Free things to do in London that are actually worth your time

A lot of "free things to do" lists pad themselves out with walking past buildings you were going to walk past anyway. These are things you would happily pay for.

The big national museums

Permanent collections at the major national museums are free to enter. That includes world-class collections of art, antiquities and natural history. Temporary exhibitions are ticketed, but you can spend an entire afternoon in the permanent galleries without paying anything.

Go late in the day if you dislike crowds. Many are quietest in the last two hours before closing, and some open late one evening a week.

The parks, properly

Not a walk through a park on your way somewhere — an actual afternoon. The royal parks are large enough to get lost in, and each has a different character. Bring something to eat rather than buying it inside, where the cafés are priced for a captive audience.

The views that cost nothing

Several high viewpoints in the city are free if you book a slot in advance, and the hills in the north of the city give you the skyline without a ticket or a lift queue. The paid observation decks are not meaningfully better than the free ones.

Markets you are not buying at

Wandering a food market without spending is a perfectly good hour. The same goes for the flower market on a Sunday morning, which is worth seeing even if you are not carrying a plant home.

Changing of the guard and similar

Free, famous, and packed. If you want to see it, arrive well before it starts and accept that you will be behind several rows of people. If you would not have sought it out at home, it is fine to skip.

One thing to know about "free"

Museums that are free to enter rely heavily on donations, and the suggested amount is usually displayed at the door. Giving something, if you can, is what keeps the door open.