world-class art, no ticket
London's best free art galleries
London hangs some of the greatest art on earth and lets you in for nothing. The old masters, the modern giants, the cutting-edge spaces out east and a riverside jewel most people walk straight past. All free.
FREE
London's best free art galleries
LONDON FREE GUIDEThe list
1
National Gallery
Trafalgar Square · Charing Cross
Western art from medieval gold to Van Gogh, free on Trafalgar Square. Some of the most famous paintings on earth, no ticket.
Daily 10am–6pm · Fri to 9pmFull details →
2
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National Portrait Gallery
Trafalgar Square · Leicester Square
Portraits of the people who shaped Britain, free just off Trafalgar Square, reborn after a three-year revamp.
Daily 10:30am–6pm · Fri & Sat to 9pmFull details →
3
Tate Modern
Bankside · Southwark / Blackfriars
A giant power station full of modern art, free to roam, with one of the best free views of St Paul's from the upper floors.
Daily 10am–6pm · Fri & Sat to 10pmFull details →
4
Tate Britain
Pimlico · Pimlico
The original Tate, free on the river at Pimlico, holding five hundred years of British art and the greatest collection of Turners on earth.
Daily 10am–6pmFull details →
5
Whitechapel Gallery
Whitechapel · Aldgate East
The East End's pioneering art gallery, free for over a century, the place that first showed Picasso's Guernica to Britain. Cutting-edge shows, no ticket.
Closed Mon · Tue/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun 11am–6pm · Thu late till 9pm (Gallery Lates)Full details →
6
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Saatchi Gallery
Chelsea · Sloane Square
Big, bold contemporary art in a grand old military HQ off the King's Road, free to walk into, the gallery that launched the Young British Artists.
Daily 10am–6pmFull details →
7
Serpentine Galleries
Kensington Gardens · Lancaster Gate
Two small free contemporary art galleries in the middle of Kensington Gardens, plus the famous summer Pavilion, a new free building by a star architect every year.
Tue–Sun 10am–6pm · closed MonFull details →
8
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Guildhall Art Gallery
City of London · Bank
The City's own art collection, free, sitting on top of a genuine Roman amphitheatre you can walk down into. Two thousand years in one free building.
Mon–Sat 10am–4pm · check before SundaysFull details →
9
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White Cube Bermondsey
Bermondsey · London Bridge
One of Europe's largest commercial galleries, free to enter, showing ambitious work by some of the world's biggest contemporary artists.
Tue–Sat · check exhibition datesFull details →
10
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Two Temple Place
Temple · Temple
An absurdly opulent neo-Gothic mansion built for an Astor, thrown open to the public for free every winter for one knockout exhibition.
Free only during the annual winter exhibition · roughly late Jan to mid-AprFull details →
More guides
Guide
Free
The stories hiding above Clerkenwell's pubs
A free ~45-minute walk from Angel to Farringdon past six Clerkenwell pub signs, each hiding a story you'd never guess from the street: a prince replaced by a Tamil king, a freed slave in chains, a mystery mural, the man who funded England's first atlas, and a 400-year-old typo. Every stop is free to look at, this is about the signs, not drinking.
Guide
FreeEvery weekend
Go East Vintage Flea: a free vintage market in Bermondsey
Go East Vintage runs a free vintage flea market most weekends at Maltby Street in Bermondsey, plus an indoor edition inside the railway arches on selected weekends. Free entry, no ticket, dog-friendly, just turn up. Expect 40 plus vintage sellers with furniture, vinyl, cameras, fashion, jewellery and odd little treasures, right by Maltby Street Market's food stalls. Dates move around a little, so check Go East Vintage's Instagram for the exact weekend before you go.
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