South Bank Riverside
london's free riverside stage
The liveliest stretch of the Thames Path, free, running past the London Eye, the arts centres and the skate park with street performers, book stalls and big river views the whole way.
Free to visit · South Bank · Waterloo · SE1 8XX
Opening: Always open
The stretch of the Thames Path along the South Bank, officially the Queen's Walk, is the most alive piece of riverside in London and almost all of it is free. It runs from the London Eye past the Southbank Centre, the National Theatre and the BFI down towards Tate Modern and the Globe, with the whole skyline of Westminster and the City laid out across the water.
It works like a free open-air stage. There are street performers and living statues, a famous graffiti-covered skate spot under the Queen Elizabeth Hall, a secondhand book market under the arches of Waterloo Bridge, and a constant flow of people just out for the walk and the view.
Nearly every cultural giant along it lets you in for nothing, the foyers of the Southbank Centre and National Theatre, the views from Tate Modern, so you can dip in and out of world-class culture and never spend a penny. It is the single best free walk in central London.
Getting there: A few minutes from Waterloo, Embankment over the Golden Jubilee bridges, or Southwark for the Tate Modern end.
Best time to go: Golden hour and into the evening, when the lights come on across the river and the buskers are in full flow.
Insider tip: Do it as the light fades. Start at the London Eye and walk east, ducking into the free foyers and the secondhand book market under Waterloo Bridge, and time it so the city is lighting up across the river by the time you reach the Tate Modern end.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide