Top tips for visiting Sea Life London Aquarium with Kids
The Sea Life London Aquarium is a popular Aquarium in London which holds Europe’s largest collections of Global marine life. It’s found on the South Bank of the River Thames near Waterloo station and as the trip takes around two to three hours to complete, it’s a perfect trip to combine with visiting other parts of London and seeing other popular London Attractions such as Shrek’s Adventure. the Houses of Parliament, Madame Tussaud, Tower of London or Big Ben. We teamed it with a picnic and a trip to the Park that’s opposite the London Eye – it’s a great wooden climbing park.
Top Tips for Visiting The Sea Life London Aquarium
The Sea Life London Aquarium has lots of themed zones and has an exciting beginning with an ocean tunnel in a huge tank – it follows a one way system which begins with a walk over the Shark Tank on a glass walkway in semi darkness! You get to see the shark tank later close up – it’s amazing to see them swim so close as you are pressed up against the tank – this was my kids favourite part of the Aquarium. We had a brilliant moment where we saw our first shark bearing teeth on the shark walk and the kids’s literally jumped a few feet away from the side of the tank! Sadly I didn’t catch this on camera but next, we headed to the Sting Ray tank which is open topped so you see the Sting Ray’s coming up for food. The children were given Mission Ranger Packs to be ocean invaders which they wear round their necks with cards to help them feel like proper Rangers and lots of information and activities about the different animals and fish. They loved using the magnifying glasses which came with it – especially to spy on the clown fish. The cards and information made a great activity for the train ride home but it was a little busy to use all the cards and information whilst in the centre. I think this activity would probably work brilliantly on quieter days but we visited during the school holidays.
The Sea Life London Aquarium have also included a new Rainforest Adventure where you can see creepy crawlies and the U.Ks largest piranha collection. This part is really atmospheric – sound effects, darkness and lighting (complete with even a thunderstorm) made walking through this section really fun. Elodie enjoyed seeing the sea turtles (her favourite animal) and one was even eating a dead fish which they found intriguing. There are places in the Aquarium where you can pop your head up to be amongst the animals – I thought our little lot were very brave popping up to see the cockroaches walk all around them – yuck! Their are lots of other interactive things to do – Orla liked stroking a starfish in the rock pool and seeing the anemones up close in the touch pool. It was an amazing experience.
I found that, despite the busyness, the London Aquarium is quite a calming place. I guess that’s why Doctors have aquariums in some surgeries! The sea life centre has UK’s largest jellyfish experience. I was totally mesmerised by the colour changing jellyfish! I mean, they don’t actually change colour but I think it’s something that they do with the lights. Either way it’s very beautiful! Another of the zones is called Coral Kingdom with the UK’s largest living Coral reef, with a 40ft long large tank – it’s really stunning!
Towards the end of the tour, you get to see our favourite section – the gentoo penguins! The penguin point is a great part of the sea life aquarium. They were so cute waddling around! I love the funny facial expressions – they seemed totally bemused by us! There are lots of special events throughout the year such as learning facts from the keepers and watching feeding sessions.
We had a lot of fun at the London Aquarium and it makes a great day out for families.
Here are our top tips for visiting the London Aquarium…….
How much does it cost to go to the Sea Life Centre?
There are lots of different ticket prices for different options to visit the London Aquarium. There are 2-5 attraction passes, where you can visit a variety of other attractions such as the London Dungeon or take a Big Bus Tour. Tickets offer a 90-day validity, allowing you the flexibility to explore all five attractions. You can also purchase a fast track ticket to jump the queue. Find out all the ticket options here.
How long does it take to walk around the Sea Life London Aquarium?
When you purchase tickets you get a time slot to visit the London Aquarium. It takes around 2-3 hours to walk visit the Sea Life Aquarium but it depends on how long you spend looking at each area and how busy it is.
When is the best time to visit the Sea Life London?
SEA LIFE London is quieter on off-peak days and outside of public and school holidays. During weekends and peak times and school holidays – it can get very busy. It’s also busier on rainy days! It’s also quieter close to when the attraction closes.
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*We were gifted tickets in exchange for a review but all words and opinions are my own and we only recommend fun family days out that we’ve enjoyed!*
