Geography School Day Trips & Tours to London

HALF & FULL DAY OPTION AVAILABLE

Come and witness the legacy of London 2012 and see the Olympic Park area following the exciting urban regeneration programme which transformed the face of East London. Your Blue Badge Guide can take you even closer to the venues, driving right next to the Velodrome, the BMX track, and the Olympic and the Paralympic Villages. The coach will travel around the edge of the Olympic Park before making a stop at the Olympic Stadium, the Aquatics Centre and the Orbit. The tour also affords fantastic views of the International Broadcast Centre and the Copper Box venue. Weather permitting, there are opportunities to get off the coach and explore.

You’ll then head to the Royal Docks to view ExCel, which hosted seven Olympic sports and five Paralympic sports. Then to Woolwich to see the magnificent facade of the Royal Artillery Barracks, the venue for shooting and for the Paralympic archery. The tour ends at Greenwich with a walk in the Park where the Equestrian events and the Modern Pentathlon had such a spectacular setting.

Tours can be tailored to a group’s specific requirements.

London Wetland Centre is unique in being the first created wetland habitat to have been developed in any capital city in the world. Over five years the area has been transformed by WWT from 43 hectares of concrete reservoirs into an impressively diverse wetland reserve and visitor attraction.

The exhibition includes time pieces, a history of the building as a working observatory, the Greenwich Meridian line, the history of time and astronomy and the giant refracting telescope.

The Thames Barrier is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world. The barrier spans 520 metres across the River Thames near Woolwich, and it protects 125 square kilometres of central London from flooding caused by tidal surges. An Information Assistant will give your group a guided tour of the Information Centre and deliver a talk covering topics such as the history of the River Thames and the risk of flooding in London, as well as describing the environment and wildlife of the river. The talk lasts approximately an hour and a half. When visiting on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday (when the centre is closed to the public) exclusive use of the conference room with refreshments and cakes is also provided.

Students coming on a tour can see first-hand how waste and recyclables are managed at the 40 acre LondonWaste EcoPark site. Groups studying geography can incorporate what they have learnt into their study/course work. EcoPark tours are held every Wednesday and they accept students from 14 years and upwards and tours are free to students in the UK. Students are able to visit the following areas:

The Compost Centre – makes compost from food and garden waste collected from the seven north London boroughs. Once EcoPark compost is matured it
is used by farmers, allotment holders, community growing projects, schools and for compost giveaways.

The Energy Centre – produces energy from black bagged waste. Around 20% of the energy is used to power the LondonWaste EcoPark and the remaining electricity is transferred to the National Grid.

Control Room – a chance to talk to engineers about the Energy Centre.

This new exhibition showcases global trends, challenges, and existing technological solutions to build environmentally sustainable, prosperous cities. Across ten zones, your group will be encouraged to change the way they think about our cities, now and for future generations through exploring a range of issues including city trends, urban planning, smart buildings, energy and many more. The ‘Future Life’ theatre, invites students to imagine how London might look in 2050. Guided tours are also available.

Discover the world of wonder behind the botanical collections at Kew, with over 50,000 living plants to be found across the UNESCO World Heritage site. Groups can take part in a hands on, 90 min workshop which links directly to the curriculum. Workshops are available from KS3-KS5 and include topics such as: ecosystems: deserts and rainforests, evolution and adaptation, natural resources, nutrient cycles and decomposition.

At its peak, Battersea Power Station was supplying a fifth of London's electricity. After decades of sitting derelict, it is now being redeveloped into a new destination for London. Groups will receive a presentation from a dedicated Sustainability employee who will talk about how the development is using resources responsibly and minimising our impact on climate change. Educational workshops from KS2 - A Level are available. Workshops can be tailored to the group's requirements and topics include the history of the site; it's development to what it has become today, and the plans for the future, moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy, understanding electricity, urban redevelopment and community issues.

Elysia Catering are an innovative new catering project. Creating breakfasts and canapes from food waste, they have served over 28,000 people around London and to date have saved more than 9 tonnes of food waste.  

Your visit will include a 1 hour presentation and a 30 minute food tasting and demonstration. 

This is the place to see sea life! With over 500 species, 14 themed zones and more than 2 million litres of water, London Aquarium plays host to one of Europe’s largest collections of global marine life. Dare your pupils to do the ‘shark walk’, take part in interactive feeding sessions, watch diving displays and enjoy the touch pools.

Workshops themed round conservation are also available to really make the most of your visit.

Spend time with over 750 species at London Zoo! 

The ZSL aims to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wild animals going extinct, to tackle the threat to wild animals and help people achieve this positive change.

Experience an unforgettable journey through the natural world and explore the extraordinary diversity of our seven unique continents on the most epic scale. This immersive journey, with bespoke narration from David Attenborough,  features breath-taking footage from Seven Worlds, One Planet, projected on multiple multi-angle screens using the very latest digital screen technology. School visits available from May 2023.