There's more to the capital than overpriced coffee and unaffordable housing. Leave your wallet at home, pick up this guide and have a golden time without spending any silver. These five activities prove the best things in life (and London) are free.
Sir John Soane's Museum
Holborn home of the maximalist architect
Gareth Gardner / Sir John Soane’s Museum
That you’re forced to decant your possessions into a transparent carrier bag before setting foot inside the museum is the first clue that this place is – to put it mildly – a bit eccentric. But cross the threshold of this confounding Tardis, and the bag actually makes a lot of sense. Impossibly narrow corridors, illuminating light shafts and hidden alcoves impart a disorienting effect that doesn’t always mix with Soane’s vast collection of precariously displayed archaeological artefacts. Still, by the time the labyrinthine one-way system spits you back out onto the street, you’ll no doubt be convinced that more is most definitely more (except when it comes to entry fees, anyway).
Gresham College Lectures
Degree-level learning without the fees
Liam Pearson @lundonlens / Gresham College
Got a thirst for knowledge (but no funds for college)? This charming institution might just be the City of London’s best-kept secret, and has been quietly offering free lectures to anyone who wants to learn for more than 400 years. While we’re not suggesting that an ad hoc programme of talks on wildly disparate subjects is any match for a formal university education, the sheer variety of subjects covered by Gresham’s lively lecturers should at the very least give you an edge when it comes to the local pub quiz. And if that’s not enough, the setting – a 13th-century oak-panelled hall accessed through a clandestine tunnel – will have you feeling every inch the Oxbridge scholar.
Barnard's Inn, EC1N 2HH
Chancery Lane
gresham.ac.uk
Grant Museum of Zoology
UCL's morbid menagerie
Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
What this diminutive museum lacks in square footage, it makes up for in pretty much everything else. Buckets of character? Check. Free entry? Check. One of the weirdest collections of objects you’ve ever laid eyes on? Well, unless you routinely ogle tightly-packed jars of moles and disembowelled monkeys, then check. And while hanging out in a room full of corpses might sound like a decidedly miserable way to pass an hour, the Grant’s 67,000-strong collection of skeletal, soused and/or squashed specimens is actually eerily beautiful and unexpectedly life-affirming – once you get over the initial ick.
Rockefeller Building, 21 University Street, WC1E 6D3
Euston Square
ucl.ac.uk
The Garden at 120
Serenity among the skyscrapers
Marco Kesseler
While the City of London’s largest roof garden is far from its most dizzying at just 15 floors up, this rooftop refuge still boasts some of the area’s most dramatic views from its midway vantage point. Snugly sandwiched between the Gherkin and Walkie Talkie buildings, the glass-walled, open-air viewing platform offers exceptional close-ups of London’s most architecturally noteworthy buildings, as well as 360-degree vistas stretching across the capital and beyond. Views aside, the garden’s relaxing water feature and lush landscaping mean it’s simply a really nice spot to spend time in, whether you’re planning a sky-high proposal or just looking to ‘elevate’ your lunch break.
120 Fenchurch Street, EC3M 5BA
Fenchurch Street, Monument
thegardenat120.com
Royal Academy of Music
Rousing recitals at a celebrated conservatoire
Adam Scott
As hobbies go, classical music appreciation isn’t renowned for its affordability, but Bach buffs on a budget needn’t despair: this 200-year-old conservatoire’s packed programme of free events means a bulging bank account isn’t a precondition for a full cultural calendar. While it might lack the ceremony of more formal venues, there’s a singular magic in ascending the Academy’s well-trodden steps, scaled by a chorus of famed alumni, and witnessing future superstars in their incubation. Free performances are generally small – expect intimate sonatas and cosy chamber works – but the students’ genius is undeniable, and the sheer variety of what’s on offer will be music to your ears.
Marylebone Road, NW1 5HT
Baker Street
ram.ac.uk
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