The best free museums in London

Some of the world’s greatest museums are clustered in London. Giant whale skeletons, classical sculptures, groundbreaking fashion – the city's best museums collectively satisfy all interests. Better still, many are completely free to visit.

Although some of these best free museums in London may charge a fee for temporary exhibitions, you can spend hours admiring the permanent collections.

From natural history to modern art, here are 14 of the best free museums to add to your must-visit list for London.

How to plan a day around the best free museums in London

A number of museums in London are located close together in specific neighborhoods such as the Kensington and Hyde Park area (for the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, the Serpentine and the V&A) or in central London (for the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, British Museum and the idiosyncratic Sir John Soane's Museum).

If you're short on time and want to see the highlights of a handful of museums that's entirely possible with some forward planning. Prebook your entry time, even for free museums and galleries, to avoid any potential for queues (especially during the peak summer of pre-Christmas school holiday periods). Next, look at the museums websites for any recommended "whirlwind" style tours. The most popular or significant things to see at some museums are marked out on a map for hurried visitors.

Even at a cracking pace, you'll need a minimum of an hour to get around most of the following museums, as they're often in vast buildings with multiple floors. You will also want to leave time for rest stops (expect queues for women's toilets, and check a museum map for alternatives on higher floors), plus a bite to eat.

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If you're traveling with children add extra time, or better yet – stick to the most child-friendly free museums and plan a whole day exploring just one. Another tip for family travelers is to check online ahead of a visit, as school holidays can also mean there are free workshops and other engaging activities for kids.

While entry is free, not everything is

Although entry is free to all of the following museums, most rely on donations to continue so if you can afford to contribute something – do! Note: the pressure to make a donation varies by venue. Alternatively, you can plan to buy food or souvenirs from the gift shop to support the museum in other ways.

Within many of these museums, there may be special exhibitions that will attract an admission fee (the Wonderlab at the Science Museum is one example). You may also need to pay to use lockers or to hire an audioguide, so don't arrive empty handed.

Best free museums for kids

• Science Museum: lots of interactive exhibits perfect for primary-school aged children

• Natural History Museum: an awe-inspiring collection especially for kid's with special interests

• Young V&A: nostalgic for parents and fun for kids

• Horniman Museum: smaller museum with lovely grounds

• Tate Modern: spacious art gallery with bold colors and good outdoor spaces

1. Natural History Museum

Best for dinosaurs

Taking visitors through 4.6 billion years of life on earth, the Natural History Museum in the South Kensington neighborhood is beloved by many Brits. The grand Victorian building is divided into color-coded sections for easier navigation: in the green zone, you’ll find bugs, birds, fossils and gems; the blue zone is for dinosaurs, mammals, fish and reptiles; the red zone houses displays on volcanoes, earthquakes and artifacts explaining human evolution; and the orange zone has a wildlife garden and the Darwin Centre.

Bring your headphones and tune in for an audio tour narrated by Sir David Attenborough through the central Hintze Hall, including the famous 25m (82ft) skeleton of Hope the blue whale.

Planning tip: It gets extremely busy at peak times, particularly around school holidays, so ensure you don’t miss out by booking a free ticket online.

2. Science Museum

Best for curious young minds

Showcasing enthralling interactive and educational exhibits over five floors, it's easy to spend the whole day discovering the Science Museum, which exhibits everything from old clocks to an actual piece of the moon collected on the Apollo 15 mission. The showpiece of the building is the giant Exploring Space exhibition hall, with everything out of this world – including Russian-made spacecraft and the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle, the lander that travelled to the moon in 1969 carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The Wellcome Galleries contains 3000 remarkable objects from the world of medicine that have saved countless lives, from early dissecting tools to prosthetic legs and life-saving penicillin.

Planning tip: Book museum entry as well as special exhibitions or events via the Science Museum website. 

3. Tate Britain

Best for local art

Step through the porticoed entrance of this grand neoclassical building in Millbank and find yourself immersed in more than 500 years of British art. There are historic paintings by William Blake and Mary Beale, as well as modern classics from the likes of David Hockney and Tracey Emin. Tate Britain also holds the world’s largest collection of works by JMW Turner.

Planning tip: Head to a webpage of short videos titled Museums Without Men by British art historian, writer and podcaster Katy Hessel for an interesting insight into the museum's collection.

4. White Cube

Best for up-and-coming artists

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First established in London, White Cube has become one of the world’s leading contemporary art galleries, with branches on three continents. There are two sites in London — Mason’s Yard near Piccadilly and Bermondsey in South London — showcasing the work of painters, sculptors and multidisciplinary artists. See exhibitions from major figures like Damien Hirst and Antony Gormley alongside up-and-coming names such as Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Julie Curtiss and Tiona Nekkia McClodden.

Planning tip: The gallery is not open on Mondays at either London site.

5. Tate Modern

Best for after-hours events

The Tate Modern’s dramatic Turbine Hall is a must-see in itself, but the works on view will wow any lover of modern art. Sculptures, paintings, films and large-scale installations are presented across the 6-story Natalie Bell building and the 10-story Blavatnik building, which has a viewing deck on its top level granting a panoramic view of the city.

Planning tip: Many galleries hold after-hours events, and the Tate does them better than most. Tate Lates take place on the last Friday of each month, with a program of artist-led workshops, DJ sets, talks and performances until 10pm.

6. Sir John Soane’s Museum

Best for a peep into the world of collecting

The former home of eccentric architect John Soane has been preserved as a truly unique museum. Soane was an unstoppable collector, amassing 40,000-plus objects near and far, including on his trips to ancient Rome, Paestum and Pompeii. The rooms are dimly lit and often narrow, cramped with curiosities, which lends the space a mysterious atmosphere. In one room, you’ll find masterworks by Hogarth and Canaletto; in another, the sarcophagus of an Egyptian pharaoh or a model of Pompeii made from cork. There are few labels identifying the objects, but don’t be shy about asking the friendly staff for more details.

Planning tip: Note that the museum is normally closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

6. National Portrait Gallery

Best for celebrity spotting

The National Portrait Gallery reopened in 2023 after three years of major refurbishment and displays some 11,000 paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures and drawings of people who made notable contributions to British history. It’s said to be the world’s first portrait gallery, featuring the faces of royalty and celebrities alongside local heroes and lesser-known figures. It's also open late on Friday and Saturday making it a good option for a low cost night out. 

Planning tip: Special exhibitions are ticketed, but there is a trust-based "Pay What You Can" option at specific times of the week. Look on the NPG website for more information.

7. National Gallery

Best for a history of European art

Occupying a commanding position over Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery is home to a diverse collection spanning 700 years of Western European art. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Botticelli’s Venus and Mars, and Georges Seurat’s Bathers at Asnières are among the highlights, but you can explore more than 2600 paintings, beginning in the early medieval period through Renaissance Italy, the Dutch masters and French Impressionism.

Planning tip: The vast collection can be overwhelming, so allow an expert guide to lead you on a free 60-minute taster tour, available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

8. Wallace Collection

Best for decorative arts

Despite being located just a few blocks behind Oxford St, this jewel box of a museum is often overlooked. In the 1800s, the building was a private residence of the Hertford family, whose expansive collection of paintings, furniture, fine porcelain and decorative art is too large to be displayed at one time. That means that you’ll encounter something new on each trip, whether it’s Marie Antoinette’s gilded desk from her Versailles apartments, masterworks by Titian and Velázquez, or the basement full of medieval armor (always a hit with children).

Planning tip: The downstairs lockers are free. 

9. Victoria & Albert Museum

Best for a variety of cultures

The V&A sprawls over 7 miles (11km) of galleries in South Kensington, filled with 5000 years of artifacts in practically every medium, from Tippoo’s Tiger, the almost life-size wooden automaton of a tiger attacking a European dating from 1793, to JW Anderson’s viral patchwork cardigan, worn by Harry Styles in 2020.

Planning tip: Don’t miss the cafe – while museum restaurants can often feel like an afterthought, this is one of the most opulent spaces in London. The three refreshment rooms, designed in the 1860s, feature decadent double-height golden arches, Dutch blue-painted tiles and intricate plasterwork.

10. Horniman Museum

Best for an off-the-beaten track adventure

Based in South London’s Forest Hill, this anthropological museum is a little further out, but the location means there’s tons of room to explore its eclectic collection, stunning Victorian conservatory and 16 acres (6.5 hectares) of surrounding gardens.

The Horniman Museum is one of the city’s best family-friendly attractions, thanks to its lovely nature trails, immersive displays that aim to deepen our understanding of global cultures and an array of 9500 musical instruments.

11. Young V&A

Best for children

The V&A’s sibling, Young V&A in Bethnal Green, caters to younger visitors, up to age 14, with three spaces targeting different age groups. For babies and toddlers, there’s the Play gallery, a sensory environment, while the mini-theater stage in the Imagine gallery invites 5- to 11-year-olds to dress up and perform, and the Design gallery offers activities and workshops for older kids, explaining the process of creating everyday objects.

Planning tip: With school trips on weekdays and families piling in on weekends, it can get very crowded. If you need a break from the noise, head to the reading room, the museum’s designated quiet space.

12. Serpentine Gallery

Best for contemporary art

With twin galleries on either side of Hyde Park’s Serpentine lake, this site hosts exhibitions by established and emerging contemporary artists, plus one of the best art bookshops in the city. During the summer months, visitors can check out the Serpentine Pavilion, an annual architectural commission that is one of the most anticipated events on the cultural calendar.

13. British Museum

Best for ancient history

It’s the biggest, oldest and most popular museum in London, with a collection spanning two million years of human history. While it’s hard to know where to start, the British Museum provides handy timed routes — there are one-hour and three-hour highlights tours, as well as trails relating to LGBTQ+ histories, colonial exploitation and family favorites.

Planning tip: There’s never a quiet time to visit, but your best bet for dodging the crowds is Friday evening, when the museum is open until 8.30pm.