Day out with a wow factor

[giggirl]

I'm taking a 14 year old out for a day this week and she's a terrific girl so I want to give her a day with real wow factor. I'm racking my brains and I'm getting nowhere. Has anyone done anything amazing with their teenagers this summer that they can share with me?

[StraferJack]

How London-literate is she?

[Bellenden Belle]

Is she a Londonder giggirl?

I remember entertaining a teenager a few years back and people watching in Soho proved a highlight - she went back to Cheshire and wrote a book based on the area!

Lunch at Duck and Waffle at the top of the Heron tower is also great fun - great views and a really fun menu.

If she's a girly girl then I imagine a day of pampering and a visit to TopShop with someone as thoroughly glamourous as yourself would also be ace,

[giggirl]

She's not that London-literate - she's a suburban girl. She loves the hustle and bustle

She's not that girly. She's a bit EMO and she doesn't own a single dress (except for school uniform). She's very bright and quite sensitive so she isn't blase about things - everything has a big impact. I've taken her to see The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Nighttime and she loved that.

I've got my eye on this....

http://hinthunt.co.uk/#hh-faq

which looks great fun but I can't find a free slot for a few weeks so I'd need to book ahead. It's a team game where you're locked in a room and you need to solve clues to get out. Businesses use it for team-building but it is also suitable for kids over age 9.

Lunch at the top of Heron Tower sounds like fun.

I'm sure she'd enjoy the Harry Potter tour but it's a long way to go so that puts me off.

I would like to see the new Monsters Inc film but I think she would think she was too old for it!

[El Pibe]

If she's a bit EMO and loves hustle and bustle then it has to be Camden surely?

I used to go there alot at that age and always loved it.

Glamourous auntie could then take her to somewhere like Gilgamesh so she can be wowed by sushi on dry ice!!

[ClareC]

There is a company that do Rib rides on the Thames from Blackfriars that is great fun - you get to see quite a few sights too. Could do that and the Eye, maybe Madam Tussauds.

[david_carnell]

Afternoon tea at Sketch is pretty cool.

Is she's a bit EMO then Viktor Wynd's Little Shop of Horrors in Hackney is amazing...though you won't buy much at their prices it's an amazing place to window shop.

Some street food at Kings Cross perhaps - something the 'burbs don't have.

A walk, people watching, along the South Bank inc. Tate Modern?

[TillieTrotter]

My teenage visitor is going to Camden for a piercing tomorrow!! eek.

[giggirl]

Great suggestions so thank you.

I'm Godmother to various kids and for presents and treats I rarely buy them "things" as I prefer to take them somewhere and give them a good day out. Sometimes I run out of ideas. I'm taking a friend's 7 year old boy on the Rib ride at the beginning of September (it's his birthday present) so I can't take Megan on that because she'll steal his thunder.

I'm liking the Viktor Wynd shop idea.

She's very familiar with the South Bank because her train goes into London Bridge and I meet her off it and we walk.

Another thought is I wonder if there are any cookery lessons for teenagers. I know she bakes and her mother would love me forever if I could get her cooking.

[giggirl]

TillieTrotter Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> My teenage visitor is going to Camden for a

> piercing tomorrow!! eek.

Piercing what? Can you say or is it not decent. I darsen't send her home pierced or tattoed!

[TillieTrotter]

Well I'm hoping my one has permission from her parents! She's having one in the ear vicinity, it's not the first one so it's probably fine. Do you know anyone else with a teen her age or a little older that would enjoy hanging out in Camden with her for the day?

[Annette Curtain]

Buy an all day ticket for the catamarans that fly up and down the Thames, its pretty cheap and you can hop on and off easy. You get a great view of London that is pretty fekkin cool no matter how old you are. It also links up to places like the South bank with the Tubes etc.

And there's a coffee shop on board

http://www.thamesclippers.com/our-fleet/our-fleet.html

[Jeremy]

Street food is a good idea - Kerb at the Gherkin or Kings Cross (depending on the day of week). Whitecross Street near Barbican is OK too (and while you're there you can check out http://hackthebarbican.org/)

The "Memory Palace" exhibition at the V&A is a sort of graphic novel installation, pretty cool (and a good friend of mine is one of the featured illustrators!)

I'm sure Camden would keep her occupied for a while. If she's actually into emo (i.e. the punk subgenre and not just the modern meaning of the word) she might like looking in All Ages records.

[maxxi]

My niece and her BF came up from Bristol for the day and were happy enough with the statue of Gromit at Paddington station. I think it's a Bristol thing.

[indiepanda]

If Harry Potter is of interest, if it happens to be a Monday or at the weekend, London Walks do guided tours which visit some of the locations used in the City / Westminster:-

http://www.walks.com/London_Walks_Home/Harry_Potter/default.aspx

[david_carnell]

If you want a cooking idea you could go to Books for Cooks in Notting Hill.

They do cookery demos at lunchtime where you get a great feed for not much money.

[titch juicy]

Camden it has to be- we took my gf's 15 year old cousin last year and she couldn't have been more wowed! The stables market these days is really quite impressive, even for a 39 yr old!

[Vik]

If you get any vacancies for godchildren giggirl, mine would love you!

[katanita]

If the Sanderson are still doing their Mad Hatter's tea (and it looks like they are http://www.sandersonlondon.com/en-us/#/explore/?id=/sanderson-london-mad-hatters-tea/) that's an interesting experience, and tasty.

[NewWave]

If she's EMO the Camden for sure, then jump on the overground and get off at Shorditch High st so she can check out the vintage shops round Brick Lane, Rough trade records on Dray Walk, and Lunch at Pizza East which is always buzzing, good grub and inexpensive.

[Marmora Man]

I finally made it to see Warhorse last weekend - with two, somewhat cynical 20 something sons. Everyone was wowed by it and I'm sure a sensitive teenage girl would find it WOW too - I'm sure know it anyway Giggirl but a second trip?

The groupon vouchers often offer cookery courses for Atelier Des Chefs (www.atelierdeschefs.co.uk) which are great fun and good value for money with a voucher.