Ideas of places to visit during GOSH HMS Clinic days

[Alison C]

Great idea for a thread - bumped up to sticky - Site Admin

I thought we could post ideas of touristy places to visit which we have found to be fun when visiting GOSH.

- London Eye (buggies have to be stored with reception - grr!)
- Tower of London
- Museums - fab dinosaurs at Nat History, Science, National (near GOSH)
- Princess Diana Memorial Playground (in two parts) at Hyde Park - great to chill after GOSH - a buggy transport is available between the two playgrounds
- shops! eg Hamleys
- the fab boat and bus trip - Duck Tours (the bus starts off and then goes on the water!)
- Covent Garden - great entertainment and lovely friendly staff at Pizza Express
- nearby park - Coram Fields - when you stay at GOSH
- Royal Mews - great for horses poo and gold carriages!

.........

Cheerio
Alison

[cocol]

Regent's Park is not so far away from GOSH, and you can visit the London Zoo there.

[kezzykat]

Fab thread,
Just to highlight the practicalities of travel in the city if you are not familiiar with it etc. When we visited London for my diagnosis with Prof G it was at the Hosp of St John and St ELizabeth and seemed to be in the middle of nowehere!

We would have benefited from such a thread!
Also I would suggest trying to ensure that you book taxis etc especially if you need accessible ones for a w/.chair etc. That can be difficult if you are not sure of appointment length etc.

Do also be aware that you can often bring train times forwards if you find that you have more time on your hands than you imagined. In my case, we booked a later train to ensure we had enough time with the Consultation and to eat etc afterwards. Unfortunately it can be a struggle to get them to put you on an earlier train if you require assiatnace. We had booked assistance there, which never arrived, so due to our 'bad treatment' and our making noises to complain, they miraculously found 'seats' for us on an earlier train going back at relatively short notice which were also 'assistance/disabled'.

We had planned to go to London Zoo, but after travelling and the appointment, I was in no fit state to be honest. So it is also worth remembering that if you book anything/places to see, to try and make sure that you do not pay a deposit if possible, or at least bear it in mind. Also allow yourself to not go if you are not up to it...In this case, if you are taking children etc, it may be worth keeping any visits aside from consultations as a secret to avoid dissapointment and added stress to go if you really can't.

KK

[TED]

Chloe has her appt with Prof G and Dr Hassan next Wed. I am taking my 5 year old also who has hm. Anyway we are coming down on the Tues and staying in the patient hotel. What I'd like to know is where we can go for our tea thats not too pricey. And on the Wed the appt is first thing in the morning and after that we have quite a few hours to kill as our train back is not until 5.15 as we are travelling back up with Chloes physio. So where can I take the kids for lunch and is there a museum or local attraction around that area? As I dont want to travel too far away from the train station etc.

Take Care

TED

[pip35]

hi ted

there is a pizza hut and pizza express also and italian just up the road from the hotel, also in the hospital they have a cafe and costa coffee. in the hotel there is a kitchen and you can cook your own food if u want there is a tescos near russell square station or a sainsburys up near the holborn station. as for things to do im not sure but there is a park near the hospital.

hope this helps xx
pip35

[TED]

Hi pip35 that sounds great, the pizza places that is. i think I'll give the cooking for myself & the kids a miss though as this is an every day occurance for me and I'll treat myself to a wee break and take the kids out for pizza or pasta.

Thanks

take care

TED

[dawn barlow]

Hi Jordan and yazmin are both going into GOSH for the 2 week rehab on the 1st of October, i just wondered if anyone else from this site is going in then as well.

Dawn x

[christianne]

What a shame, we are going the 2 weeks before you. From the 17th to the 28th of September, anyone else going then? My son Ewan is 9.
love Christianne.

[Amanda]

Hi

We went to see Sue Maillard last night so I can add a few places for free

Right next to GOSH is Coram's Fields - this has its own website & is a small part for the under 5's.

For the energetic...
With your u/ground zone 1 ticket - go to Covent Garden - this is out only at the moment but then walk down to Chancery Lane / Embankment and cross the river and get a river boat
or then get a bus up to Oxford Circus but hop off towards the top of Regent Street and go into Hamley's - you can escape without spending
From Russell Sq and you could go to the British Museum which has that fantastic new'ish roof (I watched it being built about 6 or 7 years ago)
If you go up river from Embankment it is 70 mins but you can get to Greenwich and go to the Greenwich Conservatory and the Navel Museum -

Don't forget the museum's are mostly free

The London Transport Museum at Covent garden doesn't open till November I think it said yesterday!!

If you do have loads of time then it is worth going on the train to Key Gardens.

Amanda

[nonyanomemory]

coramsfields.org

Thanks so much for the info Amanda. Above link to comamsfields which Amanda mentions - it looks fantastic!

londonkidz.co.uk



nonya

[TED]

Coram Fields is great I took Chloe and carrie there twice and they had a great time. It just round the corner from gosh. They have the usual swings etc and a sandy area and a zip slide also some petting animals. A lovely little haven for the kids to have a nice play and for you to clear your head or have a wee bubble to yourself after the intensity of the appts.

I would also recommend the Britsh Museum, my girls loved it esp since they have watched the film 'Night at the Museum' and there was a huge statue head like in the movie. Carrie went round saying "Dum Dum where's my Gum Gum (from the movie) for the rest of the day!!! They also have a fantastic egyptian exhibition which my girls loved too!

TED

[christianne]

Hi I`v just returned from 2 weeks at Gosh and will list the things we did. (They told us to 'drag him around London' when the physio for the day has finished and by golly did I do as I was told!) A tube ticket for zones 1 and 2 offpeak for an adult is 5.10 and the child is free, you can use it all day.
-Saw the musical Spamalot(very funny if you like Monty Python) Ewan loved it and laughed out loud.
-Went to Hamleys twice, (splitting his pocket money into two so we did the trip both weeks).
-Ate in the rainforest cafe(quite expensive but a nice experience).
-Went to madam Tussauds(better for an older child as otherwise they don't recognise enough stars)
-Went to the Science museum and saw a 3D film about dinosaurs.Loads of other stuff there too.(Warning: the nearest tube station (South kensington) is a long walk from the museums so depending on stamina and mobility you may need a taxi instead)
-Went to the Natural History Museum and saw lots of great stuff, including dinosaurs that move and did the antarctic expedition.
-Went to the British museum(walkable from GOSH) twice, once to see the Terracotta Army(amaaaazing!) and the other to see what we missed the first time!
-Went to the Imperial war museum-great for little and big boys!(i dobbed out of that one and left it to his dad who had come up for a few days)
-Went to see Lord of the Rings, highly recommended, the auks come into the audience!
-Went to the aforementioned Coram fields park-great and walking distance.
Now as you can imagine i am absolutely exhausted, but it was invaluable to have these things to bribe/reward Ewan with and he really focussed on motivating himself to get through the exercises with these things as a goal at the end.
Christianne

[dawn barlow]

Hi,
I have just returned from GOSH after the first week of Yazmin and Jordan's 2 week stay there. Their dad is with them now, i go back on Thursday.

Coram fields is very good they can run around( if they have the energy). There is also a toy museum not to far away called Pollock Toy Museum it costs £3 for adults and £1.50 each for children over 3. Tottenham Court Rd is within walking distance for shops. There is also a small shopping centre near GOSG called Brunswicks it also has a cinema there. The British museum is probably better for older children unless they are really into mummies and Egypt, they have a very good display of this.

The patient hotel is excellent, everything you need is there. It does get very warm though at night.

Dawn x

[nonyanomemory]

Thank you to those who post here with so much detailed and helpful information.

nonya

[Kaleidogyn]

Hi... as a newbie, wanted to ask what the "rehab" at GOS is??? My son was dx'd earlier this year by Rheumatologist @ GOS with HMS, but we don't see anyone there for any follow up... feel totally isolated with all of this, esp as having probs with his school....

K