On a budget? Make your money go further with these 101 ideas for cheap things to do in London.
Cheap eats
Satisfy your sweet tooth and indulge in handmade luxury chocolates and truffles at Prestat .
Grab a tasty lunch, such as a burrito or mac’n’cheese, from a street food truck .
Bite into a sweet or savoury pancake at My Old Dutch .
Breakfast in Mayfair doesn’t have to be expensive. Eat a hot sandwich or full English at Cardinals of Mayfair , just off Park Lane.
Buy a freshly cooked lunch from a stall at foodie paradise Borough Market .
Tuck into piping hot chips and crispy battered fish at one of London's famous fish and chip shops .
Eat affordable and authentic Chinese food in Chinatown .
Munch a mouthwatering frozen yoghurt at one of the many Snog outlets in the capital.
Treat yourself to a delicious pastry, cake or cupcake at one of London's best cake shops .
Choose from 120 different types of cereals and more than 30 different varieties of milk and toppings at the Cereal Killer Cafe .
Grab a burger at one of London's top 10 burger bars .
Home from home
Soak up the historical atmosphere at Sutton House , the Tudor home of Thomas Cromwell's protege Ralph Sadleir.
Explore the home of Dr Benjamin Franklin, scientist, diplomat, philosopher, inventor and Founding Father of the United States, at Benjamin Franklin House .
Visit the Hampstead-based home of Sigmund Freud and his family at the Freud Museum .
Discover the former home of two talented musicians with Handel & Hendrix in London .
Drink up
Sup a pint in front of a crackling fire at one of London’s cosy pubs .
Quaff a glass of wine at one of the candlelit tables at the cave-like Gordon’s Wine Bar .
Celebrate London life with a glass of bubbly at one of the city's champagne bars .
Opt for a mocktail during an alcohol-free night out in London.
Sip a creative concoction at JJ Goodman's cocktail bar, the London Cocktail Club .
Choose from the vast list of more than 400 gins at The Gin Bar at Holborn Dining Room .
Take a load off, unwind and sit down for a purr-fect cup of tea among the resident cats at Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium in Shoreditch.
Read a book over a pot of tea in Bloomsbury's London Review Cake Shop .
Enjoy a half-price martini during happy hour at Dirty Martini .
Get your caffeine fix at one of London’s top 10 independent coffee shops .
Settle in for classic board games, shuffleboard and a vast selection of craft ales at Elephant & Castle hangout Spit and Sawdust .
Stop for a brew and a chat in Terry's Café – a thoroughly British affair with a charming local vibe in Borough.
The write stuff
we visited the charles dickens museum at 48 doughty street. i last went many years ago, with my mother. she had come to paris, where i lived, to have her chemo at the american hospital in neuilly. one weekend when she felt well enough, we went to london and stayed at the basil street hotel (it was my favorite, and i miss it.) she had never been to london, and there were so many sights to see. the two she wanted to visit first were the dickens museum (she was an english teacher, our bookcases were filled with his novels, when we were babies she read them to us) and a church where my father had taken shelter during a bomb raid during the war. maureen and i didn't visit that church this time, but we saw (happened upon—maureen noticed as we walked by) the west side of the victoria & albert museum, bearing scars of bomb damage. we felt the presence of both our parents during this trip.
A post shared by Luanne Rice (@luannerice) on Apr 23, 2019 at 5:13am PDT
Learn about one of the UK’s most famous novelists at the Charles Dickens Museum .
Discover the story behind Dr Johnson and his dictionary at Dr Johnson’s House .
See paintings, prints and relics belonging to poet John Keats at Grade-I listed building Keats House .
Curtain's up
Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits, and Are melted into air, into thin air: And like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. #TheTempest This weekend, we say goodbye to our Summer Season, and what a summer it’s been. Photo: Clive Sherlock #ShakespearesGlobe #GlobeTheatre #Shakespeare
A post shared by Shakespeare's Globe (@the_globe) on Oct 12, 2019 at 5:52am PDT
Walk the walk
Hear the bloodthirsty tale of Jack the Ripper on a Jack the Ripper walking tour .
Uncover the gruesome history of London by gaslight with the Sweeney Todd and Other Demons walking tour .
Park life
Rent a deckchair in the summer at some of London's best parks , including Green Park, Hyde Park and St James’s Park.
Swim in the historic men's, ladies' and mixed ponds on Hampstead Heath .