Best Free Things to Do in London This Week: 13 to 19 July 2026

London does its best work for free in high summer. The week of 13 to 19 July 2026 is a fine example: the Southbank Centre launches a season of free riverside performances, there is free open-air cinema in two corners of the city, and the great free national museums are showing some of the strongest exhibitions of the year at no charge at all. This is our weekly guide to the best genuinely free things to do in London this week, built by the founders of London Theatre Direct, with a few paid ideas at the end for when you want to treat yourselves. Everything here is free to walk into unless we say otherwise.

The Southbank Centre's free Riverside Sessions begin

The headline free event of the week is a new one. On Thursday 16 July, the Southbank Centre opens its Riverside Sessions, a summer-long programme of free performances on the Riverside Terrace overlooking the Thames, and it runs through to late September. The opening weekend is anchored by a residency from the SORI Collective, with free performances on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 July in the early evening and afternoon sessions on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July. You simply turn up. With the river on one side, the skyline in front of you and a drink from the bar in hand, it is one of the loveliest free evenings the city offers all summer.

The South Bank is the obvious place to build a no-spend day around it. The riverside walk from the London Eye to Tate Modern is free from end to end, the buskers and book market under Waterloo Bridge are a fixture, and the views only improve as the light softens. For more ideas in the same spirit, our companion guide to what's on in London this week has the paid highlights, and our round-up of the city's secret gardens points you to free green corners most visitors miss entirely.

Free open-air cinema, twice over

Two of London's best free cinema series are running this week. At Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, Summer Screens puts on free open-air films on Tuesday evenings, and this week it is Cool Runnings on Tuesday 14 July, starting at 7pm with gates from 6pm. It is first come, first served, so bring a blanket and get there early for a good patch of grass. Across the river at Canary Wharf, the free Summer Screens in Canada Square Park run all week, with a rolling programme of films, sport and games on a big screen, again at no cost.

The free national museums are at their best

London's great national museums are free to enter every day, and right now several are showing genuinely major exhibitions at no charge. The British Museum leads the way with three free displays open all week: John Constable: Views of Nature, a beautiful gathering of the painter's cloud studies and landscapes in Room 90a; Early Netherlandish Drawings in Room 90; and Declaring Independence: USA 250 in Room 3, marking 250 years since American independence. All three are free, and the museum stays open late on Fridays, which makes the evening of 17 July a calm, cool time to visit.

A short walk north at Euston, the Wellcome Collection, which is free to all, continues Tenderness and Rage: Stories of HIV and Care, a moving display that runs well into next year. And at the National Portrait Gallery, which is also free to enter, the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award, the country's leading showcase of contemporary portrait painting, is on and free through to October. Between them, that is three world-class institutions and a summer's worth of art without spending a penny.

Free minigolf, and other summer staples

For a light-hearted free afternoon, Canary Wharf has a brightly designed nine-hole minigolf course at Montgomery Square that is free to play, open daily from noon to 6pm, with clubs and balls provided on site. It runs right through the summer and is an easy add-on to the free cinema in Canada Square Park nearby. Elsewhere, the reliable free staples are all on: the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace on selected mornings, the view from the Sky Garden high above the City if you book a free timed slot in advance, and the endless free acreage of the Royal Parks, at their greenest in mid-July.

If you want to combine a free wander with a bit of history, the City of London is quiet and walkable at the weekend, and our guide to London's historic pubs is a good free-to-browse companion for an afternoon on foot, even if the pints are not.

For a whole free day with a change of scene, Greenwich is hard to beat in July. The National Maritime Museum is free to enter, Greenwich Park rolls up to the Royal Observatory with one of the best free views back across the city, and you can stand on the line of the Prime Meridian outside the Observatory gates without paying a thing. The riverside by the Cutty Sark is a fine spot for a picnic, and the covered Greenwich Market is free to browse for lunch. Getting there is half the fun if you walk the last stretch along the Thames Path, and the whole outing can cost nothing beyond your travel.

When you want to treat yourselves

Free is the theme, but a mixed day often works best, one or two paid highlights around all the free time. If you are tempted, we verified these live prices on Monday. The View from The Shard is the best value of the big viewpoints at £19, the immersive galleries at Frameless are £29.51, and Kew Gardens is £21.85 for a full day among the glasshouses. If you are booking more than one paid attraction on the same trip, the consistent saving comes from tickadoo+ member pricing across the catalogue rather than any single offer.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free thing to do in London this week?

The standout is the launch of the Southbank Centre's free Riverside Sessions on Thursday 16 July, a summer season of free open-air performances on the Riverside Terrace by the Thames, with events through the weekend. No ticket is needed.

Is there free open-air cinema in London this week?

Yes. Vauxhall Summer Screens shows Cool Runnings free on Tuesday 14 July at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens from 7pm, and Canary Wharf's free Summer Screens run all week in Canada Square Park with films, sport and games.

Which free museum exhibitions are on this week?

The British Museum has three free displays open, John Constable: Views of Nature, Early Netherlandish Drawings and Declaring Independence: USA 250. The Wellcome Collection is showing Tenderness and Rage, and the National Portrait Gallery has the free Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award. All are free to enter.

Are London's big museums free?

Yes. The permanent collections of the British Museum, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the V&A, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Wellcome Collection are all free to enter, though some special exhibitions within them are ticketed.

What free things can families do this week?

The free minigolf at Canary Wharf, the free Summer Screens cinema, and the Horniman Museum's free general entry and free Octonauts trail are all family-friendly. For a full family plan, see our companion guide to the best things to do with kids in London this week.

How can I save on the paid attractions?

Rather than provider-by-provider discounts, the consistent saving comes from tickadoo+ member pricing across the catalogue, which is most worthwhile when you are booking two or more paid attractions in the same trip.

That is our pick of free London for 13 to 19 July 2026, a week where the best of the city genuinely costs nothing. For the rest of what's on, see our companion guides to what's on in London this week, the West End this week and the best things to do with kids, or browse everything on the London hub.