Things to do in Kensington: 12 days out, 6 of them free

The borough with the highest house prices in England also has the best free day out in the country. Three national museums sit within four minutes’ walk of each other in South Kensington and none of them charges to get in.

Everything below was checked against the venue’s own website on 9 August 2026. Prices are the standard adult rate. Six of the twelve entries cost nothing at all, and two more can be visited for £1 or for whatever you choose to pay.

What a day out costs here

Free every day

1. Natural History Museum. Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD. Free, open daily 10:00 to 17:50 with last entry at 17:30. You can walk in, but the museum recommends booking a free ticket to skip the queue at weekends and in school holidays. Note one closure this autumn: the South Kensington site is shut on 9 October, as well as 24 to 26 December.

2. Science Museum. Exhibition Road, SW7 2DD. Free entry, open daily 10:00 to 18:00 with last entry at 17:15, closed 24 to 26 December. The museum asks you to pre-book a free ticket. Two of its attractions, the Wonderlab gallery and the Power Up gaming floor, are ticketed separately and are cheaper if you book ahead.

3. V&A South Kensington. Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL. Free, open daily 10:00 to 17:45, and until 22:00 on Fridays, which is the single best time to visit because most of the crowds have gone. Some galleries close after 17:45.

4. The Design Museum’s permanent collection. 224 to 238 Kensington High Street, W8 6AG. The Designer Maker User collection is free, as are several current displays: PLATFORM: Simone Brewster runs to January 2027, and Tools for Transition and Design Researchers in Residence: Mineral both run to 20 September 2026. Open 10:00 to 17:00 Monday to Thursday and 10:00 to 18:00 Friday to Sunday.

5. Holland Park and the Kyoto Garden. Ilchester Place, W8 6LU. Free, open from 7.30am until dusk, with closing times posted at every entrance. The Kyoto Garden was a gift from the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce in 1991 and is the reason most people come, but the park also has tennis, football and cricket facilities, two playgrounds for different age groups, an outdoor gym, an ecology centre, a café and public toilets. The car park is pay by phone. Nearest stations are Holland Park, High Street Kensington and Notting Hill Gate.

6. Leighton House’s garden, café and new wing. 12 Holland Park Road, W14 8LZ. You do not need a ticket to visit the newly landscaped garden, the De Morgan Café and shop, the Tavolozza Drawings Gallery or the display cases in the new wing. Only the historic house interiors are ticketed. It is a genuinely good free stop that almost nobody knows about.

Worth paying for

7. Sambourne House, £10.50. 18 Stafford Terrace, W8 7BH. The preserved home of the Punch cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne, and one of the most completely surviving Victorian interiors in London. Concessions £8.75, children aged 6 to 18 £5.25. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:30, last entry 16:30. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

8. Leighton House, £12.25. The Arab Hall alone justifies the ticket. Concessions £8.75, children 6 to 18 £5.25. Open Monday and Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:30, last entry 16:30. Closed Tuesdays.

The trick worth knowing: Leighton House runs a pay what you want morning on the first Monday of every month, 10am to 1pm. Entry is otherwise £12.25, so this is the cheapest way into one of the most extraordinary rooms in London. A joint ticket covering both houses is £20.13 for adults, £14 concessions and £7 for children, which saves about £2.70 against buying separately.

9. Museum of Brands, £14, and it lasts a year. 111 to 117 Lancaster Road, Notting Hill, W11 1QT. The Time Tunnel walks you through a century of packaging, adverts and household objects, and it lands differently for everyone depending on which decade they recognise. Children aged 7 to 16 £8, concessions (17 to 25 or 60 plus) £10, family of two adults and two children £36.

Two things make this the best value on the list. Since 1 January 2026 a ticket admits you for a whole year, including temporary exhibitions, however many times you come back. And there is a £1 ticket for anyone on Universal Credit, with evidence, which covers up to four accompanying children aged 7 to 16. Open Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00 and Sunday 11:00 to 17:00.

10. V&A: Rising Voices, £17. Contemporary art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Runs to 10 January 2027, so there is no rush.

11. Design Museum: Wes Anderson, The Archives, £20.69. The first retrospective of the director’s archive, and it closes on 16 August 2026, so this is the last week. Children 6 to 15 £10.35, under 6s free, concessions and students £15.52. The museum’s other paid show, NIGO: From Japan with Love, runs to 4 October.

12. V&A: Schiaparelli, Fashion Becomes Art, £28 on a weekday, £30 at weekends. The most expensive ticket in the borough and the one that has sold best. Closes 8 November 2026. Going on a weekday saves £2 and the Friday late opening runs to 22:00.

How to spend less

• Go on a Friday evening. The V&A is open to 22:00 and free, and the crowds thin out sharply after six.
• First Monday morning at Leighton House. Pay what you want, 10am to 1pm.
• Universal Credit at the Museum of Brands. £1 for you and up to four children, and the ticket then lasts a year.
• Under-6s go free at the Design Museum’s paid exhibitions, and children aged 6 and under go free at both Leighton House and Sambourne House, as do carers accompanying a visitor.

Also ticketed nearby

Three more places in the borough are worth a day but could not be price-checked against their own websites today, because all three block automated access: Kensington Palace, the Royal Albert Hall’s guided tours and the Chelsea Physic Garden. All three charge for entry and all three sell tickets online. Check the current price on the venue’s own site rather than a resale listing.

Opera Holland Park’s summer season runs in the park itself, and it operates an Inspire community scheme with £26 tickets. Portobello Road market runs the length of the road in Notting Hill and costs nothing to walk.

Frequently asked questions

What can you do in Kensington for free?

Quite a lot. The Natural History Museum, Science Museum and V&A are all free and all in South Kensington. The Design Museum’s permanent collection on Kensington High Street is free. Holland Park and the Kyoto Garden are free and open from 7.30am. So is the garden, café and new wing at Leighton House.

What is the cheapest paid attraction in Kensington?

Sambourne House at £10.50, or Leighton House on a first Monday morning, when entry is pay what you want between 10am and 1pm. On Universal Credit, the Museum of Brands is £1 and the ticket lasts a year.

Are the South Kensington museums really free?

Yes. Entry to the permanent galleries at the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the V&A costs nothing. Special exhibitions inside them are ticketed separately, and the Science Museum’s Wonderlab and Power Up are charged for.

What is on at the V&A in 2026?

Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art to 8 November 2026, at £28 on weekdays and £30 at weekends, and Rising Voices to 10 January 2027, at £17.

When is the Kyoto Garden open?

Holland Park opens at 7.30am and closes at dusk, with the exact closing time posted at each entrance. Entry is free. Dogs are not allowed in the Kyoto Garden itself.

Sources

Prices, opening times and dates were taken from each venue’s own website on 9 August 2026: Natural History Museum, Science Museum, V&A South Kensington, Design Museum, Holland Park (Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea), Leighton House and Sambourne House (RBKC Museums) and Museum of Brands.

Admission prices and exhibition dates change. Confirm with the venue before you travel, and note that the Leighton House and Sambourne House prices quoted here are the summer rates published for 25 June to 1 September 2026.