The 25 Best Museums in London
One of the many things our capital does very well is arts and culture—the amount of museums in London is pretty impressive. The city has such a bounty of world-renowned institutions that it can be hard to know which to visit first: from cutting-edge London exhibitions at the Tate Modern to Hope, the huge skeleton of a blue whale at the Natural History Museum. Alongside the big names, there’s also a trove of smaller, more eclectic London museums to explore, where you can find everything from a history of cereal packets to a taxidermy walrus with his own Twitter page. Discover the best museums in London, including the top free-entry spots.
Are all museums in London free?
There are a variety of museums in London that offer free entry, but a select few do require an admission fee. However, many of the best museums in London are free to attend, which means you can enjoy all the art and history the city has to offer without worrying about the cost. Be sure to explore the British Museum's (London's biggest museum!) sprawling galleries or lose yourself in the works of Georgia O'Keeffe and Andry Warhol at Tate Modern.
What is the most visited museum in London?
According to 2021 data, The Natural History Museum and the British Museum are two of the most visited museums in London. Both offer unique experiences, with The Natural Museum being the perfect visit for animal lovers, while the British Museum is an architect's dream.
Free museums in London
Gareth GardnerThe Design Museum, Kensington
Founded by Sir Terence Conran in 1989 and relocated to Kensington in 2016, The Design Museum hosts cutting-edge contemporary exhibitions, from fashion and graphics to architecture and product and industrial design. As well as the fascinating displays of past, present and future design through pop-ups and temporary shows, the museum hosts an array of learning programs and activities aimed at children (aged 5-11 years) as well as opportunities for young people (aged 14-16 years) such as specialist courses, workshops and talks from leading experts in the industry.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra; booking essential
Getty ImagesBritish Museum, Bloomsbury
The domed glass-and-steel ceiling at the British Museum—the world’s first national museum opened to the public—lets light into the atrium-like Great Court below, bouncing off the blinding-white, sweeping staircases and marble walls. It’s one of the capital’s prettiest spaces, but beyond the impressive lobby, it has sprawling galleries dedicated to the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. Artefacts including the Rosetta Stone, Pantheon Marbles (once a part of the original structure in Athens) and more than 120 mummies draw millions of visitors every year. This is the city’s most-visited attraction, and it’s easy to see why.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Getty ImagesTate Modern, Bankside
In what was once the Bankside Power Station, Tate Modern looms over the waterfront of the South Bank. Its permanent collections house a wealth of modern British art—see pieces from Damien Hirst and Jackson Pollock—and a range of international artists. The immense Turbine Hall is dominated by a changing display of site-specific installations: millions of handcrafted porcelain sunflower seeds filled the space in 2010-11, while Olafur Eliasson took over with The Weather Project in 2003 and a blinding sun installation. Head to the top level of the Blavatnik Building, which was added in 2017, to visit the free viewing platform—the London panoramas are some of the best you’ll find anywhere in the city. However, Tate Modern’s main draw is its changing exhibitions: displays have included works from Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe and Andy Warhol.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Tate PhotographyTate Britain, Pimlico
Tate Modern’s older sister focuses on British art and holds pieces from heavyweights, including Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and William Hogarth, within its imposing Pimlico building archives. The museum hosts regular late-night events, and each one has a different theme each time: LGBTQ+ art, perhaps, or creative learning, with licensed bars in the galleries and a live DJ.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Simon Menges5. Royal Academy, Piccadilly
Best museum in London for: seeing Britain’s art greats in one place
Founded by artists and architects in the 1760s, the Royal Academy has been in its current home at Burlington House for more than 150 years and has recently expanded to include the former Museum of Mankind on Burlington Gardens. Highlights of the permanent collection span more than two centuries, from William Turner to Tracey Emin. The annual Summer Exhibition is one of the main events in the London art calendar, held since 1769, making it the oldest open-submission exhibition in the world. Each year, one of the Royal Academy’s artists curates the display.
Address: Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD
Website: royalacademy.org.uk
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Rahil AhmadQueer Britain, King's Cross
Although Queer Britain’s story as a physical museum only began at the start of 2022, things kicked off before the star-studded 2018 launch in the Hotel Cafe Royal’s Oscar Wilde Lounge. What was, for some time, a largely virtual and event-led celebration of queer culture now has a permanent exhibition space in Granary Square, King's Cross. The museum’s first long-term exhibition launched in summer 2022 – We are Queer Britain – with items collected from various sources in celebration of LGBTQ+ history and culture. Oscar Wilde’s prison cell door behind which he was incarcerated for sodomy, recently discovered erotic work by Duncan Grant, and a letter from Elton John to his younger self are all on display; powerful reminders of how far equality has come.
Entry fee: Free entry; donations welcome
Sam Mellish/GettyLondon Mithraeum, City of London
On a late summer’s day in September 1954, archaeological investigations into the rubble of post-war London uncovered a long-lost secret as a marble head showed itself for the first time in thousands of years. Further digs, supported by the likes of Winston Churchill, unearthed the remains of a spectacular Roman temple dedicated to the God Mithras. Revered by Roman citizens across the empire, the figure became the centre of a mystery religion that led to initiation ceremonies and worship practices being carried out at underground temples. While many Mithraic temples remain, this was still the first of its kind in Britain to be revealed. Now, more than two millennia after it was built, the mysteries of the past have been brought vividly to life through the power of modern technology in an immersive, multi-sensory museum space. Artifacts provide a glimpse into what life was like, while the Bloomberg tablets—a collection that includes the first known written reference to London—await visitor awe.
Entry fee: Free entry
The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, LondonNatural History Museum, Kensington
The ornate façade of the Natural History Museum is a love letter to Victorian architecture: a vast gothic building that looks more like a cathedral than a museum. Inside the lofty Hintze Hall (revamped in 2017 to strip it back to its 19th-century splendour), Hope, a ginormous blue-whale skeleton, hangs above the information desk, which doubles up as a bar when the museum throws late-night sessions. See dinosaur fossils, the first edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and casts from Pompeii among the museum’s 80 million specimens.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Courtesy Victoria and Albert MuseumVictoria and Albert Museum, Knightsbridge
London’s largest art museum—the eighth-biggest art museum in the world—has more than 100 galleries displaying everything from photography to jewellery. It has put on some of the city’s most talked-about exhibitions in recent years: the curators have become known for their hot-ticket fashion displays of designers, including Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen. Make sure to visit the permanent Rapid Response Collection, which has contemporary pieces that react to significant moments in recent history, such as the 'pussyhats' worn at protests against the election of Donald Trump to a 3D-printed Extinction Rebellion coin.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
David ParryNational Portrait Gallery, Charing Cross
Following a three-year hiatus, the iconic National Portrait Gallery re-opened its doors to the public in summer 2023 with new spaces, collections and elevated dining options to boot. The refurbishment marks the most extensive transformation of the space since 1896, with key updates focusing on important contemporary figures such as Zadie Smith and Sir Steve McQueen. With a refurbished, light-filled café, glitzy underground basement bar Larry’s serving up bespoke cocktails in a mood-lit setting, and then Portrait, a rooftop restaurant by acclaimed Irish chef Richard Corrigan, the National Portrait Gallery’s hospitality offering might just be in a league of its own. Moreover, an increased focus on photography has seen the gallery flooded with visitors. Lucy Bruton
Price: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Getty ImagesImperial War Museum, Lambeth
Housed in what was once the site of Bethlem Royal Hospital (the psychiatric facility better known as Bedlam) and flanked by naval guns, the Imperial War Museum explores the role of British troops in conflicts that cross generations and countries. It’s full of often challenging exhibitions, from displays on World War I to the Holocaust.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Gareth Gardner/Sir John Soane’s MuseumSir John Soane's Museum, Holborn
Untouched-Georgian-townhouse-meets centuries-old museum, this cabinet of curiosities was once the home of Sir John Soane, an 18th-century architect who designed the Dulwich Picture Gallery and was a professor at the Royal Academy. See his collection of antiquities, furniture and sculptures, as well as paintings by Hogarth and Turner. Book on one of the Highlights Tours, or see the historical property in a new light and embark on a candlelit tour at Soane late events.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Edam Eastland/AlamyThe Wallace Collection, Marylebone
Fine art from the 15th to 19th centuries is displayed at one of London’s loveliest small art galleries, set in the 18th-century townhouse of Sir Richard and Lady Wallace, who collected fine paintings, porcelain, artifacts and furniture over generations. See paintings by Canaletto and Rembrandt, plus exhibitions on fashion, furniture, ceramics and more.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Sophia SpringHorniman Museum and Gardens, Forest Hill
Founded in 1901 by Frederick John Horniman, a tea merchant who wanted a space to display his private collection of natural history, the Horniman Museum is a nature lover’s dream. See African art or visit the tiny aquarium. We especially like the conservatory, set in a grand Victorian glasshouse with views over the rolling gardens.
Entry fee: Free entry; exhibitions cost extra
Steve UllathorneMuseums with admission fee
Museum of Comedy, BloomsburyCan you truly understand a culture without knowing what makes its people laugh? The Museum of Comedy is on a mission to acquaint us all with the ingredients that, when combined, make up the British sense of humor, one Ronnie at a time. More reference library than proper museum, it's a repository of seemingly every book, DVD, VHS and LP that could possibly make you laugh – literally hours and hours of non-stop silliness. Make sure you have a couple of hours to kill, then sit yourself down, kick off your shoes and let the fun begin. By the end of the visit, you'll be squawking Monty Python's Parrot Sketch by heart.
Entry fee: Varies; book online or via the phone
Museum of Brands, Notting Hill
Go on a jaunt down memory lane at this museum, just around the corner from Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill. Take a deeper look at your favorite brands, including British stalwarts such as Marmite and Cadbury, in the permanent Time Tunnel exhibition created by consumer historian Robert Opie. From changes in packaging, branding and the advertising behind each product, see how these classics have evolved over the past 150 years. The museum is an immersive visual journey from the Victorian era to the present day, and shows the impact of social and cultural changes on everything from consumer society, right down to a chocolate bar’s wrapper. Learn how technological and societal transformations in TV and cinema, fashion, games, the prevalence of plastic, and the emancipation of women have shaped our commercial world today. You will leave more knowledgeable about the historical context of many well-known household names, and about earlier times.
Entry fee: £9 for adults; £5 for children
Jeffrey Blackler / Alamy Stock PhotoJewish Museum London, Camden
Following the atrocities of the second world war and the placement of Jewish people across London, two museums came together in the early 1980s—The London Museum of Jewish Life and The Jewish Museum. In what is now known as the Jewish Museum once again, a showcase of Jewish life awaits. Permanent exhibitions include Judaism: A Living Faith, which places ceremonial art and artifacts including historical Torah decorations and Passover plates. Elsewhere, History: A British Story uncovers the stories of Jewish Britons from 1066 to the current day, while The Holocaust Gallery tells the story of Leon Greenman OBE, the anti-fascism campaigner and Auschwitz survivor who passed away in 2008. Regular events include community kitchen sessions, talks, and events for friends of the museum, while children often attend in groups to learn about Jewish practices.
Entry fee: Adults from £7.50; Children aged 5-16 from £3.50
Monica Ann Walker VadilloThe Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, London Bridge
Just a short stroll from London Bridge Station, through the door of the historic St Thomas’ Church, a narrow spiral staircase can be found. Ascend—carefully, mind—and arrive in a space that lay concealed for almost a century before being rediscovered in 1956; the old operating theatre and medicinal storage rooms. While St Thomas’ has taken many forms, it has provided shelter and relief to the sick and needy since the 12th century. Before the age of modern medicine, antibiotics, and anesthetics, surgeries were carried out by doctors with comparatively little knowledge of human anatomy, while bodies were carved open and displayed to eager students on the tiered platforms. Now, the space is a museum for fans of macabre and medicinal history, with details dialled down for children and school groups to attend talks and sessions. The website has lots of information and even games for little ones – there is lots to learn before your visit, should you so wish.
Entry fee: adults from £7.50; children from £4.50
Michael Cockerham / Fashion and Textile MuseumFashion and Textile Museum, Bermondsey
Founded by designer Zandra Rhodes, who displayed 50 years of her fashion line here in 2019, the Fashion and Textile Museum runs a roster of temporary exhibitions rather than having a permanent collection. In between shows, the museum—set in a colourful converted warehouse in Southwark—is closed and completely made over. Past exhibitions have focused on knitwear, Jazz Age fashion, T-shirts and Riviera style—while other shows have put the spotlight on designers including Orla Kiely, Mary Quant, and Terence Conran.
Entry fee: Varies; check the latest exhibition for more details
London Transport Museum, Covent Garden
For anyone who races Citymapper’s proposed route home convinced they can hack public transport, or for those who feel smug when a question on the underground comes up at a pub quiz, head to the London Transport Museum, packed with impressive travel ephemera and facts. See a line-up of red Routemaster buses through the ages, climb aboard one of the very first tube carriages and see stylish retro posters from the past 100 years. Keep an eye on its website for the Acton depot open days, when there’s a rare chance to nose through old Transport for London signs and posters and step aboard vintage tube trains.
Entry fee: £22 for off-peak adult annual passes, £24 for unlimited adult annual passes
Roelof BakkerDennis Severs' House, Spitalfields
Another house-museum hybrid, this time featuring the residence of a fictional family dreamt up by eccentric Dennis Severs, who lived in this East End house in the 1970s. The house takes visitors through 10 rooms, transporting them from 1724 to the start of 1914. It’s as though you’re walking into a painting of East London life in the 18th and 19th centuries—tours through the sets, which look as though the occupants of the house have just popped out—are done in silence.
Entry fee: From £15 per person
Will PryceLeighton House, Holland Park
Stepping into the Arab Hall, you'd be excused for expecting a fez-wearing shopkeeper to hand you a glass of mint tea. Down a quiet side street in Holland Park, Leighton House appears to be quite a standard-looking Victorian townhouse. Yet, so over-the-top were Pre-Raphaelite painter Sir Frederic Leighton's interiors that even his biographer questioned his Britishness. Maybe it was the ceramic-tiled walls, gilt-painted dome, or stained-glass windows that caused all the fuss. Whatever it was, it proves bling was a thing in London as early as the 1830s.
Entry fee: £11 for adults, £5 for children
Stuart LeechDulwich Picture Gallery, Dulwich
In the early 1800s, art enthusiast Sir Francis Bourgeois instructed that his entire collection be turned into a gallery open to the public, handpicking architect John Soane to create the Dulwich Picture Gallery from scratch. Look up, and you can see for yourself the innovative techniques Soane used to bathe the whole gallery in sunlight, which became the prototype for all galleries to this day. Still, don't forget to look down too, to see the great Baroque masterpieces that line the walls and the mausoleum Soane designed for his friend and patron.
Entry fee: £16.50 for adults, including donation
Michael BowlesThe Handel Hendrix House Museum, Mayfair
The Handel Hendrix House Museum showcases the former homes of music legends, George Handel and Jimi Hendrix. Following a £3 million refurbishment of the Georgian buildings on Brook Street, visitors can immerse themselves in the spaces where Handel wrote his music and Jimi Hendrix entertained fellow rock stars in the 1960s. The interiors of Handel’s home, including the kitchen, have been fully restored in 1740s style, and there are audiovisual displays about the Messiah in the very room where he composed that famous oratorio. Next door at No. 23, the bedsit which Hendrix rented in the late 1960s has been faithfully replicated, plus there are films and displays relating to the guitarist’s life and work. The museum also hosts live music and talks.
Entry fee: £14.00 for adults, £10.00 for students and free for under 16s
Jack Taylor/GettyThe Postal Museum, Farringdon
One of Britain’s biggest inventions was the postal system—the very first social network, which has now been around for 500 years. Visit The Postal Museum and take in the history of letter-writing and communication with interactive displays, galleries and exhibitions. Hop across the road to Mail Rail and travel through the hidden tunnels onboard a miniature train to discover the postal world that lies beneath the busy streets of London. See the unchanged station platforms below Royal Mail’s Mount Pleasant sorting office, hear from the people who worked on the railway and learn about the parts of it that kept the postal system moving through London over the years.
Entry fee: £16 for adults, £11 for young persons (ages 16-24), £9 for children
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