Home › Blog › Free Things to Do in London

Free Things to Do in London: The Complete Guide

London's free offer is extraordinary — more world-class free attractions than almost any other city. Here's the complete picture, organised so you can plan genuinely great days without paying for entry to a single attraction.

Free World-Class Museums

British Museum (world civilisations, free always). Natural History Museum (80 million specimens, free). Science Museum (five floors, free). Victoria and Albert Museum (2.8 million objects, free). Tate Modern (free permanent collection). National Gallery (2,300 paintings, free). National Portrait Gallery (recently reopened after major refurbishment, free). Tate Britain (free). Wallace Collection (18th-century masterpieces, free). Sir John Soane's Museum (extraordinary house-museum, free). Wellcome Collection (free). Imperial War Museum (free). National Maritime Museum Greenwich (free). Museum of London Docklands (free). Horniman Museum (free).

Free Views

Sky Garden (20 Fenchurch Street, free but book ahead online). Tate Modern 10th floor terrace (free during opening hours). Primrose Hill summit (free, best at sunset). Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath (free). Greenwich Hill (free). Waterloo Bridge (free to walk across — best panoramic mid-river view in London).

Free Parks & Green Spaces

Hyde Park, Regent's Park, St James's Park, Kensington Gardens, Greenwich Park, Victoria Park, Hampstead Heath, Richmond Park (deer herds), Primrose Hill — all free, all open daily.

Free Events & Experiences

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace (free to watch, check schedule). Evensong at Westminster Abbey and St Paul's (free). Speakers' Corner, Hyde Park (Sunday mornings). Open House London in September (hundreds of buildings free for one weekend). Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatown (free). The South Bank walk, Westminster to Tower Bridge (free).

Tips