London

High idea density. A perfect mix of energy, architecture, science, art and entrepreneurship; a mix of big city vibes, historic villages and expansive green spaces. Many things to see and do for free. I believe London is the best place in the world.

1. Events (mostly free)

  • Open House Festival in September - celebration of London’s architecture and neighbourhoods. Best stuff requires booking and it gets very competitive, be ready when the bookings open. But even if you have no bookings, it is always a fun weekend - filter by activity type “drop in” (buildings of “architectural practice” type are especially fun), explore areas further out where things are less busy, or try your luck joining booked out tours in case there are no-shows.
  • London Gallery Weekend in early June - a weekend when private art galleries encourage everyone to visit; a great opportunity to explore many galleries with no expectation of buying anything. My favourites include Maddox Gallery, Gagosian (Grosvenor Hill), Waddington Custot, Thaddaeus Ropac, Gazelli Art House, Galerie Max Hetzler, White Cube Mason’s Yard and Bowman Sculpture. This weekend is also a great opportunity to visit Christie’s London (King Street) and Sotheby’s London (New Bond Street).
  • London Festival of Architecture in June.
  • Isabella Plantation in May - gorgeous rhododendrons in bloom (explore all 3 ponds). Located inside Richmond Park, where you can find deer with huge antlers.
  • The Canary Wharf Winter Lights Festival in January (evenings).
  • Public lectures at UCL, LSE, KCL and Imperial (and their Lates).
  • Tours by Hidden London (not free) - I loved the tour of Aldwych station. Next on my wishlist - tours of Baker Street station and Clapham South.
  • If you are in London on Saturday morning, join in for one of many ParkRuns.
  • Check Londonist and Secret London for events on a specific week.

2. London neighbourhoods

I very roughly divided London into 20 parts and listed my favourite things in each one.

3. Museums, exhibitions and art (indoors, mostly free)

  • Science Museum and their Lates. Book free tickets in advance.
  • London Transport Museum Depot open for pre-booked guided tours and open days.
  • Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum London. Book free tickets in advance.
  • Churchill War Rooms (not free).
  • Royal Observatory Greenwich (not free).
  • National Theatre Archive - here you can watch recordings of all London theatre productions that are no longer showing on stage, for free. Booking required for specific time and a specific production you want to see. Also check out BFI Mediatheque (free).

4. Other stuff (mostly outdoors, mostly free)

Bird’s eye views of London:

  • Horizon 22 - London’s highest observation deck (58th floor). Book free tickets in advance, bring binoculars. If no tickets available, try The Lookout or Sky Garden. There is really no need to pay for The View from The Shard or London Eye.

Architecture:

  • Westminster (including postcard classics): Parliament Square Garden with views of Big Ben, Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey; Westminster Cathedral, Marble Arch and Wellington Arch, beautiful mews. The most efficient self-guided sightseeing tour of London by Secret London starts from around here.
  • Liverpool Street (tall buildings).
  • King’s Cross (new neighbourhood): Gasholder Park, Coal Drops Yard, St Pancras Station, Keystone Crescent.
  • Battersea (new neighbourhood): Battersea Power Station and surrounding residential buildings.
  • Canary Wharf (tall buildings).
  • Greenwich: areas around Queen’s House (old) and North Greenwich Station (new).
  • Indian temples (especially worth seeing if you’ve not yet been to India): BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London (marble and wood) and Shri Sanatan Hindu Mandir (limestone) in Wembley; London Sri Mahalakshmi Temple (South Indian) in East Ham.
  • Take a ferry (not free) to Woolwich to pass through the Thames Barrier (51.496888, 0.037287).

Street art:

  • Areas to explore include Shoreditch (Brick lane, Whitecross street and much more), Camden, Brixton, Hackney Wick. Look out for works by Dan Kitchener and Stik.

Gardens and parks:

  • Kew Gardens (not free) - one of the best botanical gardens in the world. Arrive at the opening time, as one day is not enough to see everything. Check the schedule of free walking tours at the information desk inside the main gift shop. Don’t miss the art galleries (included with the entrance ticket) - Marianne North Gallery (permanent exhibition) and Shirley Sherwood Gallery (temporary exhibitions) are both excellent. Check out the Cambridge Cottage and Duke’s Garden in front of it, if they are not rented out for an event. Check the website for evening events - spending time at Kew in the dark is truly magical.
  • Richmond Park. Find the deer with huge antlers. Explore Isabella Plantation with 3 ponds (the best time to visit is in May when rhododendrons are in bloom).
  • Regent’s Canal. From Angel station it goes east to Victoria Park. From there you can continue south to Limehouse or north to Olympic Park from which you can continue north along the River Lee or south to Royal Observatory Greenwich (crossing under the Thames via Greenwich foot tunnel). In the opposite direction, from King’s Cross, Regent’s Canal goes west past Wembley, and you can follow it all the way to Slough or Kew Bridge. Both directions (east from Angel and west from King’s Cross) are excellent for running and all-day walks.
  • Hampstead Heath - huge park extending into Highgate Wood in the north and Golders Hill Park in the west.
  • All central London parks are excellent - Victoria Embankment Gardens, St James’s Park, Green Park, Hyde Park, Regent’s Park. Primrose Hill is a perfect spot for a picnic and/or sunset watching. When roses are in bloom, don’t miss Queen Mary’s Rose Gardens in Regent’s Park and Hyde Park Rose Garden. In spring, don’t miss the daffodils in St James’s Park.

5. Cuisines of the world (most places require booking ahead)

African:

  • Chuku’s in Walthamstow - Nigerian tapas, many vegan options.
  • Akoko in Soho - modern West African. Tasting menu with a vegan option.
  • Sabiib Somali Restaurant Acton - awesome Somali flavours.
  • Ethiopian food can be found in many places (many vegan options; not suitable for people with trypophobia) - great ones include Laza Eritrean Ethiopian Restaurant and Andu Ethiopian in Dalston, Merkato in King’s Cross.

Asian:

  • Tofu Vegan - vegan Chinese. Several locations.
  • Mali Vegan Thai in Kensington - vegan Thai.
  • Eat Vietnam Bar B Grill 1 in Greenwich - great Vietnamese food.

European:

  • Yum Bug Restaurant - the future is tasty. A must-try!
  • Casa Fofó in Dalston - tasting menu with a focus on local and seasonal. Vegetarian option available.
  • Nest in Liverpool Street - tasting menu that celebrates British vegetables. The menu is vegetarian during their vegetable season.
  • Silo London in Hackney - tasting menu. They mill their own flour and make their own butter; and aim to eliminate food waste, so expect ice cream made from leftover sourdough bread.
  • EDIT in Hackney - vegan restaurant with a focus on local and seasonal; low on waste and environmental impact.
  • Naifs in Peckham - cosy vegan restaurant.
  • NOPI in Soho - by Yotam Ottolenghi.
  • Tendril in Soho - naughty vegan restaurant (with a bit of cheese). Tasting menu is an option.
  • Towpath in Islington - lovely outdoor restaurant on the canal in Islington, perfect for lunch or a dinner on a warm summer evening.

Indian:

  • Rambutan in Southbank - Sri Lankan.
  • Kachori in Southbank - North Indian.
  • Kricket (Soho and Canary Wharf) - modern North Indian.
  • Vasanta Bhavan Wembley - South Indian.
  • Dishoom King’s Cross. I’m not sure why there is so much hype about this North Indian restaurant chain, but this specific location is truly special - a warehouse where goods and spices arrived from Bombay in the 1930s.
  • Masala Zone Piccadilly Circus in Soho. Another North Indian restaurant chain, but this specific location is magnificent - the dining room of the historic Criterion building.
  • Chettinad Restaurant in Soho - South Indian.

Italian:

  • Oi Vita Pizzeria - awesome pizza, many vegan options.
  • Zia Lucia - great pizzas, including their famous charcoal crust. Several locations.

Latin American:

  • Jam Delish in Islington - vegan Caribbean.
  • supperclub.tube in Walthamstow - Latin American inspired tasting menu. A unique experience of dining on a 1967 Victoria Line tube carriage.

Mexican:

  • Club Mexicana (Spitalfields and Soho) - vegan Mexican.

Middle-Eastern:

  • Bubala (Spitalfields and Soho) - vegan or vegetarian tasting menu.
  • Berber & Q Grill House in Dalston - Middle-eastern flavours. Their Berber & Q Shawarma Bar in Islington is also good.
  • Persepolis in Peckham - Persian vegetarian restaurant. The Feast menu is packed with flavours.

Pastries:

  • The Dusty Knuckle Bakery in Dalston.
  • In Hackney: Forno, Pophams (several locations), Pavilion Bakery (several locations), E5 Bakehouse, The Snapery East, Yeast Bakery.
  • Qima Cafe in Soho, the destination for both pastries and coffee.
  • Little Bread Pedlar - several locations. Café Pedlar in Southbank is good.
  • Sourdough Sophia.

Gelato:

  • Udderlicious and Oddono’s - several locations.
  • In Soho: Gelupo and La Gelatiera.
  • Romeo & Giulietta Artisan Gelateria in Dalston.

Cocktails:

  • Places I’d try: Good Measure (cocktails with a Taiwanese twist), Funkidory.
  • Places I tried (and loved) long time ago: around Liverpool Street - Lounge Bohemia, Happiness Forgets, Looking Glass Cocktail Club (the cool bar is behind the mirror), The Gobpsy (Tue-Fri only; beneath a barber shop), City of London Distillery & Bar (gin-centric cocktails), Nightjar; The Natural Philosopher and The Last Tuesday Society & Absinthe Parlour in Hackney; Little Bat in Islington; Bar Termini (negronis) in Soho.
  • The Nudge has a great list of cocktail places in London.

6. Just outside London

  • Rampion Offshore Wind Farm tours (not free). I had a great experience with Sussex Boat Trips. For contrast, see Beacon Hill Windmill after the boat tour. If you are passing through Brighton, Burnt Orange is a truly outstanding restaurant.
  • Kempton Steam Museum (not free) - visit on a steaming weekend to see a huge steam engine in operation. The two engines inside are very similar to the ones on Titanic, so you might have seen them before in documentaries. To reach the museum from Kempton Park train station, walk to the gate at (51.425604, -0.406294), you might need to call them to open the gate.
  • Imperial War Museum Duxford (not free) - a huge museum of military and civilian aircraft. It has its own airfield!
  • In-person tours of Amazon fulfilment centres (free). Available locations vary, they are not always near London.
  • Seven sisters coastal hike from Seaford train station to Eastbourne train station along the coast.

Notes:

  • Public transport in the city works with bank card-based contactless payments, no need to buy anything in advance. Oyster cards are being phased out. The contactless payment area (which is now bigger than the area covered by Oyster cards) is expanding beyond London. It now includes three of London’s airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, London City), but you still have to buy a separate ticket in advance to reach the other three (Luton, Stansted, Southend). If you are in London for a while, register your bank card on the Transport for London website to be able to claim a refund if you get mischarged.