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The colonnaded front of the British Museum

Collection · London

London museums

5 placesFreeUpdated November 5, 2026

London's great free museums: the British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate Modern and, in South Kensington, the Natural History Museum and the V&A.

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  1. Essential

    Museums & culture· Bloomsbury

    The British Museum

    Two million years of human history around the glass-roofed Great Court: the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures and Egyptian mummies, with free entry.

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    The colonnaded front of the British Museum
  2. Essential

    Museums & culture· Trafalgar Square

    The National Gallery

    The national art collection overlooks Trafalgar Square, with seven centuries of European painting from Van Eyck and Leonardo to Velázquez, Turner and Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Entry is free.

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    The porticoed front of the National Gallery above Trafalgar Square

  3. Museums & culture· South Bank

    Tate Modern

    Modern and contemporary art inside a former power station on the Thames, with the vast Turbine Hall and a viewing level that looks across to St Paul's.

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    A full moon over the towers of the City, seen from Tate Modern

  4. Museums & culture· South Kensington

    Natural History Museum

    A Victorian terracotta cathedral filled with fossils, minerals and dinosaurs. A blue whale skeleton hangs over the great central hall.

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    The great hall of the Natural History Museum, with its arches and a skeleton hanging from the ceiling

  5. Museums & culture· South Kensington

    Victoria and Albert Museum

    The world's great museum of decorative arts and design, with fashion, jewellery, ceramics and sculpture from every era, a garden courtyard and the first museum café rooms ever built.

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    The pond and facade of the John Madejski Garden at the Victoria and Albert Museum

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Before you go

How to visit the London museums

  1. Free, but book ahead

    The permanent collections here are free; only temporary exhibitions charge. At the British Museum it's worth booking a free time slot on its website.

  2. British Museum on Fridays

    On Fridays it stays open until 8:30pm and the evening is quieter. Other days it closes at 5pm.

  3. South Kensington in one day

    The Natural History Museum and the V&A sit side by side. A pedestrian tunnel from South Kensington station brings you to both without crossing a road.

  4. From Tate to St Paul's

    Leaving Tate Modern, cross the Millennium Bridge: the footbridge lands right in front of St Paul's Cathedral.

Checked on November 3, 2026. Opening hours and tickets can change, so check each place’s website before you go.

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