London

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It's always free (before 11pm) at Alwayz Frydaze

Anything as long it’s not just a plain old dancefloor
Always Frydays 'Fickle, fidgety partygoers these days love nothing more than to be hit from all sides by bands, live performance art, MCs, games, food, booze, painting…’ wrote Time Out of Alwayz Frydaze. This referred to a party with the Studio Neon cabaret performance crew, but the notion of anything ‘as long it’s not just a plain old dancefloor’ still applies. Alwayz Frydaze is as frequent as its name suggests, but it could easily be called Alwayz Different. ‘I guess it’s alternative rockin’ dance for the iPod generation,’ summarised promoter Marc Miller soon after the night’s launch a year ago. Its soundtrack now covers anything from dubstep, disco, electro, techno and indie-rock to B-more bass, grime and bassline house. No wonder they call it genre-hopping.

There’s a free shuttle bus to save punters the ten-minute hike up York Way from King’s Cross station, and they can also save at the door, as it’s free before 11pm. Thereafter it’s £10 (or £8 with Time Out’s Night Pass or NUS). There are heaps of drinks promotions, so it’ll be no surprise that many students are attracted by the programming and prices; their 6am licence and the freedom of a huge garden in which to smoke and socialise make all the difference.
Egg, 5-13 Vale Royal, off York Way, N7 (020 7609 8364) King’s Cross tube/rail. Fri 9.30pm-6am. Feature continues

Have a nice slice
Pizza Franco Manca makes some of the best Neapolitan pizzas in London, for around £8 including a glass of wine. All pizzas are baked in a wood-fired oven.
Pizza Franco Manca, 4 Market Row, Electric Lane, SW9 (020 7738 3021). Brixton tube/rail.

Shoot ’em up
Laser Quest The laser shooting game is surprisingly good value at £7.95 for two games.
City Limits, The Colonnades, Purley Way, Surrey (020 8686 0003/www.lqcroydon.co.uk).

Art to art
Tate to Tate boat trip A scenic way to waft down the Thames from one art HQ to the other. £8 for a day pass.
Tate to Tate boat, Millbank and Bankside piers, SW1 and SE1 (020 7887 8888/www.tate.org.uk). Pimlico/Southwark/Waterloo tubes.

Boogie on skates
Rollerdisco Music and rollerskates: an inspired combo. £10, or £7.50 for students.
Rollerdisco, Renaissance Rooms, SW8 (0844 736 5375/www.rollerdisco.info). Vauxhall tube/rail.

Tackle the tour
The Museum of Rugby £10 gets you in, and on to a stadium tour. Toff-heavy, but fun.
Museum of Rugby, Twickenham Rugby Rd, TW1 (020 8892 8877/www.rfu.com). Twickenham rail.

Find romance, fast
Speed dating Three minutes and £9.95 entry, to find the love of your life: cheap date!
Digress, City Point Building, 1 Ropemaker St, EC2 (0845 838 5600).

Trundle through town
Rickshaw ride When attempting to squander a tenner on a jaunt in a rickshaw, don’t set out too early. While riders swarm the West End in the evening, they are hard to spot before dark. I grab a lone early-bird at around 6pm near Covent Garden station. He tells me £10 won’t take me far; it’s roughly £1 a minute, although you can have an hour for £50. Some will charge more for extra passengers, but it depends on the rider and it never hurts to haggle.

I consider my £10 destination options – what would a tourist do? I ask the driver to take me to Trafalgar Square. He knows the back streets as though he’s done the Knowledge. But sadly his vehicle lacks the suspension of a black cab, so I suffer a little bit on the cobbled roads. There is also a huge number of potholes along the way, but, I have to admit, I grow to enjoy the bumpy ride. It’s more fun than being in a car: I’m protected from the rain and, let’s face it, anything’s better than the tube at rush hour.

We get to Trafalgar Square in eight minutes. I calculate that, if we’d struck out for to Waterloo, I could have easily made it south of the river on £10. Still, at £1 a minute I’ve a fifth of my tenner left. But where can you get to from Trafalgar Square in two minutes? As it turns out, the other side of the square.

Ogle the otters
Battersea Park Children's Zoo A lovely zoo that lets you in for £6.50 (or £4.95 for under-16s).
Battersea Park Children's Zoo, Battersea Park, SW11 (020 7924 5826/www.batterseaparkzoo.co.uk). Battersea Park rail.

Channel your inner Torvill and Dean
Ice skating Whizz round the ice and pretend it’s the ’80s. Only £8 (unless you buy drugs first).
Streatham Ice Rink, 386 Streatham High Rd SW16 (020 8769 7771/www.streathamicearena.com). Streatham rail.

Good morning, Vietnam!
Song Que This East End Vietnamese restaurant is particularly adept at noodle soups, with main meals around £5.60.
Song Que, 134 Kingsland Rd, E2 (0871 332 8203). Old Street tube/rail.

Put on your dancing shoes
Sadler’s Wells The preeminent dance theatre offers everything from ballet to flamenco to West Side Story – and tickets start from £10.
Sadler's Wells, Rosebery Avenue, EC1 (0844 412 4300/www.sadlerswells.com). Angel tube.

Grand designs
The Design Museum For £8.50, you get graphics, fashion, architecture and engineering. And change for a postcard.
Design Museum, Shad Thames, SE1 (020 7403 6933/www.designmuseum.org). London Bridge/Tower Hill tube.

Run away
Free running A new and not altogether proper sport that uses the built environment for creative physical feats – and a lot of jumping. £10 a class.
Urban Freeflow Academy, Surrey (ez@urbanfreeflow.com/urbanfreeflow.com).

Fight for the right to party
Push at the Astoria 2 Indie superdisco run by London talent-spotters Young And Lost, featuring rising indie-pop talent and DJs. £10 (£8 with TO night pass).
Push , Astoria 2, 157 Charing Cross Rd, WC2 (020 7434 9592). Tottenham Court Rd tube.

Raise your glass
Vertigo 42 bar Stretch to a glass of wine (from £7.70) and admire a 360-degree view of London, 42 storeys up.
Vertigo 42, 25 Old Broad St, EC2 (020 7877 7842/www.vertigo42.co.uk). Bank tube/DLR/Liverpool Street tube/rail.

Jump and jive
Modern jive for beginners A dance style invented by African-Americans in the 1940s that’s still popular today. £8 a class.
Tiger Tiger, The Haymarket, SW1 (www.jivenation.co.uk). Piccadilly Circus tube.

Shoot your friends
Paintballing Splat your chums with up to six balls of paint a second for £9.99.
Paintzone, Salmons Lane, Whyteleafe, Surrey (020 8688 1118/www.paintzone.co.uk).

See London lit up
London by night A nightime tour of the capital’s best sights on a double decker bus. Limited tickets £10 if booked online.
London by Night Sightseeing Tour (020 8545 6109/www.london-by-night.net).

Race down the river
Electric boat hire These nifty vessels are £7.50 each if there’s two of you, but they hold up to four people, making a jaunt even cheaper.
Lee Valley Boat Centre, Old Nazeing Rd, Herts (01992 462 085/www.leevalleyboats.co.uk).

Go mad for music
The Luminaire Leftfield, arty indie and underground hipster music in a comfortable Kilburn venue. Around £7 on the door.
The Luminaire, 311 High Rd NW6 (020 7372 7123/www.theluminaire.co.uk). Kilburn tube.

Heighten the drama
Cheap theatre Some of London’s best theatres offer £10 deals with decent sightlines. Travelex £10 at the National Theatre , (www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/travelex); £10 Mondays at the Royal Court (www.royalcourttheatre.com); £9 nights at Lyric Hammersmith (www.lyric.co.uk); Airline seating at Southwark Playhouse (www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk).

Join the navy
HMS Belfast Wonderful reminder of a time we fought Nazis rather than terrorists. Experience it for a shipshape £8.50.
HMS Belfast, Morgan’s Lane, Tooley St, SE1 (020 7940 6300/www.hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk). London Bridge tube/rail.

Sign up for movie madness
The Ritzy Films are £8.50, and there are free live music events in the café upstairs.
Ritzy Cinema, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW2 (020 7733 2229/www.picturehouses.co.uk). Brixton tube/rail.

Pull up a pew
Westminster Abbey History incarnate. Take a tour with a Blue Badge Guide and entry is £9 rather than £12.
Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, SW1 (020 7222 5152/www.westminster-abbey.org). Westminster tube.

Free! | under £3 | under £5 | under £7 | under £10