Indoors
Indoor things to do in London
Indoor things to do in London, all in person. Exhibitions, theatre, comedy, talks and art across the city, with the date and venue on every listing.
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Uxbridge Library Exhibition
Relaxed View of Robert Ryman: The Real Thing
Yuko Mohri: In Concert
Robert Ryman: The Real Thing
Robert Ryman: Exhibition Tour with Curatorial Assistant...
anyone can dance w/Beirut Groove Collective
A Hat at the Void
The Alchemical Sisters - Dumb Supper
Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery
Architecture of Desire
Freeform Group Exhibition; Featured Ali Katmiri, Yassaman Emami, Emad Katmiri
Power to Care
Silent Owl - Unprimed Collective & Guests
Harumi Tanaka - Carpe Diem
Day of the Dead Family Festival
Zaha Hadid: The World is Not a Rectangle - Serpentine Galleries
Es Devlin: Other Worlds
LAIKA presents Wildwood: The Exhibition
Voices in the Room
Justin Caguiat: Change Ringing | Free Exhibition
Amar Kanwar | Free Exhibition
God Save the Queens
Lego Club at the Museum
Saturday Talks | Chris Bayley on Amar Kanwar
Curator Tour of LAIKA presents Wildwood: The Exhibition
Fungi Walks: Citizen Science
Wild Encounters presents Creatures of the Night!
Halloween in Church Street
STORIES
Day Funk DJs
A Very Spooky Halloween Party
Day of the Dead Evening Fiesta
Neon Frights With Lou Sanders
Free Community Group Tours: Earthly Paradise
All The Colours of the Rainbow Free Trails for Families
Second-hand Bookshop
Chinese, Japanese & Southeast Asian Art
Mudlarks family gallery
Beastly bookmarks
Aidan Duffy
Behind Your Eyes - Solo Presentation from Teresa Zerafa Byrne
Gather Round
Great Fire of London family walk
Hampton Hill Halloween Trail
Wonders of the warehouse
Surrey Soul Sensation
Walthamstow: William Morris
Diwali Celebrations in Twickenham
Nick Miller: This Holding Sea
When the weather turns, London moves inside, and the city has more rooms worth being in than almost anywhere. Galleries and museums, theatres and studio spaces, comedy clubs and lecture halls all keep their doors open whatever the sky is doing. An afternoon indoors here can be as full as any spent outside.
This guide leans on the categories that tend to happen under a roof: exhibitions, theatre, comedy, talks, and art. It is a grouping by category rather than a promise about the venue, so use it as a guide to indoor-leaning events rather than a guarantee of shelter from the rain.
Every listing below is something you attend in person, with its date and venue shown. The page draws fresh dates from each of those categories, so there is usually a mix of the quiet and the lively to choose from.
Venues to know
- The Barbican Centre 5 events this week
- London Museum Docklands 4 events this week
- Design Museum 3 events this week
- Horniman Museum and Gardens 2 events this week
- Serpentine South Gallery 2 events this week
- Serpentine North Gallery 2 events this week
How this list is made
Listings are gathered from venue, organiser and ticketing sites and refreshed nightly. The list favours events with confirmed dates and real venues you can find on a map. Summaries are written with AI assistance and checked against the source listing, and prices and dates always come from the listing itself; we never guess.
Frequently asked questions
What to do in London when it rains?
Plenty. Museums are the obvious answer, but the city also runs a steady stream of comedy nights, live music, craft workshops, and film screenings on any given day. South Bank and the West End are easiest to navigate on foot between venues. This page updates daily with what's actually on.
What to do on a rainy day in London?
Pick a neighbourhood and go deep rather than rushing across the city. Shoreditch has a dense run of galleries and intimate gig venues. Covent Garden and the South Bank keep you covered literally and figuratively. Markets, escape rooms, and afternoon jazz sets all hold up well when the weather turns.
What are good indoor activities in London for adults?
Beyond the big institutions, London has a strong circuit of cocktail masterclasses, life drawing sessions, pottery evenings, and seated live music. Prices vary a lot: free entry at most national museums, ticketed workshops typically in the mid-range. Evenings in Peckham, Hackney, and Soho tend to have the most independent options.
What can you do in London on a Sunday?
Sundays skew towards later starts and longer afternoons. Brunch-into-exhibition is a reliable format. Jazz sessions run through the afternoon in a number of South London pubs. Some theatres and comedy clubs programme Sunday matinees that sell out less quickly than weekend evenings, so they're worth looking at.
What indoor things can you do in London that are free or cheap?
The national museums charge nothing for permanent collections, which covers a serious amount of ground. Beyond that, free comedy preview nights run most weeks, several galleries have pay-what-you-can entry, and a number of music venues are free before a certain hour. Weekday afternoons are generally quieter and sometimes cheaper.