Best Museums in London

Here is the list of museums that I always enjoy going to when I’m in London.

Hayward Gallery

Hayward gallery is on the South Bank, close to Waterloo Station and the London Eye. This gallery is always hosting temporary exhibitions, for example Space shifters which was part of the 50th anniversary, was extraordinary with art from Anish Kapoor, Yayoi Kusama, Leonor Antunes and Larry Bell to name a few.

In 2022, I also went to see an exhibition on Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child and then in 2024, I go to see the installations and sculptures from Haegue Yang.

Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX, United Kingdom

The Tate Modern

This is one of my favourite, it’s opposite the Millennium Bridge next to the Shakespeare’s Globe. The gallery is free and you will get to see paintings, sculptures and installations from modern and contemporary artists from around the world.

Again, check out the temporary exhibitions, you will not be disappointed. Here are some photos of the highlights of the past 5 years.

Bankside, London SE1 9TG, United Kingdom

If you are feeling a bit peckish go to the Tate Modern Restaurant not only do you get an amazing view of the Thames but the food is really tasty. You can either sit on the high stools facing the window for a small bite or book a table for a more hearty lunch. We mostly go for a quick bite as we have a tendency to eat again in a restaurant in the evening.

And if you are a member you have a space reserved just for you where you can also order some lunch.

Somerset House & the Courtauld Gallery

The Courtauld Gallery is located in the North Wing of Somerset house just the other side of the Thames in the area called the Strand.

One of Somerset House’s main attraction is the ice skating ring and pop up restaurants and bars in the courtyard during the winter. You also have some evenings called Skates Lates where the DJ takes over!

Once again you will find amazing exhibitions taking place throughout the year and the permanent exhibition which focuses on Impressionist and Post-impressionist paintings in the Courtauld Gallery.

Strand, London WC2R 1LA, United Kingdom

You will also find in Somerset House, a great place to breakfast, brunch or lunch called the WatchHouse and a small cafe called Cafe Petiole. You will find more about them in my post about London restaurants.

The National Gallery & National Portrait Gallery

Those museums are on Trafalgar Square next to each other and are both free of charge for their permanent exhibitions.

The National Gallery is one of the busiest museums in London so try and go there during the week if you can.  It is so worth it, with plenty of Vincent van Gogh, William Turner, Leonardo da Vinci and Claude Monet to name just a few. I’m such a fan of the two crabs oil painting by Vincent van Gogh, maybe it’s because it reminds me of my holidays in Hejlsminde, Denmark.

The Portrait Gallery is just as its name indicated, it’s home to the most extensive collection of portraits in the world and it also host temporary exhibitions too related to Portraits.

The National Gallery : Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN, United Kingdom

The National Portrait Gallery: St. Martin’s Pl, London WC2H 0HE, United Kingdom

Royal Academy of Arts

If you go to London during the summer make sure you go to the Royal Academy of Arts.  Each year the Royal Academy organises the Summer Exhibition where most of the works are available to buy.

We also saw an amazing exhibition of one of my favourite artist Antony Gormley in 2019.

Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD, United Kingdom

V&A (Victoria & Albert museum

I saw an amazing exhibition at the V&A in 2019 on Christian Dior’s collection.

This museum is specialises mostly in fashion. Their fashion collection is the largest and most comprehensive collection of dress in the world, so it made perfectly sense to gather Christian Dior’s incredible collection.

The temporary exhibitions have included a highlight of Naomi Campbell’s career, Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection and lectures about ‘Curating the Songbook Trail – Taylor Swift and the V&A’ or ‘Costuming Wicked’ to name just a few.

The main exhibition in 2025, that we are all looking forward to is Cartier featuring more than 350 objects, including precious jewels, historic gemstones, iconic watches and clocks.

Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL, United Kingdom

Natural History Museum

Every time I used to go to London with my son when he was young, we invariably had to go to the Natural History Museum to check out the dinosaurs. ‘What if they are new one?’ was his argument to go there again and again, and how can you argue with a 4 year old.

So I must say, I have not been in ages but it is definitely worth if you want to ‘Travel through 4.6 billion years of our planet’s history and help protect its future’ according to the Natural History Museum motto.

If you are there during the Christmas period, you can go ice skating with so many other people.

Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom

Design Museum

This museum is next to Holland Park and its Kyoto garden, I recommend you add it to your list when you go the Design Museum. You can enjoy the permanent exhibits but also check out their current exhibition. We saw ‘Weird Sensation Fells Good: The world of ASMR’; it was definitely weird but my sister and I got the giggles and we were told off by our kids…

Lately, we saw the Barbie exhibition and the World of Tim Burton.

224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG, United Kingdom

Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi gallery in Chelsea focused on contemporary art and culture. Temporary exhibitions range from Absolut Warhol to Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Boundless. The one exhibition ‘Beyond the Streets’ in 2023, with graffiti and street art, rule-breakers and mark-makers.

You also get to walk along King’s Road for a bit of window shopping or a bite to eat.

Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Rd, London SW3 4RY, United Kingdom

The Estorick Collection

The Estorick Collection in a Georgian townhouse and focuses on Modern Italian Art from the first half of the 20th century. It’s actually the only museum in Britain dedicated to modern Italian art.

Along side the permanent exhibition, the Estorick Collection will have temporary exhibitions always related to Italian art. At the end of 2024, the exhibition was on Antonio Calderara.

You must book the temporary exhibitions in all the museums well in advance. Some exhibitions are so sought after that you might not get any tickets at the time of your visit. So the trick is to buy a membership, this will allow you to get into all the temporary exhibitions free of charge. You might pay more than a simple ticket but you get to go back to London so the prices of the memberships become well worth it.