London has a reputation for being expensive, and honestly, it is. Accommodation, food, tickets, it adds up fast. But here’s the thing most people don’t realise until they’re actually there: you can spend three full days in London, see almost everything worth seeing, and spend next to nothing on entry tickets. The city is genuinely generous with its free attractions in a way that almost no other major European capital is.
And we’re not talking about just walking past things. We mean actually going in, spending hours, leaving impressed. Here’s everything we’d point you toward.
Just Walking Around London
Let’s start with the most obvious one that somehow always gets overlooked. Walking around London is its own free attraction. You don’t need a ticket to stand in front of Big Ben and take a photo that looks like a postcard. You don’t need to pay to walk across Tower Bridge and get one of the most iconic views in the city. You don’t need anything to stand in Trafalgar Square, wander through Covent Garden, or stumble upon a street that looks like it hasn’t changed in a hundred years.
Some of the best London moments happen between the ticketed things. A quiet alley, a view of the Thames with London Eye, a market street you turned down without a plan. Put good shoes on, open Google/Apple Maps, and just start walking. London rewards that more than almost any other city we’ve been to.
London Photography Guide: 15 Best Photo Spots in the City
The British Museum
Free to enter, and genuinely one of the greatest museums in the world. Not just in London. In the world. 8 million objects covering human history from prehistoric times to the present, all in one building, all free. Yeah, probably most of it stolen, but if they weren’t here, would they still be in the world? We cannot know. But they are now here for you to enjoy it.
The Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Sculptures, the Easter Island statue, a mummified frog in the Egyptian gallery, a dog’s paw print on a brick from one of the earliest human settlements ever built. There is something genuinely surprising around every corner if you know where to look. We wrote a full guide to the things inside you really shouldn’t miss, because you could spend a full day here and still not see everything.
You do need to book a free timed entry slot in advance, it fills up fast. Book at britishmuseum.org. Go in the afternoon for smaller crowds.
⏰ Opening hours: Saturday to Thursday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Fridays until 8:30 PM.
The Natural History Museum
Also free. Also extraordinary. The Natural History Museum in South Kensington is the most visited free attraction in the UK, and once you’ve been, you understand why. The building itself is worth the trip, the terracotta Victorian facade has 78 carved stone monkeys decorating the entrance arches. Inside, there’s a blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling of the main hall, you feel like a child that want’s to explore everything when you see that. There is also a T-Rex skeleton, a Triceratops skull, and enough dinosaurs to keep you occupied for hours.
🎟️ Book a free timed entry slot in advance.
⏰ Opening hours: Daily 10:00 AM to 5:50 PM, last entry 5:30 PM.
Changing of the Guard
Free, completely free, and one of those things that feels genuinely special even though you know it’s also a tourist attraction. Real soldiers, full dress uniform, red tunics, black bearskin caps, a regimental band playing down The Mall.
The trick is to not stand in front of Buckingham Palace with everyone else. Position yourself at the corner of Marlborough Rd and The Mall instead, watch the guards march past at arm’s length, then follow them toward the Palace if you want.
It happens every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Be there by 10:30 AM. Always check the official schedule the morning of your visit as it’s cancelled in wet weather.
Want to secure the best spot for the ceremony? Read our full guide here.
Leadenhall Market
Free to walk through, and one of those places that makes you stop and look up. Leadenhall Market is a Victorian covered market in the City of London with an ornate painted ceiling that looks more like a palace hall than a market. If you’ve watched the Harry Potter films, you’ve already seen it. It was used as Diagon Alley, and you’ll understand immediately why they picked it. I mean that’s why we visited it, Harry Potter fan here!
Go in the morning or late afternoon when the lunch crowd has cleared.
Liberty London
Technically a shop where you could spend loads of money. Practically a free attraction. Liberty’s building dates from 1924 and was built using timber from two decommissioned Royal Navy warships. The exterior is extraordinary, all dark wood beams and leaded windows, and the interior is even better, galleried floors, stained glass, dark wood panelling throughout. And with seasons changing they change the decorations. It’s a high-end department store and you don’t need to buy anything. Just walk in and spend twenty minutes wandering around looking at the building. It deserves to be a listed monument, and actually, it is, at least for us. We want to visit it during December with all the ornaments and decorations.
The Parks
London’s royal parks are free and completely underrated as attractions in their own right. St James’s Park is one of the prettiest and most central, right between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. Pelicans have lived here since 1664 when the Russian ambassador gifted a pair to King Charles II.
Hyde Park is the largest, a proper escape from the city with the Serpentine Lake, the Diana Memorial Fountain, and enough space to genuinely get lost in. Both are free, both are beautiful, and both are exactly what you need after a long day of sightseeing.
The Red Phone Boxes
I dare you to go to London and not take at least one photo with the red phone box. The iconic red telephone boxes are free to photograph, obviously, and they make for brilliant pictures. The one near Westminster Bridge with Big Ben in the background is the classic. The ones near the National Justice Museum are a bit more tucked away and usually have no queue. Touristy? Yes. Still worth it? Absolutely.
We have the best photo spots with Red Phone Boxes listed here so check it out.
Additional Photo Spots Worth Knowing About
Since we’re talking free things, here’s a list of the best spots for photos that cost nothing:
- Westminster Bridge: Big Ben on one side, London Eye on the other
- Millennium Bridge: St Paul’s perfectly framed from the middle of the bridge
- More London Place: Tower Bridge and Tower of London together in one shot
- One New Change rooftop: St Paul’s dome from above, free access
- Watling Street: St Paul’s framed between buildings
- The Mall: guards marching on ceremony days
- Stable Yard Road corner: guards up close, unobstructed
- Bywater Street, Chelsea: pastel houses, quiet, no crowds
- Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden: colourful painted courtyard
- Leadenhall Market: Victorian ceiling, best in soft morning light
- Liberty London exterior: Tudor facade from Great Marlborough Street
- Platform 9¾, King’s Cross: the luggage trolley in the wall, free to visit
London is one of those cities where the free things are genuinely some of the best things. The museums alone would justify a trip. Everything else is a bonus.
Until next time, be mesmerized 🧡
