Things to do in London this summer

From pizza parties to zen yoga festivals — Susannah Butter and Katie Strick have a guide to a city summer on a shoestring
Take it outside: Nomad Cinema in Queen’s Park

Summer is entering its second stage. The honeymoon period of surprisingly delicious weather and spontaneous midweek dinners in the park is waning, as are bank balances. The first wave — Glastonbury, that third bottle of rosé and a weekend in Brighton — has taken its toll.

Despite your lack of cash, you don’t want to call time on the hedonism just yet. The August exodus has begun, meaning the boss is away and London is curiously quiet — this is an opportunity to hold court at the restaurants you don’t usually stand a chance of getting into because they have month-long waiting lists and lord it up across the city. This calls for tactical planning. The pound may be weak and pints might be expensive — but that doesn’t have to be prohibitive.

London is ready, with free film screenings, pizza parties, exercise classes and booze — you only have to know where to look.

The best of the summer is still to come. Here’s where to find it, and not be driven into penury by September.

Float your boat

Combine an upper-arm workout with a jolly along the river at one of the Thames Dragon Boat Club’s regular taster sessions.

Monthly, London Regatta Centre, 1012 Dockside Road, E16, info@thamesdragons.co.uk

Urban Beaches in London

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Not so basic beaches

Sip on a cocktail and feel the sand between your toes at Brent Cross Beach or Hampstead’s urban beach, which has themed music nights every Thursday. It’s a pleasant place to while away an evening after one of the centre’s big-ticket events. On August 31 author Nicole Krauss is talking about her new novel, Forest Dark, and next month there’s a celebration of Leonard Cohen.

Sun-Fri, JW3, 341-351 Finchley Road, NW3, jw3.org.uk

Hit the spot

Get your Sunday-morning caffeine hit at Hand Café in Stratford’s East Village. It is giving away a hundred free coffees with sport-inspired latte designs to celebrate the IAAF World Championships. Be quick!

Sunday, Hand Café, 10-11 Victory Parade, E20, eastvillagelondon.co.uk

Jazz age

Soak up the atmosphere at a one-day jazz show in the Royal Festival Hall’s Clore Ballroom. Now in its fifth year, Jazz Re:Fest will feature more than 50 musicians, artists and DJs for eight live performances. Headliners include Triforce and Femi Tomowo, the multi-award winning composer, gutarist and singer, backed by the authority that is Gilles Peterson.

Sunday, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Roadd, SE1, southbankcentre.co.uk

Find your zen

Reset your mind and body at this wellness festival with yoga, boot camps, talks, treatments, avocado and smoothies in Granary Square.

Sunday, FestiWell, Granary Square, N1, kingscross.co.uk

Best restaurants with a view in London

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Go sky high

Take the lift to the 37th floor of the Walkie Talkie building for impressive 360-degree views over the city from the Sky Garden. The view is just as good as that from The Shard but better because it’s free. Make sure you book early.

Anytime, 20 Fenchurch Street, EC3, skygarden.london

Greek out

Watch a three-hour, three-part story of Homer’s Greek epic, The Odyssey, performed in a sunken amphitheatre on the banks of the River Thames.

Wed-Sun, Aug 9-Sept 2, The Scoop, Queen’s Walk, SE1, thelondonriviera.com

Night at the museum

Discover emerging DJs alongside world-class exhibitions, pop-up talks and hands-on workshops after-hours on the last Friday of the month at Tate Modern. At the moment there’s Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, Giacometti and Fahrelinissa Zeid, who makes kaleidoscopic paintings.

Aug 25, Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1, tate.org.uk

Get your glitter on

Join Europe’s biggest street festival as the annual Notting Hill Carnival fills west London with Caribbean music, colours and flavours.

Aug 26-28, Notting Hill, W2, visitlondon.com

Play the lawn

Take on your friends at petanque, lawn bowls and croquet at Skylight, a free rooftop playground in Tobacco Dock.

Every Thurs-Sun until Oct 29, 50 Porters Walk, E1W, skylightlondon.com

Explore Brexit Britain

Experience the Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever! by artist Grayson Perry, who explores popularity, art and masculinity and features Trump and Farage among his characters.

Every Tues-Sun, Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, W2, serpentinegalleries.org

Take a masterclass

Join a masterclass and Q&A by double Olivier award-winning actress Noma Dumezweni, who plays a grown up Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre.

Aug 18, Theatre Royal Haymarket, 18 Suffolk Street, SW1, masterclass.org.uk

Notes from Trump’s America

Come along to the LSE for a free lecture by the BBC’s North America Editor, Jon Sopel, about his new book If Only They Didn’t Speak English – Notes from Trump’s America.

Sept 7, New Academic Building, 54 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2, lse.ac.uk

Uncorked

After all that money-saving, you can justify a meal out, especially if it’s BYOB. Corkage is complimentary on Tuesdays at The Grill in Shoreditch, which means more money to spend on steak frites.

The Grill at McQueen, 55-61 Tabernacle Street, EC2, mcqueen-shoreditch.co.uk

The best pizza in London

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Pizza party

There will be food from Yard Sale, drink courtesy of Homerton’s Machine No 3 and music by DJ Anna Prior of Metronomy fame at this cheesey fest. The golden time is between 10.30pm and 11pm when there will be free slices of pizza so you can enjoy Margheritas with your Margaritas. Happy Hour is 5-8pm.

Tomorrow, Machine No 3, 271 Well Street, E9, machineno3.com

Fresh beats

Get down to Ninteties and early Noughties hip hop and r’n’b classics at I got 5 on it at Pop Brixton.

Aug 12, 49 Brixton Station Road, SW9, popbrixton.org

Spiritland

The world’s best DJs know you don’t have to pay through the nose to have a belter of a night. That’s why they play at this King’s Cross bar and restaurant for free (well, the £300,000 Living Voice soundsytem is a draw too). Catch Sal P tonight. He’s the vocalist for punk funk band Liquid Liquid and has inspired everyone from Grandmaster Flash to LCD Soundsystem. Tomorrow, Micky Browne is paying a visit from the South coast for an afternoon chil out session. He promises downtempo, Balearic and blissed-out gems, best served with rose harissa roast potatoes and a cool orange wine from France or a negroni.

9-10 Stable Street, N1, spiritland.com

Screen time

Why go to the cinema when you can break out and see a film for free in a more interesting spot than an everyday multiplex. House of Vans is showing a strong range of movies including Mad Max Fury Road and Farenheit 451, while Hideaway in Streatham has shows of Trainspotting 2. If you are after an immersive experience, go see Werner Herzog’s 1979 art house horror film Nosferatu the Vampyre at Nunhead Cemetery.

Other outdoor cinemas are still cheaper than regular ones. Prices for Nomad Cinema start at just £3 and you can bring your own food and drink. Grease, Back to the Future and Mamma Mia! are all at Westquay Esplanade next week, while in Queen’s Park you can catch La La Land or The Lion King.

All that glitters: Mermaid ice cream

Mermaid Mash-up

The Meringue Girls have teamed up with liquid-nitrogen ice-cream specialists Four Winters to make Mermaid ice cream, and it’s free if you strike at the right time. Liquid nitrogen just means the ice cream is incredibly smooth, while the meringues add crunch and colour. They are topped with coconut flakes and a edible silver glitter.

1pm-2pm, August 16 and 25, Brewer Street and Portobello Road, fourwinters.co

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