Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park, London

Winter Wonderland is back in Hyde Park for the 5th year and its a great place to visit for all the family. Its already open and will be open every day (except Christmas Day) until 3rd January 2012.
We went along on a Tuesday soon after it opened to see what its all about and combined it with a trip to Oxford Street and Regents Street to see the Christmas lights, and to visit Hamleys.
There is so much to see and do you can easily spend a few hours walking round, there are markets, fair rides, Ferris Wheel, Father Christmas, food and drink, circus and ice skating.

Charlotte was delighted to meet Father Christmas, she was so overcome with excitement she ran across the park to see him dodging anyone getting in her way (thankfully there was no queue) and quickly told him her most wanted Christmas item. We went on the ferris wheel with lovely views over the city and Christmas music to get you in the mood, shame it was a foggy day, but we could still spot St. Pauls, London Eye, Battersea Power Station, BT tower. We then went on a few fair rides and stalls, all the usual things you would find at your local fair and a few larger ones like 2 roller coasters and Power tower (66m drop I think it said).

The ice rink is so magical, all lit up with fairy lights when the sun has gone down. There are plenty of food and drink places with a Bavarian Village, fish and chips, hog roast, beer, cider, mulled wine etc.

There is also a stunning Christmas market, offering so many lovely crafts items.

We never managed to go to the circus, there are two, a Christmas circus and also a Cirque Extreme, there are a couple of showings of both each day but we missed them so check the times out before you go.

Winter Wonderland is free to enter, Father Christmas is also free. Attractions you have to pay for by visiting the tickets booths dotted around the park.

We had a great few hours, and was lovely to be there as it was getting dark to see everything lit up.
http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/

The State Rooms, Buckingham Palace, London

Buckingham Palace opens to the public over the summer months while the Queen is on holiday. This summer Kate's wedding dress was on show and as Charlotte was so thrilled to watch the Royal Wedding on tv and all the excitement that went with it, we left Daddy at home and went with Grandma to see "the dress".

Its wise to book your tickets in advance, either online or over the phone, where you book a time slot for your visit. Ours was just after lunch so to burn off some energy from sitting on the bus we first went to the kids play area in St James Park and watched the soldiers practicing a performance outside The Guards Museum.
We then went to queue for Buckingham Palace, the queue looked really long but it didn't take too long to get to the front. You are put into holding pens and then go through the airport type scanners before picking up your audio tour. It's well thought out with an audio tour for kids, which we all opted for. Only snag, there were no little headphones, and half way around Charlotte did get a little fed up of them always falling off.
The kids commentary was similar to the adult version, but with a little girl and boy talking. Charlotte followed it really well and quickly worked out how to move onto the next section when we moved rooms. She picked up a lot of what they were saying, she now knows what the P stand for on the throne chairs, and that there is a picture of Queen Charlotte. There was a clip of Buckingham Palace on the tv one night and she was telling Daddy where she had stood.
Its fascinating walking round the rooms, and learning what they get used for. Charlotte liked to spot any secret doors (there are a few) and walking up and down the grand staircases. The statues of Victoria and Albert she knew because of the statues we have in Abingdon.
About 3/4 of the way round was Kate's dress, here we could have a sit down to watch a video of how it was made and then to see the dress, shoes and tiara in detail, and amazing it was. You then come out the back of Buckingham Palace, hand in your headsets and walk round part of the gardens.
Charlotte asked a member of staff in there were any corgis, but sadly they all went on holiday with the Queen.
We had an excellent time, it took about 2 hours to go round, a lot of walking for little feet but she did really well. Pushchairs aren't allowed inside so these have to be check-in and collected after, but they say they can loan baby carriers and hip seats. Also toilets and baby change are only at the exit, none at the entrance and aside from restaurants close-by the closest public ones are in the parks or Victoria.
Buckingham Palace will open again in 2012 from 1 August - 30 September with a special exhibition of Diamonds: a Jubilee Celebration
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=30