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
Natural History Museum
Partly free, partly paidSome of it costs nothing, some of it charges.
The Natural History Museum in South Kensington is a free museum in one of the most spectacular buildings in London, a Romanesque cathedral of terracotta and carved stone dedicated to the natural world. General admission is free. The building itself is part of the attraction: architect Alfred Waterhouse covered the facade and the cavernous central hall with sculpted plants and animals when it opened in 1881, so even the walls reward a slow look.
The blue whale skeleton hanging in the entrance hall, the dinosaur gallery, the Earth galleries, and the outdoor wildlife garden are all free to walk through. Budget travelers can easily spend a half day here without paying for anything except a coffee, and the museum sits in the cluster of three great free museums of South Kensington alongside the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum, which are also free to enter. Chain a couple of them together for a full free day, then walk five minutes north into Hyde Park for a no-cost picnic spot.
Only temporary special exhibitions carry a ticket price, and those rotate. Everything that draws the crowds, the dinosaurs, the whale, the volcano and earthquake galleries, is part of the free permanent collection. For travelers building a free London itinerary, this is a cornerstone stop, and it pairs naturally with the British Museum across town for a second free museum day.
Practical
Before you go
- Address
- Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD 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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