National Gallery
National Gallery
4.5
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
The National Gallery houses the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries. It is on show 361 days a year, free of charge.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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Admission tickets
from RM 116.62
All you need to step foot in the door.
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Top ways to experience National Gallery
The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Trafalgar Square / Embankment
With its iconic Nelson’s Column, majestic oversized lions and brightly-lit fountains, Trafalgar Square is not just considered the heart of this bustling London hub, but the very core of the city itself. Beyond this esteemed gathering place are more famous icons, as well as a disproportionate numbers of the city’s most popular cultural attractions including the National Gallery and many West End theaters. Along the way to these major sites are quiet lanes and antiquated pubs to discover, as well as riverside vistas to enjoy on the embankment. With a calendar full of celebratory events, any time of year is a fine time to visit.
How to get there
  • Charing Cross • 2 min walk
  • Leicester Square • 4 min walk
Reach out directly
See what travellers are saying
  • Michael R
    Starkville, Mississippi34 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    One of London's Must-Do Activities
    What can you say, really? It's one of the most famous and robust art collections in the world...and it's free to view! I've been here several times over the past two decades and am amazed at what I see every time I set foot in the place. There's always something new to learn, and always more time you can spend here enriching yourself. One of the best things to do in London!
    Visited March 2023
    Written 19 March 2023
  • TWMIM
    Horsham, United Kingdom171 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A truly magnificent art gallery.
    This may not be one of the world’s largest art galleries but it is definitely ‘up there’ with the best. It is superbly located on a raised level on the north side of Trafalgar Square. All the greats of European painting are featured here; outstanding works can be found in every room. In recent years it has expanded its usual remit of paintings of the European tradition up to around the year 1900 - I’ve been fortunate enough to visit 3 times in recent months and have viewed 3 superb temporary exhibitions; 20-and 21st Century British artist Lucian Freud, 19-and 20th Century American realist Winslow Homer, and 2 masterpieces of JMW Turner on loan from New York City’s Frick Collection. As with other national institutions entry to the permanent collection and certain temporary exhibitions is free, although a charge is made for the major temporary exhibitions.
    Visited January 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 20 March 2023
  • Camper62010566902
    12 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Art at its best
    The staff were friendly and in the past made sure we always got in without any issues ( COVID times so had to book with a ticket we didn't have a ticket but still found space for us to visit) Art is incredible just so much history! it's free go donate if you wanna! Check out the best of london
    Visited March 2023
    Written 21 March 2023
  • Desi
    30 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    The National Gallery
    The National Gallery is an exceptional art museum that showcases an outstanding collection of paintings from various periods and styles. The museum is well-organized, and the staff is knowledgeable and friendly. The admission is free, which makes it accessible to everyone. The building is beautiful and well-maintained. The only downside is that it can get quite crowded, which may make it difficult to fully appreciate the artworks. Overall, I would highly recommend visiting the National Gallery.
    Visited November 2022
    Written 29 March 2023
  • ChiChi
    9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Priceless paintings to appreciate
    The museum can seem a little overwhelming at first but gets easier to navigate once you follow the room order. The paintings on display are awesome, amazing, and once in a lifetime experience ie: Monet, Picasso, Cezzane, etc. Allow yourself at least 2.5 hours to walk around and review the paintings.
    Visited March 2023
    Written 29 March 2023
  • CazzaWestMids
    The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, United Kingdom441 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing art collections
    Amazing first visit to this delightful art gallery. Fascinating artwork and could easily spend hours in there. So many collections and rooms to see. It is free to visit and if you pre-book on their website you can get in a bit quicker.
    Visited April 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 3 April 2023
  • Casey D
    Alpharetta, Georgia72 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing art collection
    This was a wonderful (and free!) stop in London that could take up a couple of hours to see highlights or could take days to see everything. The extensive collection is very well displayed and the staff is super friendly and helpful in finding specific pieces. Highly recommended stop!
    Visited April 2023
    Written 7 April 2023
  • Ahmad Westwick
    Newchapel, United Kingdom12 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A must-visit for anyone interested in art
    The knowledgeable staff are friendly and helpful and the free admission is a great bonus. The stunning architecture of the building is a sight to behold and the convenient location is easy to find. It's a great place to spend an afternoon exploring the vast collection of artwork. Highly recommended!
    Visited April 2023
    Written 17 April 2023
  • Michelle N
    Bristol, United Kingdom63 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A wonderful place to visit
    We were pleasantly surprised at how many wonderful artists works can be seen here: Degas, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Constable, Turner… the list goes on. We spent a few very enjoyable hours wandering round and appreciating this fabulous place. If you’re visiting London it should definitely be on your to do list.
    Visited April 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 26 April 2023
  • mirunavrn
    Bucharest, Romania394 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Must in London
    Located in the Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery is an excellent art gallery, hosting lots of iconic artworks. In my opinion, it's a must see. The entrance is free, which surprised me when I planned my trip to London.
    Visited September 2022
    Written 1 May 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles40,654 reviews
Excellent
30,065
Very good
8,693
Average
1,514
Poor
249
Terrible
135

Susan S
Durham, UK38 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Friends
Love the National Gallery, spent time in the main restaurant then looked at all the key exhibits. Mainly the rennaisance artists. Always a great visit and well worth a visit. Staff are very friendly and helpful too.
Written 17 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

SonoranTex
Houston, TX8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Solo
Amazing guide who is as passionate as he is knowledgeable. His enthusiasm for the museum and art history is as exciting to observe as the paintings themselves. I really enjoyed the tour even though I am not a regular patron of museums. Hoping to return in the future! I def recommend!
Written 16 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

DanKimSouthampton
Totton, UK402 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Family
Having a few hours to kill before catching a train, we visited the National Gallery, and how seriously impressed we were.

The scale of the collection is vast, requiring many more hours than we had available. We saw enough to be wowed by some of the all-time great artists and their work. The artists who's work is on show reads like a collection of the most prominent people from history. I never appreciated the brilliance of artists like Rembrandt or da Vinci until stood a few feet away from their pure genius.

A massively impressive, eye opening visit for someone with very little art knowledge.
Written 15 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

AJ
Austin, TX1,088 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Solo
Plan your visit in advance - otherwise you risk getting lost, which is not necessarily a bad thing, unless you've got somewhere to be. I knew which rooms I was looking for and even so had a difficult time finding what I was looking for. Note that the National Gallery is free to enter, which is excellent.
Written 5 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

dawn m
London, UK100 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Solo
I Had prebooked my ticket a few days in advance but didn't seem much of a que away, I Walked around there is so much to see and I was pleasantly surprised how much I recognised as I've only just started getting into art, i only had 90 minutes freetime until I needed to return to work but i will return again and get the tour
Written 1 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sarny
Bexleyheath, UK493 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Friends
My adult son and I popped in because we were in the area - free to enter and no tickets or pre-booking needed. Neither of us are particularly into art but we both really enjoyed the visit. There is a lot to see and you can just wander about. The cafe looked reasonably priced - we checked for a future visit and the shop was also interesting. We ran out of time but will be returning.
Written 22 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JerseyBean
Jersey, UK87 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Family
Always a joy to visit this free entry gallery. Unlike Tate this gallery remains truly free with all artwork available to all ie no ticketed displays. Gallery representative Alan was outstanding providing great insight and enthusiasm around the artworks. Muriel’s Cafe in the National Gallery also highly recommended with delicious soups, salads, savoury pies, quiches and delicious cakes etc. Polite and efficient staff.
Written 17 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Lenny H
Auckland, New Zealand795 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Family
So many incredible paintings on display. As there’s no entrance fee you can spend as little or long as you like. Definitely a must.
Written 9 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2023 • Solo
PROS
* Outstanding world-class and among the finest in the world art gallery
* Regular and special unique exhibitions
* Impressive architectural structure of the building
* Centrally located on Trafalgar Square
* It is free admission!

CONS
It is always crowded, and large elementary school groups are allowed to have exaggerated lessons and boisterous interactions in the middle of the hallowed gallery rooms

"I VISITED THIS PLACE"...
... because no visit of mine to London is complete without going to this stunning and incredible museum, and no visit anywhere is complete for me without seeing the Monet paintings on display in the particular city- in this case, gallery rooms 41 and 43. I marveled at the realistic paintings of Venice form the 1600s- it looks exactly identical to the views when I visited there! And the paintings by Caravaggio were also so realistically life-like.

The building and the rooms are art in-and-of itself. I noticed even the bright bordeaux colors of the walls so complemented the hanging displayed artwork.

At the time of my visit, there was a special exhibit related to St. Francis of Assisi and I enjoyed scanning and surveying all of the works in that exhibit. There was a group of Franciscan monks from his order- I followed and photographed them and posted them here.

My visit was marred by two large elementary school groups which had license to sprawl 30+ eight year olds on the museum gallery room floor to receive instruction from overexcited and overenthusiastic instructors while the children raucously interacted with each other. Fortunately, they did not invade and desecrate the holy of holies of rooms 41 and 43, where the Monet and other impressionist paintings are.

In summary, the museum is fantastic and I regretted how I rushed through it

WAS IT WORTH THE COST?
Of course- it is free

WOULD "I VISIT THIS PLACE" AGAIN?
This is a place that I would return to visit on each of my future London visits.

ADVICE
* This place belongs on every tourist's main itinerary
* Be sure to visit galleries 41 and 43
* Be prepared and beware and watch out for and avoid the elementary school groups

FULL DISCLOSURE
"I visited this place" with the plan to write a "helpful" review and to attach my many many "helpful" photos here on tripadvisor, so if these did "help" you, please indicate that by tikking the "thumbs up" 👍 symbol. Thanks.
Written 7 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

CORRESONDENT 007
New York City, NY8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Friends
Pesellino is the free exhibition now, it is amazing!
But you must get free tickets online.
He is a master, and the exhibition is small, and bless the museum for gathering his paintings and letting us see this unknown master!
Written 5 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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NATIONAL GALLERY: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Frequently Asked Questions about National Gallery