What can you do in London for free?

Visit the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, V&A, Natural History and Science Museums (all free permanent collections), walk the South Bank, watch the Changing of the Guard, book the Sky Garden viewing deck, wander Camden, Borough and Brick Lane markets, and spend an afternoon in Hyde Park or on Hampstead Heath.

How much money do I need per day in London?

On a backpacker budget, roughly £45–65 a day: £25–40 for a central hostel dorm, £10–15 for food if you use markets, supermarkets and a hostel kitchen, and around £9 for transport if you hit the contactless daily cap. Free museums and parks mean sightseeing can cost nothing.

Are London museums really free?

Yes. Permanent collections at the national museums — British Museum, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, V&A, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and Imperial War Museum — are free to enter. Only special temporary exhibitions charge admission.

What is the cheapest way to get around London?

Walk short distances and tap a contactless card or phone for everything else. The daily cap (about £8.90 in zones 1–2) means extra journeys are free once you hit it. Buses have a lower cap and a flat fare with a free transfer within an hour.

Budget Guide · London

Free & Cheap Things to Do in London

Crowds walking under the illuminated Camden Market sign in north London

London has a reputation for being expensive, and pints and taxis will happily prove it. But the city also gives away more than almost any other capital: world-class museums with no ticket, parks the size of small towns, markets you can graze your way through for a fiver, and viewpoints that cost nothing but a booking email. Here is how to fill a week in London on close to nothing — and the handful of paid things that are genuinely worth the money.

The free museums (all of them, really)

Almost every major national museum in London is free to enter, permanently. Not a discount, not a first-Sunday thing — just free. The British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the National Portrait Gallery and the Imperial War Museum all cost nothing for their permanent collections. Only the big temporary exhibitions charge.

Go early (10am) or late — several open until 17:30–18:00, and Tate Modern and the V&A run late Friday evenings. Don't try to do a whole museum: pick two rooms, spend an hour, go find a coffee. The donation box is optional but £3–5 is a decent thing to do if you can.

· British Museum — Rosetta Stone, Egyptian galleries; walkable from Bloomsbury
· Tate Modern — free collection plus the best free river view from the top floor
· Natural History & Science Museums — side by side in South Kensington
· National Gallery — Trafalgar Square, free and open late on Fridays

Markets: eat well for under £10

London's markets are the cheapest way to eat properly. Borough Market is the famous one — free to wander, and a salt beef sandwich or a grilled cheese runs £7–9. Camden Market has the widest spread of cuisines at hostel prices; Brick Lane on a Sunday is curry, bagels and vintage all in one street; Maltby Street and Broadway Market are where Londoners actually go at the weekend.

Two money tricks: eat your big meal at lunch when market stalls do smaller portions, and buy a 24-hour bagel at Beigel Bake on Brick Lane (open all night, a few pounds) if you're staggering home from a night out.

· Borough Market — Thu–Sat best; free samples are a genuine tactic
· Camden Market — huge street-food yard, 5 min from Smart Camden Inn
· Brick Lane (Sunday) — curry, salt beef bagels, vintage stalls
· Supermarket meal deals (£3.50–5) beat any café lunch in zone 1

Parks, views and walks that cost nothing

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens together are bigger than some European city centres, and Bayswater sits right on the north edge of them. Regent's Park has the free Primrose Hill viewpoint, Hampstead Heath has the best skyline view in London plus free swimming ponds in summer, and Greenwich Park gives you the classic Canary Wharf postcard shot.

For free skyline views indoors, book the Sky Garden (free, booking opens three weeks ahead) or just take the lift to Tate Modern's top-floor terrace. The riverside walk from Westminster to Tower Bridge along the South Bank is the single best free thing to do on a first night in London.

· Sky Garden — free with advance booking, 35th floor, 360° views
· Primrose Hill and Hampstead Heath — free, best at sunset
· South Bank walk — Westminster → Tower Bridge, roughly an hour
· Changing of the Guard, Buckingham Palace — free, arrive 30 min early

Cheap nights out

A pint in central London is £6–7, so drink where locals do: Wetherspoons and student unions are the cheap end, and most hostel bars — including ours — run happy hours that undercut anything on the high street. Pre-drinking in the common room with people you just met is both cheaper and how you end up with a group for the night.

For culture on the cheap: standing tickets at Shakespeare's Globe are £5, the National Theatre has cheap day seats, and comedy pub nights across Camden and Soho run £5–10 or free with a bucket collection. Museums Late nights (V&A Friday, Science Museum Lates) are free evening events with DJs and bars.

· Shakespeare's Globe standing tickets — £5
· Free walking tours — tip-based, start at Covent Garden or Camden
· Hostel bar happy hours before heading out
· Free late-night museum events on Friday evenings

Getting around for less

Never buy a paper ticket. Tap in with a contactless card or phone — the daily cap (around £8.90 in zones 1–2) means once you've tapped a few times, the rest of the day is free. Buses are capped even lower and cost the same flat fare wherever you go, with a free transfer within an hour.

Walking is faster than you think: Covent Garden to Soho is five minutes, and half the Tube journeys tourists make in zone 1 are one stop. Santander Cycles cost £1.65 for the first 30 minutes, which covers most central rides.

· Contactless daily cap ≈ £8.90 (zones 1–2) — no travelcard needed
· Buses: flat fare, free transfer within 60 minutes
· Santander Cycles — £1.65 per 30-minute ride
· Stay central: staying in zone 1–2 saves both time and fares

Keep your bed cheap too

The single biggest budget line in London is where you sleep, and it's also the easiest to cut. A central hostel dorm keeps you inside zone 1–2, which quietly saves you £5–10 a day in transport and an hour of your life on the Tube.

Our four hostels sit in Bayswater, Bloomsbury and Camden — all within walking distance of the free museums, parks and markets above. Book direct and save 10% off the online rate.

Cheap, central beds near all of it

Free museums, big parks and the best markets are all walkable from these four. Self-catering kitchens keep food costs down too — book direct and save 10%.

Smart Russell Square — from £12.00 · 3 min walk to Russell Square (Piccadilly Line)
Smart Hyde Park Inn — from £10.99 · 2 min walk to Bayswater (Circle & District) & 3 minutes to Queensway Station (Central Line)
Smart Hyde Park View — from £15.50 · 5 min walk to Queensway (Central Line)
Smart Camden Inn — from £14.00 · 5 min walk to Camden Town (Northern Line)

Frequently asked questions

What can you do in London for free?: Visit the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, V&A, Natural History and Science Museums (all free permanent collections), walk the South Bank, watch the Changing of the Guard, book the Sky Garden viewing deck, wander Camden, Borough and Brick Lane markets, and spend an afternoon in Hyde Park or on Hampstead Heath.
How much money do I need per day in London?: On a backpacker budget, roughly £45–65 a day: £25–40 for a central hostel dorm, £10–15 for food if you use markets, supermarkets and a hostel kitchen, and around £9 for transport if you hit the contactless daily cap. Free museums and parks mean sightseeing can cost nothing.
Are London museums really free?: Yes. Permanent collections at the national museums — British Museum, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, V&A, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and Imperial War Museum — are free to enter. Only special temporary exhibitions charge admission.
What is the cheapest way to get around London?: Walk short distances and tap a contactless card or phone for everything else. The daily cap (about £8.90 in zones 1–2) means extra journeys are free once you hit it. Buses have a lower cap and a flat fare with a free transfer within an hour.