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.
Art Galleries in London: The Best Ones Are Free and Look Like Shops
White Cube and Gagosian mount museum scale shows with no ticket and no booking, because the exhibitions advertise the business. Where they are, and the gallery that shuts for days.
Regent Street Cinema: British Cinema Started Here, and the Organ Plays on the First Monday
The Lumiere brothers showed the first paying audience here in 1896. A classic matinee every Monday at 1pm, six pounds if you are over 55, and an organ recital monthly.
Moco Museum London: Fifteen Pounds in a City of Free Galleries, and What That Buys
Three tickets, twelve pounds apart, and what each one actually adds. The hours, the audio tour, and whether it is worth it next to the free galleries.
Ice Skating in London: The Rink Every List Still Recommends Has Closed
The Natural History Museum rink has gone after 16 years. Somerset House opens 11 November from 11 pounds, Hampton Court on 20 November.
Neal’s Yard: There Is a Bib Gourmand in the Courtyard, and the Kitchen Shuts at Four
The Barbary has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand since 2017 and takes bookings for two to four only. 26 Grains stops cooking three hours before it shuts.
The Garden at 120: Free, No Booking, and It Shuts at Five on a Saturday
London's walk in rooftop garden, fifteen floors up and free. The weekend closing time nobody prints, and the live footfall counter.
The Kyoto Garden in Holland Park: Free, Open From 7.30am, and No Dogs
The Japanese garden inside Holland Park has no ticket and one rule that catches people out. Opening hours, gate closures and a play area closure.
British Museum Tickets: Entry Is Free, and It Stays Open Until 8.30pm on Fridays
The ticket you are asked to book is free. What does cost money, and the Friday late opening that runs three hours past every other day.
Buckingham Palace: Changing the Guard Is Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Inside Costs 100 Pounds
The State Rooms open in summer only, and out of season the one way in is a 100 pound tour. The free ceremony outside runs on three days.
National Theatre Tickets: A Quarter Cost 30 Pounds or Less, and Friday Rush Is Ten
25 per cent of seats are 30 pounds or under, Friday Rush is ten pounds at 1pm, and 16 to 25s pay five. What it costs and when it opens.
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.