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Playing Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s Globe
Photo by Cesare De Giglioinfo

Cheap things to do in London: 50 fun things to do for less than the cost of a pint

Broke? It’s okay – you don’t have to spend a fortune to have a really good time in London. We’ve picked the best things to do for next to no cash

Written by
Kate Lloyd
,
Alice Saville
&
Angela Hui
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It might sometimes seem like the only way to have fun in this city is to spend a wodge of cash, but there are actually loads of brilliant things to do in London for less than the price of a pint. You can ride a pedalo, dance the night away, neck oysters, or sample some of the city’s finest culture (think Shakespeare at the Globe or baroque murals at London’s very own ‘Sistine Chapel’ aka the Painted Hall). So don’t just fade away watching Freeview and waiting for payday – get out there and enjoy the best cheap stuff the capital has to offer. 

Recommended: tuck into London’s best cheap eats.

Amazing cheap things to do in London

  • Bars and pubs
  • Pubs
  • Soho

Head to old school Soho boozer The Blue Posts on a Monday, Wednesday or Sunday night and you'll get to see a formidable line-up of comedians for just a fiver. Soho Comedy Factory assembles professional funny people, from telly stars to hot rising talents, into a surprise line-up that's bound to get you chuckling – or at least giggling nervously into your pint.

The Blue Posts. £5.

Play bingo in cathedral-like splendour, £3-£6
  • Things to do
  • Event spaces
  • Tooting

The maverick architect who designed Tooting's stunning cinema-turned-bingo hall took inspiration from Russian churches, filling the space with grand gothic arches, intricate wood carvings and delicate paintings. Turn a night on the dabbers into a religious experience at this bonkers, beautiful venue: sign up to an affordably priced game, and take advantage of the even more affordably priced bar, too. AS

Buzz Bingo, Tooting. £3-£6.

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  • Cinemas
  • Independent
  • Stepney

Fancy seeing a schlocky horror flick, or a forgotten cult classic? Head upstairs at Whitechapel's gorgeous Genesis Cinema and you'll find a brickwalled bar that hosts Bar Trash, a line-up of seriously bargainous screenings. The nights often also include intros, themed cocktails, and prize giveaways to add to the fun.

Genesis Cinema. £3.

Hear some gorgeous English folk songs, £4
  • Music
  • Music venues
  • Primrose Hill

Treat your ears to some spinetingling sounds at Cecil Sharp House, which hosts Sharp's Folk Club, a series of open mic folksong nights on Tuesday evenings. You'll hear all kinds of traditional songs, from music hall ditties to folk ballads to retro skiffle. Feeling brave? Put your name on the list at the door if you've got an old-timey song to share. 

Cecil Sharp House. Tuesdays, from 8pm. £5, £4 for participants.

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  • Attractions
  • Religious buildings and sites
  • Bethnal Green

There's much more to yoga than looking buff in your lululemon leggings: London Buddhist Centre is the place for a more meditative approach, and its lunchtime classes are impressively affordable. These 45 minute weekday seshes offer the opportunity to cultivate some inner peace, whatever dramas your afternoon throws at you.

London Buddhist Centre. £7.

  • Cinemas
  • Independent
  • South Bank

Get a totally free education in cinema history at BFI's enjoyably named mediatheque, or film library. Each booth comes equipped with its own screen and headphone jack, letting you immerse yourself in a vintage flick, whether your tastes run to golden age musicals, retro sci-fi, or screwball comedy.

BFI. Free. 

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  • Theatre
  • Shakespeare
  • South Bank

Dive into the Renaissance equivalent of a mosh pit by getting a £5 standing ticket at Shakespeare’s Globe. The Bard’s goriest, bawdiest moments were designed to whip ‘groundlings’ into a frenzy. Turn up early and you’ll be so close to the action you can lean on the stage. AS

Shakespeare’s Globe. Blackfriars. From April. £5.

  • Things to do
  • Forest Hill

Sure, the London Aquarium is ever so big and has a shark pool, but the Horniman’s more modest space can take you on an equally magical journey through the rivers and oceans of the world, from British ponds to Fijian coral reefs. AH

Horniman Museum. Forest Hill Overground. Museum entry free. Aquarium £5, £2.50 children.

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  • Attractions
  • Parks and gardens
  • Crystal Palace

The history of Crystal Palace is full of thrills, spills, and hubris: once, an elaborate glass pavilion delighted millions of Victorian punters, until financial ruin and fiery disaster razed it to the ground. Get the full story in an entertaining guided tour that runs on the first Sunday of the month all summer. But be warned, dino fans! It contains no content about the infamously misshapen dinosaurs in the park's lower reaches, so you'll have to mug up on those all by your lonesome.

Crystal Palace Museum. £5

  • Shopping
  • Markets and fairs
  • Bethnal Green

Get up early and fill your arms with gorgeous blooms at Columbia Road Flower Market, which sells bargain flowers to a mix of professional florists and botanical thrillseekers. Tulips in spring, roses in summer, hydrangeas in autumn... go for what's in season and you'll snag a bargain that'll scent your home for days.

Columbia Road Flower Market. 8am to 3pm. Prices vary.

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  • Attractions
  • Ships and boats
  • Poplar

Boat travel might seem like the kind of fancy schmancy activity that's reserved for Londoners with cash to burn, but Thames Clipper's services are aimed at commuters, making them seriously affordable. Routes run right the way from Putney in the west to Barking in the east: time your trip at sunset for beautiful views over London's riviera.

Uber Thames Clipper. Prices from £5.40 for a single Oyster ticket.

  • Restaurants
  • British
  • Marylebone

In a city of endless Prets, switch up your lunch with something truly special. Go back in time at Rothe’s gloriously old-school deli that’s been making sandwiches every which way since 1900. AH

Paul Rothe & Son. Bond St. Around £5.

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  • Attractions
  • Towers and viewpoints
  • Royal Docks

London’s very own cable car is a quixotic rival to the more pedestrian ways of getting around by walking, bussing and tubing. It offers views over the Thames from inside a gently swinging gondola (dispel any lingering motion sickness by exploring Greenwich’s fascinating, fast-changing docklands). AS

IFS Cloud Cable, between Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Victoria Docks. North Greenwich. £6.

  • Attractions
  • Historic buildings and sites
  • Tower Hill

Glimpse medieval times at the Tower of London’s Ceremony of the Keys. Each night, the Yeomen Warders enact a 700-year-old key-swapping ritual as they lock up for the night. Online booking is essential (if not very medieval). AS

Tower of London. Tower Hill. Free.

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  • Things to do
  • Games and hobbies
  • Deptford

This cosy Deptford board-game haven has got a formidable library of 600 titles to pick from, whether you're after a quick and easy marvel like Cockroach Salad or a super involved strategy game like Carcassone. Seven quid gets you up to three hours of playtime: challenge a mate, and sustain yourself with craft beers from the bar.

Badger Badger. £7 for one to three hours.

  • Cinemas
  • Independent
  • Peckham

South London’s indie-cinema stalwart PeckhamPlex has a powerful USP: all the hottest new movies at ’90s prices. Cheap tickets mean you can afford to take a chance, whether it’s braving a messed-up horror flick or checking out the work of local filmmakers. AS

PeckhamPlex. Peckham Rye Overground. £5.99.

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  • Restaurants
  • Jewish
  • Brick Lane

Why is Beigel Bake an institution? The answer’s in the window. A huge slab of succulent salt beef, carved to order. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a cheap eat in London more iconic than that stuff in a beigel. Order with as much mustard as you can handle and a whopping gherkin. AH

Beigel Bake. Shoreditch High St Overground. £6.50.

  • Attractions
  • Cemeteries
  • Highgate

This city’s greatest alumni are buried in the morbid marvel that is Highgate Cemetery. In newer extension East Cemetery, seek out the graves of Claudia Jones, mother of Notting Hill Carnival, and painter Patrick Caulfield, who designed his own headstone, spelling out the word ‘dead’. Does exactly what it says on the plinth. AS

East Cemetery entry only £6 (does not include entry to full cemetery).

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  • Attractions
  • Sightseeing
  • Greenwich

On the first Sunday of every month, visitors can see the 40,000-sq ft Baroque murals covering Greenwich’s Painted Hall for just a fiver. ‘Britain’s Sistine Chapel’ was painted more than 300 years ago and has just undergone a two-year restoration, so it’s looking fresh. KL

Old Royal Naval College. Cutty Sark DLR. £5 on the first Sunday of each month, £15 otherwise.

Hire a deck chair in one of London's royal parks, £3
  • Attractions
  • Parks and gardens
  • Kensington

Okay, it might seem ludicrous to fork out merely for the privilege of sitting down. But hear us out. Hiring a deckchair is more than just a way of preserving your summer linen suit from the scourge of grass stains: it's a way of joining London's lounging elite for a precious hour or two. Pretend the grass before you is your own rolling lawn, sip a Pimms in a tin, and you'll never want to go back to ordinary benches again.

Various royal parks. £3 for an hour.

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  • Attractions
  • Fenchurch Street

Get the lift to the top of the Walkie Talkie and you’ll emerge in a garden with sublime views of London. Spot Tower Bridge, The Shard, Wembley Stadium and more. Or kick back among the ferns and succulents that lushly carpet its floors. AS

Sky Garden. Monument. Free.

  • Attractions
  • Sightseeing
  • City of London

Named with commendable straightforwardness, the Monument is one of London’s OG tourist attractions. This 61-metre stone pillar memorialises the Great Fire of London and was built a few years after the 1666 disaster. Send your step-counter into overdrive by corkscrewing your way up the spiral staircase inside. AS

The Monument. Monument. £6

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  • Museums
  • Specialist interest
  • King’s Cross

The watery arteries that run through London are equally full of discarded shopping trollies and fascinating stories. Discover the latter at the London Canal Museum, which is packed with artefacts from the waterways’ heyday. It even has its own dock so you can explore some narrowboats up close. AS

London Canal Museum. King’s Cross. £7.

  • Attractions
  • Brixton

Brixton's best kept secret is a fully operational, 200-year-old windmill, which sits in secluded gardens just a short walk from Brockwell Park. It's usually closed to the public, but it's worth seeking out one of its monthly open weekends, when you can book a spot to climb its narrow winding staircase and hear its surprising history. Don't leave without a bag of freshly ground flour: the finest white powder to come out of Brixton. 

Brixton Windmill. Tours £5.

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  • Attractions
  • Parks and gardens
  • Dulwich

Boating excursions are a romcom staple for a reason: floating, swan-like, above birdshit-filled water is extremely romantic. Take a date on a pedalo ride in Crystal Palace Park for a peek at the dinosaurs, in Dulwich Park to circumnavigate a secret island or in Greenwich Park to see geese galore. AS

Dulwich Park. West Dulwich rail. From Easter until the end of October. £6.

Greenwich Park. Maze Hill rail. From Easter until the end of October. £4.40.

Crystal Palace Park. Crystal Palace Overground. From Easter until the end of October. £6.

26. Live your dreams of rap superstardom, FREE

Pretty much everyone can spit a verse in the privacy of their own home. But could you do it in front of a crowd? Find out at Hip Hop Karaoke, where rap fans make like Drake or Cardi B on stage (and get a free drink for their efforts). Get practising, stat.  

Boxpark Croydon. Fridays from 8pm. Free

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  • Museums
  • Art and design
  • Greenwich

Greenwich’s Fan Museum, housed in a pair of Grade II-listed Georgian houses, is a fan-tastic tribute to the noblewoman’s most essential accessory. The collection includes a fan painted by artist Paul Gauguin, glam numbers from the ’20s and even concertina-ed retro adverts. AS

The Fan Museum. Cutty Sark DLR. £5.

  • Restaurants
  • Pizza
  • Dalston

Open as wide as you can for Voodoo Ray’s extremely huge slices of very good New York-style pizza. The best in London? That’s a matter of opinion. But we do reckon these perfectly sloppy segments are the best you can get in Dalston or Peckham after midnight. And they start from just £4.30 for the margherita! And you can sit in! AH

Voodoo Ray’s Dalston. Dalston Kingsland Overground. From £4.30 a slice.

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  • Cinemas
  • Barbican

The Barbican’s light-filled conservatory is an Instagram influencer hotspot for a reason: brutalist architecture and sculptural succulents are a combo made in design heaven. Explore its leafy delights for free on Sundays. Don’t forget to jot down the names of your fave ferns, intend to seek them out as houseplants and then never get round to it. AS

Barbican Centre. Barbican. Free.

  • Things to do
  • Games and hobbies
  • Finsbury Park

This sticky-carpeted paradise of Rowans is all about revisiting simple pleasures: playing arcade games, dancing to tinny R&B and getting brainfreeze from a neon slushie (it comes in many flavours – they all taste identical, and great), although if you want to bowl you’ll have to shell out a bit more than a fiver. AS

Rowans. Finsbury Park. £1-£4 entry.

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  • Restaurants
  • Chinese
  • Chinatown
  • price 1 of 4

Don’t want none unless you got buns, hun? Well, you’re in luck, because Bun House offers towers of Cantonese-style pillowy steamed numbers filled with everything from pork to custard. If fluffy comfort food is what you’re craving, this house should become your home from home. AH

Bun House. Leicester Square. £7.50 for two.

Explore an eerie old operating theatre, £7.50
  • Museums
  • History
  • London Bridge

Before such modern luxuries as anaesthetic and electric light were thought of, surgeons plied their trade in gloomy, gory rooms scented with fresh herbs. Discover a rare surviving example of an old operating theatre in the attic of an 18th century London Bridge church, and explore the deliciously scented adjoining herb garret to learn about the ways of pre-paracetamol healing.

The Old Operating Theatre Museum. £7.50.

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  • Things to do
  • Walks and tours
  • Hampstead Heath

Are there any Londoners hardier than the all weather swimming crowd at Hampstead Heath Ponds? These bargain-hunting tough nuts get their thrills and chills for just £4.25, which allows access for a whole day. Sack off the gym pool and join them, if you dare. AH

Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds. Hampstead Heath Overground. £4.25.

See great art (and science) after dark, FREE
Stephen Cheetham

34. See great art (and science) after dark, FREE

London’s museums lead something of a double life, getting up to all sorts once the sun has set. South Kensington’s most venerable institutions have monthly after-dark openings that let you flit around their collections, dance to DJ sets and try your hand at activities inspired by their current exhibitions. The lates at the Science Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and Natural History Museum are all free. AS

South Kensington. Free (some lates are ticketed).

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  • Attractions
  • Farms
  • Vauxhall

Come nose to nose with the most soulful of animals at Vauxhall City Farm, which allows you to feed its goats. Fred, Barney and their friends will submit to a pat in exchange for a generous handful of grass nuts from the farm’s feed dispenser. AS

Vauxhall City Farm. Vauxhall. Free entry, donations welcome.

  • Things to do
  • Festivals
  • Haggerston

Don’t let tourists hog the Santander bikes. Those ruby numbers are your ticket to a whole load of adventure. A day’s bike hire plus 30 minutes’ ride time costs just £1.65 (every extra 30 minutes is another £1.65). That means for less than a fiver you could spend an hour cycling along the Thames from Battersea Park or spinning through the birthplace of GMT itself in Greenwich. AH

Various locations. £1.65 for half an hour’s ride.

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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Attractions
  • Zoos and aquariums
  • Regent’s Park
  • Recommended

Regent’s Canal offers loads to look at: start with the cybergoths of Camden Market then head west to get a peek at London Zoo’s wild dogs, which live in a canalside enclosure. Enjoy watching them wolfing down hunks of meat suspended on a zipline by wily zookeepers. AS

Regent’s Canal. Camden Rd Overground. Free.

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Oyster bars
  • South Kensington
  • price 2 of 4
  • Recommended

Want to feel like the fanciest diner in town? Head to Wright Brothers in Battersea, South Kensington, Soho or Spitalfields on weekdays between 3pm and 6pm, where you’ll be able to gorge on fresh oysters for just a quid a pop. AH

Wright Brothers. Various locations. £1 per oyster.

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  • Restaurants
  • Pizza
  • Spitalfields

Sure, you can get a whole margherita pie at Pizza Union for £5.95, but did you know its frozen Margaritas are even cheaper? Live out your Miami pool-party dreams by indulging in slushy cocktails in such glamorous locations as King’s Cross and Old Street roundabout. AH

Pizza Union. Various Locations. £5.50.

  • Shopping
  • Toys and games
  • Knightsbridge

You might be surprised to learn that La Mer, arguably the fanciest purveyor of moisturiser in the world, dishes out free 15-minute facials at its counter in Harrods. Bag yourself the golden-hued skin of a person much richer than you. AH

Harrods. Knightsbridge. Free.

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  • Sport and fitness
  • Stadiums
  • Kingston

Why pay a small fortune to watch Chelsea men’s team kick a ball around, when you can see its women’s squad play at their ground in Kingston from just five quid? Sure, the Kingsmeadow stadium’s less fancy than Stamford Bridge but you can grab a bacon bap from neighbouring Fat Boys Cafe for a mere £3.99 to enhance your experience. Or do both. KL

Kingsmeadow. New Malden rail. From £7.

  • Shopping
  • Specialist food and drink
  • Leicester Square

London's first mochi bar has come to Japan Centre, and it's a great place to indulge your taste for all things sweet, sticky and glutinous. The mochi doughnuts (£1.99) are a perfect entry level choice: or opt for ice cream, cookies, or traditional daifuku.

Japan Centre. From £1.99.

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  • Things to do
  • Eltham

With a name that would make JRR Tolkien sit up and take notice, Severndroog Castle in deepest south London is a tiny but lofty folly built by an eighteenth-century lady as a memorial to her husband. Visit for panoramic views of the capital, ancient woodland and general spooky chills, then relax with a slice of homemade cake from the ground floor tea room. KL

Severndroog Castle. Falconwood rail. Saturdays and Sundays. £4.

44. Ease into the week with… jazz, FREE

Every Saturday and Sunday, The Royal Albert in Deptford gets a bunch of good musicians from local colleges in to play classic soul, disco and pop with a jazz twist. It’s usually packed, it’s usually buzzy and it usually ends in mass dancing. KL

The Royal Albert. New Cross Overground. Saturdays and Sundays. Free.

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Play arcade games, from £2
  • Bars and pubs
  • Breweries
  • Battersea
  • price 2 of 4

Battersea pub/all round fun palace Four Thieves has bargainous entertainments galore, including quizzes, comedy, and karaoke. So it would be easy to overlook its upstairs floor of arcade games, but why would you? Test your prowess at childhood faves like Dance Dance Revolution or table hockey, or check out the rare retro games and VR booths.

The Four Thieves. From £2.

  • Things to do
  • Games and hobbies
  • Holborn

Holborn alternative art den Novelty Automation is full of mechanical weirdness putting a DIY spin on traditional seaside arcades. Grab a fistful of tokens and try your hand at ‘Is It Art?’, which will cast an expert (robotic) eye over your creations, or learn quantum physics with the ‘Small Hadron Collider’. AS

Novelty Automation. Holborn. £1 per token.

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  • Shopping
  • Art, craft and hobbies
  • London Fields

If you've got a way with a needle but never actually find the time to sit down and sew, then make room in your diary for Fabrications' fortnightly craft club. Bring along a work in progress, whether it's mending some old clothes, embroidery, patchwork, or whipping up something new. You'll get tea and biscuits, access to sewing machines, overlockers and haberdashery supplies from the Fabrications studio, plus the chance to meet loads of crafty new pals.

Fabrications. Alternate Thursdays from 6pm. £5.

 

  • Restaurants
  • Contemporary Asian
  • Borough
  • price 3 of 4

Bao’s steamed buns might get all the glory, but the Taiwanese joint’s soft drinks are under-the-radar gems of hydration. Think peanut milk or ice-cream floats made with Yakult (easily London’s most fun way to improve your gut flora). AH

Bao Borough. London Bridge. £5-£6.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

Combine the brain-sapping properties of beer and the brain-stretching qualities of a good quiz and you've got a perfectly balanced night out. London's pubs are great at laying on weekly quizzes, with approaches that vary from straight-up trivia to hands on rounds where you've got to fiddle about with bits of plasticine. Check out this handy interactive map documenting all 517 of London’s pub quizzes and find your local.

  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Fitzrovia

If you've got an insatiable appetite for all things rich and chocolatey, you might still find your match at Italian Bear, which serves up hot chocs so thick they demand to be eaten with a spoon. Order yours with an additional triple chocolate drench and your entire mug will come coated in three colours of molten goo. Delicious, but oh so very messy.

Italian Bear, Soho and Fitzrovia. £6.80.

101 things to do in London
  • Things to do

Check out The DO List for London. It’s the ultimate city checklist put together by Time Out editors who really know and love London

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