Best value for money, cheap or free stuff for tourists in London

[Prettydress]

Am hoping to take the kids to London but on a budget. Can you recommend fun stuff that is either really good value for money or free? Would have loved to have taken them up the Shard or on the Eye but I just can't afford it so was going to take them on the Emirates Skyline instead - stuff like that.... ! Also any cheapy but tasty food recommendations. The kids love the tube so spending hours getting somewhere isn't a problem! Thanks. X

Tate modern)mostly free) has viewing platform

Oh and wellcombe collection is free, very interesting and not as busy as the main museums

Museum of the home.

Have you thought of going to Westminster Cathedral (catholic)? Its spectacular inside and an early 1900s(?) Version of a florentine cathedral.

Pictures of cathedral. It's also where the Johnsons got married to much (justified) controversy.

Really depends on their interests! Big museums and galleries are all free (although you're "encouraged to donate") including the British Museum and the National Gallery as well as the South Kensington bunch, so it's worth popping in even if only to do a quick whizz-around. My favourite lesser-known one is the British Library display gallery, if they like books!

Oh, and if either/both like space stuff or ships/boats, Greenwich is a fab ride on the DLR and a nice walk through the town to the National Maritime Museum (free) and up the hill to the Royal Observatory (not free, but good value).

The cable car up to the o2 is really cheap. Great views too.

Sorry, keep remembering what my DC liked at that age, and only just saw OP's post from this morning. Borough Market is great.

If they like buildings going up Monument is cheap and the history is interesting.

It's not as tall obviously but if you cross London Bridge from the Shard, you can climb the Monument for about £5 each - still a great view and the historical connection to the Great Fire of London too.

Also, if you think they would like architecture/history related things, www.walks.com run fantastic quality walking tours for £15/£5 - whole range of themes and interests covered there

For anyone who might happen across this thread, the Museum of London at the Barbican is closing at the end of the year in preparation for their move to Smithfield, but the (free) Museum of London Docklands (West India Quay on the DLR, or 5 mins from Canary Wharf) remains open. In an old tobacco warehouse and very spacious, so it rarely seems crowded.

Take the lift up to the roof terrace at One New Change, the new shopping centre next to St Pauls. Amazing free rooftop views!

this is correct, I was suggesting OP and her family might like to visit the original MoL before it closes for several years
I would not bother with Borough Market - it's only overpriced food in the end. Nor with Camden unless you are after some very particular items.
Book market on the South Bank outside the BFI is quite fun to rifle through.
Science Museum is always brilliant. There are some new exhibitions on the upper floors re cancer etc.

You can hire bikes so you could get to see a lot of the park. If they like high you could go up the mittal tower ( have to pay though)

All of the Cathedrals including St Paul's and Westminster Abbey are free if you're attending a church service there. Check the schedule online and arrive in time for a short spoken service. If religion isn't your thing then just sit / kneel and contemplate your thoughts about anything, and then when it's over, stay in the building for a wander round.
Of course, if you do enjoy church services then go on a Sunday or when they have a full mass with hymns so you can appreciate the choir etc.

The Science Museum is free and really interactive (I know you said museums weren't quite your thing, but if its rainy or cold the science and history museum are free) - although I think you need to book online (no cost though)

Museum of London has a Harry Kane exhibition which may be good if they are football fans?

I'm making notes even though I don't have kids.

When are you going OP? The V&A childrens museum in Bethnal Green, East london, is free and interesting for adults and children alike. Its currently being renovated though, but depending when you go, it might have re-opened.
www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/465370-young-v-and-a

If visiting in a Sunday- Columbia flower markets, Spitalfields and Bricklane markets are all free. Get a salt beef beigel on Bricklane. They also have nutella, peanut butter, salmon filled beigels. Victoria park is nearby, and a lovely spot for a picnic or wander around the lakes or green spaces.
columbiaroad.info/
london-travel.co.uk/victoria-park-east-london

Tower hamlets cemetery park is also East London, and a fascinating place to visit. The area has been left to grow, so there are gravestones between trees and shrubs. It sounds odd or scary, but it actually a lovely parkland area.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Hamlets_Cemetery_Park

Aqua shard, inside the Shard, is on a lower level than the viewing platforms, but free to visit. There is a restaurant inside, but you can go to the bar, order a soft drink and still see the views.
aquashard.co.uk/experience

www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/budget-london/101-free-things-to-do-in-london

I'm loving this thread, thanks everyone.

if its rainy or cold the science and history museum are free) - although I think you need to book online (no cost though)

It may be better now if numbers ae controlled by booking, but in my experience when it's rainy or cold the museums are heaving. I once visited the V&A on a wet day during October half term and it was so bad South Ken Tube was temporarily closed due to overcrowding.

I think the viewing platform at the Tate Modern is still closed after the incident where a child was pushed off. If they enjoy interesting buildings then it’s well worth a visit as the scale of it is truly impressive inside, and there’s always lots going on along the South Bank.

Watching planes at Heathrow.

There are musuems and musuems though.
London musuems are usually interactive and fun.

The musuems of London is brilliant.

Goes through from stone age , Romans Georgians, Beatles etc.