London and England with kids
Can You Bring ADHD Medication and Cold Medicine to the UK?
Yes, with the right papers. Adderall, Vyvanse, Ritalin and Concerta can come into the UK if you bring no more than a three month supply, keep it in your hand luggage, and carry a letter from the prescriber. Cold medicine with pseudoephedrine isn’t on the UK’s controlled drugs list.
*Rules change. Check the government’s approved list before you go. The UK government explains taking medicine into the UK, the Home Office covers personal licences, and the controlled drugs list shows which medicines count. I checked all three on November 4, 2026.
The UK is the easy one.
If you’ve read my Japan post, you know Adderall can’t go to Japan at all.
London is different. ADHD medicine is a controlled drug there, but visitors can bring it.
You just need three things: no more than three months of it, the letter, and the medicine in your hand luggage.
ADHD medicine
What the UK allows
Adderall
Amphetamine is Schedule 2 on the UK list. Up to three months, prescribed at home, with the prescriber’s letter.
Vyvanse
Lisdexamfetamine is Schedule 2 too. Same rule, same letter.
Ritalin and Concerta
Methylphenidate is Schedule 2. Same three month limit.
Anything else
Look up the active ingredient on the controlled drugs list, then ask your child’s doctor and pharmacist.
The letter
What goes in it
- Your child’s name
- The dates you’re traveling to and from the UK
- Every medicine, how much you’re carrying, the dose and the strength
- The prescriber’s signature and registration details
Ask for it at the last appointment before the trip. One letter can list everything your child takes.
Cold and fever medicine
Everyday medicine
Pseudoephedrine isn’t on the Home Office list of controlled drugs, so your usual cold medicine should be fine for your family’s own use.
Codeine is on it. If the cough syrup lists codeine, treat it like the ADHD medicine and put it on the doctor’s letter, or ask the doctor for something else.
Pack the children’s fever medicine you already know. Brands and doses are different abroad, and you don’t want to be reading a new label at 2am.
When to do what
The order I’d do it in
As soon as you pick London
Write down every medicine everyone takes, with the active ingredient. Check them on the controlled drugs list.
At the last doctor’s visit
Ask for the letter and enough medicine for the trip, up to three months.
Staying longer than three months
Plan on a UK doctor for more, or ask the Home Office about a licence a month before you fly.
Packing day
Original labeled bottles, the letter and copies of the prescriptions, all in the carry on.
Every UK trip
How I’d pack it
- Original labeled bottles
- The prescriber’s letter
- A copy of each prescription
- No more than three months of anything controlled
- Everything in your carry on
“The medicine list is one of the first things I ask for. For London it usually means one letter from the doctor, and then we can get back to planning the fun stuff.”
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor · Certified Family Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel. Former social studies teacher, mom of three.
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Keep planning London
Quick answers
Can my child bring ADHD medication to the UK?
Yes. Amphetamine, lisdexamfetamine and methylphenidate are Schedule 2 controlled drugs in the UK, and the Home Office lets visitors bring up to a three month supply that was prescribed at home, with a letter from the prescriber.
Can we bring Adderall to London?
Yes. Amphetamine is on the UK’s controlled drugs list as Schedule 2, which the personal import rule covers. Bring no more than three months, keep it in your hand luggage, and carry the prescriber’s letter.
What does the doctor’s letter need to say?
Your child’s name, the dates you’re traveling to and from the UK, every medicine with how much you’re carrying, the dose and the strength, and the prescriber’s signature. The Home Office also asks for the prescriber’s registration details.
Do we need a licence to bring ADHD medicine into the UK?
Not for three months or less. A personal licence only comes into it if you need more than a three month supply, and the Home Office only gives those in exceptional cases. Apply a month before you travel.
Can I bring cold medicine to the UK?
Pseudoephedrine isn’t on the Home Office controlled drugs list, so everyday cold medicine with it should be fine for your family’s own use. Codeine is controlled, so treat a codeine cough syrup like the ADHD medicine and carry the paperwork.
Can medicine go in checked bags?
Medicine with a controlled drug in it has to travel in your hand luggage. I’d keep everything else in the carry on too.
What happens if we bring more than three months?
The extra can be taken away at the border. Bring three months or less and get more from a doctor in the UK if you’re staying longer.
Does this apply if we’re going on to Europe?
The UK rules cover the UK. Each country after it has its own rules, so check the next stop before you leave home.
This isn’t medical advice. Ask your child’s doctor and pharmacist about doses or swaps. Medicine rules last checked November 4, 2026 on the gov.uk and Home Office pages linked above.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor · Certified Family Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel. Adventures We Seek is my travel blog and planning resource. Trips are booked through Favorite Grampy Travels.
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