Although most visitors to the capital expect to shell out wads of cash - even a visit to the loos at Harrods will set you back £1 - there are many things to do and see for under a fiver. Many are absolutely free.
Food
Who said there's no such thing as a free lunch? After a short talk the Hare Krishna Temple (10 Soho Street, W1, 020-7437 3662, iskcon.com) dishes out delicious Indian vegetarian meals from Monday to Saturday at around 12.30-1pm (3pm Sundays) - and you don't have to shave your head or dance down Oxford Street with a tambourine to receive one. Alternatively, whisk around the food halls of Harrods (Knightsbridge, SW1, 020-7730 1234, harrods.com) or Selfridges (400 Oxford Street, W1, 020-7629 1234, selfridges.com) to sample the varied, exotic fare. Both halls are big enough to provide plenty of free snacks. The Hive (93 Northcote Road, SW11, 020-7924 6233) is a shop buzzing with activity and containing a glass observation hive where you can watch more than 25,000 bees at work. Try the honey samples and admire the many bee and wasp artefacts.
Theatre and dance
It isn't always necessary to take out a mortgage to pay for a decent seat. The Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Silk Street, Barbican, EC2, 020-7628 2571, gsmd.ac.uk) stages impressive free drama productions. Write to the general office for an events diary. Tickets for contemporary dance at The Place (17 Dukes Road, WC1, 020-7387 0031, theplace.org.uk) start at £5.
Music
On weekdays, some of the City's most beautiful churches put on free lunchtime classical music recitals. The City of London Information Centre (St Paul's Churchyard, EC4, 020-7332 1456, cityoflondon.gov.uk) can provide details. London's music colleges, including the Royal Academy of Music (Marylebone Road, NW1, 020-7873 7300, ram.ac.uk), gsmd.ac.uk), and the Royal College of Music (Prince Consort Road, SW7, 020-7589 3643, rcm.ac.uk) also hold regular free orchestral concerts, chamber music and recitals. The Royal National Theatre (South Bank, SE1, 020-7452 3400, nationaltheatre.org.uk) offers free music from around the world including jazz, classical and folk performed in the foyer, usually at 6pm on weekdays and Saturdays at 1pm.
For jazz, try The Vortex (139-141 Church Street, Stoke Newington, N16, 020-7254 6516) where admission is free or from £3. The Windmill (22 Blenheim Gardens, Brixton, SW2, 020-8671 0700) showcases a variety of styles including folk, blues, country and rock. Tickets are from £2.
Cinema
Prince Charles Cinema , (Leicester Place, Leicester Square, WC2, 020-7494 3654, princecharlescinema.com) is great value at £1.50-£3.50 a ticket. Riverside Studios (Crisp Road, Hammersmith, W6, 020-8237 1111) has an art-house cinema with tickets from £5.
City farms
The capital has more than 15 city farms and almost all are free to enter. Regular events include jumble sales, fun days, dog shows, barn dances, pig racing and sheep fairs. London's largest is Mudchute Park and Farm (Pier Street, E14; 020-7515 5901). Pony rides (Tues-Fri 2pm, Sat/Sun 2.30pm) are £1.50. Other good farms are Dene City (39 Windsor Avenue, Merton Abbey, SW19, 020-8543 5300) in the National Trust's Morden Hall Park and the compact Freightliners (Paradise Park, Sheringham Road, N7, 020-7609 0467, freightlinersfarm.co.uk).
Art
London's top art galleries are all free and their special exhibitions are usually less than £5. The National Gallery (Trafalgar Square, WC2, 020-7747 2885, nationalgallery.org.uk) has many of the greats and the National Portrait Gallery next door (2 St Martin's Place, WC2, 020-7306 0055, npg.org.uk) has been revamped and expanded. Tate Britain (Millbank, SW1, 020-7887 8008, tate.org.uk) exhibits from the 16th century onwards and Tate Modern (25 Sumner Street, Bankside, SE1, 020-7887 8000, tate.org.uk) contains art from 1900 onwards as well as great views over the river. Treat the commercial galleries around Cork Street, Dering Street and Bruton Street, W1, as one big gallery with many doors.
Sport
Tickets for matches at Blackheath Rugby Union Club (Charlton Road, SE3, 020-8858 1578, blackheathrugby.co.uk) cost £5. Or you could go to the dogs. Admission to Catford Stadium (Adenmore Road, SE6, 020-8690 8000, catfordstadium.co.uk), Walthamstow Stadium (Chingford Road, W4, 020-8531 4255, wsgreyhound.co.uk) and Wimbledon Stadium (Plough Lane, SW17, 020-8946 8000, wimbledondogs.co.uk) costs under £5. Soccer lovers could opt for an Arsenal Tour (Arsenal Football Club, Highbury Stadium, Highbury Lane, N5, 020-7704 4100, arsenal.com; admission £4) to see the art deco stadium, museum, directors' areas, press rooms, board rooms and players' tunnels.
Ford factory tour
Ford's huge Dagenham car factory may be downsizing but 10-year-olds and above can still go on a free 40-minute tour of the engine plant where you get to follow the progress of an engine being fitted with components on the production line. The tour has to be booked in advance by writing to Factory Tours, Room 3/001, Ford Motor Company, Thames Avenue, Dagenham, Essex (020-8526 4570, ford.com).
[April 14, 2003: Please note that tours of the Dagenham car factory are no longer available.]
Post office tour
Pre-booked free tours of Mount Pleasant Post Office , Europe's biggest sorting office, enable adults and over-12s to follow the journey of a letter. The mechanical sorting equipment and the underground mail rail dating from 1927 are seen in action. It's best to visit at around 2pm, which is when the mail rail starts. Initially contact Mount Pleasant Post Office, Farringdon Road, EC1 (020-7239 2311). Bookings must be confirmed in writing at least 14 days before the visit.
TV and radio shows
See a radio or television show for free. Contact the BBC (020-8576 1227, bbc.co.uk), or Powerhouse (020-7240 2828) tvrecordings.com can also arrange free tickets for programmes on all channels.
Museums
The huge British Museum (Great Russell Street, WC1, 020-7636 1555, thebritishmuseum.ac.uk) has always been free, but the government has recently abolished charges to all national museums including the Natural History Museum (020-7942 5011, nhm.ac.uk), the Science Museum (0870 8704771, nmsi.ac.uk) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (0870 4420808, vam.ac.uk) around Kensington's Exhibition Road. Other national museums with extensive collections include Greenwich's National Maritime Museum (Romney Road, SE10, 020-8858 4422, nmm.ac.uk), the Imperial War Museum (Lambeth Road, SE1, 020-7416 5000, iwm.org.uk) and the Museum of London (150 London Wall, EC2, 020-7600 3699, museum-london.org.uk).
London has more than 125 other museums with free admission, including the North Woolwich Old Station Museum (Pier Road, E16, 020-7474 7244, newham.gov.uk/leisure/museums/ moldstn.htm) with trains, a 1920s ticket office and turntable pit. You can combine a visit with a trip on the Woolwich ferry 30 metres up the road, for a great view of the Thames Barrier, and walk back through eery Woolwich Foot Tunnel .
Bus tours
Why pay £12-£15 to join a tourist sightseeing tour? Hop on a London bus (020-7918 4300, londontransport.co.uk/buses/index/shtml) for a fraction of that, and sit upstairs, preferably at the front. Good routes passing plenty of landmarks include the 8, 11, 12, 15, 53 and 73.
Hindu temple service
Children as well as adults from all cultures enjoy the spectacle of the short services at 11.45am and 7pm daily at the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Brentfield Rd, Neasden, NW10, 020-8961 5031; no shorts, miniskirts, sleeveless tops etc).
Off the tourist trail
If the high admission prices and large queues at the likes of Madame Tussauds and the Tower of London don't appeal, try these suggestions. At 202ft high, The Monument (Monument Street, EC2; 020-7626 2717; £1.50 adults, 50p children 5-15) is the world's highest free-standing stone column, a memorial to the Great Fire of 1666. Lots of steps, but a great view from the top. House of St Barnabas-in-Soho (1 Greek Street, W1, 020-7437 1894; free tours, ring for an appointment) is a charming Georgian mansion with rococo plasterwork and elegant chandeliers.
Older children love the spooky, ancient, man-made, labyrinthine Chislehurst Caves (Old Hill, Chislehurst; 020-8467 3264, chislehurstcaves.co.uk open Wed-Sun 11am-4pm, 45-minute tour on the hour, adult £4, children 5-15 £2) which sheltered thousands from the threat of bombs during the second world war.
A family day out in east London
Only a small stroll separates toy nostalgia by the pram-load at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood (Cambridge Heath Road, E2; 020-8980 2415) from the enlightening room displays from 1600 to the present day at the Geffrye Museum (Kingsland Road, E2; 020-7739 9893). In between you can stroll around Haggerston Park and adjoining Hackney City Farm (1a Goldsmith's Row, E2; 020-7729 6381). Have a seafood takeway lunch from Lee's Seafoods (134 Columbia Road, E2) and maybe a wander around Columbia Road Flower Market. It all makes a great family day out - free except for the seafood.
