London on a budget: 50 fun things to do for £5 or less

Head to old school Soho boozer The Blue Posts on a Wednesday 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.

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-£5.

Whitechapel's gorgeous Genesis Cinema serves up one of London's biggest cultural bargains each Thursday. See any film for just three quid, whether it's a new blockbuster, an arthouse movie, or a golden oldie. Linger afterwards for a coffee or something stronger in this much-loved venue's cosy brickwalled bar. 

Genesis Cinema. £3.

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 bubble tea with chewy pearls, or ice-cream floats made with Yakult (easily London’s most fun way to improve your gut flora). AH

Bao Borough. London Bridge. All £5.

Treat your ears to some spinetingling sounds at Cecil Sharp House, which hosts 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. £4, £3.50 for participants.

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. 

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.

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.

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 monthly in 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

Being an RAF pilot seems like a cool job. You get to fly very fast and loop-the-loop in front of royals. But it also seems like a lot of work, you know? And the danger bit isn’t great. Luckily, the Science Museum’s new Typhoon Force simulator let’s you feel like you’re flying a jet with zero effort. You’ll soar in formation over pretty North Wales, then descend from 40,000 feet. KL

Science Museum. South Kensington. £5.

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.

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. From £3.

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

Tanuki Gaming. £5 for one to three hours.

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.

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. £5 if booked online or pay as you go, £6 at ticket office.

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.

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. £4.99.

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. £5.

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 £4.50 (does not include entry to full cemetery).

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, £12 otherwise.

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.

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. £5.80

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, and offers fascinating evening talks on the first Thursday of each month. Or splash out £6 to come during the day: it even has its own dock so you can explore some narrowboats up close. AS

London Canal Museum. King’s Cross. £4 for illustrated talks, £6 for museum entry.

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 periodic 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.

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. £4.

Greenwich Park. Maze Hill rail. From Easter until the end of October. £4.

Crystal Palace Park. Crystal Palace Overground. From Easter until the end of October. £5.

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

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. Closed until Feb 1. £5.

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 £3.90 for the margherita! And you can sit in! AH

Voodoo Ray’s Dalston. Dalston Kingsland Overground. From £3.90 a slice.

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.

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-£3 entry, £2.30 slushie.

Before fast-food chains got all confused about meatlessness, faux fried chicken pioneer Temple of Hackney was battering seitan the actual vegan way. Sure, it’s about as healthy as eating deep-fried bread, but the Strips ’n’ Chips combo of two ‘wings’, small fries and a pot of sauce will kill all hunger pangs instantly. AH

Temple of Hackney. Hackney Central Overground. £5.

Balletomanes on a budget can enjoy cut-price pirouettes courtesy of the Royal Ballet’s £5 tickets. You’ll be sitting (or standing) in the vertiginous Amphitheatre (higher than the Balcony), so bring binoculars to gaze at the action on stage, or indeed at the immaculately dressed punters in the stalls below. AS

Royal Opera House. Covent Garden. £5.

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. £3.80 per bun.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sure, you can get a whole margherita pie at Pizza Union for £3.50, but did you know its frozen Margaritas cost the same? 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. £4.50.

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.

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. Glory fans might prefer to splash out £8 to watch top-of-the-league Arsenal’s home games. Or do both. KL

Kingsmeadow. New Malden rail. From £5.

With a name that would make JRR Tolkien sit up and take notice, Severndroog Castle in deepest south London is a 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. KL

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

Take yourself on a date ripped straight from a schmaltz town and spend a crisp winter afternoon wandering along the South Bank, hot chocolate in hand. The rich and comforting salted caramel number from Hotel Chocolat’s restaurant Rabot 1745 in Borough should be your go-to. Opt for a big ’un. KL

Rabot 1745. London Bridge. £3.95 for a large.

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.

Battersea pub/all round fun palace Four Thieves has bargainous entertainments galore, including quizzes, comedy, and a whole floor of arcade games. So it would be easy to overlook its keenly-priced karaoke offering, but why would you? Grab five (or more) mates and you can pay a fiver a head to caterwaul your hearts out in newly refurbished splendour.

The Four Thieves. £5 each, for six to 18 people.

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.

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.

Uncover everything from lesbian pulp fiction to gay club flyers to queer activist badges at Bishopsgate Institute's gossipy, fascinating LGBTQ+ archive tours. Its curator will take you on a journey through queer time, showing you surprising artefacts and answering all your questions about gay life in the (not so) good old days.

Bishopsgate Institute. £5.