7 London Sights with Teen Appeal

5)    Be artistic. The Tate Modern has a vast Turbine Hall (it used to be a power station) with regularly changing installations supersized to work in the space. For example, from 2006-2007, CarstenHöller’s five slides spiraled their way down and around the hall (one of them five floors high, frighteningly fast around the corners). It also has quirkily named (Material Gestures and States of Flux) but interesting collections of modern art on different floors. Entry is free except for special exhibitions. The café/restaurant on the ground level is recommended; it’s a bit pricey but the food is very good, with fresh fish brought daily from Cornwall.

If you also have younger children in tow (ages 5-10), go to the Info booth on the ground floor or the Family Zone on Level 3 and pick up a little book of suggested routes (Tate Teaser), or ask about ‘Start’ activities on the weekend (for ages 5 and up) which use puzzles and games to explore modern art.

• A giant multi-story slide at the Tate Modern.
• Alicia Yeah

A local teen says: “It depends on what they have in the Turbine Hall. I loved the slides but the crack in the floor [Doris Salcedo’sShibboleth] was a bit whatever. They have videos sometimes in little rooms, so you can just sit and watch them. The gift shop has some cool stuff.”

• Schoolboys at the Tate Modern wait their turn to ride one of the spiraling slides in Turbine Hall.
• David Sim

Tate Modern: Central London—Bankside, London SE1. Open Sun.-Thurs. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Price: free entry to museum, various charges for special exhibitions (usually around £6/$12). Transport: Southwark (Jubilee tube line) and Blackfriars (District and Circle tube lines). www.tate.org.uk/modern

6) Pay tribute to the Bard. Should you have a budding actor in the family, a short walk from the Tate Modern along the river is Shakespeare’s Globe, where you can catch a performance, visit the interactive exhibition or take a backstage tour. For younger children who might not be as willing to sit still for more than two hours, the theatre's Globe Education Practitioners group leads a ChildsPlay workshop for ages 8-11, that explores a matinee play through storytelling and art. Children also get to view part of the play as groundlings in the Globe. 

• Shakespeare’s Globe is a great place to introduce kids to history and the theater.
• ahisgett

Book ChildsPlay tickets in advance, and register at the Education Reception Desk at 1:30 p.m. on selected Saturdays; tickets cost £12.50. Regular performance prices range from £12-33 depending on seating location; there are also 700 £5 standing-only tickets available for every performance. www.shakespeares-globe.org

7) Go shopping. If you’ve had enough of sightseeing and your teen just wants to go shopping, malls aren’t really an option unless you go out of town. In London, you could head to Oxford Street and choose one of the larger stores with a café, agree a time to meet, and put your feet up for a while. Top Shop is THE store for teen girls and young 20-somethings in London. The flagship store at 216 Oxford Street store is cavernous—loud music from its own radio station, catwalk shows, henna tattooing, nail bar, hair salon, etc. For the boys there’s a TopMan, and the more athletically minded can head a few doors down the street to NikeTown(236 Oxford Street). If it’s December, you won’t want to miss the Christmas window displays at Selfridges (400 Oxford Street).