Free Museums in London: Seven to Visit First

1. British Museum: free entry in Bloomsbury

The British Museum in Bloomsbury has free entry. Its website lists daily hours of 10.00 to 17.00, with later opening on Fridays, so check the museum's own page for today's times. A free visit has no GetYourGuide rating, since there is nothing to book. The museum also encourages a free timed ticket, which helps at busy times. Everyone goes through a bag search at the door, so allow a few minutes.

The building is huge, and a self-guided visit can feel like walking past a thousand labels. If you want someone to pick the highlights, a guide helps. A private British Museum tour with tickets included runs about two hours and covers the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Marbles, among other objects. It is from €154 for a group of up to 3, rated 4.8 from 12 reviews, run by DS Tours London, with free cancellation. The tour meets at the museum on Great Russell St, is led in English or Italian, and includes the guide and entry tickets. It leaves out temporary exhibitions, food and drinks, hotel pickup and tips. With 12 reviews, the rating is a small sample, so it counts for less than the tea's 593. It is a private group, and the guide shapes the route to your group's pace.

Prefer a sit-down? Afternoon tea at the British Museum is from €51 per person, rated 4.3 from 593 reviews, and is run by Golden Tours - Gray Line London. It starts at the Great Court Restaurant, lasts about 1.5 hours and has no free cancellation. Tea is served from 11:30 to 17:00 with the last sitting at 16:00, and a booking holds at most 6 people. The kitchen can cater vegetarian, pescatarian and nut-free diets only, and the price leaves out transfers and tips.

Prices and ratings as shown on GetYourGuide on 24 October 2026.

2. Natural History Museum: free galleries, free ticket

The Natural History Museum in South Kensington is free to enter, and its website asks you to get a free ticket before you come. Doors open daily at 10:00 and close at 17:50, with last entry at 17:30. The museum shuts on 24 to 26 December. The nearest Tube station is South Kensington, about a five-minute walk away. Piccadilly, District and Circle line trains stop there. The station is not step free.

Give it a good half day. The Science Museum and the V&A are close by in South Kensington, so you can walk between the three.

Pro Tip Book your Natural History Museum ticket for the first slot of the day, then spend the afternoon at the Science Museum, where last entry is 17.15.

3. Science Museum: free, but book a ticket

The Science Museum has free entry, but you need to pre-book a free ticket. Doors open daily at 10.00 and close at 18.00, with last entry at 17.15. Closing days are 24 to 26 December. An average visit lasts around two hours, the museum says, and you can stay as long as you like.

From Saturday 24 to Friday 30 October 2026 it opens at 09.00 for the school half term. School holidays bring crowds.

4. V&A: free entry and late Fridays

Admission to the V&A in South Kensington is free. Daily hours are 10.00 to 17.45, with Fridays running until 22.00, though some galleries close at 17.45. The galleries start clearing 30 minutes before closing.

Free displays in October 2026 include Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things, which opens on 24 October, and The Burberry Trench, which runs to 3 January 2027. Some shows are charged. Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific costs £17 until 10 January 2027. Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires opens on 7 November 2026 at £25 on weekdays and £27 at weekends, according to the V&A's visit page and What's On listings.

Key Takeaway At the V&A you can see the whole permanent collection for £0, and the only money you spend is on shows such as the £25 weekday Constantinople to Istanbul.

5. Tate Modern: free collection on Bankside

Tate Modern has free admission to its collection displays. Hours are Sunday to Thursday 10.00 to 18.00 and Friday to Saturday 10.00 to 21.00, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. The address is Bankside, London SE1 9TG. You enter through the Turbine Hall ramp or the Blavatnik Building, and your bag is checked on arrival.

Its collection includes works by Pablo Picasso, Yayoi Kusama and Henri Matisse. The big shows cost money. On Tate Modern's page, Frida: The Making of an Icon (until 3 January 2027) and Julio Le Parc: Light. Colour. Action. (until 3 May 2027) are marked "free for members", so other visitors buy a ticket: Frida is £25 and Julio Le Parc is £15, with £5 tickets for Tate Collective members aged 16 to 25. Frida also sells a £5 audio guide. Tate says members get free entry to shows with no booking, up to four children aged 11 and under go free per parent or guardian, and children aged 12 to 18 can get £5 family tickets. Tate also runs free guided tours of part of the gallery most days, and lockers cost £4, £6 or £8 depending on size. A third show, Ana Mendieta (until 17 January 2027), is free for members too.

6. National Gallery: free paintings on Trafalgar Square

The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square is free to visit, and some exhibitions are charged. Daily hours are 10am to 6pm, with Fridays until 9pm. The gallery is closed on 24 to 26 December and 1 January.

You can book a free ticket for fast-track entry, or just walk up. The main free entrance is the Sainsbury Wing. The gallery asks you to bring minimal items and no large bags, because staff inspect bags at the doors. There is also a free audio guide with over 50 of the nation's favourite paintings.

7. Tate Britain: free art from Monday to Sunday

Tate Britain has free admission, and exhibitions are charged. Hours are 10.00 to 18.00, Monday to Sunday. It suits an afternoon away from the South Kensington crowds.

Free entry means you can leave after twenty minutes if a museum is not for you.

How to choose between the free museums London has

Pick by what you enjoy and by how you plan your day. The table sums up what the official pages say.

At the Science Museum the main galleries are free, but Wonderlab, the hands-on science gallery for families, is a paid ticket from £13.50 (children aged 3 and under go free, and booking ahead is cheaper). Its Power Up gaming gallery and IMAX cinema have their own booking buttons too. Tate Modern's page lists Southwark (Jubilee line, about 600 metres), Blackfriars (District and Circle lines, about 800 metres) and St Paul's (Central line, about 1,100 metres) as the nearest Tube stations. Tate Britain's page lists Pimlico (Victoria line, about 600 metres), Vauxhall (Victoria line, about 850 metres) and Westminster (Jubilee, District and Circle lines, about 1,200 metres). Tate Britain's Millbank entrance is closed until 2027, so use the Manton entrance on Atterbury Street. The Churchill War Rooms are the only fully paid museum here, and the GetYourGuide ticket from €41 per person is the only price we can quote. Other charged items are in the second table below. The tea starts at the Great Court Restaurant, the private tour runs about two hours, and the War Rooms meet on King Charles Street.

Things to Do in London's count of GetYourGuide listings in October 2026 found 27 museum and gallery listings in London and its day-trip area. Most readers will not need one for the free museums above. Paid museums are where a ticket is the point.

Some things at these museums do cost money. This table lists the charged shows named on the official pages in October 2026.

The Churchill War Rooms are a paid museum, not a free one. The Churchill War Rooms entry and audio tour is from €41 per person, rated 4.6 from 513 reviews, and is run by Vox City Walks. It includes the entry ticket, an audio guide in eight languages and a host at the meeting point, and it also gives a Political London audio guide and map. The meeting point is at the War Rooms on King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AQ. The listing says 2 hours to 1 day and a small group is available. It leaves out a live guide, a headset and mobile device (bring your own phone and headphones) and transport, and it has no free cancellation.

Prices and ratings as shown on GetYourGuide on 24 October 2026.

Free museums save money, yet travel costs still add up. For more ways to cut costs, read London on a budget. To plan your route between museums, see getting around London.

Limits of the free list

Free entry does not cover everything. Special exhibitions, audio guides at some museums and food are extra, and a popular free day can still mean a queue. Free ticket slots at the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum are meant for planning, so book before you travel. If you want a guided story in the British Museum, a free visit on your own will not give you that.