Explore London
Places to Visit in London: 32 events this week (24 Sept to 1 Oct)
The best places to visit in London this week: galleries, exhibitions, cultural venues and more. Curated for curious locals and visitors. Updated daily.
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Mudlarking Exhibition at London Museum Docklands
Members' Tour: Inspired by Animals
Jenkin van Zyl: Enclosure
Youth Arts Crafting Change
The V&A’s British Galleries - 25 Years On (In-person)
Live Drawing with Rosemary Cronin
Something Spooky! Free Trails for Families
Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Sound Evidence Workshop
Create a Craft Flower Bouquet with Fatimah Mujtaba
Fragments into Form - Assembling a sculpture from wood off cuts.
Cyanotype Portraits with Michael Akuagwu & Jude Amponsah
Grace Petrie
Neon Nights September With Bridget Christie
Pigeon Squirrel Spider Sparrow Exhibition
Day Funk DJs
Mamma Mia Outdoor Cinema
Nataliya Zozulya
Mac Collins: Between the Rafters
A Moment in Time Photography Display
Capture your portrait with Jasprit Singh
Good Mourning Vietnam (Người Khóc Thuê)
Grace Snell: Costuming Sense and Sensibility
Tea & Tomorrow: Imagining Diasporic Futures
loomeweight II
Make a Lantern for the Moon
Ealing Art Group at BEAT
Margins United Festival (NIGHT) 2026
Members' Sunday Film Club: Labyrinth + Q&A with Brian Henson
The World of Costume Design: Careers, Craft and Collaboration
Nicola Turner: I Tear Secrets from Your Yielding Flesh
Ellis King: Spilt Milk
Yuko Mohri and Christian Marclay Performance
London is not short on things to see. The harder question is where to start, and how to avoid spending your time on the obvious when something more interesting is ten minutes away. The city is dense with galleries, historic buildings, markets, and public spaces that most people walk past without stopping. The best visits are rarely the ones you planned a month in advance.
If you are new to London or trying to see more of it, the rough logic is this: the centre is efficient but crowded, the east has shifted a lot of the contemporary culture, and south and north London hold their own distinct pockets worth knowing. Bermondsey, Dalston, Peckham, and Marylebone each carry a different character. One trip to each will tell you more about the city than any list.
Galleries and exhibition spaces are some of the most consistent places to visit because they change regularly and the entry is often free. The major national collections stay open most of the week. The smaller commercial and community galleries in Shoreditch, Hackney, and Brixton tend to have more specific, sometimes stranger things on, and the openings are usually open to anyone. Worth keeping an eye on if you like being in a room with new work.
Markets and public spaces do a lot of the social and cultural work in London that formal venues do elsewhere. Borough, Broadway, Maltby Street, and Columbia Road are places to spend time in, not just pass through. The rhythm of the city is easier to feel in those spots than in most ticketed attractions. Timing matters, and going early or on a weekday changes the experience significantly compared to a Saturday afternoon.
Venues to know
- V&A South Kensington 11 events this week
- Museum of the Home 4 events this week
- Barbican Centre 2 events this week
- Somerset House - Lancaster Rooms, New Wing 1 event this week
- Cockpit Studios 1 event this week
- Palmer Gallery 1 event this week
How we pick
OnlyHere tracks live listings from over a hundred London venues, councils, and programmers, refreshed nightly. Picks favour events with confirmed dates, real venues you can find on a map, and editorial notes written by us, not the promoter. Prices and dates come from the listing itself; we never guess.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best places to visit in London for free?
Many of London's best places cost nothing to enter. The national museums and galleries, including the V&A, Tate Modern, the British Museum, and the National Gallery, are all free. Most public parks, markets, and historic neighbourhoods cost nothing to explore. Checking what is on in a space before you go is the best way to make the most of a visit.
What places in London are worth visiting outside the centre?
A lot of what makes London interesting sits outside Zone 1. Peckham has a strong arts and food scene. Hackney Wick has a concentration of studios and independent venues near the canal. Brixton has markets, music, and a distinct community feel. Greenwich is worth the trip for the park and the architecture. Most of these are 20 to 40 minutes from central London by tube or Overground.
What are the best places to visit in London this week?
That depends on what is on. London's event and exhibition calendar moves fast, and the best things to see change week to week. The live listings below are updated daily and pull from across the city, so checking them is the most reliable way to find what is worth visiting right now.
What are the most interesting places to visit in London for culture?
Beyond the major national institutions, London has a strong independent gallery scene in Fitzrovia, Bethnal Green, and around the Barbican. Smaller venues like the ICA, the Photographers' Gallery, and Whitechapel Gallery programme things you are less likely to have already seen. The Barbican itself is worth a visit for the architecture as much as what is on inside.
How do I find places to visit in London that are not too touristy?
The most useful signal is whether locals go there too. Markets like Maltby Street or Netil Market, community arts spaces, and neighbourhood cinemas tend to have a different feel to the headline attractions. Going on a weekday and avoiding the obvious central spots helps. Looking at what is on in areas like Stoke Newington, Elephant and Castle, or Walthamstow usually surfaces things with less of a tourist crowd.
How many places to visit in london are listed right now?
There are 32 events listed on this page right now. It updates daily.