With its wealth of attractions, restaurants and shops, London can be one of the priciest cities in the world – but for those in the know there are plenty of ways to enjoy it for free.
Get to know the heart and soul of this vibrant capital without ever having to open your wallet, with our favourite free London activities!
Stray off the beaten path in the East End
A Brick Lane fruit stall. © garryknight
Historically known for its crippling poverty and criminal characters – from Jack the Ripper to the Kray twins – London’s East End has become a prime tourist destination. Its shabbily edgy streets are swarming at weekends with visitors checking out the hip graffiti art, retro shops and street markets.
Less well known are its quirky free museums, all of which unpeel another layer of this bric-a-brac part of town. The Royal London Hospital Museum, for example, which was home to the Elephant Man until his death; the Museum of Childhood, packed with antique toys and vintage playthings, and the Ragged School Museum, on the site of a free school for poor children, established by Victorian philanthropist Dr Barnardo.
Perhaps the coolest thing this neighbourhood offers is the sense of priceless history you get while wandering through it. It’s been home to French Huguenot, Irish, Jewish and Bangladeshi immigrants over the past 250 years, with each community leaving their mark on what is now London’s most diverse part of town. Just walking through cosmopolitan cockney town is worth the price of the tube fare alone.
Extra tip:
Still in the East? There’s more free culture with First Thursdays, which has long been an anchor of the thriving local arts scene. On the first Thursday of each month around 150 of the East End’s galleries open their doors for free, with shows, private views, workshops and talks, canapés and wine, plus bus and walking tours taking in lesser-known studios and spaces.
Taste your way through Borough Market
Borough Market. © WordRidden
Active since Medieval Times, and on this spot since the 1750s, Borough Market, near London Bridge, is the capital’s go-to foodie hotspot.
With many of its 100-odd stalls heading to ever-higher organic, gourmet and artisan heights, it’s hardly a budget option. However, with a dash of canny you can put together a whole lunch from free samples – chunks of sourdough bread dabbed into rich olive oil, bitesize slices of traditional savoury pies, a spoon of creamy mushroom terrine here, a paella prawn there, a chocolate truffle or two to finish…
Once you’ve had your fair share of gastro fare, we recommend showing your gratitude with a few purchases that you can take home as tasty souvenirs.
Stroll along the South Bank
The Weather Project at the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. © coda
After all that market food stuffing, you’ll need a nice scenic walk. At the bottom of Borough you’ll find access to the best Thameside stroll in the whole capital city.
Wandering west down Bankside, you’ll be taken back in time past the Golden Hinde II, a reconstruction of the galleon in which Sir Francis Drake sailed the world in 1577–80, followed by Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, where young thespians dream of treading the Elizabethan boards. Then step into the future with the spectacular Tate Modern, which hosts one of the world’s greatest permanent collections of contemporary art, all for the price of nothing!
A further 20 minutes westward walking and you hit the jewel of the river side; the South Bank. On any given day, this cultural hub is buzzing with free festivals, street stalls, buskers, events and concerts in or around the Royal Festival Hall, National Theatre, Hayward Gallery and the British Film Institute, the last of which offers free movie screenings through their Mediatheques archive centre.
Finish off the afternoon in style with a picnic in the Jubilee Gardens, which offers up a perfect view to gaze upon the capital’s winking wonder, the London Eye.
Mudlarking along the Thames
Mudlarking by the Thames. © talkingimo
If all that sounds a bit high-brow for your tastes, then why not get down and dirty with a bit of mudlarking? This thrilling treasure hunt is as old as the city itself, involving picking through the muddy foreshore surface at low tide to find anything from clay pipes to ceramic tiles, Victorian sea glass to lead brooches.
It’s rare not to leave without finding buried treasure, even if only a dramatic piece of driftwood: you might even find a message in a bottle, or send one of your own!
Soak up culture in South Kensington
Inside the Natural History Museum © michael_d_beckwith
With its imposing stucco-fronted Victorian villas and broad leafy streets, South Kensington is the very epitome of old-school English urban affluence. It’s also where you’ll find three of London’s biggest and best museums.
Sitting side by side are the Victoria & Albert (V&A), a treasure trove of decorative arts from around the world and across the centuries, the Science Museum, with its gadgetry and hands-on fun, and the Natural History Museum, where a giant whale skeleton meets you at the door. The three world-class institutions are open seven days a week and offer free entry.
Catch classic movies in a working film studio
The New Cross and Deptford Free Film Festival presents Grease. © Electric Pedals
Every Tuesday night the Sands Cinema Club screens the best in world and arthouse cinema in an atmospheric old Rotherhithe film/costume studio footsteps from the Thames.
Visits are a pure theatrical adventure: pass through the costume workshop, strewn with haberdashery tools and frock-packed clothes rails, to get to the homely screening room where a friendly crowd of movie enthusiasts enjoys seasons on anything from “Films of 1979” to French poetic realism. Admission is free, but you need to join the email list and reserve a seat, and donations are much appreciated.
Want more movie offerings to wash away a rainy day in London? The capital boasts a growing amount of free community film festivals throughout the year, which also make for great opportunities to experience the thriving suburban communities outside of the city centre.
Enjoy belly laughs in the comedy capital
Arthur Smith at the Angel Comedy Club. © Angel Comedy Club
London has long been a centre for stand up comedy. Stadium shows may be all the rage right now, but canny comedy fans get their giggles for free at the Camden Head, a cosy local pub on a pretty back street in Islington.
Here the Angel Comedy Club is renowned for the quality of its free nightly gigs, from improv to open mic to established names trying out new material. For more free comedy, check out the roving open mic nights hosted by The Comedy Bin.
