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Visiting London’s top attractions costs an average of £30.64 per adult in 2026, with individual tickets ranging from £13.40 for Tower Bridge to £58.50 for the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. Seeing the five most iconic paid sights, the Tower of London, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and The Shard, comes to £154 per adult. This index sets out what London’s leading attractions actually charge this year, models the real cost of a day and a weekend in the city, and shows how to experience world-class London for nothing at all.
Key findings
- The average adult ticket to a major London attraction is £30.64 in 2026.
- The Warner Bros. Studio Tour is the most expensive major attraction at £58.50, more than four times the price of the cheapest, Tower Bridge at £13.40.
- Seeing London’s five most iconic paid sights costs £154 per adult; visiting all fifteen in this index would cost £459.60.
- A modelled mid-range day of sightseeing costs roughly £88 per adult, before accommodation.
- London’s daily travel cap is frozen at £8.90 (zones 1–2) and the bus cap at £5.25, held until at least 2027.
- Ten of London’s world-class museums and galleries, including the British Museum and the National Gallery, remain free to enter, a saving that offsets the city’s ticketed attractions.
The 2026 London attraction price index
The table below ranks fifteen of London’s most visited paid attractions by their standard adult admission price for 2026, taken from each attraction’s official website. Several attractions, including the London Eye, The Shard, Madame Tussauds and SEA LIFE, use dynamic pricing, so the figure shown is the typical advance-online price and the amount you pay can rise on the day and at peak times.
| Attraction | Adult price (2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Warner Bros. Studio Tour London (Harry Potter) | £58.50 | |
| Tower of London | £37.00 | |
| Buckingham Palace State Rooms | £33.00 | summer opening only |
| Churchill War Rooms | £33.00 | |
| ZSL London Zoo | £33.00 | peak; from £31 off-peak |
| The View from The Shard | £32.00 | dynamic |
| Madame Tussauds | from £29.00 | dynamic; more on the day |
| The London Eye | from £29.00 | dynamic |
| Westminster Abbey | £29.00 | |
| Hampton Court Palace | £29.00 | |
| SEA LIFE London Aquarium | £28.00 | peak; from £24 off-peak |
| St Paul’s Cathedral | £27.00 | |
| Kensington Palace | £24.70 | |
| Kew Gardens | £22.00 | weekend; £20 weekday |
| Tower Bridge | £13.40 | online |
Methodology: prices are standard adult admission booked in advance online, collected from official attraction websites in July 2026. Where pricing is dynamic or seasonal, the typical or starting price is shown and noted. The average and totals are calculated across the fifteen attractions listed. Several attractions are offering temporary reductions under the Great British Summer Savings scheme until early September 2026.
How much does a day out in London cost?
Attraction tickets are only part of the picture. A realistic mid-range day for one adult, staying central and eating well without splurging, looks roughly like this:
- One major attraction: £30.64 (the 2026 average)
- A day’s travel, capped: £8.90 on the Tube, or £5.25 by bus
- Morning coffee: about £3.50
- A casual lunch: about £15
- A mid-range dinner: about £30
That comes to around £88 per adult per day before accommodation. A frugal day built around free museums and walking could cost under £30, while a splurge day pairing a top attraction with fine dining can easily pass £150.
How much is a weekend in London?
Two such days come to roughly £175 per adult for sightseeing, travel and food, before your hotel. Mid-range central hotel rooms typically run from around £150 to £250 a night, so a two-night weekend for two adults, staying centrally and enjoying the city properly, realistically lands between £700 and £1,200, excluding travel to London. Booking attractions in advance, using the daily travel cap and mixing paid sights with free ones all bring that figure down.
London for free: the other side of the index
The headline prices tell only half the story, because some of London’s greatest attractions cost nothing. The British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Imperial War Museum and the London Museum all offer free general admission, with donations welcome. Put another way, you could visit ten world-class museums for free, or pay £58.50 for a single studio tour. For a visitor watching the budget, London remains one of the best-value great cities precisely because so much of its culture is free.
Ways to save on London attractions
- Book online in advance, as almost every attraction charges more on the day, and dynamically priced sights are cheapest off-peak.
- Use the frozen daily travel cap rather than buying single tickets, and consider the bus, whose £5.25 cap is cheaper still. See our Oyster card explained guide.
- Weigh up a sightseeing pass against your itinerary in our guide to whether the London Pass is worth it.
- Fill your days with London’s free museums and galleries alongside the paid sights.
- For a full budget plan, see our guide to London on a budget.
Good to know
How much does it cost to visit London in 2026?
A mid-range day of sightseeing costs roughly £88 per adult before accommodation, made up of about £30 for a major attraction, £8.90 for a day’s travel and around £50 for food. A two-night weekend for two adults, staying centrally and eating well, realistically lands between £700 and £1,200 excluding travel to the city. Costs fall sharply if you lean on London’s free museums.
What is the most expensive attraction in London?
Of the major attractions, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, the Making of Harry Potter, is the most expensive at £58.50 for an adult in 2026, ahead of the Tower of London at £37. The cheapest of the leading paid sights is Tower Bridge at £13.40 booked online.
Are London’s museums free?
Yes. The permanent collections of most of London’s national museums and galleries, including the British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate Modern, the V&A and the Natural History Museum, are free to enter, though donations are encouraged and special exhibitions are usually ticketed. This makes London one of the best-value major cities for culture.
Is a London sightseeing pass worth it?
It depends on how many paid attractions you plan to visit and how quickly. Because a pass only saves money if you pack in enough ticketed sights to beat its price, it suits fast-paced, attraction-heavy trips more than relaxed ones. Our guide to whether the London Pass is worth it works through the maths.
About this study
This price index was compiled by London Guide UK in July 2026 using standard adult admission prices published on the official websites of each attraction. It is updated as prices change. Journalists and writers are welcome to cite these figures with attribution and a link to this page.
Suggested citation: London Guide UK (2026), The Cost of Visiting London: 2026 Attraction Price Index, https://www.londonguideuk.co.uk/practical/cost-of-visiting-london/
Where to go next
Plan your spending with our guide to London on a budget and how much a London trip costs, and make the most of free culture with the best museums in London.
