Is your family up for some spooky fun at the various haunted places in London?
London is full of educational museums and restaurants that flaunt multiple Michelin stars, but the city is also ripe with haunted places and dark experiences that are goosebump-worthy. The problem is determining which of those haunted places and intriguing experiences are suitable for the younger members of your family.
Whether you’re visiting London with young kids, teenagers, or a mix of both, there are some haunted places that you can enjoy as a family. We dug through the options and are happy to get your research started with a list of the best options. We’ll note the appropriate age groups on each listing because we know that what works well for one family is completely inappropriate for another.
Fun Haunted Places in London:
The Langham Hotel
The Langham is a five-star luxury hotel prominently located on Regent Street near Regents Park and the London Zoo. Many guests consider themselves lucky to snag a room with a view in the hotel for their London vacation without realizing that it was once known as one of the most haunted places in the city.
What’s inside the hotel? It was impacted by intense poltergeist activity so spectacular that visitors came to the city just to catch some of the action. There was once a smartly dressed man in Victorian attire who was seen from time to time in room 333. That room is believed to be the center of the poltergeist activity as well.
The hotel is a great haunted place for kids to explore because you can see it in daylight without getting too scared. The fact that it’s currently in operation as one of the most upscale hotels in London may help your little ones sleep better at night, but keep in mind that there are still ghost sightings at the hotel today. Some of the ghosts spotted include a German prince who jumped out of a hotel window and committed suicide plus a doctor who killed his wife and himself inside the hotel many years ago.
The Pet Cemetery of Hyde Park
Hidden in Hyde Park is a small cemetery that holds the remains of many London pets. Each gravesite is marked with a small headstone, and there are many stories floating around about the lives of the pets buried beneath the stones. In fact, many people say the cemetery is haunted to this day.
While some kids may appreciate the Hyde Park pet cemetery, others may find it too disturbing. Even some adult animal lovers are overcome with emotion at the sight of so many graves marked for beloved pets. Families should consider the personalities and interests of every member before deciding to visit this cemetery in London.
Theatre Royal
This theatre is still operational on Drury Lane, so you may want to book a show for your family while you’re in London. Just keep in mind that many of the actors and actresses have seen ghosts and spirits in various parts of the theatre. That includes one actor who believes he saw the ghost of a former theatre manager and actor while performing on stage.
In addition to attending a show, you can schedule a tour of the theatre. While it may focus more on how the theatrical elements are brought to life for their entertaining shows, you’ll get a glimpse behind the scenes where some of the Theatre Royal ghost are believed to have once walked the hallways in preparation for their time on stage.
The accessibility of the theatre makes this one of the best haunted places in London to explore with children of all ages. You get to decide how much each of your children understands about the darker side of the theatre before you visit.
The Tower of London
This big London attraction doubles as one of the most well-known haunted spots in the city. That won’t surprise you once you take a tour of the tower and perhaps do some research into the number of executions that were completed on the grounds.
The Tower of London was once used as a prison, and there was a lot of torture involved in the punishment of those held captive. While it’s now best known as home to the Royal jewels and there are some great stories about its past, it does have a dark history that supports the claim that ghosts and spirits still walk the grounds.
To learn more about the ghosts of the Tower of London, look up the story best known as the “princes in the tower.” It involves two princes who were locked in the tower and left to die for political reasons. They’re believed to remain on the property to this day.
This is one of the best family-friendly haunted places in London because it’s so accessible. You can easily tour the tower while older members of the family are aware of the creepy stories and the youngest family members are not. Many ghost tours through the city will stop by the tower because there are so many historical stories to share.
Don’t Wait for Halloween
Haunted places in London get a lot of attention when October rolls around. You’ll find a lot of seasonal ghost tours and haunted London tours pop up around that time along with visitors wandering the city with lists of places they’ve heard are haunted.
That doesn’t mean you have to wait until Halloween to explore haunted places in London. You can do this anytime of the year by researching a list of the most haunted places and simply finding them on your own.
If your family enjoys hunting down potential ghosts and spirits, then you may create a game to see who can find the most haunted spots from a list throughout your trip. Many of the most haunted places are close to big attractions that are likely on your itinerary anyway, so why not stop off to see if those spots of the city give you the willies. It will add a new level of enjoyment to your family vacation in London.
Visiting Haunted Places in London with Kids
Selecting haunted places in London that are appropriate for your child’s age and maturity level is the first step to an enjoyable experience. You don’t want to take a toddler into an experience that will leave them terrified anymore than you want to show up at an adult-only event with teenagers who aren’t allowed to attend.
Once you determine the haunted places in London you want to visit with your family, introduce your children to the place through the internet, books, and pictures. Learning the significance of place and perhaps familiarizing your children with characters they may hear about during the experience can desensitize them to the scarier elements of the live tour.
Finally, try to schedule some time after the visit for your children to talk about their experience and ask questions. Even a place that you don’t expect them to find interesting or terrifying may trigger a lot of questions and insightful commentary.
Just walking the streets of London for a bit or sitting in a café may bring out a lively conversation that you’ll never forget. Those are the magical moments of a family vacation anyway, right?