Art in London on the cheap
Luckily, we’re no strangers to free culture in London here at Cheapskate, so here are our not-so-secret hacks to see art in the capital for free (no gatekeeping here!).
Pick your day wisely
Just like the £10 Friday Rush tickets at the National Theatre, see our recent blog about cheap theatre tickets, some galleries will have particular days where you can see the same art for a fraction of the price. These include the Barbican’s ‘pay what you can’ Thursday afternoons, the National Gallery’s £1 Friday evening tickets for special exhibitions like this one & free entry on Monday mornings to Leighton House Museum (what a way to start the week!).
Join the club
Okay, this isn’t the cheapest option, but if you love a particular gallery & think you’ll see all (or even most) of the exhibitions it puts on in a calendar year, it might be time to become a member.
Some of the best value membership schemes in our opinion are the National Portrait Gallery & the British Museum – at £61 & £74 per year respectively, these memberships allow free entry to all major exhibitions, which often sell out way ahead of time.
Alternatively, if you’re lucky enough to be under 25, we love the discounted youth tickets at the Barbican Centre, & the Tate Collective, which offers £5 exhibitions tickets & special events exclusively for 16-25 year-old art lovers.
We 🧡 London
This one is, of course, our specialty here at Cheapskate. We’re spoilt for choice here in London when it comes to free exhibitions: as well as the permanent collections at the British Museum, National Gallery, Wallace Collection & many more, there are also tonnes of smaller galleries offering diverse temporary displays that you can see for free (or without breaking the bank).
At the moment, we love this free exhibition of women artists in Hampstead, & this contemporary art show inspired by the London Mithraeum (the main Mithraeum space, by the way, is also free!).
Late = great
If you prefer DJs to Degas and clubbing to Chagall, consider one of London’s regular gallery lates. The Tate Modern and V&A Lates (both on the last Friday of every month) may not provide free entry to paid-for exhibitions, but they do both involve temporary installations, musical performances & workshops that invite you to see the work on display in a new light.
One card to rule them all
If you want something broader – & better value – than membership at an individual gallery, let us introduce you to the National Art Pass. For an annual subscription fee, you can get free entry to hundreds of museums & galleries across the UK, plus half-price entry to the most talked about exhibitions. Plus, if you’re under 30, it’s under £40 for a whole year!
