Outernet London: Free, and the Opening Hours Change Every Week

Outernet claims to be the most visited cultural attraction in the UK. It is free. And you cannot find out what time it opens from a web page.

That last part is not a complaint about their website. It is their system, stated plainly in their own FAQ:

“The weekly opening hours are also published to Instagram @outernetglobal, Twitter/X @outernetglobal and the Outernet App.”

Weekly opening hours. The screens do not run to a fixed timetable, and the current week’s is posted to social media and the app rather than fixed on a page. The best the site itself commits to is:

“free immersive entertainment experiences at Outernet from 10am to late every day.”

So the practical answer is: from 10am, every day, closing somewhere between half ten and midnight depending on the day and the week. If you are making a special trip for a late visit, check their Instagram or the app that day.

It is a district, not a venue, and that changes everything

The single most useful thing to understand, and the reason people arrive confused about tickets.

“It’s important to understand that as a district (or area) we are not a single venue. In the district there are various different businesses and attractions. Some of these may need tickets and some don’t.”

Here is the split.

Free, no ticket, no booking: the screens. There are three screen areas, The Now Building, Now Trending and Now Arcade, and their own wording is unambiguous: “All the on-screen shows are free, you do not need to book or buy tickets.”

Ticketed: the two music venues. HERE at Outernet is a 2,000 capacity underground music and events venue. The Lower Third, on Denmark Street, is a 250 capacity bar and grassroots venue.

Booking likely: the bars, restaurant and hotel. Thirteen for cocktails and Japanese-inspired dishes, TATTU for contemporary Cantonese, and Chateau Denmark, a rock and roll hotel.

So “is Outernet free” has two answers depending on which door you walk through, and the famous bit, the four-storey screens, is the free bit.

The free part can be closed without warning

The risk nobody mentions, and it is buried in their answer about dogs of all places.

“The giant screens are sometimes (but not very often) closed for private events in which case neither dogs nor members of the public will be able to gain access.”

So the screens are occasionally hired out, and when they are, the public does not get in. It is rare on their own account, but it is the reason to check before travelling across London for it.

There is a second, subtler version of the same problem, which brings us to the best answer on their entire website.

Whether you can bring a dog depends on who bought the advertising

Most venues answer the dog question in one line. Outernet answers it in six paragraphs, and the reasoning is genuinely unusual.

The short version: “Dogs are allowed in the public realm areas most of the time.”

The screens sit in public realm areas, so a dog is normally fine where the screens are. Inside the individual businesses it is different: “Many of the businesses in the district (eg HERE our underground music venue or Chateau Denmark our hotel) will not allow access to dogs who are not guide or assistance dogs.”

Then the part that explains the hedging:

“Sometimes an advertiser will take over the screen content for a period of time and also supplement this with other activity (eg promo or event staff interacting with people or demoing a product etc). We call this an ‘activation’ and it is theoretically possible that an advertiser will decide no dogs are allowed into the areas nearest the screens where the activation takes place. But in our experience to date this is unusual and most advertisers will allow dogs.”

So the dog policy is partly set by whoever has booked the screens that week. It is an honest answer to a question most places would fudge, and it tells you something true about the place: Outernet is an advertising medium that is also a free attraction, and the advertiser’s booking shapes what you find when you turn up.

What you are actually looking at

The Now Building stands four storeys high, with wrap-around LED screens that have interactive capabilities. Outernet describes them as the world’s largest LED screens, carrying “entertainment, music, digital art and branded experiences.”

Programming rotates constantly: digital art, cultural events, launches for shows, products and music artists. There is a published on-screen schedule, and an app that tells you what is playing.

Checked on 6 October 2026, the current free commission was Chromatic States by Pixel Artworks, running free, every day between 1pm and 2pm, described as a moment of escapism built around colour.

That one-hour daily window is worth noting. The screens run all day, but a specific commissioned piece may only play in a set slot, so the thing you read about and the thing on screen when you arrive are not necessarily the same.

There is also a crowd-participation element: “We show the best of your social posts on our screens. Hashtag #outernetlondon for a chance to be featured.”

It includes Denmark Street

The part of the district with the most history, and easy to walk past.

The district “includes the historic Denmark Street, birthplace of British music.”

Denmark Street is the old Tin Pan Alley, the street of music publishers and guitar shops where the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and the Sex Pistols all recorded or lived. The Lower Third, the 250 capacity venue, is on it, and its name is itself a reference to Bowie’s early band.

Outernet was conceived and created by Laurence Kirschel.

Tattu is on the roof, and that is not obvious from anywhere

Most listings give Tattu London’s address as “Soho” and leave it there. Its own site is more precise, and the detail changes how you find it:

Tattu London, The Now Building Rooftop, Denmark Street, London WC2H 0LA. 020 3778 1985.

It is on the roof of the Now Building, the same structure holding the giant screens. So the free attraction and the restaurant are the same building, stacked. You walk in under the screens and go up.

Its hours run later than the screens do:

Sunday to Thursday: 12pm to 11pm.

Friday and Saturday: 12pm to 1am.

So on a Friday or Saturday the restaurant and bar are serving two or three hours after the screens have gone dark, which makes it the obvious place to end an evening that started downstairs for free.

The food is contemporary Cantonese, with a Black Dragon Brunch served “across three waves” and private dining rooms, semi-private spaces and full venue hire available. Tattu also runs sites in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Dubai, with Canary Wharf listed as coming soon.

The other way to eat and drink in the district: Thirteen for cocktails and Japanese-inspired dishes, and Chateau Denmark, the hotel, both named earlier.

Accessibility, and the venue underneath

The district states it is “committed to making our spaces inclusive and accessible to all visitors, including those with disabilities, wheelchair users, and families with pushchairs.”

On the music venue specifically, two concrete details: Outernet Live is unseated with step-free access throughout, and it has a cloakroom.

Since the screen areas are public realm at street level, they are the most straightforwardly accessible part.

Where it is

Outernet London, at the crossroads of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, next to Tottenham Court Road station and Centre Point.

Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road, on the Central and Northern lines and the Elizabeth line, which puts it among the best connected attractions in London.

Buses: 8, 14, 19, 24, 29, 38, 55, 73, 98 and 188.

Practically, it is a two minute walk from the station exit, which makes it a genuinely good use of twenty spare minutes in the West End rather than a destination requiring a journey.

How to plan it

The screens are free. No ticket, no booking, three areas.

Check Instagram or the app for this week’s hours. They change weekly and are not fixed on a page.

From 10am daily, closing late.

Before a special trip, check it is not hired out. The screens close occasionally for private events, and then nobody gets in.

Want a specific commission: check the on-screen schedule. Some pieces run in a one hour slot.

With a dog: usually fine in the public areas, not inside the venues or hotel, and occasionally restricted during an advertiser activation.

Music: HERE at Outernet or The Lower Third, both ticketed.

Eating: TATTU on the Now Building roof, open to 1am on Friday and Saturday, or Thirteen. Both need a booking.

Getting there: Tottenham Court Road, two minutes.

Outernet London

Address

At the crossroads of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, next to Tottenham Court Road station and Centre Point

Nearest

Tottenham Court Road on the Central and Northern lines and the Elizabeth line, two minutes away. Buses 8, 14, 19, 24, 29, 38, 55, 73, 98 and 188

Hours

The free screen areas run from 10am to late every day, but the exact weekly hours are published to Instagram, X and the Outernet app rather than fixed on a web page

Booking

None for the screens. Tickets for the music venues and bookings for the restaurants and hotel are handled by each business

Price

The screens in The Now Building, Now Trending and Now Arcade are free with no ticket or booking. HERE at Outernet and The Lower Third are ticketed music venues, and TATTU, Thirteen and Chateau Denmark are separate businesses

Standing

An entertainment district next to Tottenham Court Road station built around four-storey wrap-around LED screens, incorporating historic Denmark Street, a 2,000 capacity underground music venue, a grassroots venue, a hotel, a bar and a restaurant

How to get in

Outernet is a district rather than a single venue, so some parts are free and some are ticketed: the giant screens are free with no booking, while the music venues, restaurant, bar and hotel are not. The weekly opening hours are published to social media and the app rather than a fixed page, so check on the day. The screens are occasionally closed for private events, when the public cannot get in at all. Dogs are allowed in the public realm areas most of the time, but an advertiser running an activation can restrict access to the areas nearest the screens, and the individual businesses admit only guide and assistance dogs.

Where to go next

Free things to do in London covers the rest that cost nothing, and Soho covers the streets around it.

The Moco Museum is the other immersive option nearby, and London at night covers the late hours.

Questions we get asked

Is Outernet London free?

The screens are, entirely. Outernet states that all the on-screen shows in The Now Building, Now Trending and Now Arcade are free and need no booking or tickets. But Outernet is a district rather than a single venue: the two music venues, HERE at Outernet and The Lower Third, are ticketed, and TATTU, Thirteen and the Chateau Denmark hotel are separate businesses with their own bookings.

What time does Outernet London open?

From 10am every day, closing late, but the exact hours change weekly and are not published on a fixed page. Outernet posts the current week's hours to Instagram and X at @outernetglobal and in the Outernet app, so check on the day if you are planning a late visit.

Can Outernet London be closed when you arrive?

Occasionally, yes. Outernet states that the giant screens are sometimes, though not very often, closed for private events, and that when they are, members of the public cannot gain access. It is rare but worth checking before travelling specially, since there is no ticket and therefore no notification.

Can you take a dog to Outernet London?

Usually, in the public areas where the screens are. Outernet says dogs are allowed in the public realm areas most of the time. The individual businesses, including the HERE music venue and the Chateau Denmark hotel, admit only guide and assistance dogs. One unusual caveat: when an advertiser takes over the screens with an activation, they can in principle bar dogs from the areas nearest the screens, though Outernet says most advertisers allow them.

What is The Now Building?

The main screen space at Outernet, standing four storeys high with wrap-around LED screens that have interactive capabilities. Outernet describes them as the world's largest LED screens, showing entertainment, music, digital art and branded experiences on a rotating schedule. Entry is free and no booking is needed.

What is the nearest tube to Outernet London?

Tottenham Court Road, about two minutes away, served by the Central line, Northern line and Elizabeth line. The district sits at the crossroads of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road next to Centre Point, and the 8, 14, 19, 24, 29, 38, 55, 73, 98 and 188 buses all stop nearby.

Is Denmark Street part of Outernet?

Yes. Outernet describes its district as including historic Denmark Street, the birthplace of British music, better known as Tin Pan Alley. The Lower Third, a 250 capacity bar and grassroots music venue within the district, is on Denmark Street.