Low-cost activities and entertainment

There are lots of low-cost and even free things to do in Southampton. So, if you need to manage your money a little more carefully this month, you don’t have to miss out, there’s still plenty of things to do without worrying about your wallet.

There’s also great low-cost ways to travel to events and activities in and around Southampton through the My Journey website.

SO Card

The SO Card entitles you to offers, discounts, promotions and more from independent stores to national brands in retail, hospitality, leisure, beauty and everything in-between in Southampton.

All you need to do is browse the offers, pick your favourite and present your card in-store or use the relevant code online.

Get your free digital card and check out the latest offers you can enjoy with your SO card on Visit Southampton.

Culture Club for Families

Interested in discounts on family-friendly activities all-year round? With the Culture Club for Families scheme, if you buy six children's activities at SeaCity Museum, Tudor House & Garden or Southampton City Art Gallery, you can get seventh free with a Culture Club loyalty card. Just pick a loyalty card up from one of the three venues to start collecting your stamps each time you attend an activity and your seventh will be free! 

Events coming up in Southampton

For a full programme of events in Southampton, go to Visit Southampton’s What’s On page. To stay up to date with what’s on each week, subscribe to our weekly events update e-alert.

Free things to do all year around

Art Galleries in Southampton

Southampton has some amazing free art galleries. With Southampton City Art Gallery holding one of the finest collections of art in the South of England and John Hansard Gallery being one of the UK's leading contemporary art galleries, both are free and open to all, and have many excellent exhibitions all year around.  

Walk the walls!

Southampton has some of England’s best-preserved medieval Town Walls and they allow you to step back in history to find out more about Southampton’s past. A series of panels around the walls give you information and guide you around the Old Town’s encircling walls.

Southampton’s Old Town has over 90 listed buildings and more than 30 ancient monuments, with medieval wine vaults, an array of medieval churches, and fine Georgian houses and hotels. We suggest starting at the iconic Bargate.

Libraries 

We have a lot going on in our libraries, whether it’s activities for children and young people, author talks, reading groups or adult learning. Many events and activities are free, from knitting groups to kids story time, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. You can find out what’s on at our libraries online.

Libraries are also a great place to keep warm, browse the books and magazines, use the computers and free Wifi. Find your nearest Library and get involved!

Southampton Central Parks

Southampton’s parks and green spaces have lots to offer, as places to meet, relax and exercise. They also provide a natural environment for a diverse range of animal life.

Southampton Central Parks have recently been awarded the prestigious Grade II* listed status on the Historic England Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest. Plus, six parks in Southampton were awarded the prestigious Green Flag Award last year.

Southampton has a variety of bookable and free pitches for ball games across the city. Wherever possible we would encourage you to use these for your ball games. To book sports pitches for a range of sports including tennis, hockey, netball, football, cricket and lacrosse please contact Active Nation on 023 8079 0693 or email sports.centre@activenation.org.uk.

Find out more about our parks and green spaces here.

Southampton Common

Southampton Common is the largest of Southampton’s open spaces with the first written record dating back to 1228 although it is possible that the area’s status as a ‘common’ dates back to the town of Hamwic around 500AD.

The 365 acres of Southampton Common features woodland, rough grassland, ponds, wetlands, lakes and parkland and is a much loved and well used green open space in the heart of the city, popular for informal leisure activities as well as large events.