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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

Journal

Every guide we publish, newest first. London restaurants, bars, pubs, hotels, afternoon tea, spas and nightlife, each one checked against the venue's own published information rather than against other guides.

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We take no bookings, sell nothing, and accept no payment for inclusion. Where a price or a rule appears here, it came from the venue.

The Royal Albert Hall seen from the memorial opposite
Things to Do

Royal Albert Hall: 20 Pound Tickets If You Are Under 30

A ticket scheme almost nobody knows about, open to anyone aged 30 or under and reachable only through a mailing list. Plus the six tours and the one that leaves the building.

5 min read
The Tudor facade of Liberty with a Union Jack flying
Shopping

Liberty London: An Extra Hour Every Night for a Month

Open to 9pm from 24 November to 26 December, the Sunday browsing window explained, and a student discount that only works online.

5 min read
A hamper of champagne and chocolates tied with ribbon
Shopping

Fortnum & Mason: You Can Look at 11.30 but Not Buy Until Noon

The Sunday browsing-only half hour, the five restaurants on five floors and which is which, and the weekday close that is later than the rest of Piccadilly.

5 min read
The Selfridges building on Oxford Street lit up on a wet winter evening
Shopping

Selfridges: Open Till 10pm, and the Quiet Hour Nobody Mentions

The latest-closing department store in London, with the shortest Sunday. Quiet Hour runs every Wednesday, and the building holds a cinema, a skate bowl and a psychic.

5 min read
A dark stone corridor lit by a single shaft of light
Things to Do

The London Dungeon: The Anytime Ticket Costs What the Door Does

All four ticket prices, the combined London Eye deal at under 25 pounds an attraction, and opening hours shorter than any of its neighbours.

9 min read
A waxwork figure of a film actress on display in a museum
Things to Do

Madame Tussauds London: 27 Online, 39 at the Door

Twelve pounds more for turning up, last entry two hours before closing, and the combo ticket step that gets people turned away at the second attraction.

5 min read
Visitors among the fountains in the courtyard at Somerset House
Things to Do

Somerset House: Open Till 11, But the Fountains Stop at Six

The courtyard is free for fifteen hours a day and the fountains run for eight of them. Courtauld hours, and why the ice rink's advertised 11 pounds is a child ticket.

6 min read
Historic aircraft hung in the hall of a war museum
Things to Do

IWM London: Free, and Still No Booking Required

One of the few free national museums you can simply walk into, with no timed ticket. Hours, what is in it, and how it compares with the 34 pound Churchill War Rooms.

4 min read
Officers at work in a wartime map room of desks and charts
Things to Do

Churchill War Rooms: 34 Pounds, and the Free One Next Door

It costs more than Hampton Court Palace. What the ticket buys, the 5pm last entry, and the free museum the same organisation runs on Lambeth Road.

5 min read
Cogwheels and gears from an industrial machine in a museum display
Things to Do

Science Museum: Free to Enter, 13.50 for the Bit Children Want

Entry is free but still needs a booked timed ticket, Wonderlab is separate from 13.50 pounds, and a 5 pound ticket on Universal Credit must be booked a day ahead.

6 min read

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Questions we get asked

How often is the guide updated?

Continuously, and each page records the month it was last checked rather than only the date it was first written. Opening hours and prices in London change often enough that an unchecked guide is worse than none.

How do you decide what goes in?

Every entry is verified against the venue's own published information, not against other guides. Nothing is included in exchange for payment, and nothing is excluded for refusing it.