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.
Museum of the Home: Free, and the Gardens Open on Mondays
The museum closes on Mondays but its Kingsland Road Gardens open seven days. Free entry opposite Hoxton station, with Columbia Road Flower Market seven minutes away.
Columbia Road Flower Market: Sundays, 8am to Three-ish
The nearest station is Hoxton, seven minutes away, not the twenty minute walk from Old Street that most guides send you on. Hours, the best time to arrive, and what it costs.
Laser Tag in London: What Is Left, and What It Costs
Bunker 51's domain no longer resolves, Laser Quest Greenwich publishes no price, and the one central arena runs six players a session. The short list, checked at source.
Axe Throwing in London: Where the Real Axes Are
Boom Battle Bar's Oxford Street site offers augmented reality axe throwing, not real axes. Where the four bookable lanes are, from 9 pounds a head, and the rule about drinking.
Escape Rooms in London: Why Two People Pay More Than Three
clueQuest charges a team of two 10 pounds more per person at weekends, Escape Hunt publishes no price at all, and HintHunt, the first in the country, has closed.
Go Karting in London: Prices, Minimums and Height Rules
TeamSport publishes no price on any of its six London track pages, its Docklands track is in Charlton, and every private event at Revolution Karting needs eight drivers.
Bowling in London: What a Game Costs at Four Venues
A game runs from 7.95 to 25 pounds. Rowans adds an admission fee on top and is over 21s only after 7pm, and All Star Lanes states its 10 pound late deal three different ways.
Crazy Golf in London: Prices, and Which Courses Are Shut
Both Plonk courses are temporarily closed and Junkyard London is now Ted's. What the open courses charge, and the Swingers slot rule that is not your playing time.
Rage Rooms in London: What Three Venues Actually Charge
None of London's three rage rooms is in central London, and 45 minutes costs 100 pounds at one and 45 at another. The prices, the age limits and the booking rules.
Sample Sales in London: Brands Take the Page Down, Which Is Why You Cannot Find Them
Not a list of dates, because any list is wrong in a fortnight. Why the sale pages 404 between sales, where the dates surface, and what the terms usually say.
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.