London: Choccywoccydoodah shop, Hamleys, London Transport Museum

On another rather wet day remind me why I wanted to go to London........ohhh that's right......... Hamleys and the Choccywoccydoodah shop!!!!

Choccywoccydoodah

   

The Choccywoccy shop is like chocolate cake heaven!!  The London store is located right on the corner of Fouberts Place in Carnaby.

Store Opening Hours

Mon - Sat 10 am to 7 pm

Sunday 12pm - 6pm

from the minute you look in the windows at the cakes to seeing them close up to the smell that hits you when you walk in you can see why this team produce cakes for the stars.

Hamleys

the flagship hamleys store is on Regent Street...and it's HUGE.... we are talking 7 floors of toys!!!!

Hamleys Regent Street Opening Times...

DAY	OPEN	CLOSE
Monday	10:00	21:00
Tuesday	10:00	21:00
Wednesday	10:00	21:00
Thursday	10:00	21:00
Friday	10:00	21:00
Saturday	09:30	21:00
Sunday	12:00	18:00

*We will be open 11:00 - 20:00 on Monday 26th August 2013.

My oldest loved the lego statues on the top floor, but I was extremely cross with their pricing (or lack of).  They had the small bagged minifigures for sale (normally retailing at £1.99)... both the gold (series 10) and green (newly released series 11) with 1 price tag on (£3).  I said he could have a couple of the new ones and we went to pay..... to be told the green were in fact £4 each - DOUBLE RRP!!!  I asked why they were priced at £3 and was told that only applied to the gold ones, I did not recieve any apology or offer to double check the prices and left confident they were going to do nothing about it.

  

   

London Transport Museum

The London Transport Museum lost points with me on entry. The buying tickets process was so slow and not due to the volume of people (although it was busy) but because the staff themselves were slow to carry out their processes.

Once through the doors there is a stamping activity for the children where they had to find the stamps (hole punchers) by following the map around - the green circles on the below floor plan show their locations.  There are also other carded activities you can pick up for older children to complete.

The museum itself is really well organised.  You start off on the top floor in the 1800's and work your way through the ages into the future.  It is very wheelchair/ buggy friendly with lifts to all floors as well as stairs.

Level 2

Mezzanine and Level 1

Level 0 

The exhibits are very hands on, allowing you to climb aboard and take a seat, or look out the top on most of the vehicles.  The ground floor hosts a childrens play area with a wooden rail set and plenty of toy vehicles where they can sit in the driving seat and drive or sail along the streets, rails and water of London.

Opening times

Museum

Monday-Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-18:00 (Last admission 17:15)
Friday 11:00-18:00 (Last admission 17:15)

Museum shop

Sunday - Tuesday 10:00 - 18:30
Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 10:00 - 19:00
Friday 11:00 - 19:00

Upper Deck café bar

Sunday - Tuesday 10:00 - 18:30
Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 10:00 - 19:00
Friday 11:00 - 19:00

Cost

Adults £15, Concessions (senior citizens, students (on presentation of a valid student ID card) and those in receipt of state benefit assistance): £11.50 and children under 16 are free.

Your tickets are valid for 12 months so if you live locally it is really good investment.  

London do a brilliant offer in conjunction with National Rail to offer 2 for 1 entry and this venue is no exception.  On presentation of a voucher which can be printed from the link or picked up at the train station makes it fantastic value for money.

Would I return?

If I lived locally then yes it's great value for money for a trip out.