How to Spend a Rainy Day in London (And Still Have Fun!)

Last Updated on 27th June 2024 by Sophie Nadeau

This post may contain affiliate links. Please check out my privacy policy and disclosure for more information.

If there’s one thing you can guarantee on a trip to London, there’s always a high chance of rain! With weather reports placing rainfall averages at 30% across the year, you can and should expect at least a day or two of rain on a trip to the UK’s capital. Luckily, there are plenty of things to do when it’s raining in London. Here’s your ultimate guide on how to spend a rainy day in London (and still have fun!)

Best rainy day activities in London

Explore a small museum

It goes without saying, that a rainy day is always best spent exploring a museum or two. Luckily, in London, you’d be hard-pressed not to find one you like as there are over 200+ to choose from! Of course, there are the major visits like the British Museum and the Natural History Museum, but have you considered visiting one of the smaller weird yet wonderful museums of London?

Here are just a few top suggestions of small museums you should visit:

• Sir John Soane’s Museum – The former home of 18th-Century architect Sir John Soane, here you’ll find an eclectic mix of ancient artefacts and paintings by world-renowned artists. Entrance is free!
• The Cinema Museum – Explore a private collection of cinema history and memorabilia in this fascinating museum which is set within a historic workhouse where Charlie Chaplin lived as a child. There is a limited number of availability, so be sure to book a tour in advance to visit.
• Fan Museum – A quirky, yet fun and interesting small museum specialising in all things fan-related, it’s the first museum in the world of it’s kind and is truly fantastic!
• Benjamin Franklin House – The only surviving residence of USA president, Benjamin Franklin, here you’ll find a traditional, terraced Georgian house.
• The Grant Museum of Zoology – Houses an impressive natural history collection of the animal kingdom, including rare and extinct specimens. It’s free to visit too!
• The Freud Museum – Visit the final home of the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, where very little has changed and you can see his vast collection of antiques on display.

Go shopping

As a major capital city, there’s no shortage of places to shop in London. Whether you’re looking for a souvenir magnet to bring home to your Grandma, or are looking for a high-end luxury purse, you’re sure to find it here. And a rainy day in London is the perfect opportunity to sneak inside, escape the rain and look for a bargain (or do some window shopping if your budget doesn’t include a few indulgences!)

Some of London’s most famous shops you should mooch around, even if just to marvel at the decadence of them, include:

Liberty London: Regent St, Carnaby, London W1B 5AH. Located in a Tudor-revival building, Liberty London sells all kinds of fashion products, as well as homeware. It’s seen as a place to champion young designers at the start of their careers, so this is the place to go for potential new fashion trends. Plus, the interior decor is simply stunning!

Harrods: 87-135 Brompton Rd, Knightsbridge. The twinkling lights of Harrods are hard to miss in the very heart of Knightsbridge. This luxury British department store is famed for being home to over 3,000 brands, which is quite the stark contrast from its humble beginnings as a single-room store selling tea and groceries back in 1834.

Fortnum and Mason: 181 Piccadilly. The duck egg blue and gold exterior is synonymous with the luxury department store Fortnum and Mason. The best thing about this store is its food court; filled with all manner of teas, sweet treats and iced desserts.

Watch a film at an independent cinema

One of the best things to do when it’s raining is get cosy and check out a film, and I’m not just talking about the Hollywood Blockbusters either. There are plenty of independent cinemas throughout the city showing quirky, unique and downright bizarre films, which make for the great way to spend a rainy afternoon in London.

ArtHouse – 159A Tottenham Ln, London N8 9BT: Once known as ‘the Queen’s Opera House’, it was eventually converted into a cinema. Truly independent and the culmination of the local people, this space shows live performances and art films 7 days of the week.

Regent Street Cinema – 309 Regent St, Marylebone, London W1B 2UW: Often dubbed the ‘birthplace of British Cinema’, the Regent Street Cinema showed the first motion picture in the UK and is now a go-to place to view repertory pieces.

Visit an art gallery

Spend a morning or afternoon sheltering from the downpour and soaking up some culture in some of London’s gallery spaces. Brimming with art from every era, style and artist you can imagine, whether you’re a modern art maven or prefer the more classical pieces, you’re sure to find a gallery in London that will suit your preferences. And, lots of them are completely free to visit!

National Gallery – Situated on the grand Trafalgar Square, this gallery houses a vast collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the 13th century to the 1900s. See the likes of works by Titian, Vermeer, Van Gogh, Monet and plenty more.  Entry to the main gallery is free to visit!

National Portrait Gallery – Home to a collection of some of the world’s most important portraits, it claims to be the first national public gallery in the world that was dedicated to portraits alone. The permanent collection is completely free to explore.

Tate Modern – Quirky, unique and modern, you can’t go wrong by spending an afternoon exploring the Tate Modern, and all it has to offer. Set in the heart of a converted power station, the Tate Modern has it all! An ambience, a great location along the Thames and enough Art to make you think for days on end. The permanent collections are free to visit.

Saatchi Gallery – Opened by businessman Charles Saatchi in 1985, this hub of contemporary art showcases some of the new and exciting works from upcoming emerging artists. Presenting works of all mediums, no two visits to the Saatchi Gallery are the same as the exhibitions are constantly changing.

Serpentine Gallery – This free gallery often hosts world-renowned artists’ work in the heart of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park. A trip here can easily be combined with a trip to nearby museums such as the Natural History Museum or the V&A.

Dulwich Picture Gallery – Founded in 1811, making it one of the oldest art galleries in the UK, this significant collection of 17th & 18th century European Old Masters is worth exploring and is set within the architectural treasure designed by John Soane as the first purpose-built public art gallery to open to the public.

Wander through the covered arcades

Best explored on a rainy day when the weather is not on your side, wander through the covered arcades of London and explore the chic to downright unusual passageways filled with treasures waiting to be uncovered.

Leadenhall Market – Gracechurch St, London EC3V 1LT: Ancient, covered, and dating back to the 14th-century Leadenhall Market remains a firm fixture in the London landscape, just as it has done so for centuries. 

Burlington Arcade – 51 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 0QJ: Chic and located not far from Piccadilly Circus, Burlington Arcade is filled with designer stores, complete with eye-watering prices.

The Royal Arcade – 12 Albemarle Street to 28 Old Bond Street: Completed in 1880, this Victorian-era shopping arcade is home to boutique shops filled with treasures, perfect for some rainy window shopping!

Hide from the rain in a cosy café

Full of quirky cafés and hidden bakeries, London is a treasure trove for those with a sweet tooth or those who just really love coffee!

The Fork Deli Patisserie – 85 Marchmont St, Kings Cross, London WC1N 1AL: A cute little café in the very heart of Bloomsbury, serving all kinds of cakes and coffees.

Farm Girl Café – 59A Portobello Rd, London W11 3DB: Most probably the most photogenic coffee shop in the capital, here you’ll find all sorts of lattés and speciality coffees; including butterfly matcha (a bright blue brew), and a rose flavoured latté.

Read a book… at the British Library!

Where better to read a book on a rainy day in London than in the British Library itself? Home to millions of books, manuscripts and more, the British Library often also houses small exhibitions. Here, you can also see one of only four copies of the Magna Carta.

Play some games

From bowling alleys to boules, there’s a large selection of undercover games on offer throughout the city. (The perfect activities for spending a rainy day in London!)

Bloomsbury Lanes: Tavistock Hotel, Bedford Way, Bloomsbury, London WC1H 9EU. A set of eight bowling lanes, pizza, drinks and plenty of entertainments. Here you can quite literally bown the night (or day) away…

See London from above

From the Shard to the Sky Garden, there are plenty of ways to see the city from a bird’s eye perspective. Not sure which attraction to visit? Here’s my guide to some of the best views in London (which are open to the public).

Sky Garden –Even if it’s too cloudy to see very far, the entrance is free, and there’s still a lush green garden to enjoy, as well as a bar where you can buy refreshing drinks, teas and coffees, and alcoholic beverages.

Tower Bridge – Located in the very middle of the iconic River Thames, there’s more than just the view to enjoy at Tower Bridge.

Viewing Level, Tate Modern – The Tate Modern is not only a great place to see good art but also where you can find one of the best views over London…and it’s free to visit!

The Shard – Stretching high into the clouds, The Shard stands high not only as the tallest building in London but in all of Britain and Western Europe too!

Enjoyed reading about how to spend a rainy day in London? Pin this article now, read it again later: