Top 5 Unique (and Free) Things To Do in London

By Yuli Linssen-Kaminitz

London is one of the most vibrant cities in Europe – there is an unlimited number of museums, more than 100 theatres, the famous Royal Family, numerous vintage shops and of course Kate Moss. Even though London attracts more than 27 million tourists a year, many people from outside Europe still find it an extremely expensive destination to visit.

In order to make life easier for those of you who cannot afford to go to on a shopping spree or watch three theatre shows in a row, here are the top 5 free things to do in the city:

1. Speakers’ corner

Cumberland Gate, Park Lane, North East corner of Hyde Park, London W1K 7TY, United Kingdom

Open Sun 12pm-7:30pm

Not only is this attraction free of charge, it is also worth visiting regardless! Where else would you be able to listen to extremely passionate people talking about their beliefs, ideas, conspiracy theories and rough opinions? In 1872 Parliament decided to allow public speaking in the north-eastern corner of London's Hyde Park. People from all over the country gathered to raise their important issues - the main discussions were: politics, religion, the economic situation and more. To this day, every Sunday, you will be able to witness people standing on a small chair in Hyde Park and lecturing the crowd.

---

2. Primrose Hill

Primrose Hill, Primrose Hill Road, Primrose Hill, NW3 3NA

This is the perfect spot to chill out, have a pleasant picnic and watch the spectacular sunset. Located in the north side of Regent’s Park, Primrose Hill offers the most magnificent view of the city and the district surrounding it is full of cosy cafes, trendy restaurants, tiny pubs and shopping streets. Start your day with getting a tan in the sun and finish it with a glass of wine - there is even a chance you will come across a celebrity such as Gwen Stefani, Jude Law and Ewan McGregor - all of them are extremely fond of this place.

---

3. National Theatre Square

South Bank, London, SE1 9PX

The National Theatre Square offers three different vast auditoriums which host more than 20 productions per year! Even though most of the shows do cost money to enter, you would be pleasantly surprised to discover how many free performances are offered monthly.

During the whole summer and until September 26 you will be able to enjoy the spectacular outdoor theatre for free in the "Watch This Space Festival". This wonderful event includes: extraordinary circus, brilliant dancers, acrobatic performances and many more.

---

4. Richmond Park

Holly Lodge TW10 5HS

Richmond Park is located in Richmond, West London. It is extremely hard to believe that such an astonishingly beautiful nature area is just 12 miles away from London! This breathtaking Royal Park is the biggest in London; it covers 2,500 acres of complete beauty and total freedom for the wild animals.

 

Walking there, witnessing the deer running free and listening to the sound of birds will make you feel like you are not in the UK but in a far away country which words cannot describe how striking it is.

---

5. Sunday UpMarket and the Backyard Market

Ely's Yard (entrances on Brick Lane & Hanbury Street), The Old Truman Brewery, London E1 6QL‎

Both of these markets are sort of hidden hotspots in the city. They are quite alternative and most of the people there are locals. The Backyard Market, (open Sunday from 11am till 6pm and Saturday from 10am to 5pm) offers exceptional fashion from young, talented and upcoming designers. Even though the stalls do not offer free treats, you will surely enjoy strolling around and be inspired by the fashionable clothes, one-of-a-kind jewellery and the distinctive arts and craft treasures.

 

The Sunday UpMarket which is located right next to the Backyard Market is similar with its unique fashion items, funky vibe and colourfulness. The major point of distinction from its neighbouring market is the famous food area: tempting cupcakes, Turkish and Moroccan homemade delicious meals, Spanish Paellas, Sushi and many more! The best part is: free tasting is offered to everyone!

---

Yuli Linssen-Kaminitz is a staff writer for EasyToBook.com which specializes in discount rates on hotels all over the world that range from simple motels all the way up to celebrated 5-star venues.

For more information about hotels in London, visit their site!

Moving update and London Fashion Week

Well, the move took place with less bother than I had anticipated but we still have to give our old house a big spit and polish before we hand it over next week. When you are renting, it is never just enough to hand it over in the condition in which you received it. You have to really shine the place up and make a virtual show house of it if you hope to get your deposit back! We finished the upstairs last weekend and we had such a feeling of accomplishment when we finished on Saturday night! We were just in time to relax and catch up on X Factor from the week previous before watching the current X Factor episode. I was a big X Factor fan before they changed the format this year - there is no way I would have waited a week before watching it had it been last year!

Our Sky was only installed on Saturday morning which was the reason for the delay in television viewing and we received our telephone line on Monday morning. I'd advertise my home telephone number on this public blog only I hate talking on the telephone! I do it all day at work so spending my personal time on the phone is not my idea of fun. Oh, and there's that whole world of internet stalking that I'd like to avoid. (Sorry, not having internet access at home has started to make my brain go soft).

The great news is that our router arrived today and we will go live on Friday so normal programming should resume soon. A big thank you goes out to O2 Broadband who rushed our order in on Monday after we discovered that our previous provider, Be Broadband do not supply our area in Dartford. Be Broadband have absolutely super service and lightning fast internet speeds so I would absolutely recommend them. I was really sad when they confirmed that they could not supply our area but am happy to go with O2 as I am really satisfied with them being my mobile phone provider and they give three months free broadband. So smiles all round then!

In the meantime, I'm still trying to catch up with blogs and comments which is not easy with no home internet access! I do tend to spend my days working as unlikely as that might seem! If you visit the side of my blog, you'll see my Twitter feed. I often post links to other fantastic travel or photography blogs and websites so feel free to follow me. I follow all non-spammy, real people but do tend to shy away from people who post a hundred times a day!

Luella - London Fashion Week 2010 [source]

I've chatted about the fabulous Evening Standard reader offers and discount card before and this special was too good not to share. Get two for one tickets to events at the London Fashion Week by visiting the Evening Standard This Is London website.

It is the 25th anniversary this year and many top fashion houses have returned to London this year to celebrate so I’d really recommend going!

Free, half price and discounted in London #4

It's been a while since I did one of these. My aim was to provide information on having fun in London on a shoestring budget but I ran out of material after a while and I didn't want the posts to seem contrived.  I do think it is possible to find great deals and free stuff in London but I think you need to take the time to look for those deals.  Hopefully, now that I am no longer studying (at least until next autumn) I can make regular posts again.

Today, I am only going to post about "Discounted" because a) this is such an incredible find and b) I decided not to post the "free" portion of the post because I decided in the end that it was a bit of a scam anyway. 

Discounted

I was quite the salon girl in South Africa.  Every week I went for massages, manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing - you name it. I lived at my salon and worked my treatments into our monthly budget. Of course, it helped that I went to Special Touch Salon in Randpark Ridge and that they had great prices. In any event, coming to London was a nightmare for me in that respect. Suddenly, going to the salon was a luxury I couldn't afford and as if that wasn't enough - the humid climate gave me terrible skin and hair. Then one day I had a stroke of genius and Googled 'student salon'. It was then that I discovered London Esthetique just off Oxford Street in central London. Finally I can afford salon treatments again and boy am I taking advantage of it!

My first treatment in October was a Babor Anti-Stress Rejuvenating Facial Treatment which cost £28 and normally costs at least twice that in a salon. This was without a doubt the best facial I have ever had and my skin still showed the benefits for almost 4 weeks later. Since then, I have had a Swedish Massage for £22.  Out of all of the treatments I have had, this was the only one I didn't really like.  I think it is important to mention that because this is a student salon but in general the quality of the treatments is really good.  The therapist didn't seem really into the massage though and that is not conducive to a good massage! 

I then had an Aromatherapy massage about three weeks ago.  It was really, really good and somehow, toxins must have been released in my body or something because by the end of it, I was euphoric.  The massage only cost £25 and I was 100% relaxed thereafter.

About two weeks ago, I went in for a manicure and pedicure and I was really impressed with the treatment.  The polish lasted for two full weeks on my hands before I decided to take it off and the therapist did a really great job.  The treatment only cost £16.50 for both treatments but I think that might have been on special as the price is now £20 for both.

That's me for now.  I hope to resume normal programming very soon and should be posting the first part of my road trip itinerary tonight.  That is, of course, if I don't get sick.

Free, half price and discounted in London #3

Free

Miami Health Club and Salon is located in Old Kent Road in SE1. This is a small, friendly outfit offering reasonably priced gym memberships and salon treatments. They offer a range of treatments from massages to laser hair removal to facials. They are offering a free introductory waxing treatment.

Their contact details are as follows:
Tel: 020 7703 9811
Miami Health Club
210 Old Kent Road
London
SE1 5TY

Half Price

Unfortunately, we're not going to be able to go out again this weekend because we've just moved and our house is in a right mess. So I'm just going to link to my favourite source of 2 for 1 specials, The Days Out Guide. These are genuine specials with no gimmicks or tricks so make sure you add this site to your favourites.

Discounted

Burger King has £30 worth of Buy One Get One Free offers up for grabs on their website.  You just have to fill in your name and details and then you can download the e-voucher file.  Yummy.  The file also includes my personal favourite "Free BK Bacon Butty with Any Drink Purchased" and they have a couple of drinks and fries freebies as well.

Free, half price and discounted in London #2

Autumn has definitely arrived in London - I am wearing a sweater to work already!

There was no edition of "Free, half price and discounted in London" last weekend because we were so broke that even 'free' would have been too expensive for us.  Moving house is not cheap.  Especially when it is only just a year since you emigrated and moved countries!

Today is our ten year anniversary of the day we met.  We call it our "dating anniversary" and we usually do something big or extra special.  Last year was a bit of a failure - we had delays getting Stephen's visa and he wasn't able to get here in time for our anniversary or the tickets I bought us to see John Simm starring in Elling.  This year, we have a house guest (my cousin is here to watch St Helens play in the Rugby League final tomorrow at Wembley) plus we are moving house plus we have the aforementioned money priorities.  Nevertheless, we will manage to go out to Gourmet Burger Kitchen tonight and we're off to Covent Garden to watch comedy and have a nice meal tomorrow.

Moving on swiftly then...

Free


Frijj Film Festival 2008

Website:  Four Ridges Must Be Destroyed (a très dramatic slogan!) (Located in various cinemas around London)
Link to: Dates and Times

The Frijj Film Festival is a free film festival showing some older and classic films.  The films show each Thursday and there are some real classics showing that I would love to see on a big screen.  Films include Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Jaws, The Exorcist, Predator and Kill Bill 1. 

Half price

As a disclaimer, I have to say that I usually go out with my husband and so 'half price' for us usually translates into '2 for the price of 1' specials. 

Gourmet Burger Kitchen half-price special

Unfortunately, I cannot take advantage of this offer tonight because it is only valid from Sunday to Thursday.  However, if you click here (pdf file) to download the special, then you can enjoy two main meals for the price of one.  As they say, "You Buy One, We Buy One".

Here is their website for booking and directions and so on and here is their magnificent menu.

Discounted


25% off meals at Ha! Ha! Restaurant if you watch comedy

Website: TNT Comedy TNT Magazine presents Crack Up at the Covent Garden Comedy Club.

Tickets are £13.50 each and include free entry to Motion Nightclub as well as 25% discount on your food bill at Ha!Ha! Restaurant. We are going on Saturday night and we're going to see Andy Parsons plus Al Pitcher and Pierre Hollins.

Free, half price and discounted in London

It doesn't get any more free than that.  That was the view from my bedroom window on Sunday morning.  I had been woken up by the sound of seagulls.  We live quite close to the Thames River and are downstream from the Thames Barrier - I never tire of hearing seagulls!

I've decided to start a new series called "Free, half price and discounted in London" because while London can be an extremely expensive city it is amazing how much you can do for free.

Free

Thanks to this amazing article I signed up at See Film First. I received an email last week about a free film premier. Your have to be quick - shows at Odeon Greenwich were already sold out but I managed to secure tickets at Odeon Chatham. I caught a train out of London Bridge at 5pm and the trip took an hour. Luckily Stephen was there on the other side to pick me up and take me to the venue though as it gets a bit tricky after that and can take 30 minutes to walk.

We made it for the prompt 6.30pm start and there were no trailers and no other marketing. All I had to do was fill in a voluntary questionnaire the next day and you choose at time of booking whether you would like to be contacted for that purpose. All in all, it was definitely worth the £6 addition to my Zone 4 travel card and we will definitely do it again (even if we have to go to Chatham again). There are also lots of restaurants by the cinemas to eat at afterwards.

We saw Get Smart.  I guessed that the show had received horrible reviews in the States and they needed to test market it here before spending resources on the wider market.  Stephen enjoyed it and had a laugh.  While I didn't expect much I still found they pushed the limits of probability a bit to far a bit too often.  Still, I would rather go to the cinema for free and see a bad film than not go at all!

---

Half Price

I have Google to thank for this.  I googled "2 for 1 Doctor Who Exhibition" and came up with a link to the Evening Standard / Eros Card special offer.  You have to sign up for an Eros card (which they actually post to you, it is not just an online thing) but all that does is get you more special offers in the future.  I'd say it is definitely worth the opt in.  The booking experience was easy with the phone being answered in one ring and the agent friendly and competent.  (I only mention it because I have never before experienced all three of those features in an English call centre).

The special ends on the 17 August.

Discounted

One of the best kept secrets in London England is the Bite Card.  The Bite Card gives you 20% off any food or drink purchase at any main line railway station.  That is a massive savings and I have never had trouble using the card.  If you travel frequently, keep it with your Oyster card and you'll find the two make very worthy travelling companions.  (Okay, that was corny).  Today I went to Delice de France and I had a leek and chicken pie for £1.40 after discount.