Free, but you still need a ticket: the London catch

The most annoying thing about free London is not that things cost money. It is that several of the best free things require a ticket you do not pay for, and will not let you in without one.

The rooftops

Horizon 22 and the Sky Garden are both free and both refuse entry without a booked slot and photograph identification. Slots appear a few weeks ahead and the sunset ones go immediately. Cancellations appear constantly, so checking on the morning is worth more than people think.

The museums, sometimes

Several of the big free museums ask for a free timed slot at weekends and in the school holidays, and walk in the rest of the time. Which is which changes, so the venue’s own page is the thing to check rather than a listing anywhere, including this one.

The ones that never ask

The parks, the markets, the street lights at Christmas, Sir John Soane’s, the Wellcome Collection and every one of the protected views. Those you can decide on at six o’clock.

The whole picture is in the guide to free London.