Battersea Power Station has been transformed into a proper London destination. The long-abandoned South London site is now home to bars, restaurants, retail outlets and a cinema. And with its very own tube station on the newest branch of the Northern Line, it’s more accessible than ever. But the one thing this development is not renowned for is bargains. While it’s free to enter, there are plenty of opportunities to part with your cash once you start mooching around. Is it possible to visit Battersea Power Station without taking out a mortgage for lunch? Here’s our guide to a cheap day out at the power station.
Retail therapy
You’re not going to be able to lose yourself in charity shop bargains or vintage boutiques at Battersea Power Station, but the shops do have seasonal sales. High street brands with stores here include Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Apple, Jigsaw, M&S for fashion and food, Mango, Superdry, Uniqlo, Zara for fashion and homewares, as well as a Boots beauty store.
At the Boots beauty store, there are free consultations for choosing the right foundation shade and makeup application tips, free skincare services, such as skin imaging and scalp analysis, and on Saturdays and Sundays, you can learn to perfect your barnet with the Boots Beauty Dyson ambassador, who does free hair demonstrations.
Eating and drinking
We scoured the food and drink outlets at Battersea Power Station to find the best value, including happy hour deals that rival pub prices in the area.
There are popular, reasonably priced coffee and food outlets, such as Black Sheep Coffee, two pink Grind trucks, Joe & the Juice, itsu, Leon, Pret A Manger, Starbucks and an Oseyo Korean supermarket if you don’t want a full, sit-down meal, but need to refuel.
At Megan’s, the two-course Neighbour’s Nights set menu starts at £16.00, on Sundays to Wednesdays from 5pm, as well as happy hour from 4pm to 7pm Monday to Friday with £5.00 drinks. Megan’s does a nice line in bottomless brunches too, with 90 minutes of unlimited drinks for £25.00 a head on weekends and bank holidays until 5pm.
If you’re in a group of mixed tastes and budgets, Arcade Food Hall & Bar is a good shout with 13 different cuisines on offer. There’s also a happy hour between 5pm and 7pm Monday to Wednesday for £5.00 beer and wine and £6.00 cocktails. On Thursdays, you can get two Aperol Spritzes for £12.00 from 5pm until last orders. A DJ plays on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
If you like a drink with your pancakes, Where The Pancakes Are serves two-for-£12.00 cocktails on Monday to Saturday between 4pm and 8pm.
Bottomless brunches often require bottomless bank accounts – and a bottomless tolerance for food and booze – but Bounce! offers one of London’s better deals. The bottomless brunch, which runs on Saturdays and Sundays, is priced from £30.00 a head for unlimited beer, prosecco and pizza – and you get to enjoy all this at a ping pong table while a DJ plays. Add £2.00 to your bill for the AI-enabled ping pong tables and it’s £10.00 a head to upgrade to unlimited cocktails.
A slightly pricer option at £45.00 a head is Cinnamon Kitchen’s modern Indian bottomless brunch, which includes three courses and unlimited drinks.
If you need to feed the kids, there are plenty of outlets at Battersea Power Station offering children’s menus for around a tenner or less, including Megan’s, Cinnamon Kitchen, Bao, Brindisa Tapas, Gordon Ramsay Street Pizza, Leon and Tonkotsu.
Entertainment
If you’re a night owl and a bookworm, Battersea Bookshop hosts events each week, including talks, signings, book launches and exhibitions. Events start at 6:30pm and tickets are £7.00, which includes a drink and a discount on the night.
Battersea Power Station’s cinemas don’t sell the cheapest tickets in town, but they certainly offer a classy experience, especially if you accompany the movie with champagne and cocktails at your seat. There are two cinemas – The Power Station and The Arches – and tickets are priced at £14.00 for kids up to the age of 14 and £18.50 for adults, so definitely more of a special treat than a huge bargain, although you do get four hours of free parking.
Official guided walking tours of the building, which last around 75 minutes, are priced at £9.50 for children, £14.50 for students and pensioners and £19.50 for adults. Alternatively, from Sunday to Friday, retro-tastic Control Room B offers a 30-minute self-guided audio tour for £12.00, including a welcome cocktail, or £23.00 with a welcome cocktail and a glass of champagne.
One of the highlights of Battersea Power Station is Lift 109, where visitors can ascend to the top of one of the iconic chimneys and enjoy a spectacular 360° view of London. Adult tickets start from £17.00, kids from £12.60, families from £54.60 and groups of 10 or more can go up for £11.34 a head. The cheeky, cheaper way to experience the great views of Battersea is to book a viewing at one of the high-rise apartments that are for sale at the development – but you didn’t get that tip from us…
In the area
Once you’ve finished mooching around Battersea Power Station or you’ve run out of cash, whatever comes first, this regenerated area has a few more options for fans of cheap things to do.
If the kids – or any overly energetic adults – need to burn off some energy, the vibrant Prospect Park Playground is free and open daily from 8am to 8pm. Located just moments from the tube station, it’s an innovative and Instagrammable space for everyone. And beautiful Battersea Park is a short walk away, which is a free and popular green space. There are 200 acres of Victorian gorgeousness to enjoy.
And if you want to grab a genuine bargain in this end of town, you can’t beat Battersea Boot. Every Sunday afternoon at Harris Academy on Battersea Park Road, there’s a car boot sale with a £1.00 entry fee for shoppers from 1:30pm or £3.00 from 12:30pm and £7.00 from 12pm for eager beavers. From 1:30pm until 5pm, you can check out all manner of trash and treasure. Designer goods and quality antiques can often be found among the bric-a-brac.
From Battersea Power Station, there’s a safe, well-lit path that takes you all the way to vibrant Vauxhall, where you might like to continue your shenanigans or photograph the architectural wonder that is the American Embassy.
