Borough Market
Borough Market is London's oldest food market, trading since the 13th century beneath the Victorian railway arches by London Bridge in London. Entry is free.
Museum in London
National Portrait Gallery
Partly free, partly paidSome of it costs nothing, some of it charges.
The National Portrait Gallery sits just off Trafalgar Square, next to the National Gallery, and holds portraits of the people who shaped British history, from Tudor monarchs to contemporary musicians and athletes. Entry to the permanent collection is free. The gallery reopened in 2023 after a three-year renovation that gave it a new main entrance and a rooftop restaurant, so the building is worth a look in its own right.
Budget travelers visit for free and see the faces behind the names they learned in school: Shakespeare, Elizabeth I, the Brontes, Churchill, and a wall of living British culture. Temporary special exhibitions are ticketed, but the permanent galleries that hold the famous portraits cost nothing, so it is easy to spend an hour here without paying anything.
The location makes it one of the best free stops in central London. The National Gallery is right next door on Trafalgar Square, so the two free collections pair into a single afternoon. Pure painting fans can keep the streak going at Tate Britain and Tate Modern, the Wallace Collection, or the British Museum, all of which let visitors into their main collections for free.
Practical
Before you go
- Address
- Orange Street, WC2H 0HE London
- Good to know
Nearby
More in London
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is the heart of London's Bangladeshi community, a curry-house spine through Shoreditch and Spitalfields that doubles as the city's loudest open-air street-art gallery. Free to walk, and one of the best-value corners of East London for a budget traveler.
British Museum
The British Museum in Bloomsbury is one of the greatest museums in the world, and entry to the permanent collection is completely free. The Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles, the Egyptian mummies, and the Enlightenment Gallery are all here.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch and one of the city's signature free sights. Nobody pays to stand at the gates, photograph the famous balcony, or watch the Changing of the Guard, which makes it a reliable anchor for a no-cost day in central London.
Camden Market
Camden Market is a sprawling complex of connected markets, stalls, and food vendors around Camden Lock in Camden Town, north London. Free to enter, and one of the city's most visited attractions. For a budget traveler it is a full afternoon that costs nothing until the moment a street-food box is bought.
Columbia Road Flower Market
Columbia Road Flower Market is a Sunday-only street market in Shoreditch, East London, where vendors pack a narrow Victorian street with flowers, plants, bulbs, and garden supplies. Free to walk and browse, and one of the cheaper ways to spend a Sunday morning in the East End, especially when paired with Brick Lane a short walk south.
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