W1 London / Things to do
Indoor Things to Do in Central London When It Rains
The best indoor things to do in central London when it rains are all within a fifteen minute walk of Oxford Circus, and several of them are free. W1 is unusually good in bad weather: it has more small museums per square mile than almost anywhere in the city, a glass-roofed shopping arcade that predates the department store, and a public swimming pool from 1931 hidden under Soho.
Everything below is in W1 or on its edge, with the address, the current opening hours and the price, so you can check one page rather than eight.
Free, and genuinely good
The Wallace Collection, Manchester Square W1U
A Marylebone townhouse full of Old Masters, French furniture and one of the best armour collections in Europe, and it is free, seven days a week, 10:00 to 17:00. Frans Hals's Laughing Cavalier is here. The glazed courtyard in the middle means you can sit with a coffee and still be technically outdoors while it pours. If you only do one thing on this list, do this one.
The Faraday Museum, Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street W1S
Free, Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00, and since May 2026 also the first Saturday of the month from 13:00 to 18:00. Michael Faraday's magnetic laboratory is preserved in the basement, and ten chemical elements were first isolated in this building. Small, quiet and almost never busy, which is the whole point on a wet Tuesday.
Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly W1J
The headline exhibitions are ticketed, but the collection galleries and the courtyard are free to walk into, and the building itself is worth the detour. Our guide to the best art galleries in Mayfair covers the commercial galleries nearby, most of which are also free and most of which are indoors.
Department stores as shelter
Not a museum, but honest advice: Liberty on Great Marlborough Street and Selfridges on Oxford Street both absorb a lot of rain, and Liberty's mock-Tudor interior with its galleried atrium is a genuine sight rather than just a shop. See the Oxford Street shopping guide for the rest.
Worth paying for
Handel Hendrix House, 25 Brook Street W1K
Two floors, two musicians, 250 years apart: Handel lived at number 25 and Jimi Hendrix lived in the flat next door at number 23. One ticket covers both. Open Wednesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:00, adults £14.50, students £10.50, 13 to 17 year olds £5, under 12s free in family groups, and free for carers and National Art Pass holders. It takes about an hour, which is exactly the right length for a squall.
The Photographers' Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street W1F
Three floors of changing photography exhibitions on a side street off Oxford Street. Open Monday to Wednesday and Saturday 10:30 to 18:00, Thursday and Friday to 20:00, Sunday 11:00 to 18:00. Tickets are £14 on the door or £12 in advance, with concessions at £11, National Art Pass £8, and free entry for under 18s and for everyone on Fridays after 17:00. That Friday evening slot is the single best free thing in W1 after work.
A matinee
The West End is a two minute walk from most of W1 and matinees are cheaper than evenings. Curzon Mayfair on Curzon Street is the grown-up cinema option, and the Soho Theatre on Dean Street runs comedy and new writing in the afternoon and early evening. The West End theatre guide covers what is on and how to get day seats.
Under glass: the arcades
The Burlington Arcade runs from Piccadilly to Burlington Gardens and has been covered since 1819. It was built as a place to shop without getting wet, which makes it the most literally purpose-built answer to this question in London. The Royal Arcade off Old Bond Street and the Piccadilly Arcade opposite do the same job on a smaller scale, and the three of them plus Burlington House will absorb an hour easily without you stepping outside more than twice.
Things people do not know are there
Marshall Street Leisure Centre, Soho W1F
A 1931 swimming pool in the middle of Soho, restored and reopened with its original barrel-vaulted ceiling and marble surround intact. Pay and swim. It is a very strange and very good thing to do while it rains on Carnaby Street above you.
Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street W1U
One of the best chamber music halls in the world, and the weekday lunchtime and Sunday morning concerts are priced far below an evening ticket. An hour of music in a room built in 1901 for exactly that purpose beats another gallery.
Daunt Books, 83 Marylebone High Street W1U
An Edwardian bookshop with oak galleries, a skylight and the travel section arranged by country. Browsing is free and nobody hurries you. The rest of Marylebone High Street is covered in our Marylebone guide.
A plan for a full wet day
- Morning: the Wallace Collection from opening at 10:00. Two hours, coffee in the courtyard.
- Lunch: Marylebone High Street or Marylebone Lane, both a short walk and both well covered.
- Early afternoon: walk south to the Faraday Museum, then cut through Burlington Arcade to the Royal Academy.
- Late afternoon: the Photographers' Gallery, free after 17:00 if it is a Friday.
- Evening: a matinee or an early Soho Theatre show, then dinner. Our where to eat in W1 guide has the options by area.
The whole route is under two miles and never more than a few minutes from cover.
One that is no longer there
Pollock's Toy Museum, for 53 years a Fitzrovia institution on Scala Street, closed in January 2023 and did not reopen in W1. Its collection now shows at pop-up sites in Croydon and Leadenhall Market. Plenty of older listings still send people to Scala Street, so do not be one of them.
Practical notes
- Check before you go. Small museums close for installation between exhibitions, and the free timed slots go first at weekends.
- The Tube is your umbrella. Oxford Circus, Bond Street, Green Park and Piccadilly Circus sit at the corners of W1, so you can cross the district underground. See getting around W1.
- A National Art Pass pays for itself quickly if you are doing more than two paid W1 museums, since it covers Handel Hendrix free and the Photographers' Gallery at £8.
- Afternoon tea is the other classic wet weather answer and W1 has more of it than anywhere. Our afternoon tea guide ranks them.
For everything that costs nothing at all, wet or dry, see free things to do in W1, and for the quieter corners try W1's hidden gems.
Frequently asked questions
What can you do in central London when it rains?
Stay in W1. The Wallace Collection in Manchester Square and the Faraday Museum on Albemarle Street are both free, the Burlington Arcade has been glass-roofed since 1819, Marshall Street Leisure Centre in Soho has a restored 1931 swimming pool, and the West End matinees start a few minutes' walk away.
Which museums in Mayfair and Marylebone are free?
The Wallace Collection on Manchester Square is free daily from 10:00 to 17:00, and the Faraday Museum at the Royal Institution on Albemarle Street is free Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00 plus the first Saturday of each month from 13:00 to 18:00. The Royal Academy's collection galleries are also free, though its main exhibitions are ticketed.
How much is Handel Hendrix House?
£14.50 for adults, £10.50 for students, £5 for 13 to 17 year olds, free for under 12s in family groups and free for carers and National Art Pass holders. It opens Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:00.
Is the Photographers' Gallery ever free?
Yes. Entry is free for under 18s at all times and free for everyone on Fridays after 17:00. Otherwise it is £14 on the door, £12 in advance, £11 concessions and £8 with a National Art Pass.
Is Pollock's Toy Museum still in Fitzrovia?
No. It closed its Scala Street home in January 2023 after 53 years and did not reopen in W1. The collection now appears at pop-up sites in Croydon and Leadenhall Market, so ignore older listings that still point to Fitzrovia.
Can you swim indoors in Soho?
Yes. Marshall Street Leisure Centre has a 1931 pool with its original barrel-vaulted ceiling and marble surround, restored and open to the public on a pay and swim basis.