Complete List of Free Museums in London

London's free museum provision is extraordinary by global standards — the result of a long tradition of publicly funded institutions believing culture should be universally accessible. Here's a comprehensive list of the major free museums and galleries.

Major National Museums (Always Free)

British Museum (Bloomsbury) — world art and artefacts spanning 2 million years. Natural History Museum (South Kensington) — 80 million specimens, dinosaurs, the blue whale. Science Museum (South Kensington) — five floors of science, technology and space exploration. Victoria and Albert Museum (South Kensington) — art and design, 2.8 million objects. National Gallery (Trafalgar Square) — Western European painting from 1250–1900. National Portrait Gallery (Trafalgar Square) — portraits of notable British figures from Tudor times to today. Tate Modern (South Bank) — international modern and contemporary art. Tate Britain (Millbank) — British art from 1500 to the present. National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) — maritime history. Museum of London (two sites: City and Docklands) — London's history from prehistory to today.

Specialist Free Museums

Wallace Collection (Marylebone) — 18th-century French art and arms. Sir John Soane's Museum (Holborn) — architect's eccentric house-museum, one of London's hidden gems. Wellcome Collection (Euston) — medicine, art and science. Design Museum (Kensington) — permanent collection free, special exhibitions ticketed. Horniman Museum (Forest Hill) — natural history, musical instruments and anthropology. V&A Museum of Childhood (Bethnal Green) — toys, games and childhood history.

Free Galleries

Serpentine Gallery (Hyde Park) — contemporary art, famous for the annual Pavilion commission. White Cube Bermondsey — major contemporary art gallery. Saatchi Gallery (Chelsea) — contemporary art, often controversial exhibitions.

Tips

• Permanent collections are always free — temporary exhibitions at the same museums are usually ticketed.
• Sir John Soane's Museum is one of London's most extraordinary spaces and consistently undervisited.
• The Horniman Museum in Forest Hill is worth the Overground journey — extraordinary natural history collection.
• Most museums are open 10am–5:30pm daily, with selected late openings on Fridays.