Ranked by our score
Top 10 museums in London
The collections worth planning a day around.
1
National Gallery
Step off Trafalgar Square into rooms of paintings spanning the mid-13th century to 1900, and let the canvases hold your attention for as long as…
Art galleriesabout 2 hFreeLeicester Square
Plan your visitSee on map
2Natural History Museum
Come face to face with a vast range of natural history specimens, from towering skeletons to tiny preserved creatures. Lose yourself for hours in…
Museumsabout 2 h 30South Kensington
Free entrySee on map →
3Royal Observatory Greenwich
Straddle the Prime Meridian with one foot in each hemisphere, then take in Thames views from the hill. Inside, historic timekeeping and astronomy…
Museumsabout 2 hMaze Hill
Tickets from £9See on map →
4British Museum
Step into eight million artefacts that trace human history from its earliest beginnings to today. Lose track of the hours in galleries of art and…
Museumsabout 3 hRussell Square
Free entrySee on map →
5Cutty Sark
Step aboard a 19th-century tea clipper built for speed and wander her decks in Greenwich, beside the Thames. Stand beside one of the fastest ships…
Museumsabout 1 h 30Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich
Tickets from £20See on map →
6Victoria and Albert Museum
Wander through a sprawling trove of fashion, furniture, jewellery and ceramics gathered from cultures around the world. With over 2.8 million…
Museumsabout 2 h 30South Kensington
Free entrySee on map →
7Tate Britain
Wander through centuries of British art, then step into the rooms of J. M. W. Turner's paintings. Easy to lose a whole afternoon here while the…
Art galleriesabout 1 h 30Vauxhall
Free entrySee on map →
8Tate Modern
Step inside a former power station on the Thames and wander through the UK's national collection of modern and contemporary art. Give yourself a…
Art galleriesabout 1 h 30London Blackfriars
Free entrySee on map →
9Science Museum
Press buttons, test hands-on experiments and watch vast steam engines loom over you in galleries packed with working machines. Step inside on a…
Museumsabout 2 hSouth Kensington
Free entrySee on map →
10Sir John Soane's Museum
Wander John Soane's former Holborn home, crammed with antiquities, paintings and his own architectural models. With only 90 visitors inside at a…
Museumsabout 1 hHolborn
Free entrySee on map →
Book ahead
Museum tickets
Exhibitions and museums that charge, with the lowest price from our partners.
London Transport Museum
Kids climb aboard real buses and Tube carriages, take the controls of a train simulator and drive mini vehicles in the All Aboard play zone.
Museumsabout 1 hCovent Garden
Tickets from £27See on map →
Churchill War Rooms
Descend into the underground rooms where Britain's wartime government made its decisions, then follow Winston Churchill's life through the museum…
Museumsabout 2 hWestminster
Tickets from £34See on map →
Freud Museum London
Step into the Hampstead house where Sigmund Freud spent his final year, then wander the rooms where his daughter Anna lived for decades. It's an…
Museumsabout 2 hFinchley Road
Tickets from £17See on map →
Somerset House
Step into a Georgian courtyard with the Thames glinting beyond its arches, then spend a slow afternoon among the paintings of the Courtauld Gallery.
Art galleriesabout 1 h 30Temple
Tickets from £16See on map →
The Courtauld Gallery
Step off the Strand and into Somerset House, where the Courtauld's paintings reward slow looking. Give an unhurried afternoon to its rooms and let…
Art galleriesabout 1 h 30Temple
Tickets from £16See on map →
Apsley House
Step through the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington, set at Hyde Park Corner with the Wellington Arch turning in traffic beyond its…
Museumsabout 2 hHyde Park Corner
Tickets from £12See on map →
Sherlock Holmes Museum, 221B Baker Street
The world's most famous fictional address is a real Georgian townhouse, staffed by a Victorian 'policeman' and furnished as Holmes and Watson's rooms.
Museumsabout 1 hBaker Street
Tickets from £81See on map →
No ticket needed
Free museums in London
The national collections are free to enter; some ask you to book a time slot.
National Portrait Gallery
Come face to face with Britain's famous faces, from Tudor monarchs to modern icons, and see how each sitter was painted. Give yourself a whole…
Art galleriesabout 1 h 30Leicester Square
Free entrySee on map →
Horniman Museum
Step into a Forest Hill building with Modern Style details, then wander past rooms of musical instruments, natural history and objects from…
Museumsabout 2 hForest Hill
Free entrySee on map →
National Army Museum
A free museum telling the British Army's story from the Civil War and Waterloo to modern conflicts, with uniforms, weapons and personal stories.…
Free museumsabout 1 h 30Sloane Square
Free entrySee on map →
Burgh House
A 1704 Queen Anne house holding the free Hampstead Museum of local history. Its walled garden and café make it a calm stop off the High Street.
Free museumsabout 45 minHampstead
Free entrySee on map →
Camden Art Centre
A free contemporary art gallery in a former Victorian public library near Finchley Road. A good bookshop, café and quiet garden make it worth the…
Art galleriesabout 1 hFinchley Road & Frognal
Free entrySee on map →
Museum of the Home
Period rooms set inside 18th-century almshouses show 400 years of how Londoners lived at home. Behind are free gardens through time, laid out to…
Free museumsabout 1 h 30Hoxton
Free entrySee on map →
Young V&A
A museum designed with children: a marble run, a stage to perform on, den building and toys from every era to play and design with.
Museumsabout 1 hBethnal Green
Free entrySee on map →
Wellcome Collection
A curious free museum about health and the human body, with a Reading Room full of sofas and odd objects where you can lose hours.
Museumsabout 1 hEuston Square
Free entrySee on map →
With a guide
Museum tours
Guided visits that pick the highlights for you.
Imperial War Museum London
Step into a national museum tracing modern war from 1914 onward, told through the experiences of those who lived it. Give it a few hours and let…
Museumsabout 2 hLambeth North
Tours from £11See on map →
The Wallace Collection
Step from a former townhouse hall into 25 galleries of French 18th-century paintings, fine furniture and porcelain. Entry is free, so you can…
Art galleriesabout 1 h 30Bond Street
Tours from £10See on map →
RAF Museum
Wander hangars on the old Hendon Aerodrome, where aircraft hang overhead across five buildings. Follow the Royal Air Force's story from early…
Museumsabout 2 hColindale
Tours from £10See on map →
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
Step into the world's largest tennis museum, inside the All England Club grounds. Trace the sport's history through rackets, trophies and…
Museumsabout 2 hWimbledon Park
Tours from £79See on map →
Where to stay near the museums
See hotels on a map near the museums you want, with live prices.
All 446 things to do in London
Museums, landmarks and hidden gems on one map, plus 17 day trips.