Guides Guide Any time Updated 9 Sep 2026
Once in a lifetime things to do in London
The London things genuinely worth planning a trip around: the ones that happen once a year, once a reign, or only if you get a ballot place.
Most lists of once in a lifetime things to do in London are lists of expensive things. That is a different category. The things that actually only come round once are the ones constrained by a calendar, a ballot or a coronation, and money does not move any of them.
They are worth knowing about in advance because every one of them has a deadline that passes quietly months before the event.
Once a year, and you have to be organised
Open House in September opens buildings that are shut for the other three hundred and sixty four days, including working government buildings, private houses and infrastructure. The best ones ballot, and the ballot closes in August.
The London Marathon ballot opens the week of the race for the following year and closes within days. Trooping the Colour and the Lord Mayor’s Show are free to watch from the street and need nothing but an early start.
Chelsea sells out to RHS members before public tickets open. Wimbledon has a ballot in the autumn and a queue on the day, and the queue genuinely works if you are prepared to camp.
Once every few years, or once ever
State occasions, royal ceremonies and the opening of a new line or bridge are not on a schedule you can plan around, but they are announced weeks ahead and the good viewing spots are known. Victory parades covers the sporting version, which arrives with about four days’ notice.
Venues that have closed is the argument for going now rather than next year. Several rooms on that list were on everyone’s someday list.
The ones people forget are free
The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower, which has been performed nightly for centuries and is booked months ahead but costs almost nothing. The view from Crossrail Place and the walk through St Dunstan in the East, neither of which charges. The national museums, which would be a paid highlight in any other capital.
If you have one evening rather than one lifetime, tonight and this weekend are the live lists, and things to do in London is the broader answer.
What is coming up
All guides-
On now
Activity bars in London: darts, shuffleboard, mini golf and bingo
Competitive socialising, which is the industry's word for a bar with a game in it. What each one...
-
On now
Afternoon tea in London: the prices, the sittings, and the one that runs into the evening
The Ritz serves it at half past seven at night. What the grand rooms charge, and which of...
-
Mon 15 to Sun 21 March
London Cocktail Week 2027: it has moved to March
After years in October, the seventeenth edition moves to the week commencing 15 March 2027. Worth knowing before...
-
Sat 28 to Mon 30 August
Notting Hill Carnival 2027: dates, which day to go, route and how to get there
Sunday 29 and Monday 30 August 2027, confirmed. Family day or main day, what time it starts, where...
-
On now
Late night food in London: what is open after midnight, and how late
The genuinely 24 hour places, and what to do when the kitchen has shut and the last train...
-
On now
Diwali in London 2026: Trafalgar Square, the temples and the fireworks
Diwali on the Square is Sunday 25 October, free. Diwali itself is 8 November. The temples to visit,...
London month by month
Twelve guides, one a monthThings to do in January Things to do in February Things to do in March Things to do in April Things to do in May Things to do in June Things to do in July Things to do in August Things to do in September Things to do in October Things to do in November Things to do in December
What is on right now
All 2207 listingsThis guide is rewritten each year before the dates come round. For what is actually happening this week rather than what happens every year, the listings below are dated, checked against the venue and carry the venue's own link.
Next up
Or pick a part of town
Soho Covent Garden Islington Bloomsbury Camden Shoreditch Dalston Battersea Fitzrovia Crouch End
Questions people ask
What are the once in a lifetime things to do in London?
The ones limited by a calendar or a ballot rather than by price: Open House in September, the Marathon ballot, Chelsea Flower Show, Wimbledon, Trooping the Colour and the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower.
Which London events need booking months ahead?
Open House ballot places close in August. Wimbledon's public ballot runs in the autumn. Chelsea sells to RHS members first. The Ceremony of the Keys is booked months out although it costs almost nothing.
What is free but feels like a once in a lifetime thing?
The Ceremony of the Keys, Trooping the Colour and the Lord Mayor's Show from the street, and the national museums, which would be ticketed highlights in most other capitals.
This guide is rewritten rather than refreshed, and everything named in it is checked against the venue's own page. Times and prices change; where a listing links to a venue, that link is the one to trust. How we choose what goes in.