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
Tate Britain
FreeCosts nothing to visit.
Tate Britain on Millbank holds the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present, and general admission is free. It is the original Tate, opened in 1897 beside the Thames in Pimlico, and it tends to be calmer than its riverside sibling Tate Modern, which is good news for anyone who wants to look at art without a scrum.
The single best reason to come is the Turner collection in the Clore Gallery. Turner left the contents of his studio to the nation, and the result is the largest collection of his paintings anywhere in the world, all of it free to walk through. That alone is worth the trip. Beyond Turner the rooms run chronologically through five centuries of British painting, so it pairs well with the European collections at the free National Gallery and the free National Portrait Gallery for travelers building a no-cost art day.
Every autumn the gallery hosts the Turner Prize exhibition, Britain’s most talked-about contemporary art award, which is often included with free admission and is one of the cheapest ways to see what the country is arguing about that year. Only special temporary exhibitions carry a ticket price, and those are easy to skip if money is tight.
For getting between the two Tates, the Tate Boat runs along the Thames between Tate Britain and Tate Modern and turns the river into a sightseeing trip in its own right. It is a separately ticketed service rather than a free one, though holders of a valid Travelcard get a discount on the fare. The genuinely free version of the same idea is to see both permanent collections and walk the riverside in between, two national art museums in one day without paying for entry.
Practical
Before you go
- Address
- Millbank, SW1P 4RG 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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