you’ve all been stuck inside watching Netflix for days?
Don’t be afraid to get outside for a bit and revel in the dark, rain and/or cold and to generally change the scene.
Yes, it is lovely to be warm and snuggly inside but there’s a whole city outside your door that deserves a visit, even in the rain!
Here are our favourite places to go on a rainy day:
Hop on a Bus
Be like a tourist (perhaps one without a noisy shin-endangering roll-on suitcase and a very slow pace) and get on a bus.
Try to get a seat at the front top level and go sightsee from two stories above.
We like the number 23, which takes you from Portobello Road, through to Marble Arch, on to Harrods (better in the sale than urban legend would have you believe), past the Royal Albert Hall and down to the Design Museum.
All these cultural riches for the price of a zone one single ticket!
Try number 100 for a slice of ancient London – begin at Roman London Tower Gateway, which will take you along the old wall all along Bevis Marks to Bishopsgate (which marks the start of the Roman Road to York) and get off at the roundabout for the wonderful, free Museum of London.
Route 15 is full of classic tourist stops such as the Monument, St Pauls, Waterloo Bridge and Trafalgar Square.
It’ll be the cheapest day out you’ll ever have. More info here.
Chinatown never ceases to be fun – there are so many cheap places to try for meals, and interesting little shops selling those firecrackers you just throw willy-nilly onto the pavement, and shiny envelopes for money gifts and paper fans and chopsticks of all designs.
In Jan/Feb, the area hosts Chinese New Year which is riotous and fun with displays in Trafalgar Square, music and the Chinese Dragon parade.
Try to find the best dim sum or dive deep into the Chinese bakeries.
Wrap up and go to the Cemetery
There is nothing quite like rambling through an old cemetery with the kids, searching out beautiful tombstones and trying to read the inscriptions to remind you that yes, you might be cold but you are still alive.
Highgate Cemetery is full of glorious architecture, twisting vines and overgrown foliage, and hosts 170,000 buried people.
You can try to spot the graves of Karl Marx, George Eliot or Christina Rossetti or just wander through the subterranean Terrace Catacombs.
Find a cafe when you are done and fill up with hot chocolate all round – it’s simply mandatory.
What to Pack for a Rainy Day Out
- Lightweight raincoats and wellies
- A full change of clothes for little ones
- Snacks and a water bottle
- Baby wipes and hand sanitiser
- A power bank (for bored teens and map use!)