9 Free Things to Do in London

The pomp and history of Westminster Abbey put it on most visitors’ must-see lists, but during the day it can be crowded and expensive. Come at Evensong to catch the church at its best – alive with ceremony and song, and free! 

Stand with one leg in the western hemisphere and one in the east – the Prime Meridian runs through Greenwich Observatory in south-east London. The elegant red-brick building is also home to interactive displays, a huge domed telescope and some of the best views over London. 

On the first Thursday of every month a host of East End galleries throw their doors open for free events and exhibitions. Art hotspots like Hackney’s Vyner Street turn into impromptu street parties as a mix of students and art-lovers flit from gallery to gallery. 

An awesome 25-metre skeleton of a blue whale gazes down on the armies of families milling round the vaulted entrance hall of the Natural History Museum in Kensington. Deeper inside there’s a captivating mix of high-tech interactive exhibits, fearsome animatronic dinosaurs and Victorian curiosities.

The long sweep of the South Bank is packed with free things to do – from watching the wild rides of skateboarders to the free exhibitions at the British Film Institute. Don’t miss Mediatheque though. The BFI’s viewing room has thousands of hours of rare film and TV footage to view on personal video stations.

When location scouts for movies like Harry Potter want a London location they head for the Inns of Court in Holborn. A walk through the headquarters of the British legal system takes in thin-windowed Dickensian chambers, quiet fountain squares and the gaudy splendour of the Knights Templar’s London temple.

It’s not just buyers who can browse the lots at one of the world’s most famous auction houses. Extraordinary works of art, from Old Masters to Damien Hirst skulls, pass through these hallowed halls, and they are all exhibited for free.

A nondescript street in busy Hackney comes alive every Sunday as armies of flower-sellers turn the area into a riot of colour, fragrance and boisterous banter. Join the crush as Londoners haggle for floral bargains or just wander the street’s urban greenery.

Many of the world’s most famous artworks are on display for free in London’s art galleries. Lose yourself in JMW Turner’s wild impressionistic canvases and evocative sketches at the Tate Britain’s post-modern Clore Gallery, dedicated to that most English of painters.