Entertaining a fourteen year old in London?

amother

Tue, May 17 2022, 2:17 am

I grew up with only sisters, and no boys in the family until we started to get married. Now my fourteen year old Israeli son is going to stay with my father in England for two weeks over the summer, and my father is getting very nervous.

He claims he has no experience of teenage boys (at least since he was twenty!) and doesn't know how to entertain them. His own experience of being a teenager was over fifty years ago, and London is a different place now. While my son speaks English, it is imperfect, and may not initially be understood by strangers, and my father feels he cannot be trusted around London on his own.

So anyone living in London, how does he entertain a teenage boy for two weeks? He is a football fan, so Wembley Stadium is on the agenda, and probably Buckingham Palace, and so on, but what else will a fourteen year old enjoy in London for two weeks, that won't exhaust his grandfather too much?

caza

Tue, May 17 2022, 4:50 am

-A day out to sightseeing- Buckingham palace, London eye, horse guards parade...

-thames RIB experience- speed boating on the Thames

-Go ape- in the trees obstacle course

-santander bikes- all.over London there are bikes to rent only £2 per half hour but each half hour after is free for the next 24 hours (as long as you don't have it more than half an hour at a time)

-ice skating in alaxandra palace

-rock up or clip and climb- indoor climbing

-there is a climbing experience on the O2

-cable cars

-there are lots of museums

amother

Seagreen

Tue, May 17 2022, 5:22 am

Where abouts in London?

If your dad drives and they like fish maybe they could spend a day in the cotswolds and go fishing at Bibury Trout Farm, catch some fish and make themselves a bbq (you buy disposable bbqs there).

Cycling or boating at Lee Valley.

Book sky Gardens to see view of London.

Perhaps he could work at a day camp or volunteer for Shabbat Walk

Chayalle

Tue, May 17 2022, 8:38 am

Do you have siblings living in London who can take him out sometimes, to give your father a break? Nephews who can spend time with him? Family friends with sons in his age range who can take him somewhere?

When I saw the title of this thread I smiled. When I was 15, I spent a month in London with my father's siblings. It's from the best memories of my childhood. I got to know my cousins and formed life-long bonds with them (how else does a kid growing up in the US get to know her European cousins? Occasional weddings doesn't cut it.) Plus I had fun seeing all the tourist spots.

Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, local parks (I remember my Uncle took me for a bit to Hyde Park - it was definitely, uh, interesting. I remember a nice park near Windsor Castle where we had lunch, and there were these cool banana boats going down a lake in the middle.) Boat ride down the Thames, spend some time in the Houses (lords and commons, see them in action). The shopping areas (I loved Hamleys) (the London Eye didn't exist then, but I've been back since). Madam Tussauds, various museums (I remember going for the day with a bunch of cousins to a Science Museum. We had fun!) One day I went to Kent with my aunt, there's these botanical gardens that I found interesting.

The London transportation system is amazing and easy. I was able to go with younger cousins by ourselves.

amother

Gladiolus

Tue, May 17 2022, 3:21 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Harry Potter World in Watford.

amother

Foxglove

Tue, May 17 2022, 3:30 pm

amother [ Seagreen ] wrote:

excuse me, what is Shabbat Walk?

amother

Tue, May 17 2022, 5:28 pm

None of us live in England any more, so there are no relatives in the same age group for him to spend time with. My father is thinking of asking his friends if they have grandchildren that age, but there is no guarantee that they would get on. While we speak English at home, the children are really more comfortable in Hebrew, which could prove a barrier.

At that age I travelled around London independently, but my father thinks that a boy with imperfect English and coming from a small yishuv in Israel doesn't have the sophistication to travel around London on his own. I have to say that I agree with him.

Fishing is not for my father, and he doesn't really want crowded (and expensive) theme parks. I don't think the Shabbat Walk is really looking for someone in the country for only two weeks, but some of the other ideas could work well. I'll pass them on to my father. He's also thinking of a 'heritage day', going round all the houses that the family have lived in and my grandfather's shop and so on.

amother

Feverfew

Tue, May 17 2022, 5:59 pm

Kris Cruisers - small motor boat rentals in Datchet near Windsor (40 minutes from nw London) is a lovely relaxing day out for "the boys", travelling up the Thames thrive traditional canal locks. Can get out near Windsor to walk around etc https://www.kriscruisers.co.uk/

Tower of London (Crown jewels)

Treasuretrails.co.uk

London transport museum (underground buses taxis etc)
Raf museum (airplanes)
National museum of Computing (Bletchley Park)

The London Eye
HMS Belfast
London Aquarium

Docklands light railway (DLR)

Emirates cable cars (near docklands)

Mini golf
Putt shack
Topgolf Watford
Tenpin Bowling

Boating in Regents Park or Hyde Park

Sky Garden at The Shard (for drinks and views)

Brentwood Park ski and snowboard centre

London zoo

Mens only swimming at Finchley Lido Sunday 4-5pm
Mens only swimming outdoors in Kenwood/hampstead heath

Ninja warrior course, watford

Hiking in the Chiltern's (Wendover Hill)