big day out, nothing spent
Free Things to Do With Kids in London
London is brilliant with kids for free. Dinosaurs, hands-on science, a Victorian aquarium full of curiosities, big green spaces to run off the energy and the guards in their bearskins, all for nothing.
FREE
Free Things to Do With Kids in London
LONDON FREE GUIDEThe list
1
Natural History Museum
South Kensington · South Kensington
The blue whale, the dinosaurs and a cathedral of a building, free in South Kensington. The most visited museum in the country.
Daily 10am–5:50pmFull details →
2
Science Museum
South Kensington · South Kensington
Seven floors of science and engineering, free in South Kensington. Apollo capsules, steam engines and hands-on halls.
Daily 10am–6pmFull details →
3
FREELONDON FREE GUIDE
Horniman Museum
Forest Hill · Forest Hill
A gloriously eccentric free museum in south London, home to the famously overstuffed walrus, plus sixteen acres of gardens with a proper skyline view.
Daily 10am–5:30pm · gardens open later in summerFull details →
4
FREELONDON FREE GUIDE
Young V&A
Bethnal Green · Bethnal Green
The V&A's brilliant, award-winning museum of childhood in Bethnal Green, free, packed with toys, games and hands-on design made for kids but a joy at any age.
Daily 10am–5:45pmFull details →
5
FREELONDON FREE GUIDE
Grant Museum of Zoology
Bloomsbury · Euston Square
A wonderfully old-fashioned, slightly eerie university museum near Euston, free, crammed with skeletons, jars and a glowing wall of tiny specimens called the Micrarium.
Check UCL listings · typically afternoons, closed weekendsFull details →
6
Hyde Park
Hyde Park · Hyde Park Corner
Three hundred and fifty acres of Royal Park in the middle of London, free, with a lake to row, a soapbox at Speakers' Corner and room to lose the whole city.
Daily 5am–midnightFull details →
7
Greenwich Park
Greenwich · Cutty Sark (DLR)
A royal park on a hill with a free view straight down the Thames to Canary Wharf, the meridian line and maritime Greenwich below.
Daily · dawn to duskFull details →
8
Changing of the Guard
St James's · Green Park
The full pageantry of red tunics, bearskins and a marching band swapping the guard at Buckingham Palace, free to watch if you know where to stand.
Selected mornings · usually from 10:45am · check the scheduleFull details →
More guides
Guide
Free
The stories hiding above Clerkenwell's pubs
A free ~45-minute walk from Angel to Farringdon past six Clerkenwell pub signs, each hiding a story you'd never guess from the street: a prince replaced by a Tamil king, a freed slave in chains, a mystery mural, the man who funded England's first atlas, and a 400-year-old typo. Every stop is free to look at, this is about the signs, not drinking.
Guide
FreeEvery weekend
Go East Vintage Flea: a free vintage market in Bermondsey
Go East Vintage runs a free vintage flea market most weekends at Maltby Street in Bermondsey, plus an indoor edition inside the railway arches on selected weekends. Free entry, no ticket, dog-friendly, just turn up. Expect 40 plus vintage sellers with furniture, vinyl, cameras, fashion, jewellery and odd little treasures, right by Maltby Street Market's food stalls. Dates move around a little, so check Go East Vintage's Instagram for the exact weekend before you go.
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