The Best (mainly fabulous) FREE things to do in London
Posted on April 4, 2026
By LALadmin
About Town, Recommended
London doesn’t have to be cripplingly expensive. It is, but it doesn’t have to be. Trust me, I’ve lived here for decades! London offers a load of free world-class experiences (and I don’t mean the crime levels) that don’t cost a bean. Heck, many of our major museums and galleries are free to enter, and rammed with must see gubbins. You might have to book a slot but that’s cos there’s loadsa folk who want to look around!
If you’re into London views there’s a load of parks, restaurants and rooftops for you. All totally free! What are you waiting for?
This page will grow as we take our own photos and add new places. Pop back sometime – it’ll be lovely to see you!
The Best National Museums & Galleries
The British Museum
The British Museum is fab, huge and throws you in front of over two million years of human history, including the Rossetta Stone and Egyptian mummies and all sort of other stuff that those jolly foreigners want back. Ha! The British Museum is in Bloomsbury and the nearest tube is Tottenham Court Road.
If you have time, check out Store Street just around the corner.
Octopus – Store Street (chris parkinson)
Store Street used to be pretty rubbish when I was an undergrad but now it’s full of cute indie cafes and restaurants. I kinda like Store Street more than Museum Street and its surrounding streets as they’re all full of touristy crap. And tourists. And I don’t like Pizza Express!
The Natural History Museum
Bit of a soft spot for this one as its in South Kensington (that’s also the name of the nearest tube station) but more importantly Zoe lives around the corner. And she’s lovely. But I digress.
The National History Museum is famous for it’s bloomin great dinosaurs (skeletons – they’re dead, right?) and whales and stuff. And – Zoe is just around the corner. (How do you put those two dots on the e. Anyone?) The kids’ll probably prefer this to The British Museum which always feels a bit more ‘grown up’ for some reason. Or do I mean boring.
If you’re after a nibble (Zoe again!) there’s lots of good snack places just out of the tube (turn right at the top of the stairs) – you’ll pass them anyway on the way to the museum. Or Zoe’s.
Or better yet, head to Bute Street which is great for indie restaurants, cafes and coffee bars. I met Zoe in Filo. Just saying.
The National Gallery
For the National Gallery head to Trafalgar Square (nearest tube Charing Cross) for an absolute orgy of some of the most wonderful art in the world. Van Gogh, da Vinci, Rembrandt – all the old masters. If you’ve got any appreciation for beauty – or you want to get one – go here!
The National Gallery (chris parkinson)
Pop out of the back way (Oh Matron!) and you’re almost in Leicester Square. Although why you’d want to bother I’m not quite sure.
Tate Modern
Personally, I find the Tate Modern to be a most underwhelming experience but in the interests of fairness I include it anyway. Nice chap eh? Yeah, the converted power station is an impressive building and all but the visiting exhibitions are all a bit meh (and not free) and the permanent exhibition lacks something. Is it the way its displayed? Or just that it’s made up of crap mediocre work chasing a reason to be there? What do you think? I asked Bill and Dorothy up the road and they think it’s underwhelming. Or rather, Bill ‘found himself rather quickly at the exit’ – just after his son in law. And he’s a clever man – he taught my children maths. Make of that what you will. Someone liked something about the Tracey Emin exhibish but it’s not on now so it hardly matters.
How lovely is the Tate Modern (chris parkinson)
The turbine hall is impressive though and the kids’ll love it if you let them off the leash. And there’s the wobbly bridge out front – which isn’t wobbly any more and so carries no risk or excitement in its crossing. Kinda sums the place up.
View from Tate Modern + Wobbly Bridge, not (chris parkinson)
The Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (aka The V&A) is the world’s leading museum of art, fashion, and design, with collections spanning 5,000 years. If you’re into frocks and fashion, this one’s for you. For my money the nearest tube is South Kensington (any excuse to bump into Zoe) but others say Knightbridge. Either way, you’ll probably end up in Harrod’s just up the road.
There’s a great little cafe in the courtyard off Exhibition Road which you can walk straight into without queuing for the Museum – and then pop down the steps and you’re in the Museum proper. Just have a peep at the amazing huge (noisy) cafe just inside the door though – it’s truly dramatic.
V&A Courtyard Cafe (chris parkinson)
The Science Museum
OK. Definitely back in Zoe territory. South Kensington’s your tube station for
interactive exhibits on space exploration, technology, and medicine. This is a great place for kids! They can actually press things and touch stuff and things happen when they do. Yep – analogue enjoyment! I know this list isn’t in any sort of order but if you’ve got kids with you which you’re determined to educate, The Science Museum might offer the path of least resistance.Tate Britain
Now this is what I’m talking about! This is the real megillah.
The Tate (or Tate Britain as it’s now called, presumably to make sure you know which one to go to) is home to the largest collection of British art from 1500 to the present including works by J.M.W. Turner. It’s not far from Westminster tube station.
Westminster – Big Ben (chris parkinson)
You could pop ’round to Downing Street if you need a wee.
Downing Street (chris parkinson)
Or try Pimlico and you get to see some nice houses where they once made a bid for independence. Ealing Studios made a documentary about it. Check it out. Anyway, the Tate is bursting with utter beauty. It’s where you’ll find a load of Pre-Raphaelites. Sounds rude but check ’em out. Thank me later.
Amazing Views
Primrose Hill
View from Primrose Hill
By far the most popular view point with the locals, there are stunning views across London from up here. If you like good old London architecture (rather than the gestetnered water soluable stuff that they put up today) then a fab way of getting there is to whizz over to Swiss Cottage tube and walk from there. Or go via Chalk Farm tube. Or even walk up from Regent’s Park.
Regent’s Park pedalos (chris parkinson)
That way you’ll wander past the back of the Zoo and over the Canal. (When you get to the top, spare a thought for Finbar Sullivan, pointlessly stabbed to death, another symbol of the determination of London’s rulers to force our capital city down the
ubend of civilisation. Yeah – it pisses me off.) Either way take a few mins to wander around the rather lovely village at the bottom of Primrose Hill for beautiful independent shops and glorious 19th century archtecture around Chalcot Square.
View from Primrose Hill – Summer Time (chris parkinson)Parkinson)
Harrow on the Hill
OK. So Harrow town is a toilet. Can’t argue. But if you turn left out of the barriers at Harrow on the Hill Station in the summer time, and walk up towards the Church through Church Fields, you’ll wish you’d bought a picnic.
Church Fields – Harrow on the Hill (chris parkinson)
As you climb up, so the view of North London opens beneath you. This picture is taken from the grounds of Harrow School farm towards Wembley.
View to Wembley from Harrow on the Hill (chris parkinson)
Watch out for ghosts in the Churchyard!
Walk back to Harrow on the Hill Station (chris parkinson)
Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington.
If you’re after a good (and pricey) Chinese meal with a view, how about this? A stunning view back towards the West End with your Peking Duck? What’s not to like!
View from Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington (chris parkinson)
Parks
Hyde Park
Hyde Park (chris parkinson)
Yeah, I know! You had no idea you could get such bucolic views in the middle of London! Well, this picture is taken off the tracks, slap bang in the grassy wastes of Hyde Park. To some, Hyde Park is the annual visit to the (dreadful, expensive) Christmas market or to some occasional musical turn but to the rest of us it’s a place for respite in the sunshine.
If you access Hyde Park from Lancaster Gate (Lancaster Gate tube) you’ll find the Italian Garden, quite possibly the most beautiful reminder that we’ve forgotten how to create beauty even when it’s right in front of us. Hey ho.
Italian Garden – Hyde Park (chris parkinson)
Worth knowing that there’s a nice little cafe towards the back right of the above picture. Grab a cup of tea and enjoy the view.
Italian Garden – Hyde Park and visitors (chris parkinson)
Talking of cafes, if you find yourself at The Serpentine Gallery (which is free but not always worth it) there is a cute little cafe over the Serpentine Bridge where you can sit out above the water and watch the world go by. I mention it simply because many other cafes in Hyde Park do not have seating – and you won’t want to go to the huuuuggge noisy cafe at the head of The Serpentine anyway.
Serpentine Bridge Cafe (chris parkinson)
The cafe is just behind the trees. Nice eh? And here’s The Serpentine Gallery with an excellent free exhibition of Hockney’s work. Lovely cheerful, happy stuff!
The Serpentine Gallery (chris parkinson)
Vibrant (and some Oversold) Neighbourhoods
Richmond
Not sure why but Richmond doesn’t get lots of press in the tourist market. Weird. It’s a lovely place to go for a day out. Hop on the tube to Richmond, potter around the indie shops, have a pint on the Green, mess around on the River and perhaps see one of Tom’s plays at
The Orange Tree. Tell him I sent you.
Richmond Bridge (chris parkinson)
Thames Barrier
If you’ve got loadsa time, perhaps pop down to Greenwich and onto the the Thames Barrier. After all, it is what is keeping you safe!
Thames Barrier (chris parkinson)
Shoreditch
Look, I’ve included Shoreditch because otherwise you’ll think I don’t know what I’m doing. But unless you’re on the pull and it’s the weekend (starting Thursday) and your mental age is twelve there are much nicer places, trust me. Shoreditch used to be hip and trendy – heck we had an office there decades ago on Curtain Road when it was cheap. Problem is, it all still looks cheap – it just ain’t. And there’s loadsa hotels packed with folk on laptops during the day – The Hoxton especially. It’s kinda frankly unspecial. Cool, inclusive if you say so, but just not special. I mean, check out Old Street roundabout. They fiddle about with it from time to time. Not sure why. It’s still shit.
And if you wander down Shoreditch Highstreet/Kingsland Road there’s all the folk from the ‘hostels’ standing about, smoking and learing. It’s just a bit crap. The shops are expensive, the bars, laughably so and yet there isn’t really any justification for it other than people keep paying. Join in if you like. You’re better off in Soho.
Markets (coming soon)
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