If you're bringing younger explorers to London, you're in exactly the right place.
The British Museum is on our doorstep and always worth checking for family trails and half-term activities. A little further afield, the Natural History Museum provides dinosaurs, volcanoes and enough extraordinary specimens to fill most of a day, while the Science Museum has hands-on galleries and Wonderlab for children who prefer pressing buttons to reading labels.
For some fresh air, head to Hyde Park, where the Royal Parks' free Discovery Days: Hair Raising Halloween return from 27 to 29 October. Expect autumn nature trails, bats, creepy crawlies, stories and plenty of hands-on activities at the Hyde Park Learning Centre. Best of all, it's completely free.
Closer to home, Coram's Fields is one of London's loveliest places to let off steam. This remarkable seven-acre children's playground is just around the corner from the hotel and, wonderfully, adults are only allowed in when accompanied by a child.
For something particularly Bloomsbury, head to the Postal Museum and take a ride beneath London on Mail Rail, the tiny underground railway once used to transport millions of letters around the capital.
And then there's Halloween...
With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, London has an excellent excuse to embrace its darker side.
Our pick? Halloween at Kew, which runs from 16 October to 1 November. As dusk falls, Kew Gardens becomes an illuminated 1.5km trail of eerie encounters, with Dracula, a Headless Horseman, fire performers and a new Cursed Tomb among this year's attractions. There are Daylight, Twilight and Moonlight sessions, with the scare factor increasing as the evening gets darker, so families can choose just how brave they're feeling. Tickets are limited and advance booking is strongly recommended.
Or keep things closer to Bloomsbury and go in search of London's literary ghosts. Charles Dickens lived nearby, Virginia Woolf walked these streets, and the British Museum has enough mummies to make purchasing plastic skeletons seem rather unnecessary.
No children required
Half term isn't just for families.
Late October is one of our favourite times to explore London. Wander through Bloomsbury's garden squares as the leaves change, disappear into a bookshop for an hour, spend an afternoon at an exhibition, find a table in a cosy pub, or make an evening of dinner and the theatre.
And if you've been waiting for the summer crowds to disappear before planning a London break, this might be your moment.
Make a few days of it
The Goodenough Hotel puts you within walking distance of the British Museum, King's Cross St Pancras, Covent Garden and the West End, while our corner of Bloomsbury provides a welcome retreat when you've finished exploring.
Whether you're planning a family half-term adventure, a Halloween weekend, visiting someone studying in London, or simply looking for an excuse for an autumn escape, we'd love to welcome you.
Book directly with us for our best available rates, exclusive offers and a few extras reserved for those in the know.