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Daily 10 am–5.50 pm, last entry 5.30 pm
Natural history museum in a Romanesque terracotta cathedral, with a blue whale skeleton in the Hintze Hall.
Free entry. A free timed ticket online guarantees entry. Queues form at weekends and in the school holidays.
Daily 10 am–5.45 pm, Fridays until 10 pm
The world's largest museum of design and the decorative arts, from fashion and jewellery to plaster casts.
Free, only special exhibitions charge. Open until 10 pm on Fridays. The courtyard garden is a good place for a break.
Daily 10 am–6 pm, last entry 5.15 pm
Museum of technology from the steam engine to the Apollo capsule, with plenty of hands-on exhibits.
Free with a timed ticket. Wonderlab costs extra and is cheaper in advance. From 24 to 30 October it opens at 9 am.
Daily 10 am–6 pm, Fri until 9 pm; closed 24–26 Dec and 1 Jan.
Van Gogh, Turner and Velázquez for free, right on Trafalgar Square.
Free. A free ticket gets you through the queue faster; quieter on Fridays until 9 pm.
Pedestrian gates 5 am–12 midnight
The largest park in the centre, with the Serpentine lake, Speakers' Corner and broad avenues.
Hire a rowing boat on the lake or walk right across to Kensington Gardens. Good after shopping on Oxford Street.
Daily 10 am–6 pm, last entry 5.30 pm
British art since 1500, with the world's largest Turner collection in the Clore Gallery.
The collection is free. The Millbank entrance is closed until 2027; you go in through the Manton entrance on Atterbury Street. Usually quieter than Tate Modern.
Daily 10 am–5 pm
Townhouse full of Old Masters, armour and French furniture, including Fragonard's ‘The Swing’.
Free. Weekday mornings are pleasantly quiet. The café in the glazed courtyard is good for a break.
Tue–Sun 10 am–6 pm, closed Mon
Museum about medicine, the body and being human, with curious objects and a lovely reading room.
Free, closed Mondays. In the Reading Room on the 2nd floor you can read and rest on the sofas.
Tue–Sun 10 am–5 pm, closed Mon
Living rooms from 400 years in 18th-century almshouses in Hoxton, with gardens from every era.
Free, no booking needed. Closed Mondays except bank holidays. Combines well with a wander through Shoreditch.
Some pedestrian gates 5 am–12 midnight
Small royal park between Buckingham Palace and Whitehall, with a lake and pelicans.
From the bridge over the lake you see the palace in one direction and Whitehall in the other. The pelicans often sit on the benches.
Daily 7.30 am–7 pm
Catholic cathedral in Byzantine style in red and white brick, with an interior full of mosaics.
Entry is free. The lift up the bell tower costs extra; price and hours unverified. Only 5 minutes on foot from Victoria station.
Hours set week by week; week from 19 Oct: Mon 8.30 am–5 pm, Tue 12.30–5 pm, Wed until 7.30 pm, Sun until 8 pm
Light-filled church on Trafalgar Square, with a café in the vaulted crypt below.
Free. The café in the crypt is a good stop even when it rains.
Daily 10 am–5 pm, Fri until 8.30 pm
The Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon sculptures. Ideal for a rainy day.
Collection free, special exhibitions charge. Fridays until 8.30 pm with free time slots.
From 5 am until dusk (unverified)
Well-kept park with the Queen Mary's Gardens rose garden, a lake and access to Primrose Hill.
Thousands of roses bloom in the rose garden in June. Cross the road to the north and you are straight onto Primrose Hill.
Towpath walkable at any time
Canal-side walk from Little Venice past houseboats and the zoo to Camden Lock.
About 4 km, flat and almost free of roads. If you would rather not walk, take the waterbus between Little Venice and Camden.
Wed–Sun 10 am–5 pm, last entry 4.30 pm; closed Mon/Tue
An architect's house crammed with mirrors, skylit domes and an Egyptian sarcophagus.
Free, no booking needed. Little space, so often a wait. Closed Mon and Tue.
From 7 am until dusk (unverified)
Big public park in the east with lakes, a pagoda and a lakeside café, popular with locals.
On Sundays combine it with Columbia Road or Broadway Market. Along the canal you can walk on towards Hackney.
Tue–Sat 10 am–5 pm, last entry 4 pm
Anatomical collection of the surgeon John Hunter on Lincoln's Inn Fields, not for the faint-hearted.
Free, a timed ticket is recommended. Closed Sunday and Monday. Close to the Soane Museum.
Usually daily, check regular hours on the website
The City's municipal art collection. In the basement lie the remains of London's Roman amphitheatre.
Free. Tours Tue–Sun at 12.15 and 1.15 pm. Closed on some days, e.g. 16 November and 7 December.
From outside at any time; State Rooms in summer only
The monarch's London residence. A classic from outside and at the Changing of the Guard.
Changing of the Guard usually at 11 am, but not daily and often cancelled in rain. Check the Household Division calendar and be there 30 minutes early.
From 7.30 am until 30 min before dusk (unverified)
Japanese garden with a waterfall, koi pond and free-roaming peacocks in Holland Park.
In autumn the maples turn red. Combines well with Notting Hill, about 15 minutes on foot.
Mon–Sat 9 am–6 pm, Sun 8.30 am–5 pm
London's oldest Gothic church, right next to Borough Market, with a Shakespeare memorial.
Enter quietly during services. Best combined with Borough Market and a walk along the river.
Open in daytime, approx. 8 am until evening (unverified)
Bombed-out shell of a church, now home to a small garden, in among the office towers.
Five minutes from the Sky Garden, ideal as a quiet stop before or after. Emptiest early in the day.
Open at all times
Central square with Nelson's Column, the lions and the Fourth Plinth for changing artworks.
Free and always open. From the terrace in front of the National Gallery you look across the square to Big Ben.
Open in daytime (roughly 8 am until evening), unverified
Small park with the Watts Memorial: ceramic plaques honour people who died saving others.
Free and a hidden gem, only a few steps from St Paul's. At lunchtime lots of office workers sit here.
Open at all times
Tunnel beneath Waterloo station where graffiti is allowed. The walls change almost daily.
Free and always open. By day you often see artists at work. The entrance is on York Road, near the London Eye.
Free access Mon–Fri 10 am–6 pm, Sat/Sun 11 am–9 pm
Glass dome with a garden at the top of the ‘Walkie-Talkie’, with views over the Thames, St Paul's and Tower Bridge.
Free time slots are released up to three weeks ahead. Without a ticket only if there is space; on weekdays no entry without a ticket after 5 pm.
Mon–Fri 10 am–6 pm, Sat 10 am–5 pm, Sun 10 am–4 pm
Europe's highest free viewpoint, on floor 58 of 22 Bishopsgate, with a 360-degree view over the City.
Book a free timed ticket online and bring the QR code. In winter the sunset falls within opening hours.
Pedestrian gates 6 am–7 pm
From the hill by the Royal Observatory you look across the Queen's House and the Thames to Canary Wharf.
Arrive by boat from Westminster and take in the Prime Meridian at the top. The pedestrian gates close at 7 pm.
Sun–Thu 10 am–5 pm, Fri/Sat 10 am–9 pm
Wraparound terrace above the Thames with views of St Paul's.
Free. Fri and Sat until 9 pm, good for sunset.
Winter (Oct–Mar) Mon–Fri 10 am–6.30 pm, Sat/Sun 10 am–5 pm; summer Mon–Fri until 9 pm
Open-air roof garden on 120 Fenchurch Street, quieter than the Sky Garden, with views of the Tower and the Shard.
Usually no booking needed, security check downstairs. Closed on public holidays; at weekends it shuts as early as 5 pm.
Always accessible
From the middle of the bridge: Westminster and the London Eye to the west, the City to the east.
Free, around the clock. Stand on the west side for sunset.
Heath freely accessible (24 h unverified)
Lookout hill on Hampstead Heath; the city lies before you like a model.
10 minutes uphill from Gospel Oak Overground. Combines well with Kenwood House or a swim in the Ponds.
Park and terrace freely accessible (unverified)
Victorian palace on a hill in the north; the terrace in front shows the whole of London.
Far from the centre, but hardly any crowds. Train from King's Cross to Alexandra Palace, then 10 minutes through the park.
Hill freely accessible (night-time hours unverified)
Grassy hill north of Regent's Park with an open view of the skyline, popular in the evening.
Bring a picnic and come for sunset. Afterwards it is five minutes to the cafés on Regent's Park Road.
Unverified: roughly 6 am–12 midnight
Roof terrace at eye level with the dome of St Paul's, no admission charge.
Free. May close at short notice in bad weather.
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