BFI Southbank
WHERE
London
What it’s like
Free access to a huge film archive at the Mediatheque, plus four cinema screens under one roof by the Thames.
The big draw here is the Mediatheque, where you and the kids can sit at a viewing station and dig through over 180,000 titles from the BFI National Archive, free of charge. That's proper old newsreels, forgotten telly, archive documentaries, the sort of thing a curious ten-year-old could actually get stuck into for an hour without you paying a penny. There's a library alongside it too, with books and journals on film and television if anyone wants to go deeper than the screen.
Beyond that it's a working cinema with four screens, so there's always something on if you fancy turning the visit into a proper trip rather than just a browse. Worth knowing the Mediatheque is closed on Mondays, bank holidays excepted, and it can shut for private events without much warning, so a wasted trip is possible if you've built the whole visit around it.
Food-wise there's the BFI Bar and Cafe open every day, right on the Thames, which is a decent spot to park a pushchair and let everyone regroup between the archive and a film. If you've got teenagers rather than toddlers, the £4 tickets for 16 to 25 year olds are the sort of detail that makes this an easy sell to a moody fifteen-year-old who thinks cinema trips are for children.
Facilities
Need to know
- Food
- BFI Bar and BFI Cafe open every day by the Thames
- Worth knowing
- £4 cinema tickets for ages 16-25 for any film, any time
- The Mediatheque can close without much notice for private bookings and events
- 16 to 25 year olds get £4 cinema tickets for any film, any time
- The library has books and journals on film and television if anyone wants more than the screen
- Box office hours run later than the Mediatheque closing time on some days, so check which bit you're actually going for
Plan your visit
Is the Mediatheque free?
Yes, it's free to browse the archive at the viewing stations.
Do we need to book?
There's no booking link listed, so it looks like you can just turn up for the Mediatheque during its hours.
Is it open every day?
The Mediatheque runs Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 9pm, and is shut on Mondays except bank holidays.
What if we want to catch a film too?
There are four screens showing films, with the box office open 11am to 8:45pm.
Is there anywhere to eat?
The BFI Bar and Cafe are open every day by the Thames, so there's somewhere to sit down between the archive and a screening.
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