Costs absolutely nothing
World-class museums, strange little collections and some of the best buildings in the city. None of it will cost you a penny.
- God's Own Junkyard: Neon art installation warehouse. Walthamstow Central 10 mins.
- British Museum: World-famous collection spanning 2 million years of human history. Direct Russell Square tube access
- Victoria & Albert Museum: World's leading museum of art, design and performance. South Kensington tube adjacent.
- Natural History Museum: Dinosaur skeletons, wildlife specimens, and the famous blue whale. South Kensington.
- National Gallery: European paintings from 13th-19th centuries in Trafalgar Square. Direct Charing Cross access.
- Science Museum: Interactive exhibits showcasing scientific innovations. South Kensington station adjacent.
- Imperial War Museum: Military history from WWI to present day conflicts. Lambeth North 3 min walk.
- Borough Market: Historic food market under Victorian railway arches. London Bridge station 2 mins.
- Liberty London: Tudor-style department store. Oxford Circus 3 mins.
- Fortnum & Mason: Historic food hall and tea rooms. Piccadilly Circus 2 mins.
- London Mithraeum: Ancient Roman temple of Mithras discovered under Bloomberg.
- Tate Britain: The home of British art from 1500 to today. 10 min walk.
- Sir John Soane's Museum: Eccentric home of the Neo-classical architect. Very narrow.
- British Library: View original manuscripts from history's greatest writers. King's Cross 2 mins.
- Tate Modern: Britain's national gallery of modern and contemporary art. 5 min walk from Southwark station.
- V&A East Storehouse: Walk straight into the V&A's working store: half a million objects on open shelves, no glass, no que
- Two Temple Place: An Astor mansion off the Embankment, opened to the public only for its winter exhibition. Stained gl
- Horniman Museum: Free museum of the world in Forest Hill, with an overstuffed walrus, an aquarium, and a natural hist
- London Glassblowing: Watch glass being blown from a few feet away in Peter Layton's Bermondsey studio. Free to walk in an
- Wiener Holocaust Library: The oldest Holocaust archive in the world, with free exhibitions on the ground floor. Quiet, serious
- Covent Garden Market: Historic covered market with boutiques. Covent Garden direct.
- Outernet: Immersive digital art spaces. Tottenham Court Road direct.
- Somerset House: Neoclassical building with galleries and courtyard. Temple 3 mins.
- Leadenhall Market: Victorian covered market used in Harry Potter. Bank 3 mins.
- Harrods: Iconic luxury department store. Knightsbridge direct.
- Mercato Mayfair: Sustainable food hall in a stunning converted church.
- Guildhall Art Gallery: City of London's art collection and Roman Amphitheatre.
- London Museum Docklands: Museum of London’s Docklands site, telling the story of trade, riverside London and the docks. Spaci
- Museum of the Home: A thoughtful museum exploring home life through the ages, with brilliant rooms and displays. Indoors
- Black Cultural Archives: Museum and archive celebrating Black history in Britain with rotating exhibitions. Fully indoors and
- Grant Museum of Zoology: Tiny, fascinating, slightly spooky zoology museum with specimens that surprise.
- Hunterian Museum: Medical history and surgical curiosities in a compact, unforgettable collection.
- Japan House: Japanese design, food and exhibitions. Calm, beautiful, and rainy-day friendly.
- Hamleys: Toy chaos over multiple floors. Kids love it, adults endure it.
- Waterstones Piccadilly: A huge bookshop that’s warm, calm, and dangerously easy to lose time in.
- Daunt Books: Iconic Marylebone bookshop with travel shelves that trigger escapism.
- The Wallace Collection: A ridiculously good free museum in a mansion. Paintings, armour, and calm.
- Outernet London: Massive digital screens and pop-up exhibitions. Quick, free, weatherproof.
- Royal Festival Hall: A surprisingly good indoor roam with bars, seating and river views.
- Southbank Centre: Free rotating exhibitions and plenty of warm indoor corners.