A guide to London's top museums and galleries
Don't have time to see all 1,000 of London's museums and galleries? Go to these ones.
Posted by: Josh, 10 October 2026
Some people would describe themselves as a culture buff. Others might describe themselves as an art buff or a history buff.
Me, I’m not one of those people. In all honesty, I’m not altogether sure what a “buff” is.
Still, I enjoy visiting museums and art galleries when on holiday and, as you’ll come to see, I even enjoy visiting them in my hometown too.
With at least 143 museums and upwards of 800 art galleries, it’s not easy to decide where to spend your limited time as a tourist in London.
Liz and I have more than 20 years’ combined experience living in London and for the past few months we’ve been going to as many museums and galleries as we can to help create this guide for you. Not all of them have made the cut – this is just our pick of the best that we think London has to offer.
We’ll cover the top free museums and galleries in London, the paid-entry attractions that we think are worth parting with a bit of your money to get into, our favourite hidden gems, how to see as many places in one day as possible, and suggest some ways you can avoid the very busiest crowds.
Contents
London's best free museums and galleries
Many of London’s biggest galleries and museums are free to enter. You may seem some donation points around the entrances, but they really are optional.
Free museums and galleries in London include the British Museum, the Natural History History Museum, the Tate Britain and Tate Modern galleries, the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square, the Science Museum… the list goes on and on. If you want to look through all of the free options, this website has a helpful full list.
However, you may sometimes find that certain special exhibitions within the free museums and galleries require a paid ticket to enter. If, for example, you’re keen to see the Bayeux Tapestry while it’s on display at the British Museum, you will have to buy a ticket when the next batch are released. It’s always worth checking on your museum or gallery of choice’s website before setting off to make sure you know what is free and what is not, to avoid disappointment when you arrive.
Some of our favourite free museums and galleries are the British Museum, the National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The British Museum. Image credit: Unsplash / Nicolas Lysandrou
The British Museum is an extraordinarily impressive collection of artifacts from all over the world. While the most famous exhibitions include the (stolen from Egypt, via France) Rosetta Stone, the discovery of which enabled the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the (again, stolen, this time from Greece) Parthenon Marbles, you’re bound to find a huge number of items which interest you. The Chinese ceramic collection is a particular highlight for us, as is the Sutton Hoo treasures – a resplendent hoard of gold and bejewelled items found buried in a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon ship in 1939. The Sutton Hoo collection, sadly for those of you planning to come to London within the next few months, is on loan to France until July 2027.
There are two downsides to visiting the British Museum. The first is the lack of air conditioning in older parts of the building in summer months – it can be very hot and unpleasantly humid once temperatures get above the mid-20 degrees Celsius. And the other... did I mention how many of the exhibits don’t really belong to us Brits?
If you’re less able to set your guilt aside than me and decide against visiting the British Museum, might I suggest a trip to the National Gallery instead? With a collection of more than 2,400 paintings by just about every renowned European artist you could think of, including celebrated works by Van Gogh, Monet, Michelangelo (not the turtle), and Turner, it has more than enough to keep even the least knowledgeable visitors (such as me) happy for hours. Even if I don't fully understand all the art, I can still enjoy looking at it.
The Victoria and Albert Museum is another popular attraction, but it feels much quieter than the most visited attractions such as the British Museum and the National History Museum, situated nearby in South Kensington. The V&A, as it’s more often referred to by Londoners, is dedicated to celebrating and memorialising the creative arts in all their forms, from furniture, to art, to fashion, sculpture and much, much more. It's been a little while since I've visited, but Liz recently spent a few hours there with a friend and reports that it's still just as good as I remember it being the last time I was there.
London's best paid-entry museums
While a good number of London's museums and galleries are free to enter, others are not free to enter.
Of the paid museums in London, we’d recommend a visit to the Greenwich Royal Observatory. The Observatory is a must for anyone, adults and children alike, with an interest in the history of space and time. Also in the pretty London Borough of Greenwich is the Cutty Sark, a 19th century tea clipper (a trading boat, to you and me), which is a particularly good attraction for anyone with children who might enjoy walking around the deck of the ship.
Though not your traditional museum, I’d really recommend taking a tour of the Globe Theatre close to London Bridge for an interesting historic experience. The Globe is a faithful reproduction of Shakespeare’s original theatre and learning about its construction, how it was used to bring Shakespeare’s plays to life, and how modern-day productions are staged was far more fascinating than I’d expected before visiting. You don’t have to love Shakespeare to enjoy it; I only knew as much about him and his plays as I was taught in school a couple of decades ago, but I still really enjoyed the tour.
If you do happen to be a Shakespeare fan, you can get tickets to watch his plays performed here and experience them exactly as they were intended to be experienced. Bear in mind that it really is just like the original, though – most tickets are standing rather than seated, and the theatre is open air, so you’ll want to dress warm if you visit outside of the summer months. If the thought of standing for hours in a crowd of strangers is off putting, there are a few more expensive and still not-all-that-comfortable seated tickets available for the wooden benches in galleries around the back of the theatre. Whether you sit or stand, you’ll want to book tickets in advance, especially for the summer months when performances often sell out.
It would be wrong to say that Hampton Court Palace is just a museum, but it is a brilliant and beautiful place to visit all the same. The former home of King Henry VIII, the palace is immaculately well maintained, with some original Tudor features and other areas remodelled under later monarch’s residencies. If it sounds like somewhere that you might be interested in, read our short guide to visiting Hampton Court Palace on our blog.
For now, these last couple of recommendations are based on word of mouth; we've heard good things and think you'd want to know about them, but they're still on our list of places yet to visit.
I have heard from several people that The Transport Museum in Covent Garden is a great place to visit for a day out, though these recommendations have all been from people I would very much picture having an interest in old trains, buses and suchlike. I can guarantee you, however, that the Transport Museum is the best place to buy any London Underground-themed memorabilia in London for those on the lookout for souvenirs to bring back for family and friends; you don’t need to buy an entry ticket if you just plan to visit the shop.
Train enthusiasts or people who are interested in quirky local history may also enjoy the Postal Museum. It’s most famous for its Mail Rail ride, which lets you travel through hidden 100-year-old underground tunnels which used to be used to transport mail around London. The museum is not recommended for anyone who deals with claustrophobia because the train and tunnels are tiny, but for those looking for something a little different it could be worth checking out.
You might have noticed that we haven't included any paid-entry galleries on this list. That's because the best galleries really are the free ones for us. The Courtauld Gallery is the only paid-entry gallery I considered recommending, and you might find it worth the £19 entry fee if you understand artwork and art history more than I do, but it's tough to justify that entry price when there's so much good, free-to-view art elsewhere in London.
Our favourite hidden gems in London
I’m sure you’ve heard of nearly all of the places I’ve recommended so far. This next section is for those of you looking for attractions that you might not get to read about elsewhere.
One of my favourite recent finds is John Soane’s Museum, situated in Lincoln’s Inn Fields with all its grand historic lawyers’ chambers, not far from Holborn station. If you’re looking for somewhere a little smaller and with a bit more character after seeing the British Museum, this is the place for you – only 20 minutes’ walk away. If you visit on a weekend, you may have to queue outside for up to half an hour or even a little more.
John Soane is one of Britain’s most well-known architects. In 1833, he persuaded parliament (against the wishes of his only surviving son) to agree to turn his home into a museum to be maintained for future generations, preserved exactly as it was when he died. His collection is particularly charming for the fact that he prioritised collecting artwork, sculptures and other miscellany (including an Egyptian Pharaoh's sarcophagus) that he loved, not just the most famous works his budget allowed. With his brilliant architectural mind, Soane packed his house full of interesting items, some of which are housed in surprising ways. Make sure to ask staff what time they’re demonstrating the Picture Room to see how Soane managed to hide far more pictures inside the room than might appear to be the case when you first walk in.
Another way to pass a few hours without spending any money at all is to visit the Bank of England Museum. As you’d expect, the exhibits are dedicated to teaching visitors about the history of the bank: how it came to be established, how money in Britain has changed over the past four centuries, and how the Bank has influenced and been influenced by changing political and social circumstances since its existence. The highlights for us were the collections of centuries-old documents, including the founding Charter of the Bank, and the chance to hold one of the bank’s £1.2m-worth gold bullion bars… albeit through a small opening in an otherwise impenetrable case. Others may enjoy exhibits on how banknotes have changed in appearance over the last 400 years, or on the history of forgery.
Lastly, for those of you already planning to visit the Tower of London or to walk across Tower Bridge, Liz and I would both recommend a short detour to the Crypt Museum at All Hallows Church. You might not even notice the church if you were to drive past it along the busy main road it’s sat next to, but All Hallows is the oldest church in the centre of London – built in the late seventh century.
Inside, a small amount of the original structure still remains. And below ground level, in the crypt, is a compact little museum with Roman, Anglo-Saxon and other little artifacts. While you may only spend as little as 30 minutes looking inside the church, it’s great fun to be inside such an ancient space right in the middle of London and the few exhibitions inside the Crypt are all worth appreciating. That includes the pictures of the rather bizarre tradition below.
As far as Liz and I can tell, schoolchildren are no longer held upside down to beat the River Thames with a stick. We will of course update this guide if you're able to prove otherwise.
To see as many places in one day as possible, go to...
Not everyone can or wants to spend a whole day walking around just one museum and admiring every exhibit in great detail. Liz and I do, but you might prefer to see a little bit of lots of different museums.
If so, there are two areas we’d recommend spending your day.
South Kensington has some of London’s most famous museums in close proximity to each other. You can visit the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum – both great for people of all ages, but particularly popular among those with children – before visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum to walk through room after room of creative works, from art to fashion to furniture and much more.
If you only plan to visit one, both Liz and I would choose to go to the V&A… but it’s really a matter of personal taste. Make sure, at least, to look at the outside of the Natural History Museum – it’s one of the grandest and most beautiful buildings in London. While you’re in the area, make a short detour to the Royal Albert Hall for a quick picture of London’s most famous old performing arts venue. Better yet, if you're staying in London for a few days or more, take a look at what events are coming up and consider seeing a show there in the evening. It’s an amazing place to see a performance, if not always the most comfortable one for taller chaps like me.
The other starting points for a whistlestop tour of London’s best museums and galleries is whichever of Holborn or Tottenham Court Road London Underground stations is most convenient for you to get to, with both a similarly close distance from the British Museum.
Quickly look around the Museum – perhaps prioritise one or two exhibitions that you’re most interested in, as it’s impossible to take in all of the collections in only a couple of hours – and then walk 15 minutes towards Trafalgar Square to the National Portrait Gallery.
After admiring some famous old faces, walk just a few metres further to the National Gallery to see all the wonderful artwork I talked about earlier in our section on our favourite free museums and galleries. Then, if you somehow still have time, and you really want to see as many things as you can in as little time as possible, it’s only another 10 minutes’ walk to get to Covent Garden and explore the London Transport Museum. I don't think that you'd fully be able to appreciate every one of these museums and galleries by following this plan, but it is just about manageable if you prefer to see a little of a lot of things on your travels, rather than a lot of a little.
How to beat the crowds
The Natural History Museum. Image credit: Unsplash / Claudio Testa
In truth, if you want to go to the very biggest museums, you can’t beat all of the crowds – not completely, anyway.
But you can avoid the very worst of the crowds by following all the usual tactics. Try to avoid going to the busiest attractions on weekends, when more Londoners and their children have free time to add to the tourist crowds. School holidays make weekday crowds busier, but you can check London local authority websites like this one to find school term time and school holiday dates to plan your trip to London around them.
Then, it’s just a question of picking the right museum. This website lists the most visited attractions in the UK, not just London, but it’s easy to find the capital’s museums and galleries to see which pull in the most visitors.
Of the most visited sites, the British Museum and Natural History Museum nearly always feel crowded. The Tate Modern gallery feels much more spacious, with very high ceilings and exhibitions spaced quite far apart. Somerset House, despite attracting the eighth highest number of visitors, is a very nice place to spend time and many visitors are there only for the restaurants, cafés and public spaces rather than for the galleries (the Courtauld is the most well-known) or pop-up exhibitions on site. We recently went to a photography exhibition at Somerset House and, while busy, it wasn’t as jam-packed full of people as other destinations lower down the list.
Greenwich is listed as the 11th most-visited place on the list, but that is a bit misleading. Its ranking comes from total visitors to several museums in the borough. You can also always escape the museums if they get overcrowded and relax in Greenwich Park, taking in views of the Thames and central London from the top of the hill. Getting to Greenwich can be a bit of a hassle, as you’ll most likely need to change from the London Underground to Docklands Light Railway at some point on your journey… but you could make it a much nicer trip by spending a little extra money to get there via a Thames Clipper boat from stops such as Tower Hill, Waterloo or London Bridge.
Final thoughts
Visiting London’s museums and galleries is a great way to spend time in our home city without burning through your budget. If you’ve recently visited London, or if you’re here right now, we’d love to hear more of your recommendations in the comments section.
Whittling down our list of recommendations to a sensible number meant leaving out some great museums and galleries - places such as the Tate Britain, which celebrates British artists, or the family-friendly Horniman Museum, which has a paid-entry butterfly house and some animal enclosures sure to appeal to children.
Please check out our ever-expanding London travel guides page where you can find more posts on things to do, advice on how to get around the city using public transport, a guide to London for anxious travellers, and - coming soon - some suggested itineraries for how to get the most out of your stay.
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