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.
Cultural center in London
Southbank Centre
Partly free, partly paidSome of it costs nothing, some of it charges.
The Southbank Centre is a brutalist arts complex on the Thames, anchored by the Royal Festival Hall and joined by the Hayward Gallery and the BFI Southbank cinema. The buildings and their riverside foyers are free to enter, and they earn their space: free exhibitions, public pianos anyone can sit down and play, free lunchtime concerts, and the second-hand book market that runs under Waterloo Bridge in all weather. Only the evening concerts in the Royal Festival Hall and some Hayward Gallery shows are ticketed, so the default experience costs nothing. The Royal Festival Hall was built for the 1951 Festival of Britain and is now Grade I listed, the rare post-war building to earn that, which explains the concrete terraces and walkways. Budget travelers walk the free foyers, browse the book market, and catch a free lunchtime concert, then carry on along the South Bank toward Tate Modern for one of London’s densest free culture runs. It all sits in London, a city where free culture is the rule rather than the exception.
Practical
Before you go
- Address
- Southbank Centre Square, SE1 8XX 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.
Working out what London costs?
The whole of London