The Wallace Collection
Old Master paintings, French furniture and a hall of armour in a Marylebone townhouse, free, with a gorgeous glass-roofed courtyard.
The lowdown
The Wallace Collection is one of London's best kept free secrets, a national museum hidden in a grand townhouse just behind the chaos of Oxford Street. Inside is a jaw-dropping spread of Old Master paintings, Sèvres porcelain, French furniture and one of the finest armouries in the country, all free to walk into.
This is where you will find Frans Hals' Laughing Cavalier, Fragonard's Swing and rooms so opulent they feel like a film set. It was assembled by one family over generations and left to the nation intact, so it has the feel of a private house rather than a sprawling museum, which makes it easy to do in an hour.
At the centre is a glazed courtyard with a café under the glass roof. The food is not free but the setting is, and on a grey London day there are very few nicer free places to sit with a coffee surrounded by armour and art.
The insider tip
The bit we only tell the people on the list. Join free and every insider tip unlocks on this device.
Featured in these guides
More like this
Get it in your inbox
One email a week with the best free things to do in London this weekend. Before everyone else finds them.