Whilst I’ve been travelling one conversation that keeps coming up is how much people love London but also how expensive it can be to visit. (It’s also expensive to live there and that’s why I might leave, but that’s another story for another time). When having these repeated conversations with people, I also keep repeating my favourite things to do for free or on the cheap in London.
So I have decided to put them together here in a blog for other people to see and hopefully use. This isn’t an extensive list just some of my favourites.
Museums. Galleries. Collections.
London is full of museums, galleries, collections and most of them are FREE. You may have to pay for a special or temporary exhibition but for the majority of museums general entrance is free.
National History Museum – All things natural history (obviously). The dinosaur section is popular and the building itself is pretty cool. http://www.nhm.ac.uk
British Museum – Apparently the UKs most visited museum according to Wikipedia. Exhibitions about human culture and history from all over the world and the Elgin Marbles. http://www.nhm.ac.uk
Science Museum – Science based, believe it or not, and not just for geeks or boffins.
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Museum of London – History of London and the people that have called it home.
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/
Imperial War Museum – British conflict since WW1. Highly recommend the WW1 exhibition.
http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london
National Maritime Museum – The worlds largest maritime museum. http://www.rmg.co.uk/national-maritime-museum
V&A Museum – Art and Design from across the world and throughout history. http://www.vam.ac.uk
Tate Modern – International modern art. And great location on this river opposite St Paul’s.
http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern
National Gallery – Paintings from 13th century to 1900. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
Welcome Collection – My personal favourite, looks and explores connections between life, medicine and art.
http://wellcomecollection.org/
Parks
London is full of parks and open spaces. All across London you can find parks, from the Olympic Park and Victoria (Vikky Park) in the East, Greenwich Park and Crystal Palace park in the South, Alexander Park in the North, Holland Park in the West and Hyde Park, Regents Park, Green Park, St. James’ Park all fairly central. Grab some friends, food and drink or just stroll through and enjoy (unless it rains….)
Walking
London, especially central London is easy to walk around. In central London can easily walk around and not worry about getting lost as you’ll pop out near a tube stop. Can also walk around instead of taking the tube in Zone 1 in places, for example can easily walk between Leicester Square and Covent Garden or Tottenham Court Road and Piccadilly.
If feeling like a longer walk then there are plenty of routes to choose from. Can walk along some of London’s canal network, walk to and through parks (as above!!), walk through brick lane and Shoreditch taking in street art and grabbing a beigel from Beigel Bake. Or you can just search Google for walking routes. My personal favourite, along the South bank of the river from Tower Bridge to Westminster and the London Eye. Takes you past plenty of sights (Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Monument, London Bridge, St. Paul’s, The Globe Theatre, London Eye, Westminster Palace) and is beautiful in the evening.
Entertainment
Entertainment doesn’t always come cheap in big cities, London is no different. But there are a few cheap options out there.
Globe Theatre – If you can deal with standing then you can get cheap £5 tickets for shows at Shakespeare’s Globe. You will be exposed to the elements though….
http://www.shakespearesglobe.com
Prince Charles Cinema – Shows a mix of current films, seasonal events and special events. Tickets during the daytime during the week cost £8, evenings weekends and bank holidays £11.50. Seasonal films are priced at £7.50 and special events are priced individually. Current examples of special events – at the end of January they are doing an ‘Arnie All Nighter’ 6 Arnold Schwarzenegger films back to back. Mid January they did a Lord of The Rings Extended Versions special.
http://www.princecharlescinema.com/index.php
Pop ups/Temporary Events – There is usually some sort of temporary event happening in London. Currently there is light installations/art around Canary Wharf and for Chinese New Year. In September The Scoop (the dipped seating area by City Hall, opposite Tower of London) has free outdoor cinema. Also think it has free theatre in August.
In Tower Hamlets there is a week long series of events called Shuffle Festival, usually at the end of July/start of August. Events usually include film screenings, music, talks, and comedy.
There are other events that happen. Can try googling or using the London edition of TimeOut to see what is happening when you are in town.
London Marathon – If in London when this is on then get out and watch it. Have fun cheering people on and laughing at silly costumes. It’s also fully acceptable to have a few drinks while doing this…..
These are just some of what can be done in London on the cheap. Get out there and enjoy it.
Joe From Bow 