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Independent, London 465 guides to London Nobody pays to appear Every price checked at the source We take no bookings Est. 2026

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.

Stacked wooden crates stencilled with a Portobello Road address, set out on the cobbles beside a market stall
Things to Do

Portobello Road Market Is a Friday and Saturday Market

Open seven days a week and that fact is close to useless. Four of them are a fruit and veg run, the antique arcades open Saturdays only from 7am, and most Sundays have no street market at all.

10 min read
A red telephone box carrying a sign reading Old Spitalfields Market, under trees in east London
Things to Do

Spitalfields Market Has Two Websites and They Do Not Agree

Old Spitalfields Market is the Victorian hall. Spitalfields Market is the estate around it. They publish different hours, one page contradicts itself by two hours, and the restaurants shut at four on a Saturday.

9 min read
A men's outfitter window with suited mannequins and stacked bolts of cloth, the street reflected in the glass
Things to Do

Jermyn Street Opens on a Saturday and Savile Row Does Not

The shirtmaking street keeps shop hours, publishes its prices and will sell you something the same afternoon. Four houses checked at source, including the only door in St James's open on a Sunday.

10 min read
A half finished bespoke jacket and waistcoat on a tailor's dummy with a cloth swatch on the shoulder, against dark panelling
Things to Do

Savile Row Tailors Keep Office Hours and Sell a Ten Week Wait

The famous street shuts at five and does not open at weekends, a first suit takes three visits and eight to twelve weeks, and only one house publishes a bespoke price. Four checked at source.

11 min read
People sitting on the grass on a London hill with the City skyline on the horizon
Things to Do

The Best Views in London Are Free, and Two of Them Need No Ticket

Six London viewpoints ranked by what you have to arrange rather than what you have to pay, including the St Paul's sightline that is protected by law and the four pound view that takes cash only.

12 min read
An elevated view over London at dusk with the Thames, Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf in the distance
Things to Do

Horizon 22: London’s Highest Free View, and the Two Things Every Guide Gets Wrong

Horizon 22 accepts walk-ins and sets no time limit once you are up there, both contrary to the usual advice. The opening hours, bag rules and an honest comparison with Sky Garden.

13 min read
Fireworks bursting around the London Eye at night
Things to Do

New Year’s Eve in London

The fireworks are ticketed and the release date has not been announced yet, which is the whole planning problem. What is confirmed, what a riverside ticket actually buys you, and the alternative most people should take.

7 min read
Regent Street at night under the angel Christmas lights, with a red double decker bus and black cabs
Things to Do

On Christmas Day London Stops. Here Is What Is Actually Open.

London at Christmas is three different cities depending on the date, and on the 25th there is no Tube, no bus and no DLR at all. What is open, what to book and when.

13 min read
The Welcome to Carnaby Street arch spanning the street in Soho, London
Things to Do

Things to Do Near Me in London

Rank the neighbourhoods this guide has checked by how far they are from you, with what is in each. Your position stays in your browser and is sent nowhere.

6 min read
Visitors silhouetted against large illuminated projection screens in a dark immersive exhibition space
Things to Do

Immersive Experiences in London: Permanent or Passing Through

The category splits in two: a few permanent installations and a constant churn of touring shows that take a lease and leave. Which is which, what they cost, and how to tell the good from the cash-in.

7 min read

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.