Things to Do
What to actually do in London when you have limited time and no interest in the tourist trail. Written for short stays, weighted toward the evening.
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The landmark pages carry the numbers the attractions themselves bury. The queue at the London Eye runs up to forty five minutes on top of your ticket time rather than inside it, and the Harry Potter Studio Tour sells a package with a hotel in it for less than the one with a bus. The Shard, Sky Garden and Horizon 22 cover the views from above, and two of the three cost nothing.
Then the free half of the city: the parks, the museums that charge nothing and the food markets, where the published closing times regularly contradict each other on the market’s own website.
Seasonal pages appear when they are useful and are rechecked rather than recycled. Rain, weekends and Christmas each have their own.
High School Musical Is at Wembley, Not the West End
It opens on 12 October 2026 at the Troubadour Wembley Park. Prices range from 27 to 110 pounds, and there are no Sunday performances.
You Cannot Swim in the Sky Pool
It is a private residential amenity, not an attraction. What it is, where to see it from, and why its published dimensions disagree.
The Mousetrap: Even the Running Time Is Disputed
Seventy-four years in and the ticket sites still disagree by fifteen minutes. Ages, performance times and how long it is booking.
The Lego Store Stays Open Until 10pm, Except on Sunday
Twelve hours a day Monday to Saturday and six on Sunday. When it is quiet, and what the store does not tell you about the Mosaic Maker queue.
The Pelicans in St James’s Park Are Fed at 2.30pm
A daily feed by the lake that most people walking The Mall never notice, plus the chicks you are asked to keep away from.
His Majesty’s Theatre: Three Sources, Three Age Limits for Phantom
Its own operators disagree on the wheelchair rows and the age guidance. The two step-free entrances and the cloakroom that charges by item.
The Lookout at 8 Bishopsgate Is Free, and Open Late on Two Nights
A free gallery on the 50th floor, open to 9pm on Mondays and Fridays only. Booking, the queue, and the New Year's Eve exception.
Lyric Theatre London: 60 Steps Up to the Balcony
The theatre publishes a step count for every level. Where the step-free entrance is, the 73cm door frames and the 48 hour exchange rule.
Lane7 London Is Over 18s After 7pm
The curfew is earlier than most, ID is required, and bookings are non-refundable. Prices, the shoe rule and the adults-only arcade.
London Museum Docklands Is Cashless, but the Lockers Need a Coin
Free and unticketed, open to 5pm daily. The luggage rule, the locker size and the one pound coin you still need.
Elsewhere in the guide
Questions we get asked
What can you do in London for free?
The national museums, which includes the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate galleries, the V and A and the Natural History Museum. Permanent collections are free and always have been; only the temporary exhibitions charge.
How many days do you need in London?
Three gets you the centre without rushing it. Five lets you spend a day outside zone one, which is where London stops being a list of sights and starts being a city. Anything under two days is a transit stop rather than a visit.
What is worth doing in London in bad weather?
Most of the best of it is indoors anyway. The museums, the department stores, afternoon tea, the pubs that have been there for centuries, and the theatre. London is not a city whose case rests on the weather.