Paddling Pool

The paddling pool at Paddington Recreation Ground is a proper blast from the past - the sort of place that makes you realise how simple pleasures have stayed the same for generations. On a hot London day, watching toddlers splash about in the shallow water while parents perch on the surrounding benches feels genuinely restorative. It's free, which helps.

You're looking at maybe an hour's entertainment, two if the queue isn't murder during peak summer days. The pool itself is small - let's be honest, it's not going to impress teenagers - but for under-fives it's ideal. The water gets topped up regularly and there's actually some shade from the mature trees dotting the recreation ground.

What makes it work is the whole setting. The recreation ground has proper grass, tennis courts, and enough room that you don't feel hemmed in by other families. You can easily combine it with a walk along the Regent's Canal, which runs nearby and is genuinely lovely for an afternoon stroll.

If you're basing yourself at Abbey Wood Experience Freedom Glamping just four and a half miles south, this is an easy detour for a morning or afternoon. It won't be anyone's sole reason for visiting London, but it's the sort of local spot that makes a family stay feel less like tourist box-ticking and more like actually living somewhere. On a sweltering July afternoon, it's golden.