Did you know this museum has been around since the 1800s with over 200,000+ portraits?…read moreEach time I'm in London and I get a chance to visit, I make sure to check out the portraits I'd not seen on previous visits. I think if you're going for the first time you'll want to see the most popular portraits first. It's located in Trafalgar Square which is equally as fun to check out. The Hahn Cock (ginormous blue rooster sculpture) no longer sits out front. It's been donated to the National Gallery of Art in DC and can be seen on its rooftop terrace. I've been lucky enough to see it in both places. This museum is a fantastic representation of British history as shown through portraits. A great visit for history and art lovers alike.

I got confused on the first day thinking national gallery was the same as the national portrait…read moregallery. Either way, both are right next to one another and the national portrait gallery had such a wide assortment of pieces from the Tudor era all the way to the current Windsor era. I hated that I only had one hour to look through it all, but everything was so nice, clean and there was much less foot traffic.

Marvelous place, the Tate Modern, though unfortunately my children did not see the appeal…read more I had fond memories of our first visit, back in 2010, and wanted to peek into the Tate during a family outing along South Bank last month. I love London's free museums, which make this sort of perfunctory drop-in both easy and practical. Our kids didn't like the Musée d'Orsay, so we didn't have high hopes for the Tate, especially after a long walk from the London Eye. We'd barely gotten them up the escalators and into one of the exhibit halls when they started saying they wanted to leave. We admired what we could of the heavy-hitting collection. We also talked to our children about some of the art, and maybe a trickle of it got through. There was a still life I loved, that turned out to be a Picasso, and a Mondrian painting I'm pretty sure I learned about in first or second grade. Our six-year-old volunteered that he liked a still life of a beer mug by Fernand Léger, and both kids were drawn, just a little, to Warhol's Marilyn Diptych. I hope the boys remember this quick visit, but if not, I certainly will. Maybe I'll bring them back when they're older, and we can give the Tate the time it deserves.

I visited the Tate Modern for the first time earlier this month when I visited London for a few…read moredays with my husband. The Tate opened in 2000, but a new building opened in 2016. The museum is located in the former Bankside Power Station, and the museum's Turbine Hall is an incredibly large and open space (but I did wonder why they don't utilize the space to display any large sculptures since it's such an enormous and unused space). It's a striking space, it's one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world. It's free to visit, but exhibits may have a cost unless you're a member of the museum. When we visited earlier this month, they had three exhibits: Frida: the Making of an Icon (though January 3, 2027); Ana Mendieta (through January 17, 2027); and Julio Le Parc: Light. Color. Action (through May 3, 2027). The Frida exhibit costs 25 pounds, the Mendieta 18 pounds, and the Le Parc 15 pounds. That means that if you wanted to visit all three exhibits, it would cost 58 pounds a person which is, I think, outrageous. I couldn't justify spending that much, so I picked one exhibit - the Frida exhibit - and then just explored the free galleries after our visit to the exhibit. The Frida exhibit (which was organized in collaboration was the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) was interesting. I've been lucky enough to see much of Frida Kahlo's works before in Mexico and Texas. But the exhibit included many works I had never seen before, and it also included works by artists that were friends or contemporaries of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and works by artists that were inspired by her. The inclusion of "Fridamania," the transformation of Kahlo into an icon, image, brand, made the exhibit different from other Frida exhibits I've seen. The exhibit was extremely crowded - but you have to expect that with an exhibit like this! I found the museum a little confusing to navigate, but we just wandered for the time that we had. Some of the works that really struck me were pieces by Gerhard Richter (the Cage paintings), Belkis Ayón, Sam Nhlengethwa, Carl-Henning Pedersen, Alberto Giacometti, David Hockney, Salman Toor, Mark Rothko, and more. The museum is definitely worth visiting, but I just didn't love it as much as I expected. Since it's free, I'm sure I'll be back to explore more of the permanent collection another time, but I did find it a little difficult to navigate and thought the exhibition admission prices were prohibitively expensive.

Visiting Leighton House was one of the many highlights of my trip to London a week or so ago…read more Leighton House is a historic house near Holland Park; it was the home of Victorian painter Frederic Leighton, who served as the president of the Royal Academy. Designed by George Aitchison for Frederic Leighton, construction began in 1865, with extensions added on in 1869-1870, 1877-1881, 1889-1890, and 1894-1895. The famous Arab Hall was an addition made to the house in 1877-1881. When Leighton died in 1896, his collection was sold off by Christies. The house was retained and opened as a museum in 1990. In the 21st century, an attached building was added to house visitor services, galleries for exhibits, bathrooms, and a cafe. We started with the room downstairs, which had a short video about the house and a gallery of architectural sketches and drawings of Leighton House. Then we went up the very cool staircase to a room where they are showing a very cool, sweet, and interesting short film about the house that they commissioned from an artist. Then, we finally went over to the house itself. As I walked into Arab Hall, my jaw just dropped: the tiles, the ceiling, the water feature... But the rest of the house is beautiful, too - with lots of art (including lots of works by Frederic Leighton) everywhere. It's a beautiful home. I loved our visit to Leighton House. I learned so much about Frederic Leighton and art of his period. It's also just a stunning piece of architecture and design. I highly recommend including it on an itinerary for a day in Kensington!

I visited Leighton House Museum today, after paying £14, I found the museum very limited, with not…read moreenough art objects to compromise the fee while we have much more interesting museums and galleries in London which is free to visit. At this point I am not recommending this place and visit other free galleries first.

My very kind & generous sister treated us to lunch at The Keeper's House restaurant located on the…read moregrounds of this lovely place. Afterward we went to the Oceania exhibition which was really fascinating. From historic to contemporary, there was plenty to see. There are about 200 artifacts that range over a 500 year span. From shell, greenstone and ceramic ornaments, to huge canoes and stunning god images, you travel from room to room mesmerized by the craftsmanship & artistry. Please note that there are some human remains used in some of the displays. Really fascinating! The academy is based in the Burlington House which used to be the private residence of the Earl of Burlington. It's absolutely gorgeous! The institution is an independent & privately funded which got us the reservation at The Keeper's House. While this is not the usual museum or art gallery, this place is worth the trip.

My husband and I visited the Royal Academy of Arts a couple of weeks ago when we were visiting…read moreLondon for a few days. I'd never visited before and didn't know what to expect! The Royal Academy of Arts has an incredible and interesting history. It dates back to 1768, when it was founded through a personal act of King George III with a mission "to establish a school or academy of design for the use of students in the arts." Joshua Reynolds was its first president, but the Royal Academy has had dozens if not hundreds of famous leaders and students throughout its history. The Royal Academy's building in Piccadilly is beautiful, but it's not large. There is some art displayed in a few rooms of the building, but the main draw (certainly ours when we visited recently) is the large upstairs space used for the Academy's temporary exhibits. When we visited (and through October 25, 2026), the temporary exhibit is "Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam." Dadd was a student of the Royal Academy School. In the 1840s, he was becoming known as a painter of Shakespearean fairy scenes and paintings of his travels across the Mediterranean when he suffered a psychotic break and killed his father. He spent the rest of his life as a patient in two different psychiatric hospitals in London where he continued to produce oil paintings and watercolors. The exhibit was incredible. In addition to everything else, the Royal Academy has to offer, there's a little cafe in front of the museum, where lots of people were enjoying coffees and pastries on a beautiful day. Especially as the museum is in such a convenient location, with other attractions, amazing shops, restaurants, and bars around it, the Royal Academy is a great museum to include on a London itinerary - especially if you're interested in the temporary exhibit!

The Wallace Collection is a free museum in a beautiful townhome near Manchester Square. I visited…read morewith my husband about two weeks ago to see their current temporary exhibit (more on that below), and we had a great visit. The museum is located in the former townhouse of the Seymore family - the Marquesses of Hertford. The museum is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built a collection of fine and decorative arts from the 1th to the 19th centuries along, with the Marquesses of Hertford. The collection opened to public view in 1900. The townhouse itself is gorgeous. From the second I walked in and saw the staircase in the Entrance Hall, I knew I was in for a treat. With several gorgeous rooms, the museum is worth visiting to see a beautifully preserved 19th century London townhome. Each room has beautiful chandeliers, furniture, paintings, sculptures, and more. The museum also has a collection of European arms and armor, which take several rooms to display. In addition to their permanent collections, they also show temporary exhibitions. Right now and through November 29, their exhibit is "Winston Churchill: The Painter," which is the first major retrospective of Sir Winston Churchill's paintings since his death and brings together more than 50 of his works (half of which come from private collections). While visiting the museum is free, there is a fee to visit the temporary exhibit (20 pounds for adults, 18 if you buy online ahead of time). The exhibit was incredible and well worth a visit. I learned a lot about Churchill that I didn't know prior to the exhibit (most of what I knew about him concerned his political leadership), and I found many of his paintings quite beautiful and moving. Whether you're visiting for a temporary exhibit or just to see the townhouse and its permanent collection, the Wallace Collection is incredible. It's a special museum in London, well worth including on an itinerary for a trip to London.

I went to see the exhibition of Churchill paintings. It was absolutely stunning! It was well…read morecurated, and the audio guide really gave you a sense of importance of painting in his life. I walked through the rest of the collection, which is almost overwhelming. There is a lot to see there. You really do need to use the audio guide, because there is so much art in a small space. I also appreciated the staff. They were helpful, without being intrusive. One of the things I enjoy the most was that people there were truly interested in art. They stopped and looked. Unlike the crowd at the National Gallery, which just went up to a painting, took a photo, and left without ever even looking at it.

I absolutely love this place…read more The gallery is decked out in Monet, Van Gogh and Holbein. The best piece in this gallery is the execution of Jane grey(in my opinion). Additionally, the gift shop had the cutest totes and post cards. You can honestly spend the whole day here if you wanted to. The only downside was the fact that the place was busy beyond imagination.

I visited the National Gallery with my husband when we were exploring London for a few days earlier…read morethis month. The truth is we meant to visit the National Portrait Gallery (which is right around the corner), but I didn't realize my mistake until we were already trying to figure our way around the National Gallery and we decided to stay for a while. I found the museum difficult to navigate even with a map, so we just sort of wandered. We saw incredible paintings. The highlights for me were works by Henri Rousseau, Max Pechstein, Jan van Goyen Ferdinand Hodler... We saw an incredible Manet (The Execution of Maximilian) and a painting by Paul Gauguin that was unlike any other Gauguin I've ever seen. These were just some of my favorites, but the galleries are chronological and have works by every painter you could think of: Botticelli, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Gainsborough, Hogarth, Turner, Monet, Seurat, van Gogh... It's not your museum for modern and contemporary art, but if you're in the mood for European art from 1200-1900, the National Gallery will blow you away. They also host temporary exhibits and have several great options for a drink or a bite to eat. We stopped by Ochre, where we really enjoyed their happy hour. It's free to visit (although they appreciate donations), so you can pop in for however much time you have, whether that's a half our or three! The National Gallery might not have been our intended museum and we couldn't stay too long or miss out on the museum next door, but it really wowed me. Next time, I'll visit on purpose and save more time to explore and enjoy.

Somerset house is supposed to have a great ice skating rink and holiday d decorations right in the…read morecenter of London. If I'd known about that in advance I would have never come as I never developed skills to ice skate having lived all my life in California. Normally I would not pay money to see a museums in London as all the big government funded museums for the public are free of charge for entry. However we were walking down the embankment area next to the Thames and came across free public bathrooms something unheard of in Europe. The bathrooms were connected to a restaurant which was part of the somerset house. Wife and I feeling relieved gladly paid the money for the entry fee. Several buildings with paintings and photographs from around the world both of people and of animals in their natural setting. Looked like a series of pictures from covers of national geographic magazines. Ended up paying 30 GBP or $39 for two entries, an expensive public bathroom visit.

Funky little art gallery / museum in a historic building…read more When I was passing by I saw this strange exhibition called 'Cute'. I didn't expect to see this pop-art show here. I'm going to make this a regular stop while in London because I like the weirdness of it all.

It was a very lovely, small museum. We spent roughly 45 minutes there which was without admissions…read moreto the special exhibit. We came in early in the morning and there was no crowd. In every room, there was maybe 2-4 people with us. Definitely worth a visit.

kinda meh tbh. it's very nice inside, but not a huge collection. It's private so there's a fee £12…read moreif I remember correctly. If it were free, it would get one or two more stars, but definitely not worth paying, especially with so many world-class museums in London that are free.