Visit London with ECS
residential summer camp
London explorer weekend
London is a exciting city with some of the world's most famous sights. It is just a couple hours from the ECS English summer school campus and is a very popular trip with our older pupils.
Our teens have great fun exploring London’s South Bank and some of the most visited landmarks, such as the Tate Modern gallery, Natural History Museum, Shakespeare’s Globe and the impressive Shard building.
Each trip includes sightseeing, shopping, a cultural visit to a museum or gallery and a trip on the River Thames from Tower Bridge to Westminster. We plan the exact itinerary in advance with our pupils to include a mix of activities.
The trip includes a two-night hotel stay with breakfast, packed lunches, evening meals on Friday and Saturday, a sightseeing river tour and transport by train between London and the school.
ECS teachers supervise pupils throughout the trip with a staff-to-pupil ratio of at least 1:6.
Lots of pupils say the trip to London was one of their favourite parts of the course – 100% of survey responses said the trip to London was "good", "very good" or "excellent" in summer 2022!
"I would like to thank the staff that went to London, they made the trip a lot more fun and they were really nice." - 15 year old pupil at ECS 2022
Trip details
Age: 13+
Duration: three days (Friday morning to Sunday evening)
Dates: 19-21 July / 2-4 August
Travel: train from Gillingham (~2 hours)
Accommodation: Hilton Bankside
Maximum group size: 12 pupils
Cost: GBP 700
Booking: add this trip when you book ECS summer camp or via the parental portal
Taking care
We are careful to balance freedom to explore, which helps build confidence and independence, with supervision and support to ensure the safety and wellbeing of every pupil on our trips and excursions. All ECS trips are to local destinations in England. They are fully risk-assessed with a thorough 'what if' process to ensure we are prepared for every eventuality.
Out and about
There is always at least one member of staff with each six pupils on our London explorer trip. The whole group stays together for all activities and transport. In galleries, museums or while shopping in Covent Garden, pupils are allowed to wander round in groups of minimum three people.
At the hotel
Once we return to the hotel at the end of the day, pupils are not allowed to leave. Pupils may use the hotel facilities, e.g. the swimming pool, without direct supervision but are advised to stay together in at least pairs.
Our group has rooms next to each other, with staff hotel rooms (one male, one female) at each end. Pupils stay in shared rooms.
Low-emissions travel
We take the train to London and use public transport or travel by foot throughout our stay. These are the lowest emission forms of transport and help reduce our negative impact on the environment while we are exploring and having fun.
