For me, city breaks with kids are an explosion of the senses. All the sights, sounds and in-your-face experiences crammed into a closer than close space can be overwhelming. Especially when you’re trying to keep track of little people and discourage them from touching whatever ‘that brown goo’ is.
Yep, cities bring out the helicopter mum in me!
But they also offer an incredible cultural and learning experience. Plus, there’s always somewhere a bit more open and leafy not far away, should you need to escape the bustle.
There may never have been to a better time to book a UK city break with kids!
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Our favourite city breaks with kids
But where to go in 2023? We’ve got experience of several UK city breaks with kids now, so I wanted to share some of our favourite destinations, things to do, and places to stay.
You can also read our top tips for surviving city breaks with toddlers, as well as our top family travel tips.
Looking for recommendations for European cities? Here are our tried and tested European city breaks with kids.
I’d love to hear your recommendations on child-friendly city breaks in the UK. Where have you been that was ultra family-friendly or made for the perfect city escape with children? Leave me a comment below.
Some more of our recommended UK cities to visit with your family include Exeter, Portsmouth, Norwich and Cardiff. Read about our top five UK city breaks for families.
Plus here’s some more tried and tested city breaks with kids:
Salisbury – a city break with kids in historic Wiltshire
If you are history fans then we can also recommend a stay in Salisbury in Wiltshire. In the city, there’s a lot to see around Salisbury Cathedral or if you’d like a cinema experience with a difference check out the Odeon, which is housed in a Tudor merchant’s house.
Stonehenge, its neighbour circle at Avebury and Cholderton Charlies rare breeds farm are not far outside the city.
As well as characterful hotels in Salisbury city centre*, you can find reasonability priced family camping and glamping close to Salisbury.
Salisbury also makes an easy day trip from London or you could use it as a stop off on a road trip across the Great West Way.
Where to stay in Salisbury with kids: we stayed in a glamping hut at Stonehenge campsite.
Find more places to stay in Salisbury with kids on Booking.com*:
Winchester in Hampshire
The capital of Hampshire and once the seat of King Alfred the Great, Winchester is a favourite city of ours. It’s small but beautiful with a stunning Cathedral, a high street dotted with half timbered buildings and its very own castle – or what remains of it.
Explore the Great Hall, get hands-on with history at Winchester City Museum and buy some incredible local produce at the regular farmers’ markets. Visit in the winter and Winchester Christmas market is a must.
Outside the city centre, a great family attraction is Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium. There’s a full day out of interactive science experiments and fun for kids and adults alike.
Or if your kids like animals, take them to Marwell Zoo. Another lovely place to visit is Hinton Ampner – a National Trust house and gardens not far from the city.
Here’s more things to do in Winchester with kids.
Winchester is also just over an hour from London by train from Waterloo, making it super easy to combine with a trip to the capital.
It’s also close to the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth.
Here’s some more ideas for places within easy reach of London.
Where to stay in Winchester with kids: Marwell Hotel* is outside the city centre but in the perfect position for walking over to the zoo.
Find more places to stay in Winchester with kids on Booking.com*
Bristol – a city full of family attractions
Bristol is a gem of the South West with plenty of maritime and industrial heritage to keep young people busy during a family city break.
We love visiting SS Great Britain and really rate the free M Shed Museum, which tells the story of the city, its industry and people.
Bristol Aquarium is located in the city centre as are We The Curious and Bristol Museum. A bit further away there’s the Clifton Observatory – just hop on a bus and you’re there in less than 20 minutes.
Outside of the city there’s also The Wild Place Project which is a cross between a safari park and zoo farm.
Where to stay in Bristol with kids: we can recommend a stay at the SACO Broad Quay serviced apartments in Bristol City Centre.
Find more places to stay in Bristol with kids on Booking.com*.
Bath – a city break with kids in Somerset
Bath is a playground for history lovers. You must visit The Roman Baths and a bus tour of the city is a great way to understand its geography and heritage.
Other things you must do are visit the beautiful 18th Century Royal Crescent, the American Museum, Sally Lunn’s Museum and Bath Postal Museum. A roof top tour of Bath Abbey will also give families with older children spectacular views of the city.
A few minutes down the road there’s Avon Valley Adventure & Wildlife Park, and further afield there’s the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Avon Valley Railway, Wookey Hole and Cheddar Gorge, which are all popular with families.
Where to stay in Bath with kids: we can recommend a stay at Bath Mill Lodge Retreat, which is a luxury lodge resort just outside the city.
Find more places to stay in Bath with kids on Booking.com*
Swansea – a city break by the sea
Swansea is a city by the sea with plenty of history, family activities and attractions within easy reach of the Gower Peninsular should you want to escape to the country.
Read about some of the things we got up to during a weekend in and around Mumbles, just outside the city. Visits to Oystermouth Castle and the local beaches were highlights for us.
We also holidayed just down the road in Llanelli where we had a caravan holiday in Wales with plenty of days out in the surrounding Carmarthenshire countryside.
You’re also not far from the Welsh capital, Cardiff, which has so many great places to visit with kids including a tour of the Royal Mint.
Where to stay in Swansea with kids: we can recommend checking out this luxurious dog-friendly cottage in Mumbles.
Find more places to stay in Swansea with kids on Booking.com*
Truro – a city break with kids in Cornwall
Visit the UK’s most southerly city for independent shops and boutiques, and plenty of local history.
The gothic style Cathedral has three spires that make their mark on the city’s skyline. As well as being an impressive piece of architecture, it is also a venue for arts events.
Also in Truro, The Royal Cornwall Museum is the only museum in the county to host a British Museum supported permanent exhibition of Ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian history.
If you’re looking for more things to do around Truro we found plenty to entertain the kids during our recent holiday there, plus Cornwall is an excellent place for a UK family holiday.
Where to stay in Truro with kids: we stayed 10 minutes from the city centre in a luxury cottage at the The Valley.
Find more places to stay in Truro with kids on Booking.com*.
London – the ultimate UK city break with teenagers and tiny tots
Of course, no guide to UK city breaks with kids would be complete without mentioning London. We first visited London with the girls when they were 11-months-old and three-years-old.
I won’t lie, it had its more traumatic moments, but we were pretty new to the whole experience of family city breaks at that time. We learnt a lot of lessons!
More recently we visited London for a weekend with tweens and aced it. The key was planning our route and not trying to squeeze in too much. We still saw Westminster and Buckingham Palace, visited the Lego Store, China Town and the Natural History Museum – lots of free fun!
Take a look at our easy itinerary for visiting London with kids.
What about London with teenagers?
If you’re visiting London with teens, you’re going to want to hit some of the famous sights for those all important Tik Tok and Insta moments. I can recommend a some easy ways to see the best views of London and exploring the sights of the South Bank for free.
There’s also an opportunity to get a deal on West End show tickets each summer, which would be a brilliant experience upon which to build your UK city break with teens.
Teenagers will also love a visit to the London Dungeons and Madame Tussaud’s or a spin on the London Eye.
Big savings on London attractions
If you’ve got a few days to spend in London, or are visiting on different occasions, why not take advantage of Merlin’s Big City Saver* deal?
It gives you access to some of London’s most iconic attractions for a discounted rate. Pick from a combination of attractions that suit you from the London Eye and Madame Tussauds to SEA LIFE London Aquarium and Shreks Adventure or a Big Bus Tour.
You can book any combination, any time within 90 days and move your bookings if your plans change.
Depending on the ticket combo you can save up to 46% on individual ticket prices.
Here’s some ideas on places to stay in London with kids on Booking.com*.
UK towns to visit with kids
If you’d prefer to start with a UK town we can recommend:
Here are some more recommended UK destinations and attractions to check out.
You can also find more family holiday inspiration in my full guide to family travel.
What city breaks in the UK can you recommend? I’d love to hear.
We also love European cities. Here are our tried and tested European city breaks with kids.
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you make a booking or purchase I may earn some commission. This does not affect the price you pay.
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