Free things to do in London — the full A to Z

Every genuinely free thing to do in London, sorted by category. 298 free London spots with the area and nearest tube. Where there is a catch we say so.

Museums

British Museum — Bloomsbury, nearest tube Tottenham Court Road. World-history collection of 8m+ objects including the Rosetta Stone and Parthenon sculptures. (Free, permanent collection)
Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) — South Kensington, nearest tube South Kensington. World's leading museum of art and design, 5,000 years of objects. (Free, permanent collection)
Natural History Museum — South Kensington, nearest tube South Kensington. Dinosaurs, the blue whale skeleton and 70m specimens; the UK's most-visited attraction. (Free, permanent collection)
Science Museum — South Kensington, nearest tube South Kensington. Hands-on science and engineering history. (Free, some paid zones/IMAX)
Imperial War Museum London — Lambeth, nearest tube Lambeth North. Conflict from WWI to today with aircraft, tanks and the Holocaust Galleries. (Free, permanent collection) Official site
Museum of London Docklands — Canary Wharf, nearest tube West India Quay (DLR). London's river and port history in a Grade I Georgian warehouse. (Free) Official site
Sir John Soane's Museum — Holborn, nearest tube Holborn. Architect's labyrinthine home crammed with antiquities and art. (Free)
Wellcome Collection — Euston, nearest tube Euston Square. Free museum exploring medicine, life and art, plus a reading room. (Free) Official site
Bank of England Museum — City of London, nearest tube Bank. History of money and the Bank, with a gold bar you can lift. (Free, weekdays only) Official site
National Maritime Museum — Greenwich, nearest tube Cutty Sark (DLR). Britain's seafaring story including Nelson's Trafalgar coat. (Free, permanent collection) Official site
RAF Museum London — Colindale/Hendon, nearest tube Colindale. Over 100 aircraft across historic hangars on a former aerodrome. (Free, some simulators paid) Official site
Horniman Museum — Forest Hill, nearest tube Forest Hill. Eclectic anthropology, natural history and instruments with gardens. (Free, aquarium/butterfly house paid) Official site
British Library Treasures Gallery — St Pancras, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. Magna Carta, Shakespeare's First Folio, Beatles lyrics and Da Vinci notebooks. (Free) Official site
National Army Museum — Chelsea, nearest tube Sloane Square. Story of the British Army through objects and interactive galleries. (Free) Official site
Young V&A — Bethnal Green, nearest tube Bethnal Green. V&A's redesigned museum for children with play, design and toy galleries. (Free) Official site
V&A East Storehouse — Stratford, nearest tube Hackney Wick. Walk-in working store of the V&A collection, opened 2025. (Free) Official site
Grant Museum of Zoology — Bloomsbury, nearest tube Euston Square. UCL's atmospheric collection of 68,000 zoological specimens. (Free) Official site
Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology — Bloomsbury, nearest tube Euston Square. One of the world's great collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology. (Free) Official site
Hunterian Museum — Holborn, nearest tube Holborn. Royal College of Surgeons' anatomical and surgical collection. (Free) Official site
Florence Nightingale Museum — Lambeth, nearest tube Westminster. Story of the founder of modern nursing at St Thomas' Hospital. (Free) Official site
Museum of the Home — Hoxton, nearest tube Hoxton. Period rooms showing English domestic interiors through time, with gardens. (Free) Official site
Dr Johnson's House — City of London, nearest tube Chancery Lane. Georgian townhouse where the dictionary-maker lived. (Free) Official site
Camera Museum — Bloomsbury, nearest tube Holborn. Small free museum of photographic history below a cafe. (Free)
Michael Faraday's Laboratory (Faraday Museum) — Mayfair, nearest tube Green Park. Preserved lab of the electricity pioneer at the Royal Institution. (Free) Official site
The Charterhouse — Barbican, nearest tube Barbican. Free museum of a medieval almshouse with a Black Death burial ground. (Free, tours paid) Official site
The Clockmakers' Museum — South Kensington, nearest tube South Kensington. World's oldest clock-and-watch collection, free inside the Science Museum. (Free)
Ragged School Museum — Mile End, nearest tube Mile End. Recreated Victorian classroom in a former free school for the poor. (Free) Official site
British Dental Museum — Marylebone, nearest tube Bond Street. Free collection of 25,000 items tracing dentistry's painful past. (Free, limited days)
Anaesthesia Heritage Centre — Marylebone, nearest tube Regent's Park. Free museum of the history of anaesthesia and pain relief. (Free, limited hours)
Isokon Gallery — Belsize Park, nearest tube Belsize Park. Modernist Isokon Flats with a small free gallery on their radical design. (Free, open weekends) Official site
Queer Britain — King's Cross, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. The UK's first national LGBTQ+ museum. (Free) Official site

Art Galleries

National Gallery — Trafalgar Square, nearest tube Charing Cross. Western European masterpieces from Van Eyck to Van Gogh. (Free, permanent collection)
National Portrait Gallery — Trafalgar Square, nearest tube Leicester Square. Portraits of famous Britons across centuries, reopened 2023. (Free, permanent collection)
Tate Modern — Bankside, nearest tube Blackfriars. Modern and contemporary art in a former power station with a vast Turbine Hall. (Free, permanent collection)
Tate Britain — Millbank/Pimlico, nearest tube Pimlico. British art from 1500 to today with the world's greatest Turner holdings. (Free, permanent collection) Official site
Wallace Collection — Marylebone, nearest tube Bond Street. Old Master paintings, French furniture and armour in a townhouse. (Free)
Saatchi Gallery — Chelsea, nearest tube Sloane Square. Contemporary art at the Duke of York's HQ. (Free, some shows paid) Official site
Serpentine Galleries (North & South) — Kensington Gardens, nearest tube Lancaster Gate. Two contemporary art galleries plus the annual summer Pavilion. (Free, some shows need free booking) Official site
Guildhall Art Gallery & Roman Amphitheatre — City of London, nearest tube Bank. City's art collection plus the ruins of London's Roman amphitheatre beneath. (Free)
Queen's House — Greenwich, nearest tube Cutty Sark (DLR). Inigo Jones's first Classical building in England with the Armada Portrait. (Free) Official site
William Morris Gallery — Walthamstow, nearest tube Walthamstow Central. The only public gallery devoted to William Morris, in his former home. (Free) Official site
Whitechapel Gallery — Whitechapel, nearest tube Aldgate East. Pioneering contemporary art gallery. (Free, some shows paid) Official site
White Cube Bermondsey — Bermondsey, nearest tube London Bridge. Europe's largest commercial gallery showing major contemporary artists. (Free) Official site

Parks & Green Spaces

Hyde Park — Hyde Park, nearest tube Hyde Park Corner. 350-acre central Royal Park with the Serpentine, Speakers' Corner and memorials. (Free) Official site
Kensington Gardens — Kensington, nearest tube Lancaster Gate. Former royal gardens with the Italian Gardens, Peter Pan statue and Albert Memorial. (Free) Official site
Regent's Park — Marylebone, nearest tube Regent's Park. Royal Park with Queen Mary's Rose Garden and the Open Air Theatre. (Free) Official site
St James's Park — Westminster, nearest tube St James's Park. Oldest Royal Park, with a pelican-dotted lake and views of Buckingham Palace. (Free) Official site
Green Park — Mayfair, nearest tube Green Park. Tranquil tree-filled Royal Park between Buckingham Palace and Piccadilly. (Free) Official site
Greenwich Park — Greenwich, nearest tube Cutty Sark (DLR). Oldest enclosed Royal Park with gardens, deer and hilltop views. (Free)
Richmond Park — Richmond, nearest tube Richmond. London's largest Royal Park, a deer-roamed National Nature Reserve. (Free) Official site
Bushy Park — Hampton, nearest tube Hampton Wick. Second-largest Royal Park with wild deer and Wren's Chestnut Avenue. (Free) Official site
Hampstead Heath — Hampstead, nearest tube Hampstead. 320 hectares of wild heath, woods and swimming ponds. (Free) Official site
Victoria Park — Hackney, nearest tube Hackney Wick. East London's largest green space with a boating lake and cafes. (Free)
Battersea Park — Battersea, nearest tube Battersea Park. Riverside park with a boating lake, Peace Pagoda and river views. (Free)
Clapham Common — Clapham, nearest tube Clapham Common. 220 acres of open common with ponds and a Victorian bandstand. (Free)
Wimbledon Common — Wimbledon, nearest tube Wimbledon. 460 hectares of heath, woodland and ponds, home of the Wombles. (Free)
Brockwell Park — Herne Hill, nearest tube Herne Hill. Rolling South London park with skyline views and a walled garden. (Free)
Finsbury Park — Finsbury Park, nearest tube Finsbury Park. Large Victorian park with a boating lake and running track. (Free)
Holland Park — Kensington, nearest tube Holland Park. Wooded Kensington park with peacocks and formal gardens. (Free) Official site
Peckham Rye Park & Common — Peckham, nearest tube Peckham Rye. Lawns, ornamental gardens and woodland trails. (Free)
Dulwich Park — Dulwich, nearest tube North Dulwich. Genteel park with a boating lake and ornamental gardens. (Free)
Trent Park — Enfield, nearest tube Oakwood. Former country estate with woodland trails and lakes. (Free)
Epping Forest — Chingford, nearest tube Chingford. Ancient forest, the largest open space in the London area. (Free) Official site
London Fields — Hackney, nearest tube London Fields. Buzzy Hackney park with a lido and a central pub. (Free, lido paid)
Well Hall Pleasaunce — Eltham, nearest tube Eltham. Free public gardens near Eltham. (Free, palace interior paid)
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park — Mile End, nearest tube Mile End. Magnificent Seven cemetery turned woodland nature reserve. (Free)
Brompton Cemetery — West Brompton, nearest tube West Brompton. Grand Magnificent Seven cemetery said to inspire Beatrix Potter names. (Free)
Abney Park Cemetery — Stoke Newington, nearest tube Stoke Newington. Magnificent Seven cemetery and atmospheric woodland arboretum. (Free)
West Norwood Cemetery — West Norwood, nearest tube West Norwood. Victorian Magnificent Seven cemetery with grand monuments. (Free)
Hackney City Farm — Hackney, nearest tube Hoxton. Free working city farm with pigs, goats, chickens and more. (Free)
One Tree Hill — Honor Oak, nearest tube Honor Oak Park. Wooded hilltop park with sweeping panoramic city views. (Free)
Brown Hart Gardens — Mayfair, nearest tube Bond Street. Raised public garden built on top of an electrical substation. (Free)
Peace Garden, Tavistock Square — Bloomsbury, nearest tube Russell Square. Quiet square with a Gandhi statue and conscientious-objectors stone. (Free)
Christchurch Greyfriars Church Garden — City of London, nearest tube St Paul's. Rose garden within the ruins of a Wren church lost to the Blitz. (Free)
Mount Street Gardens — Mayfair, nearest tube Bond Street. Picturesque hidden garden tucked behind Mayfair's mansions. (Free)
Joseph Grimaldi Park — Islington, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. Quiet park that has become a pilgrimage site for clowns. (Free)

Gardens & Nature

Kyoto Garden, Holland Park — Kensington, nearest tube Holland Park. Authentic Japanese garden with a waterfall, koi and roaming peacocks. (Free)
Isabella Plantation — Richmond, nearest tube Richmond. 40-acre woodland garden in Richmond Park famed for spring azaleas. (Free)
Queen Mary's Gardens — Regent's Park, nearest tube Regent's Park. London's largest rose collection within Regent's Park. (Free)
Walthamstow Wetlands — Walthamstow, nearest tube Tottenham Hale. Europe's largest urban wetland nature reserve. (Free, parking paid) Official site
Barbican Conservatory — City of London, nearest tube Barbican. Tropical glasshouse with 1,500+ plants in the Brutalist Barbican. (Free, pre-booked slot · limited days) Official site
Fulham Palace & Gardens — Fulham, nearest tube Putney Bridge. Historic riverside gardens and walled garden of the former Bishops of London. (Free, house also free) Official site
Hampstead Pergola & Hill Garden — Hampstead, nearest tube Hampstead. Romantic Edwardian pergola draped in vines above the Heath. (Free)
London's Rose-Ringed Parakeets — Various, nearest tube Richmond. Wild flocks of bright green parakeets across the city's parks. (Free)

Viewpoints

Sky Garden — City of London, nearest tube Monument. Three-storey indoor garden atop the Walkie-Talkie with 360 views. (Free, advance booking)
Horizon 22 — City of London, nearest tube Liverpool Street. Europe's highest free public viewing gallery at 254m on the 58th floor. (Free, advance booking · Mon release) Official site
The Garden at 120 — City of London, nearest tube Fenchurch Street. Open-air rooftop garden with Shard and Gherkin views. (Free, no booking needed)
The Lookout at 8 Bishopsgate — City of London, nearest tube Liverpool Street. Indoor 50th-floor viewing gallery. (Free, advance booking) Official site
Tate Modern Viewing Level — Bankside, nearest tube Blackfriars. 10th-floor Blavatnik Building terrace with views over St Paul's and the Thames. (Free)
One New Change Roof Terrace — City of London, nearest tube St Paul's. Rooftop terrace with the closest views of St Paul's dome. (Free, intermittent closures) Official site
Primrose Hill — Primrose Hill, nearest tube Chalk Farm. Grassy hilltop with a protected panorama of the central London skyline. (Free)
Parliament Hill — Hampstead Heath, nearest tube Gospel Oak. Hampstead Heath summit whose city view is protected by law. (Free)
Greenwich Park / General Wolfe Statue — Greenwich, nearest tube Cutty Sark (DLR). Hilltop viewpoint over the Old Royal Naval College and Canary Wharf. (Free)

Markets

Leadenhall Market — City of London, nearest tube Bank. Ornate Victorian covered market that doubled as Diagon Alley. (Free) Official site
Borough Market — Southwark, nearest tube London Bridge. London's most famous food market, trading since the 11th century. (Free)
Columbia Road Flower Market — Bethnal Green, nearest tube Hoxton. Sunday street market bursting with flowers and plants. (Free)
Camden Market — Camden, nearest tube Camden Town. Sprawling alternative market of food, vintage and crafts by the canal. (Free)
Portobello Road Market — Notting Hill, nearest tube Notting Hill Gate. One of the world's largest antiques markets, best on Saturdays. (Free) Official site
Old Spitalfields Market — Spitalfields, nearest tube Liverpool Street. Covered market mixing fashion, antiques and food. (Free) Official site
Brick Lane Market — Shoreditch, nearest tube Shoreditch High Street. Sunday vintage, flea and street-food sprawl in the East End. (Free)
Greenwich Market — Greenwich, nearest tube Cutty Sark (DLR). Covered market of arts, crafts, antiques and food. (Free) Official site
Broadway Market — Hackney, nearest tube London Fields. Saturday foodie and crafts market beside London Fields. (Free) Official site
Maltby Street Market — Bermondsey, nearest tube Bermondsey. Weekend street-food market under railway arches. (Free) Official site
Brixton Village & Market Row — Brixton, nearest tube Brixton. Covered arcades of independent traders and global food. (Free) Official site
Petticoat Lane Market — Aldgate, nearest tube Aldgate East. Historic East End clothing and goods market. (Free)
Southbank Centre Book Market — South Bank, nearest tube Waterloo. Long-running second-hand book market under Waterloo Bridge. (Free) Official site
Walthamstow Market — Walthamstow, nearest tube Walthamstow Central. Europe's longest outdoor street market, running a full kilometre. (Free)

Squares & Streets

The Royal Exchange — City of London, nearest tube Bank. Grade I Victorian commercial building with shops and a courtyard. (Free, weekday hours) Official site
Postman's Park — City of London, nearest tube St Paul's. Tranquil City garden with the Watts Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice. (Free)
Coal Drops Yard & Granary Square — King's Cross, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. Regenerated Victorian coal yards with fountains, shops and canalside seating. (Free) Official site
Trafalgar Square — Westminster, nearest tube Charing Cross. London's central square with Nelson's Column, lion statues and the Fourth Plinth. (Free)
Covent Garden Piazza — Covent Garden, nearest tube Covent Garden. Historic piazza with street performers and the Apple Market. (Free) Official site
Paternoster Square — City of London, nearest tube St Paul's. Modern square beside St Paul's with the Temple Bar gateway. (Free)
Seven Dials — Covent Garden, nearest tube Leicester Square. Star-shaped junction of seven streets with a central sundial pillar. (Free) Official site
Piccadilly Circus — West End, nearest tube Piccadilly Circus. London's neon-lit crossroads with the Eros statue. (Free)
Granary Square Fountains — King's Cross, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. Choreographed 1,000-jet fountain square by the canal. (Free)
Mayfair & Shepherd Market — Mayfair, nearest tube Green Park. Elegant Georgian streets and a village-like enclave of pubs. (Free)
Notting Hill & Portobello streets — Notting Hill, nearest tube Notting Hill Gate. Pastel houses and characterful streets made famous on film. (Free)
Electric Avenue — Brixton, nearest tube Brixton. Historic Brixton market street, the first to be lit by electricity and the Eddy Grant song. (Free)
Cecil Court — Covent Garden, nearest tube Leicester Square. Victorian alley of antiquarian bookshops, a Diagon Alley inspiration. (Free) Official site
Burlington Arcade — Mayfair, nearest tube Green Park. Regency covered shopping arcade patrolled by top-hatted Beadles. (Free) Official site

Historic & Landmarks

Bunhill Fields — Islington, nearest tube Old Street. Historic Dissenters' burial ground with the graves of Blake, Defoe and Bunyan. (Free)
London Mithraeum (Temple of Mithras) — City of London, nearest tube Bank. Reconstructed Roman temple with an immersive experience beneath Bloomberg's HQ. (Free, advance booking recommended)
Millennium Bridge — City of London / Bankside, nearest tube St Paul's. Pedestrian blade-of-light bridge linking St Paul's and Tate Modern. (Free)
Tower Bridge (walk across) — Tower Hill, nearest tube Tower Hill. Iconic bascule bridge. (Free, Experience paid) Official site
Houses of Parliament public galleries — Westminster, nearest tube Westminster. Watch debates and PMQs free from the public galleries. (Free, UK residents can pre-book) Official site
Old Royal Naval College grounds & Chapel — Greenwich, nearest tube Cutty Sark (DLR). Wren's riverside Baroque masterpiece. (Free, Painted Hall paid) Official site
Kenwood House — Hampstead, nearest tube Hampstead. Neoclassical mansion on the Heath with Rembrandt and Vermeer paintings. (Free, English Heritage) Official site
Diana Memorial Fountain — Hyde Park, nearest tube Knightsbridge. Granite ring fountain commemorating Princess Diana. (Free)
Wellington Arch exterior / Hyde Park Corner — Mayfair, nearest tube Hyde Park Corner. Triumphal arch and war memorials at Hyde Park Corner. (Free, interior paid)
Kensal Green Cemetery — Kensal Green, nearest tube Kensal Green. Oldest of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries with Gothic monuments. (Free, grounds free · tours paid)
The Old Curiosity Shop — Holborn, nearest tube Holborn. 16th-century shop said to have inspired the Dickens novel. (Free, exterior only)
Greenwich Foot Tunnel — Greenwich, nearest tube Cutty Sark (DLR). Victorian pedestrian tunnel running under the River Thames. (Free)
Nunhead Cemetery — Nunhead, nearest tube Nunhead. Romantically overgrown Magnificent Seven cemetery with city views. (Free)
Paddington Bear Statue — Paddington, nearest tube Paddington. Bronze statue of Paddington Bear at his namesake station. (Free)
Crystal Palace Park Ruins — Crystal Palace, nearest tube Crystal Palace. Surviving terraces and sphinxes of the 1851 Great Exhibition palace. (Free)
London Wall — City of London, nearest tube Tower Hill. Surviving fragments of the Roman and medieval city wall. (Free)
Broad Street Cholera Pump (John Snow Memorial) — Soho, nearest tube Oxford Circus. Replica pump marking the 1854 epidemic that founded epidemiology. (Free)
Crystal Palace Dinosaurs — Crystal Palace, nearest tube Crystal Palace. Grade I-listed Victorian dinosaur sculptures in the park. (Free) Official site
Peter Pan Statue — Kensington Gardens, nearest tube Lancaster Gate. 1912 bronze of Peter Pan on the spot from the book. (Free)
London Necropolis Railway Station — Waterloo, nearest tube Waterloo. Surviving facade of the station that once carried the dead to Brookwood. (Free, exterior only)
Site of Execution Dock — Wapping, nearest tube Wapping. Riverside spot where pirates were hanged, marked by a replica gallows. (Free)
The London Stone — City of London, nearest tube Cannon Street. Ancient stone of mysterious origin set behind glass in a Cannon Street wall. (Free)
Battersea Power Station — Battersea, nearest tube Battersea Power Station. Restored Art Deco power station, now shops and public space. (Free, chimney lift paid) Official site
Temple Bar Memorial Dragon — City of London, nearest tube Temple. Fierce dragon statue marking the old western gate of the City. (Free)
Tyburn Tree Marker — Marylebone, nearest tube Marble Arch. Plaque marking the site of London's public gallows for nearly 600 years. (Free)
Allies Sculpture — Mayfair, nearest tube Bond Street. Bronze bench of Churchill and Roosevelt mid-conversation. (Free)
Sir Richard Burton's Tent-Tomb — Mortlake, nearest tube Mortlake. Stone Bedouin tent tomb of the controversial Victorian explorer. (Free)
The Theatre (Shakespeare's first playhouse) — Shoreditch, nearest tube Shoreditch High Street. Plaques marking the site of Shakespeare's first theatre. (Free)
William Wallace Memorial — Smithfield, nearest tube Barbican. Plaque near the spot where the Scottish leader was executed. (Free)
The First Public Drinking Fountain — City of London, nearest tube St Paul's. London's first free public drinking fountain, on Holborn Viaduct railings. (Free)
Traitors' Gate — Tower Hill, nearest tube Tower Hill. Watergate where condemned prisoners entered the Tower, seen from the riverside. (Free, from Thames Path)
Boadicea and Her Daughters — Westminster, nearest tube Westminster. Bronze of the warrior queen in her chariot by Westminster Bridge. (Free)
Roman Wharf Timber — City of London, nearest tube Monument. 2,000-year-old timber tucked into the old London Bridge approach. (Free)
William Blake's Home — Lambeth, nearest tube Lambeth North. Tribute marking where the poet created much of his work. (Free, exterior only)
Tomb of the Unknown London Girl — City of London, nearest tube Aldgate. Roman teenager's remains memorialised beside the Gherkin. (Free)
Golden Hinde (exterior) — Bankside, nearest tube London Bridge. Full-size replica of Drake's galleon at St Mary Overie Dock. (Free, exterior free · boarding paid) Official site
Brown Dog Statue — Battersea, nearest tube Battersea Park. Memorial to a dog at the heart of historic anti-vivisection riots. (Free)
Container City — Trinity Buoy Wharf, nearest tube East India (DLR). Colourful modular buildings made from stacked shipping containers. (Free)
York Water Gate — Embankment, nearest tube Embankment. 1626 watergate showing how far the Thames once reached inland. (Free)
Aldgate Pump — Aldgate, nearest tube Aldgate. Historic City water pump tied to a Victorian poisoning scandal. (Free)
Animals in War Memorial — Mayfair, nearest tube Marble Arch. Striking Park Lane memorial to animals lost in war. (Free)
A Conversation With Oscar Wilde — Charing Cross, nearest tube Charing Cross. Reclining sculpture of Wilde with a coffin-shaped bench. (Free)
Tower of London Menagerie Sculptures — Tower Hill, nearest tube Tower Hill. Wire animal sculptures recalling the Tower's former royal zoo. (Free)
Cleopatra's Needle — Embankment, nearest tube Embankment. Ancient Egyptian obelisk on the Thames still bearing WWI shrapnel scars. (Free)
S.O.E. Monument — Lambeth, nearest tube Lambeth North. Bronze bust honouring WWII Special Operations Executive agents. (Free)
Remains of the Old London Bridge — Hackney, nearest tube Hackney Wick. Stone alcoves salvaged from medieval London Bridge, now in Victoria Park. (Free)
Quantum Cloud — North Greenwich, nearest tube North Greenwich. Antony Gormley's tallest sculpture, standing beside the O2. (Free)
The Coronation Stone — Kingston, nearest tube Kingston. Ancient stone where seven Anglo-Saxon kings were said to be crowned. (Free)
The Golden Boy at Pye Corner — Smithfield, nearest tube Barbican. Gilded statue marking where the Great Fire of London stopped. (Free)
Memorial to the Women of WWII — Whitehall, nearest tube Westminster. Bronze monument of empty uniforms honouring wartime women. (Free)
Henry VIII Gatehouse Statue — Smithfield, nearest tube Barbican. London's only public statue of Henry VIII, above a hospital gate. (Free)
Brixton Windmill — Brixton, nearest tube Brixton. A working 200-year-old windmill surviving in the middle of the city. (Free, grounds free · tours paid) Official site
Strand Lane 'Roman Baths' — Temple, nearest tube Temple. A 17th-century cistern long passed off as an ancient Roman bath. (Free, through the window)
Memorial to Mahomet Weyonomon — Southwark, nearest tube London Bridge. Sculpture honouring a Mohegan chief, beside Southwark Cathedral. (Free)
St Augustine's Tower — Hackney, nearest tube Hackney Central. Hackney's oldest building, a medieval church tower with original clockworks. (Free, interior on open days)
Charlton House — Charlton, nearest tube Charlton. Jacobean mansion whose grounds hold one of England's oldest mulberry trees. (Free, grounds free)

Churches & Cathedrals

Temple Church — Temple, nearest tube Temple. Round 12th-century church built by the Knights Templar. (Free) Official site
St Paul's Cathedral — City of London, nearest tube St Paul's. Wren's iconic domed masterpiece. (Free, free for a service) Official site
Southwark Cathedral — Southwark, nearest tube London Bridge. Gothic cathedral by Borough Market where Shakespeare's brother is buried. (Free, donation welcome) Official site
Westminster Cathedral — Victoria, nearest tube Victoria. England's principal Catholic cathedral in Byzantine red-and-white brick. (Free, campanile lift paid) Official site
St Martin-in-the-Fields — Trafalgar Square, nearest tube Charing Cross. Landmark Georgian church on Trafalgar Square with a crypt cafe. (Free) Official site
St Bride's Church — City of London, nearest tube Blackfriars. Wren's journalists' church with the tallest City spire. (Free) Official site
St Stephen Walbrook — City of London, nearest tube Bank. Wren's domed prototype for St Paul's, his own parish church. (Free) Official site
St Mary-le-Bow — City of London, nearest tube Mansion House. Wren church whose Bow Bells define a true Cockney. (Free) Official site
St Bartholomew-the-Great — City of London, nearest tube Barbican. London's oldest surviving church (1123), a Norman gem and film location. (Free) Official site
St James's Church Piccadilly — Piccadilly, nearest tube Piccadilly Circus. Wren church with a Grinling Gibbons font where Blake was baptised. (Free) Official site
Brompton Oratory — South Kensington, nearest tube South Kensington. Grand Victorian Italianate Catholic church with imported Italian statuary. (Free) Official site
St Magnus the Martyr — City of London, nearest tube Monument. Wren church with a famous model of old London Bridge. (Free)
St Olave Hart Street — City of London, nearest tube Tower Hill. Medieval church, burial place of Samuel Pepys. (Free)
Christ Church Spitalfields — Spitalfields, nearest tube Liverpool Street. Hawksmoor's towering Baroque masterpiece. (Free) Official site
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Neasden Temple) — Neasden, nearest tube Stonebridge Park. Astonishing hand-carved marble and limestone Hindu temple. (Free) Official site
St Pancras Old Church & Churchyard — Somers Town, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. One of England's oldest Christian sites, with a leafy churchyard and the former Hardy Tree. (Free)
St Nicholas Church Memento Mori — Deptford, nearest tube Deptford. Skull-and-crossbones gate carvings reminding visitors of mortality. (Free)
Church of Notre Dame de France — Leicester Square, nearest tube Leicester Square. Circular church hiding colourful Jean Cocteau murals. (Free) Official site
Hand of St Etheldreda — Holborn, nearest tube Farringdon. One of England's oldest Catholic churches, holding a 7th-century saint's hand. (Free)

Libraries

Daunt Books Marylebone — Marylebone, nearest tube Baker Street. Edwardian travel bookshop with long oak galleries and a stained-glass window. (Free) Official site
British Library piazza & building — St Pancras, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. UK's national library with free exhibition spaces and a Grade I-listed interior. (Free) Official site
Barbican Library — City of London, nearest tube Barbican. Public lending library within the Brutalist Barbican with garden views. (Free)
National Poetry Library — South Bank, nearest tube Waterloo. World's largest public poetry collection on the 5th floor of the Royal Festival Hall. (Free) Official site
BFI Reuben Library — South Bank, nearest tube Waterloo. Film and moving-image library with wood-lined interiors. (Free) Official site
Canada Water Library — Rotherhithe, nearest tube Canada Water. Striking inverted-pyramid library overhanging the dock. (Free)
Guildhall Library — City of London, nearest tube St Paul's. Free public library of London history with items dating to the 15th century. (Free) Official site
Chained Library, Chelsea Old Church — Chelsea, nearest tube Sloane Square. Rare chained books in a historic riverside church. (Free)

Riverside & Canals

Little Venice — Maida Vale, nearest tube Warwick Avenue. Tranquil canal junction of narrowboats, cafes and willow-lined water. (Free)
Regent's Canal Towpath — Camden/Islington, nearest tube Camden Town. 8.6-mile towpath from Little Venice to Limehouse passing the zoo, Camden and King's Cross. (Free)
South Bank / Queen's Walk — South Bank, nearest tube Waterloo. Thames-side promenade past the London Eye, with public art and skyline views. (Free) Official site
St Katharine Docks — Tower Hill, nearest tube Tower Hill. Pretty marina of yachts, cafes and historic warehouses beside the Tower. (Free) Official site
Limehouse Basin — Limehouse, nearest tube Limehouse (DLR). Tranquil marina where Regent's Canal meets the Thames. (Free)

Walks

Brick Lane Street Art — Shoreditch, nearest tube Shoreditch High Street. Ever-changing open-air gallery of murals by Banksy, Stik and others. (Free, self-guided)
Shoreditch Street Art — Shoreditch, nearest tube Old Street. Dense concentration of world-class murals around Redchurch and Rivington Streets. (Free, self-guided)
Thames Path (Central London) — Various, nearest tube Westminster. Riverside path linking Westminster, Bankside and the Tower with landmark views. (Free)
Parkland Walk — Crouch End, nearest tube Finsbury Park. Disused-railway nature trail with a famous spriggan sculpture. (Free)
William Blake Mosaics — Lambeth, nearest tube Lambeth North. Open-air mosaic gallery honouring Blake near Waterloo. (Free)
Scenes from the Frost Fair — Bankside, nearest tube London Bridge. Murals of the parties once held on the frozen Thames, under Southwark Bridge. (Free)

Cultural Spaces

Two Temple Place — Temple, nearest tube Temple. Opulent neo-Gothic mansion open free during its winter exhibitions. (Free, seasonal, approx Jan-Apr) Official site
Southbank Centre / Royal Festival Hall — South Bank, nearest tube Waterloo. Riverside arts complex with free foyer exhibitions, performances and river views. (Free, foyer spaces) Official site
Changing of the Guard — St James's, nearest tube Green Park. Famous ceremony of red-tunicked guards at Buckingham Palace. (Free, check schedule) Official site
Changing of the King's Life Guard, Horse Guards — Whitehall, nearest tube Charing Cross. Mounted Household Cavalry ceremony, quieter than Buckingham Palace. (Free)
Speakers' Corner — Hyde Park, nearest tube Marble Arch. Historic free-speech forum at the NE corner of Hyde Park. (Free)
Longplayer — Trinity Buoy Wharf, nearest tube East India (DLR). 1,000-year-long musical composition playing inside a lighthouse. (Free, open weekends)
Ceremony of the Keys — Tower Hill, nearest tube Tower Hill. Nightly 700-year-old locking ritual at the Tower of London. (Free, advance booking)

Hidden Gems

St Dunstan in the East — City of London, nearest tube Monument. Bombed-out Wren church reborn as a lush public garden among the ruins. (Free)
Cross Bones Garden — Southwark, nearest tube Borough. Memorial garden on a medieval paupers' and Winchester Geese burial ground. (Free, limited hours)
Neal's Yard — Covent Garden, nearest tube Covent Garden. Tiny, riotously colourful courtyard of cafes and shops off Seven Dials. (Free)
Leake Street Arches (Graffiti Tunnel) — Waterloo, nearest tube Waterloo. Legal graffiti tunnel under Waterloo station, started by Banksy in 2008. (Free, paint welcome)
God's Own Junkyard — Walthamstow, nearest tube Walthamstow Central. Dazzling warehouse of salvaged neon art. (Free, Fri-Sun only) Official site
Word on the Water — King's Cross, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. Floating bookshop on a 1920s Dutch barge on Regent's Canal. (Free) Official site
Seven Noses of Soho — Soho, nearest tube Tottenham Court Road. Seven plaster noses stuck to buildings in 1997 as a CCTV protest; a free self-guided scavenger hunt. (Free)
Wilton's Music Hall — Wapping, nearest tube Tower Hill. The world's oldest surviving music hall with atmospheric crumbling Victorian interiors. (Free, shows ticketed) Official site
Rolling Bridge, Paddington Basin — Paddington, nearest tube Paddington. Thomas Heatherwick's curling octagonal bridge that unfurls to let boats pass. (Free, curls up Fridays)
The London Model (Building Centre) — Bloomsbury, nearest tube Goodge Street. Interactive 1:2000 scale model of London with touchscreens, inside New London Architecture. (Free)
Eel Pie Island — Twickenham, nearest tube Twickenham. Tiny bohemian Thames island of artists' studios with a 60s music history. (Free, open days only, approx Jun & Dec)
Twinings Tea Shop — Strand, nearest tube Temple. 300-year-old tea shop with a narrow free museum at the back. (Free)
Platform 9 3/4 — Kings Cross, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. Trolley vanishing into the wall at King's Cross station. (Free, official photo paid) Official site
Goodwin's Court — Covent Garden, nearest tube Leicester Square. Hidden Dickensian alley of curved gaslit bow-fronted shopfronts. (Free)
Banksy's Designated Graffiti Area — Shoreditch, nearest tube Old Street. Banksy stencil granting artistic licence on a designated graffiti wall. (Free)
Traffic Light Tree — Canary Wharf, nearest tube Canary Wharf. Pierre Vivant public sculpture of 75 working traffic lights. (Free)
Hoxton Street Monster Supplies — Hoxton, nearest tube Hoxton. Joke shop of supplies for monsters that funds a children's writing charity. (Free) Official site
Embassy of the Republic of Texas plaque — St James's, nearest tube Green Park. Pickering Place plaque marking the former Texas legation. (Free)
London's Lilliputian Police Station — Trafalgar Square, nearest tube Charing Cross. Britain's tiniest police post built into a Trafalgar Square wall. (Free)
Earl's Court Police Box — Earl's Court, nearest tube Earl's Court. A real TARDIS-style blue police box outside the station. (Free)
Philpot Lane Mice Sculpture — City of London, nearest tube Monument. London's smallest public sculpture: two mice eating cheese. (Free)
Greenwich Prime Meridian (park line) — Greenwich, nearest tube Cutty Sark (DLR). The true 0-degree meridian line, free in the park (Observatory line paid). (Free)
David Bowie Graffiti Mural — Brixton, nearest tube Brixton. Aladdin Sane tribute mural near Bowie's birthplace. (Free)
Out of Order — Kingston, nearest tube Kingston. David Mach's toppling-dominoes sculpture of red phone boxes. (Free)
Public Standards of Length — Trafalgar Square, nearest tube Charing Cross. Brass imperial measurement standards set into Trafalgar Square. (Free)
Ziggy Stardust Plaque — Soho, nearest tube Piccadilly Circus. Heddon Street plaque marking the Ziggy Stardust album cover spot. (Free)
Crystal Palace Subway — Crystal Palace, nearest tube Crystal Palace. Ornate Victorian tiled subway hidden beneath a busy road. (Free, open days only) Official site
London Underground Labyrinths — Various, nearest tube King's Cross St Pancras. Mark Wallinger enamel labyrinth artworks, one at each of the 270 Tube stations. (Free, Tube ticket for platforms)
'Treatment Rooms' Mosaic House — Archway, nearest tube Archway. Suburban house completely covered in vibrant handmade mosaics. (Free, exterior only)
The Lost River Fleet — Clerkenwell, nearest tube Farringdon. Hear London's largest buried river through a street grate on Ray Street. (Free)
Monument to Hodge the Cat — City of London, nearest tube Chancery Lane. Bronze of Dr Johnson's beloved cat in Gough Square. (Free)
Audley Square Spy Lamp Post — Mayfair, nearest tube Hyde Park Corner. Lamp post said to have been a Cold War KGB dead-letter drop. (Free)
The Naked Ladies (York House Gardens) — Twickenham, nearest tube Twickenham. Mysterious nude statues by a waterfall in a free riverside garden. (Free)
David Bowie's Childhood Home — Brixton, nearest tube Brixton. The humble Brixton flat where Bowie grew up. (Free, exterior only)
The Deadhouse (Somerset House) — Strand, nearest tube Temple. Vault of old tombstones beneath the courtyard of Somerset House. (Free)
Signs of Old Lombard Street — City of London, nearest tube Bank. Last surviving ornate hanging signs of London's historic banking street. (Free)
Alfred Hitchcock's London Flat — Leytonstone, nearest tube Leytonstone. Blue-plaque flat where the director lived from 1926 to 1939. (Free, exterior only)
Love Locks of East London — Shoreditch, nearest tube Shoreditch High Street. Padlock-covered fence where couples leave their names. (Free)
Elfin Oak — Kensington Gardens, nearest tube Lancaster Gate. Ancient oak carved with elves, gnomes and folklore creatures. (Free)
The Navigators — London Bridge, nearest tube London Bridge. Ship-sized kinetic bronze sculpture in Hay's Galleria. (Free)
Urine Deflectors of Fleet Street — City of London, nearest tube Temple. Angled 19th-century ledges built to stop public urination. (Free)
K2 Telephone Box Prototype — Piccadilly, nearest tube Piccadilly Circus. The original wooden prototype of the red phone box, under the Royal Academy arch. (Free)
Black Cats of Carreras Cigarette Factory — Mornington Crescent, nearest tube Mornington Crescent. Egyptian-revival factory guarded by giant black cat statues. (Free)
Leinster Gardens False Facades — Bayswater, nearest tube Bayswater. Fake house fronts hiding an open Tube line cutting. (Free)
Cabmen's Shelter, Russell Square — Bloomsbury, nearest tube Russell Square. Tiny green Victorian hut still serving London's cab drivers. (Free)
Metropolitan Police Coat Hook — City of London, nearest tube St Paul's. Street hook installed for traffic police to hang their heavy coats. (Free)
Jeremy Bentham's Auto-Icon — Bloomsbury, nearest tube Euston Square. The preserved, seated body of the philosopher on display at UCL. (Free)
Tower Bridge Chimney — Tower Hill, nearest tube Tower Hill. A working chimney disguised as a lamp post on Tower Bridge. (Free)
Pink Floyd Plaque — Fitzrovia, nearest tube Oxford Circus. Plaque marking where the band formed, on Regent Street. (Free)
London's Stretcher Railings — Kennington, nearest tube Oval. Estate fences made from recycled WWII ARP stretchers. (Free)
Vauxhall Bridge's Miniature St Paul's — Vauxhall, nearest tube Vauxhall. Tiny St Paul's held by a bronze statue on the side of the bridge. (Free)
The Soho Square Hut — Soho, nearest tube Tottenham Court Road. Mock-Tudor hut in the middle of Soho Square hiding electrical gear. (Free)
Smith Square WWII Ghost Sign — Westminster, nearest tube Westminster. Faded painted sign pointing to a wartime air-raid shelter. (Free)
Dick Whittington's Cat — Highgate, nearest tube Archway. Statue marking where the legendary mayor turned back to London. (Free)
Carting Lane Sewer Lamp — Strand, nearest tube Charing Cross. A gas lamp historically powered by methane from the sewers. (Free)
The Cornhill Devils — City of London, nearest tube Bank. Devil sculptures placed on a building to spite a Victorian vicar. (Free)
I Goat — Spitalfields, nearest tube Liverpool Street. Balancing goat sculpture honouring the area's migrant population. (Free)
Coade Stone Caryatids — Euston, nearest tube Euston. Greek-style stone maidens adorning St Pancras New Church. (Free)
Tower Bridge's Dead Man's Hole — Tower Hill, nearest tube Tower Hill. Riverside alcove once used to recover bodies from the Thames. (Free)
Whitefriars Crypt — City of London, nearest tube Blackfriars. Medieval monastery crypt preserved beneath an office in Magpie Alley. (Free)
London School of Hygiene Disease Frieze — Bloomsbury, nearest tube Goodge Street. Art Deco frieze of gilded disease-carrying insects on the building facade. (Free)
The Ferryman's Seat — Bankside, nearest tube London Bridge. Last surviving stone perch once used by Thames boatmen. (Free)
The Fortnum & Mason Clock — Piccadilly, nearest tube Green Park. Mechanical clock whose founder figures emerge and bow on the hour. (Free)
Millennium Bridge Gum Art — Bankside, nearest tube St Paul's. Tiny paintings on flattened chewing gum along the bridge by Ben Wilson. (Free)
Michael Faraday Memorial — Elephant & Castle, nearest tube Elephant & Castle. Mirrored Brutalist box housing a Tube transformer, honouring Faraday. (Free)
Queen Caroline's Bath — Greenwich, nearest tube Cutty Sark (DLR). Surviving sunken plunge pool of a rowdy royal residence. (Free)
Marc Bolan's Rock Shrine — Barnes, nearest tube Barnes. Roadside shrine kept by fans at the spot of the rock star's death. (Free)
Street Cat Bob Memorial Statue — Islington, nearest tube Angel. Bronze tribute to the famous literary feline. (Free)
Chequer Street Wooden Paving — City of London, nearest tube Old Street. One of the last surviving patches of London's old wooden street paving. (Free)
10 Adam Street — Strand, nearest tube Charing Cross. A front door that is an accidental double of No. 10 Downing Street. (Free)
London Silver Vaults — Holborn, nearest tube Chancery Lane. Subterranean vault of dealers holding a huge collection of retail silver. (Free) Official site
Whitechapel Fatberg Manhole Cover — Whitechapel, nearest tube Aldgate East. Commemorative manhole cover saluting London's fatberg-busting crews. (Free)
V&A WWII Battle Scars — South Kensington, nearest tube South Kensington. Shrapnel pockmarks left on the museum's facade by the Blitz. (Free)
Monument to the Unknown Artist — Bankside, nearest tube Southwark. A public statue that mimics the movements of passers-by. (Free)
Epstein's Medical Sculptures — Strand, nearest tube Charing Cross. Carved figures on Zimbabwe House that once scandalised London. (Free)
V&A Dog Memorials — South Kensington, nearest tube South Kensington. Little-known tributes to two celebrity dogs in the museum courtyard. (Free)