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It’s cold and wet outside and you spent all the money in the party season, but hey, shake off that midwinter misery by exploring London’s greatest free indoor spaces. We've picked some of our favourite spots to stay in when you’re going out.
Walk through history in the Monument Court at Sir John Soane’s Museum
Lewis Bush
This fascinating (free-entry) museum in Holborn boasts an impressive ‘Monument Court’ crammed with architectural artefacts and curiosities spanning thousands of years.
Think of a number in the Science Museum’s new maths room
Nick Guttridge
The grandly named ‘Mathematics: The Winton Gallery’ is a brand new cathedral to calculation. Browse its exhibits and marvel at the beauty of the gallery’s Zaha Hadid design – inspired by maths and physics.
Take your sense of smell on a tour of the Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie at Harrods
An olfactory arcadia on the sixth floor of this famous department store, the Haute
Parfumerie features a carefully curated selection of fine scents, handpicked by fragrance guru Roja Dove. Viagra for the nose.
Free your mind in the Wellcome Collection’s reading room
Get a better understanding of health, medicine and your own body at the Wellcome Collection. Its funky reading room is the perfect place to chill out and contemplate your navel (and other parts of your anatomy).
Feast on style in the Designer Maker User space at the Design Museum
Luke Hayes
Opened in autumn 2016, the relocated Design Museum is as beautiful to look at (inside and out) as its exhibits. While special exhibitions are ticked, there is a permanent display of design excellence that you can enjoy for nowt.
Walk like an Assyrian in Room 10 at the British Museum
For eye-popping gorgeousness, we concede that the Great Court at the museum wins hands down – that curvaceous space with its incredible Norman Foster-designed roof – BUT for drama, the sculpted reliefs of lion hunts, found in the Assyria gallery are pure 645BC cinema.