How much does the London scavenger hunt cost?

Nothing. It's a free printable PDF, and every item on it can be spotted without paying for entry to anything.

How long does it take?

Most families get through it across a single day out, roughly three to five hours including travel. You don't have to finish it.

Can we do it without going on the Tube?

Yes. You'd miss the six Underground finds, but the station and city zones still give you 170 points to play for.

Illustration of London Waterloo station, its glass arch framing Big Ben and the London Eye on the skyline beyond

Scavenger HuntFree download

The Great London Scavenger Hunt for Kids

A day in London with children can turn into a long walk between things that cost money. This sheet does the opposite. It makes the journey itself the activity, so the walking, the waiting and the Tube ride all count for something.

There are 24 things to spot, split into three zones, and each one is worth points. Easy finds like a red double-decker bus are worth 5. Harder ones like a guard in a bearskin hat or the words painted on the platform edge are worth 15. Add it all up at the end and you've got a score out of 230 to beat next time.

Nothing on the list needs a ticket, a booking or a queue. Every single item can be found from a pavement, a platform or a bus window.

Download the printable

One page, A4, prints fine in black and white. No sign-up and no email address.

Download free PDF

PDF, 1.2 MB, 1 page.

The Great London Scavenger Hunt for Kids printable sheet

Ages

4 to 11

Things to find

Points to win

230

Pages to print

What's on the sheet

24 things to find, grouped so you can work through them in the order you'll actually come across them.

At the station

Eight things to find before you've even left the terminus, which is exactly when children are usually at their most bored. The departure board, the ticket barriers, a luggage trolley, a driver sitting up at the very front.

A big glass roof high above the platforms (10 points)
An Elizabeth line train, purple doors and a purple stripe (15 points)
A GWR train, the dark green ones (10 points)
A train driver sitting up at the very front (10 points)

On the Tube

Six Underground finds. The roundel, the map, the escalator, the curved tunnel wall. This zone is the one that makes a change of line feel like part of the game rather than an interruption.

The Underground roundel, a red circle with a blue bar (10 points)
'Mind the gap' painted on the platform edge (15 points)
A round Tube tunnel, the curved wall of a station (10 points)
A line map inside a train (10 points)

Buses and the city

Ten street-level finds worth the most points on the sheet. Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, a black cab, one of the four lions in Trafalgar Square. Perfect for the walk between stations.

The top deck front seat on a bus, the best view in London (10 points)
A guard in a tall black bearskin hat (15 points)
Tower Bridge, the one with two tall towers (15 points)
A statue of a lion, and there are four in Trafalgar Square (10 points)

Know a family who'd use this?

Send them the link. These sheets only reach the families who need them if people pass them on.

Tips for the grown-ups

Print two and make it a race

Siblings score separately and compare at the end. It works better than one shared sheet, and it stops the older one finding everything first.

Ride a bus rather than the Tube for one leg

Routes 11, 15 and 24 pass a lot of the higher-scoring items on this list, and the front seat on the top deck is worth 10 points on its own. It's also cheaper and children see the city rather than a tunnel.