National Gallery
a thousand years of paint, for nothing
Western art from medieval gold to Van Gogh, free on Trafalgar Square. Some of the most famous paintings on earth, no ticket.
Free to visit · Trafalgar Square · Charing Cross · WC2N 5DN
Opening: Daily 10am–6pm · Fri to 9pm
The National Gallery stands across the top of Trafalgar Square, and walking in to one of the greatest collections of European painting in the world costs you nothing. It has been free since it opened in 1824, the whole idea being that the pictures belong to everyone.
Inside are paintings you have seen a hundred times without clocking where they actually live. Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Turner's fighting ship, Monet, Constable, a Leonardo or two. You do not need to know the first thing about art to be floored by a room of it.
It sits in the middle of the busiest square in London so there is a steady flow. Come at opening, or on a Friday evening when it stays open late and the crowds melt away, and you can stand in front of a masterpiece on your own.
Getting there: Right across the north side of Trafalgar Square, two minutes from Charing Cross or Leicester Square.
Best time to go: Weekday mornings or the Friday late opening. The big rooms thin right out after 4pm.
Insider tip: Use the Getty Entrance on the east side rather than the main portico steps. It is quieter, it is step-free, and the Friday late opening is the closest you will ever get to having the place to yourself.
Official site: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
More free day trips from London · Free things to do in London