9 of the Best Museums in London and How To Visit

Few London museums are as famed as the Tate Modern. Housed within a historic, disused power station and located right on the South Bank of the Thames, the museum is known for its collection of modern and contemporary art icons (including works from Picasso, Kusama, Matisse, and many more), its blockbuster temporary exhibitions, and the enormous installations that take over its Turbine Hall.

Although the museum is free for all to visit (with suggested donations encouraged), it’s best to go on a sightseeing tour to make navigating this sprawling art-world giant easy.(You can also stop for a bite while you’re there: The Tate Modern Restaurant isn’t just convenient—it offers one of the best views overlooking London.)

Don’t miss: The Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall hosts a changing array of larger-than-life installations, including past pieces from artists such as Kara Walker, El Anatsui, and Olafur Eliasson—visit to see the latest commission.

No guide to the best museums in London is complete without the Victoria and Albert Museum (or the V&A, to its friends). Prettily poised in posh South Kensington, this museum of decorative and applied arts, design, fashion, photography, and more offers viewers quite an eyeful—it’s home to an incredible 2.8 million objects that span hundreds of galleries and 5,000 years of history, after all. It’s no less impressive outside: The Grade I-listed landmark is considered a marvel of Italian Renaissance-style architecture. While its scope may feel intimidating, booking a private collections tour is a good way to discover its highlights.

Don’t miss: The V&A’s fashion collection is not to be missed—it spans five centuries and is the largest of its kind in the world.

Most visitors know that London is old, but few realize just how far back its history really goes. We’re talking AD 47, when London was first established as Londinium by the ancient Romans. No other museum better captures the city’s thousands of years of history, and its evolution throughout the ages, than the Museum of London. Soon to open in its new location in Smithfield Market, which you can see on a walking tour, and with a bonus satellite location in the London Museum Docklands, this historical museum in London is the best place to learn the city’s captivating story.

Don’t miss: The Museum of London features an extensive collection of ancient artifacts, from Roman busts and coins to mosaics and beyond.

The Natural History Museum is one of the top-rated London museum attractions for visitors of all ages thanks to its collections of creatures great and small, meteorites, gemstones, fossils, artworks and more. One of three major South Kensington museums (alongside the V&A and the London Science Museum), it’s instantly recognizable, thanks to its grand, Romanesque building. General admission is free, making exploring flexible—but for a more personalized way to explore, a guided collections tour is a great bet.

Don’t miss: One of the Natural History Museum’s most notable treasures is Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, as well as the Galápagos finches that aided his research.

Is any London museum more iconic than the British Museum? Situated in the heart of literary Bloomsbury, the museum is home to priceless treasures from the Rosetta stone to Egyptian sarcophagi—no wonder it’s on the top of many travelers’ to-do lists (or, with nearly 6 million annual visits, is the most popular attraction in the entire country). Book your London museum tickets in advance for a guaranteed admission time and audio guide, or explore with a guide to head straight to the collection highlights.

Don’t miss: The Rosetta Stone—a large stone tablet that enabled researchers to translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics for the first time—is one of the British Museum’s true highlights.

If you’re planning a trip to London, it’d be a mistake to miss the National Gallery. Not only because it’s free for all, or is located right overlooking Trafalgar Square, but also because it’s chock full of masterpieces, including Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait. In fact, the museum’s collection promises a survey of Western art history from the days of Michelangelo and Raphael up through Rubens and Seurat. Book a highlights tour to see them all—and then some.

Don’t miss: Hans Holbein the Younger’s The Ambassadors, famed for the abstracted skull in its foreground, is a work that’s intrigued art lovers for centuries.

When it comes to art galleries in London, the National Portrait Gallery is, as its name suggests, somewhat specialized. But that doesn’t mean it’s limited. Home to the largest collection of portraits in the entire world, the museum (which is conveniently located right next door to the National Gallery) showcases paintings of kings and queens, nobles and aristocrats—but also boundary-pushing works by Tracey Emin, David Hockney, Marlene Dumas, and Juergen Teller. Discover its full range during an insightful gallery tour.

Don’t miss: The annual Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize exhibition celebrates today’s best portrait photographers.

For younger London visitors, interactive museum experiences don’t get more delightful than hopping aboard vintage buses, pretending to drive trains deep underground, or discovering vehicles from retro trains to horse-drawn omnibuses. The London Transport Museum offers all this and more, with an extraordinary collection that ranges from the world’s first underground train to wartime uniforms. It’s also conveniently located in the heart of Covent Garden—and included in the cost-saving London Pass scheme—so it’s easy to fit into a busy sightseeing day out.

Don’t miss: The museum has a range of vintage double-decker buses that are sure to delight kids and adults alike.

The Royal Museums Greenwich collectively tell the story of Britain’s maritime history, offering four museum experiences for the price of one. By booking a combination pass, you can visit each part of this UNESCO World Heritage site: the Cutty Sark (a celebrated historic sailing ship), the Queen’s House (a former royal residence and architectural masterpiece), the Royal Observatory (where you can stand on the Prime Meridian line), and the National Maritime Museum (which includes nautical artifacts), all in one edifying day out.

Don’t miss: The Royal Observatory’s Octagon Room was designed by Sir Christopher Wren to be ideal for star-watching, and is the oldest part of the observatory—it’s well worth dropping by.