Years ago it was Miroslav Sasek's classic children's picture book This Is London that first inspired my husband and me to visit the capital city with our toddler son. The book was, and still is, a unique children's guide, with its exquisite drawings of London's landmarks, including the Queen's guards in their tall, black, bearskin hats, the tower of Big Ben with its famous clock and the Tower of London with its Crown Jewels. As our son grew, we often returned to London, finding it an ideal place for a family vacation. London is a child-friendly city with interesting neighborhoods, free museums and numerous parks, from Hyde to St. James's to Battersea to name a few.

An apartment hotel such as The Clearlake, or a furnished private apartment rented from an established short-term rental agency, offer more space than a regular hotel room, your own kitchen for breakfasts and those meals when the family might want to just stay "home." Best of all, in the case of The Clearlake, the magnificent Kensington Gardens are just across the road.

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While it is a good idea to have a plan for your stay in London, it is also wise to be flexible enough to toss it out if it's not working for everyone. It takes time to settle in and explore this world-class city, and the suggested itinerary below might give you a good start. Keep in mind that young children seem to enjoy something as simple as riding on top of a red double-decker bus, or going up and down the long escalators in the tube stations. Older children will delight in walking around the eclectic Covent Garden area with its various buskers or street performers. All children will appreciate spending time in one of London's parks.

DAY ONE

Children seem oblivious to the time change and jet lag, so head to one of London's many parks this first morning to give them a chance to work off some energy. Kensington Gardens has a statue of Peter Pan that children love to climb on, the Serpentine for them to sail a toy boat upon or to feed the ducks and an innovative playground named after the late Princess Diana. She lived on the grounds at Kensington Palace all the years after her marriage to Prince Charles. Another fun place is Regent's Park in north London, home to the London Zoo with its aviary for birds of all kind and a specially designed pool for penguins. Its Children's Petting Zoo is home to free-roaming gentle goats that like to nudge slowpokes along and feed out of children's hands. Another option and one not often visited by tourists is Coram's Fields, a short walk from the Russell Square tube station. This seven-acre playground and park is filled with many age-appropriate activities, and adults are only allowed onto the grounds with a child in tow.

Should the weather be wet, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington provide interesting child-friendly exhibits and lots of hands-on activities to keep everyone busy and happy.

When you're ready, make your way to Westminster for a look up at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Walk along Whitehall and stop to see the Horse Guards, two mounted cavalry troops on horseback, who are posted outside an official though seldom used entrance to St. James's Park and Buckingham Palace. The actual Changing of the Guard ceremony takes place outside Buckingham Palace. But jockeying for a good viewing spot among the usual crowds that gather there makes the Horse Guards with its intimate setting and chance to get up close an easier option. Continue along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square to see its towering pedestal with a statue of Lord Nelson on the top.

The National Gallery faces the Square, and even young children will not be bored if you make a game out of a visit there. Just inside the main entrance, go straight to the gift shop and have your child select several postcards of works that are on display within the museum. Then the hunt starts to find these pictures, and as you race through the gallery take a fast peek at other works on the walls of the various rooms. Just across from the gallery is St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. The basement crypt houses a Brass Rubbing Center where children can create "works of art" with materials on hand to take home as lasting reminders of their trip to London.

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