Free things to do in Coventry

Coventry Cathedral and the ruins

The cathedral does not charge for entry. Visitors are invited to give a donation, with £5 a person suggested, which helps a self-financing charity keep its doors open every day of the year. You can walk through the bombed shell of the old St Michael's, where the tower and spire still stand. The new cathedral beside it was consecrated in 1962. Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome in both.

The War Memorial Park

Coventry's largest park opened in July 1921 as a tribute to the 2,587 Coventrians who died in the First World War. Its 90-foot war memorial, dedicated in 1927, is listed at Grade II* and the park itself is a Grade II listed landscape. A path runs right round the boundary, with football pitches, bowling greens, a splash and play area and an aviary inside it.

The canal towpath to Hawkesbury

From the canal basin just north of the city centre, opened in 1769, the Coventry Canal towpath runs north through the city past old hump-back bridges. About five miles out is Hawkesbury Junction, where a preserved iron bridge crosses the start of the Oxford Canal and boaters still stop at the Greyhound pub.

FarGo Village and the archives

FarGo Village on Far Gosford Street costs nothing to walk round: shipping-container shops, street food and regular events from classic car shows to open-air cinema. In the city centre, Coventry Archives remains free to visit by appointment, with its own entrance on Cathedral Square.

Worth knowing before you go

Two of the city's museums now charge. The Herbert has charged for entry since April 2025, with under-fives free. The Transport Museum sells tickets that last a year. Both are well worth a visit, just no longer free. Humber Hub is about 2 miles by road from FarGo Village and the cathedral. Sullivan Heights is about 3 miles from Hawkesbury Junction.