London is one of the world’s leading capitals of arts and culture, and its many outstanding museums testify it.
Though some of London’s most important museums are located on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, and in the City of Westminster, there are plenty of museums and art galleries throughout the entire city; indeed, London has 8 of the 10 most visited museums in the United Kingdom, with three of them – British Museum, Tate Modern, and National Gallery – constantly competing for the top spot. If you have some time, our suggestion is also to visit some of the city’s newest and lesser-known cultural venues, such as the Serpentine and Sackler galleries at Kensington Gardens, and the recently-opened Design Museum.
You can get to most of the city’s museums and cultural venues by the efficient, yet quite expensive, London Underground (which the locals nickname “the Tube”, if you travel in some of the narrow old coaches still is service on some secondary lines you’ll understand why…); therefore, if you plan to use the London public transport network frequently, we suggest to save some money and buy one of the various discounted travel cards available, like the popular Oyster Card.
Cover image, the National Gallery main facade on Trafalgar Square; photo © Riccardo Bianchini / Inexhibit
Barbican Centre – Barbican Art Gallery, London
London - Silk Street
closed: open every day
The Barbican Centre is a multidisciplinary art center, including theaters and art galleries, and one of the best examples of British Brutalist architecture
British Museum, London
London - Great Russell Street
closed: open daily, except January 1, Good Friday and December 24, 25 & 26
The British Museum in London is a museum of ancient art, and a leading institution dedicated to human civilizations from all over the world
Design Museum – London
London - 224-238 Kensington High Street
closed: open daily, except December 24,25 and 26
The Design Museum is a museum in Kensington, London, covering all fields of design, from architecture to graphic design, from fashion to industrial design
Hayward Gallery – Southbank Centre, London
London - South Bank Centre, Belvedere Road
closed: Tuesdays
The Hayward Gallery is a gallery of contemporary art in London; part of the Southbank Centre, the gallery is housed in a historic Brutalist-style building
Imperial War Museum London | IWM
London - Lambeth Road
closed: open daily, except December 24, 25 & 26
The Imperial War Museum London is a British museum of history, focusing on conflicts with special attention to people's experience of war and wartime life
Museum of London, Barbican Centre
London - London Wall, 150
closed: open daily, except December 24, 25 & 26
The Museum of London, located at the Barbican Centre, is the main museum dedicated to the history of the city of London from prehistory to the present day
National Gallery, London
London - Trafalgar Square
closed: open every day, except January 1 and December 24–26
Located on Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery in London is one of the world's most famous and most visited museums exclusively dedicated to painting.
National Portrait Gallery, London
London - St Martin’s Place
closed: open daily
The National Portrait Gallery in Central London is a museum dedicated to portraiture and one of the most popular cultural destinations in Britain
Natural History Museum, London
London - Cromwell Road
closed: open daily, except December 24, 25 & 26
The Natural History Museum in London is one of the world's largest science museums; founded in 1756, it is housed in a Victorian building on Exhibition Road
RA – Royal Academy of Arts, London
London - Burlington House, Piccadilly
closed: open daily
The Royal Academy of Arts in London (RA) is a museum on Piccadilly and one of the world's most prestigious institutions devoted to the promotion of the arts
Saatchi Gallery
London - Duke of York's HQ, King's Road
closed: open daily
The Saatchi Gallery is a well-reputed contemporary art gallery in Central London, housed in the Duke of York Headquarters palace on King's road
Science Museum, London
London - Exhibition Road
closed: open daily, except December 24, 25 & 26
Founded in 1857, the Science Museum in London is a world-famous museum focused on Science, Medicine, Information technology, and Engineering
Serpentine Gallery
London - Kensington Gardens
closed: open during exhibitions
The Serpentine Gallery at the Kensington Gardens, London, is one of the most important contemporary art centers and exhibition venues in the United Kingdom
Serpentine Sackler Gallery
London - Kensington Gardens
closed: open during exhibitions and events
The Serpentine Sackler Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Kensington Gardens, London, refurbished and expanded by Zaha Hadid Architects
Somerset House & Courtauld Gallery, London
London - Strand
closed: open daily, except December 25. Courtauld Gallery closed until 2020
Somerset House is a well-known contemporary art center and a Neoclassical palace in central London; it also houses the Courtauld Gallery (currently closed)
Tate Britain
London - Millbank
closed: open every day, except December 24, 25 & 26
The Tate Britain is a famous museum in Central London presenting British art from the 16th century to the present day, from Van Dyck to Damien Hirst
Tate Modern, London
London - Bankside
closed: open daily, except December 24-26
Tate Modern is a museum of modern and contemporary art in central London housed in an iconic building complex designed by Herzog & de Meuron architects
The Photographers’ Gallery
London - Ramillies Street, 16 – 18
closed: open daily
The Photographers’ Gallery in London is the leading center in the UK exclusively focused on British and international modern and contemporary photography
The Tower of London
London - The Tower of London
closed: open daily
The Tower of London is a historic fortress and a museum in central London; it also houses the famous collection of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom
Victoria and Albert Museum – V&A
London - Cromwell Road
closed: open daily, except 24, 25 & 26 December
The V&A - Victoria and Albert Museum in London is Britain's largest museum exclusively focused on decorative arts, architecture, design, and fashion
London | The renovated V&A Museum by Amanda Levete Architects
In June 30, 2017 has been unveiled to the public the renovated Victoria and Albert Museum in London designed by AL_A, Amanda Levete Architects
London | Mathematics gallery at the Science museum – Zaha Hadid Architects
On December 8, 2016, the Science Museum in London opens a new permanent exhibition dedicated to mathematics, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects
London | Alexandra Palace regeneration by FCB
The regeneration project of the Alexandra Palace in London by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios includes the conversion of historical BBC Studios into a museum
London | The Switch House and the New Tate Modern 2016
The New Tate Modern in London, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, opens on June 17, 2016 after an architectural expansion and a complete exhibition redesign
London | The Darwin Centre phase 2
The Darwin Centre phase II with it famous Cocoon, designed by C. F. Møller Architects, is a spectacular addition to the Natural History Museum in London
London | War by the eyes of people | IWM
The new Atrium installation and World War One Gallery by Casson Mann at the Imperial War Museum London, opened on July 2014 and a preview of the WW2 gallery
Everyone can make art at the Tate Modern!
Bloomberg Connects, an ensemble of interactive digital projects supported by Bloomberg, is active from September 2013 at the Tate Modern in London
Home Future. The Design Museum explores today’s home through the prism of yesterday’s imagination
Home Futures - at the Design Museum in London from 7 November 2018 - explores today's home through the prism of yesterday's imagination.
London | Is fashion sustainable? ‘Fashioned from Nature’ at the V&A Museum
From 21 April, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, 'Fashioned from Nature' demonstrates that fashion could be creative and sustainable at the same time
London | Matti Suuronen’s Futuro House at Central Saint Martins
A Futuro House, the futuristic abode designed by architect Matti Suuronen in the '60s has landed onto a roof of the Central Saint Martins in London
London | Asif Khan’s Serpentine Summer House 2016
For his design for the Serpentine Summer House 2016 program, British architect Asif Khan conceived a sun-responsive curvilinear "tea house" made in timber
London | Yona Friedman – Serpentine Summer House 2016
The Summer House in London designed by Yona Friedman for Serpentine Galleries is a modular structure inspired by his seminal project "The Spatial City"
London | Serpentine Summer House 2016 by Barkow Leibinger
Barkow Leibinger designed their Summer House in Kensington Gardens, London, for Serpentine Galleries as a round-shaped open structure made of plywood loops
London | Serpentine Summer house 2016 by Kunlé Adeyemi
The Serpentine Summer House designed by Nigerian architect Kunlé Adeyemi in London is a joyful celebration of the sense and basic components of architecture
London | Serpentine Pavilion 2016 by BIG – BJarke Ingels Group
London. The 2016 Serpentine Summer Pavilion at Kensington Gardens by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group is based on a “warped” brick wall.
Strange and Familiar: Britain through the eyes of photographers
Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers, at the Barbican Gallery, is a visual investigation on 7 decades of British life
London | The “8th Continent” at Trafalgar Square
The "8th Continent" installation by Luzinterruptus at Trafalgar Square, made of 13,000 illuminated plastic bottles, evokes the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The cycling revolution – Design Museum London
Will two wheels change our future? "Cycle Revolution" at the Design Museum London depicts the world of cycling, its vehicles, social behaviours and tribes
London | Rain interactive by Luzinterruptus
The installation Rain Light by Luzinterruptus at the Totally Thames festival in London is made of 3000 self-lighting condoms filled with blue water
London | The Eames Office’s design on exhibition
The exhibition "The world of Charles and Ray Eames" at the Barbican Art Gallery outlines the career of 2 of the most acclaimed designers of the 20th century
London | “Life on Foot” at the Design Museum
The exhibition "Life on Foot" at the Design Museum in London until November 2015 depicts, by the example of Camper, the fascinating process of making shoes
Serpentine Galleries Pavilions; a history
A history by images of all Serpentine Galleries Summer Pavilions at Kensington Gardens in London, from 2000 (Zaha Hadid) through 2019 (Junya Ishigami)
London | The artist’s “Magnificent Obsessions”
London, the exhibition Magnificent Obsessions: the artist as collector at the Barbican Centre invites the visitors to take a dive into collecting obsessions
Lavier’s Fountain at Serpentine Galleries
London. In the ground facing the Serpentine Sackler Gallery there's a large scale fountain made of garden hoses...
London | Wyn Evans at Serpentine
Until November 9, 2014, the Serpentine Sackler Galleryin London presents an intriguing exhibition of works by the Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans
London | Urban Plunge at Roca Gallery
Urban Plunge exhibition , Roca London Gallery by Zaha Hadid: swimming at + Pool in East River NY, House of Water Island Brygge, Copenhagen, London new baths
The London Design Festival at the V&A
The Victoria and Albert museum houses various exhibitions connected to the 2014 London Design Festival, we present here three interesting installations
A place called home|London Design Festival
"A place called home" is the landmark project of the 2014 London Design Festival features 4 houses by Jasper Morrison, Studioilse, Patternity, Raw Edges
London | 2014 Serpentine Galleries Summer Pavilion by Smiljan Radic
The Serpentine Galleries temporary Summer pavilion 2014 at Kensington Gardens in London, a fiberglass shell designed by the Chilean architect Smiljan Radic
London | Spring Forest in Clerkenwell
Spring Forest is a temporary installation realised in 2012 for the yearly London design festival Clerkenwell Design Week by Draisci Studio
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