London For Free - Regular Events
Throughout The Year
Changing Of The Guard (Buckingham Palace)
Buckingham PalaceTube: Green Park, Victoria, Hyde Park Corner
Bus: 11, 211, C1 & C10
Frequency: Full ceremony, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:00, Sunday parade at 10:00
A spectacular display of pageantry held in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace. This event is popular and to get a good view it is advisable to arrive well before 11:30
The guard is usually provided by Guardsmen in their distinctive red tunics and bearskin hats but due to operational requirements the guard may sometimes be provided by other regiments or even the Royal Navy or Royal Air Force.
Very occasionally units from Commonwealth countries take turn in Guard Mounting. In May 1998, Canadian soldiers from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry mounted guard at Buckingham Palace for the first time since the Coronation in 1953.
The ceremony is accompanied by a Guards band. The music played ranges from traditional military marches to songs from films and musicals and even familiar pop songs.
The changing may be cancelled due to severe weather conditions or State Visits
More information
Changing Of The Guard (Horseguards)
Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall
Tube: Charing Cross, Westminster, St. James’s Park
Bus: 11, 211, C1 & C10
Frequency: Daily 11:00 (10:00 Sundays)
The changing of the mounted guard takes about 30 minutes and whilst not as spectacular as the Buckingham Palace guard change it is still well worth watching. Space is much more restricted than at Buckingham Palace.
An alternative to watching the guard changing at Horse Guards is watching the procession of the mounted divisions, which leaves Hyde Park Barracks at 10:28 (09:28 Sundays). The mounted guard processes via Hyde Park Corner and Constitution Hill, although watching them process through Hyde Park is an especially impressive sight.
Horse Guards Parade actually marks the official entrance to Buckingham and St. James's Palaces, which is why the guard is still mounted there.
Two divisions, the Lifeguards in red tunics and the Blues and Royals in blue tunics share the guard duties.
An inspection / dismount parade occurs daily at 16:00 and the mounted guards change on the hour.
Annual Events
The Parade
Central London
Tube: Green Park, Piccadilly Circus, Charing Cross, Westminster
Bus: Many
Frequency: New Year’s Day 13:00 onwards
The New Year’s Day Parade has been taking place for 25 years and is now the largest New Year’s Day parade in the world with in excess of 10,000 participants from over 20 countries.
Upwards of half a million people line the two mile route which begins on Piccadilly near Brekeley Square, then Piccadilly Circus, Lower Regent Street, Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, Cockspur Street, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Street.
There are grandstands at various points along the route although access to these has to be paid for. The remainder of the route can be lined for free.
More information
Chinese New Year
Central LondonTube: Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Charing Cross
Bus: 14, 19, 24, 29 38 & 176
Frequency: Sunday before or after the Chinese New Year - late January / early February
Street parades and general jollifications as the Chinese Community celebrate the New Year.
The date of the Chinese New Year is determined by the lunar and solar calendar so the date varies from late January to mid-February.
The highlight of the day is the traditional Chinese Parade which follows a route from Trafalgar Square to Chinatown.
Lion Dances pass through the streets to bring good luck to the households and businesses they visit. The drums, gongs and cymbals that accompany the Lion Dance are used to scare away evil and bad luck these combine to produce a colourful spectacular parade.
Chinatown itself is specially decorated and there are cultural stalls, food and lion dance displays.
More Information
Head Of The River Race / The Boat Race
Putney to Mortlake
Tube: Putney Bridge
Bus: many
Frequency: March / April (exact date and time depends on tides)
Most have heard of the University Boat Race staged between Putney and Mortlake, which usually takes place in April. Popular as it is the Boat Race has only two teams, whereas the Head Of The River Race has up to 400 boats competing in an event staged in March.
Due to the large number of competing boats the teams set off at ten second intervals meaning it can take up to an hour and a half for all the boats to set off.
Each boat is timed over the just over four mile course but with the staggered starts the winner will not be clear until the very end.
Vantage points are anywhere along the Thames between Putney and Mortlake but Chiswick Bridge is very popular for the Head Of The River race as it affords a view of all the boats congregating at the start in a very confined area.
London Marathon
East and Central London
Tube: many
Bus: many (although many routes are diverted or stopped)
Frequency: April
If the thought of running or even walking 26 miles is too much to bear then why not go along as a spectator.
Up to half a million line the route in what is a great party atmosphere, in a race which attracts not only the top elite athletes but tens of thousands of fun runners. From decent club runners to fun runners, many not content with facing the enduring distance but doing so in often impractical fancy dress outfits.
Bands line the routes and there is a real carnival feeling.
More information
Canal Cavalcade
Little Venice
Tube: Warwick Avenue
Bus: 6, 16, 18, 46, 98, 159, 187, 332 & 414
Frequency: May Day Bank Holiday weekend (10:00 – 18:00 plus Sunday evening)
Many boats gather along this stretch of the Grand Union Canal in Little Venice to offer boat trips, stalls, refreshments, live music and children's activities.
Highlights of the event are a boat handling competition, a pageant of decorated boats and a procession of illuminated boats on the Sunday evening (from 8.30pm).
Boats travel from across the waterways system – some from as far away as Ellesmere Port in Cheshire – to join in the fun.
Children had fun floating inside giant bubbles on a pool in ‘Bubble of Fun’ as well as enjoying a traditional Punch and Judy show. The event has expanded to the nearby Rembrandt Gardens
Trooping The Colour
Horseguards and The Mall
Tube: St James’s Park, Charing Cross, Westminster
Bus: 11, 211, C1 & C10
Frequency: First or second Saturday in June
An annual event where The King inspects troops from the Household Division.
There is a charge to watch the event itself from the seating on Horseguards Parade. However seats for the rehearsal, held two or three Saturdays before, are free. To apply contact:
Brigade Major(Trooping The Colour),
Headquarters,
Household Division,
Horse Guards,
Whitehall,
LONDON,
SW1a 2AX
Enclosing a stamped, addressed envelope. (applications for seats at the main event should be sent to the same address)
On the day itself, free viewing is possible of the procession as it comes down The Mall.
Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill
Tube: Notting Hill Gate, Ladbroke Grove
Bus: 7, 23, 27, 28, 31, 52, 70, 228, 328 & 452
Frequency: August Bank Holiday weekend
Described as the largest street carnival in Europe with almost a million turning up for a musical celebration of Afro-Caribbean Culture.
The carnival is centred around the northern parts of Portobello Road.
Sunday is Children’s Carnival Day with the main procession taking place on the Monday.
Vibrant colours and music to suit, almost, all tastes.
More Information
Great River Race
River Thames
Tube: many (some areas in Zones 3 & 4)
Frequency: September (date depends on tidal conditions) (12th September in 2026)
A boating version of the London Marathon with rowing boats of all descriptions(the only rule being racing boats are excluded) set off along a 22 mile course from which will go from the City of London to the Richmond area, or vice versa depending on tidal conditions.
The event attracts all types of boats (including Chinese dragon boats and Hawaiian war canoes) with competitors ranging from the serious to the near incompetent.
It is a great spectacle from anywhere along the banks of the river but the organised chaos at both the start (10:30) and the finish (13:30) is great fun.
more information
Thames Festival
River Thames in Central London
Tube: Westminster, Waterloo
Frequency: September
The Thames Festival is London’s largest outdoor arts festival - a spectacular event, free to all, which brings together Londoners of all ages and from all communities to celebrate their city and the River Thames.
The festival commissions new work, and transforms outdoor spaces on and around the River Thames with a mixture of music, dancing, street arts, river races, carnival, pyrotechnics, art installations, massed choirs, food and feasting. The finale is a magical illuminated Night Carnival that winds along the south and north banks of the Thames, followed by a fireworks display fired from the centre of the river itself.
more information
State Opening Of Parliament
Westminster
Tube: Westminster
Bus: 3, 11, 12, 24, 53, 87, 88, 148, 159, 211 & 453
Frequency: Variable
The only opportunity, apart from a Coronation, to see The King riding in a gilded coach and wearing her crown.
The King rides from Buckingham Palace to Westminster and back again afterwards to read the Kings Speech (actually written by the Government) which outlines the Laws the Government plans to introduce in the following year.
Not many people line the route so it offers a great opportunity to get a good view of the Monarch.
There are also gun salutes in both Green Park and at the Tower Of London
Christmas Lights
Mainly Oxford Street and Regent StreetTube: Marble Arch, Bond Street, Oxford Circus and Piccadilly
Frequency: Late November until early January
Usually accompanied by a celebrity switch on the lights illuminate Oxford Street and Regent Street although it has to be said the quality of the lights does vary greatly from year to year.
They can vary from the stunning and spectacular to the gaudy and tacky.
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