We have over 300 ideas for FREE things to do and places to go for anyone visiting, or living in London.
If you are looking for ideas about having a day out then browse through our maps of the city for inspiration.
The majority of attractions listed are free to visit and include museums, art galleries, childrens farms, childrens playgrounds, events, gardens, historic sites, markets, nature, parks, skateparks, sports, leisure and London
landmarks.
Many of the most famous art galleries the city has to offer are featured on the site including Tate
Modern, The National Gallery and the Saatchi Gallery. Details can also be found of much smaller and less well known sites including the Serpentine Galleries in Hyde Park and the
Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park.
Children are well catered for in the city with many parks having playgrounds ranging from swings and slides to the pirate ship in the Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens.
There are several childrens farms spread across London - one of our favourite ones is in
Crystal Palace Park where you can also take the children to check out the Victorian
dinosaur statues that reside in and around the lake.
For a slightly older age group are many skateparks and you can also find free to use tennis courts and outdoor gym equipment in some of the parks.
We have an events page that lists out the well known annual events including Notting Hill Carnival, The Lord Mayors Show, Trooping The Colour and The Boat Race. Several institutions such as the LSE and The Royal Society offer free lectures and you can also be entertained at places like The Scoop next to City Hall or watch the street performers at Covent
Garden.
London is a surprisingly green city with the large Royal Parks in the centre of town and Battersea Park just a short distance away on the South side of the River Thames. Greenwich Park is partly a deer park and also houses historical sites such as the Royal Observatory and the
National Maritime Museum which are both free to visit.
Further out there are many woodlands, the largest being
Epping Forest which covers 6000 acres of North London stretching from Chingford to
Epping. Large areas of the forest are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Areas of Conversation and there are 4 visitor centres.
Historic sites and London landmarks frequently go hand in hand, for example both Tower
Bridge and The Tower Of London are known around the world but with interesting
historical backgrounds - and don't forget The Monument to the Great Fire of London, located
in Pudding Lane just a short walk across the river from London Bridge Station.
Then of course there are more modern landmarks such as the Gherkin
and the Shard which are both spectacular buildings, but the areas around can also reveal other
places of interest like the public artworks in the streets surrounding the Gherkin (including rusty metal dinosaurs and a large globe made from stainless steel nuts and bolts).
Marble Arch hosts two large public artworks in the form of a giant horses head and
Ghengis Khan mounted on his horse. Henry Moore sculptures can be found by the Thames at Millbank and at College Gardens near the Houses of Parliament. Please note that not all of the landmarks and historic sites are free to enter but we have included them if good views can
be had of them from the surrounding streets.
So there is plenty to see and do for a daytrip, an extended visit or a full holiday in London and it need not be expensive.