Permanent collections at the national museums are free for everyone, every open day, with no free-hours trick to learn. The catch is tickets. The Science Museum requires a free pre-booked ticket. The British Museum, Natural History Museum, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery let you walk up but give booked visitors priority, which matters at weekends and in school holidays. The V&A, both Tates and the Imperial War Museum need nothing. Temporary exhibitions cost money almost everywhere.
Always · daily 10am to 6pm, last entry 5.15pm · closed 24 to 26 December
Everyone
Required. Pre-book a free timed ticket on the museum website before you go.
Museums that are always free12
British Museum
Bloomsbury
Always freeBooking recommendedIndoorGood with kids
Two million years of human history under one glass roof: the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures, the Sutton Hoo helmet and the Egyptian mummies. The permanent collection is free.
Free when
Always · daily 10am to 5pm, Fridays until 8.30pm
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Not compulsory, but the museum advises all visitors to book a free timed slot online. Booked visitors get priority entry when it is busy.
Time needed
2 to 3 hours
How to get there
Tube to Tottenham Court Road (Central, Northern, Elizabeth line) or Holborn (Central, Piccadilly), then 5 to 8 minutes on foot
Worth it? Yes.Worth it, but not at midday on a Saturday. Go on a Friday after 5pm, or use the quieter Montague Place entrance at the back.
Always freeBooking recommendedIndoorGood with kids
European painting from the 1200s to about 1900 on the north side of Trafalgar Square. Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait, Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Turner's Fighting Temeraire all hang here for free.
Free when
Always · daily 10am to 6pm, Fridays until 9pm · closed 24 to 26 December and 1 January
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Walk-up entry is allowed. A free booked ticket gives fast-track entry, useful at weekends.
Time needed
1.5 to 2.5 hours
How to get there
Tube to Charing Cross (Bakerloo, Northern), 2 minutes on foot. Leicester Square is 5 minutes away.
Worth it? Yes.The best free hour in central London if you choose three rooms and ignore the rest. Friday evening is when you can actually stand in front of the Sunflowers.
Modern and contemporary art in a former power station on the Thames. The collection displays and the Turbine Hall installation are free, the big-name exhibitions are not.
Free when
Always · Sunday to Thursday 10am to 6pm, Friday and Saturday 10am to 9pm · last entry 30 minutes before closing
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Not needed for the collection
Time needed
1.5 to 2 hours
How to get there
Tube to Southwark (Jubilee) or Blackfriars (District, Circle), about 10 minutes on foot. Or walk over the Millennium Bridge from St Paul's.
Worth it? Yes.Go for the building and the Turbine Hall even if modern art leaves you cold. Enter down the ramp on the west side, not through the riverside door, for the full effect.
The national museum of art and design: fashion, jewellery, furniture, sculpture and two halls of full-size plaster casts including Trajan's Column cut in half to fit. Admission is free.
Free when
Always · daily 10am to 5.45pm, Fridays until 10pm (some galleries close after 5.45pm)
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Not needed. The museum states you do not need to book.
Time needed
2 hours
How to get there
Tube to South Kensington (District, Circle, Piccadilly), then the signed pedestrian tunnel straight to the museum
Worth it? Yes.The least stressful of the three South Kensington museums and the only one with no ticket to think about. Start with the Cast Courts and the jewellery gallery, and sit in the courtyard garden if it is dry.
Always freeBooking recommendedIndoorGood with kids
Dinosaurs, a blue whale skeleton hanging over the main hall and a Victorian building that looks like a cathedral for animals. The galleries are free.
Free when
Always · daily 10am to 5.50pm, last entry 5.30pm · closed 24 to 26 December
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
You can walk in, but at weekends and in school holidays you may queue. A free entry ticket booked online guarantees entry.
Time needed
2 to 3 hours
How to get there
Tube to South Kensington (District, Circle, Piccadilly), 5 minutes through the pedestrian tunnel
Worth it? Yes.Essential with children, crowded with everyone else's. Book the free ticket, arrive at 10am and go to the dinosaurs first, before the queue inside the gallery builds.
British history told through faces, from the Tudors to living musicians and footballers. It sits directly behind the National Gallery and is free apart from some exhibitions.
Free when
Always · daily 10.30am to 6pm, Friday and Saturday until 9pm (last entry 8.30pm)
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Advance free booking is recommended to guarantee entry. Walk-ups are normally fine on weekdays.
Time needed
1 to 1.5 hours
How to get there
Tube to Leicester Square (Northern, Piccadilly) or Charing Cross (Bakerloo, Northern), 3 minutes on foot
Worth it? Yes.Smaller and easier than its neighbour, and better if you know some British history. Take the escalator to the top floor and walk down through time.
The First and Second World War galleries and the Holocaust Galleries, with a Spitfire and a V2 rocket hanging in the atrium. Free, unlike its sister sites HMS Belfast and the Churchill War Rooms.
Free when
Always · daily 10am to 6pm · closed 24 to 26 December
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Not needed. The museum says entry is free and you do not need to book.
Time needed
2 to 3 hours
How to get there
Tube to Lambeth North (Bakerloo), 5 minutes on foot, or Elephant & Castle (Bakerloo, Northern), 10 minutes
Worth it? Yes.The most affecting free museum in the city and well off the usual tourist loop. The Holocaust Galleries are heavy going and the museum advises against them for children under 14.
Always freeBooking recommendedIndoorGood with kids
Two free buildings side by side in Greenwich: the maritime museum with Nelson's Trafalgar coat, and the Queen's House with its spiral Tulip Stairs and the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I. The Cutty Sark and Royal Observatory next door are paid.
Free when
Always · daily 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.15pm
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Free entry, booking recommended on the Royal Museums Greenwich website. Walk-ins are usually fine outside school holidays.
Time needed
2 hours for both
How to get there
DLR to Cutty Sark, 5 minutes on foot. Or train from London Bridge to Greenwich, 10 minutes on foot.
Worth it? Yes.Do the Queen's House first, it takes 30 minutes and most people walk past it. Then the museum, then up the hill in the park for the view.
A town house behind Oxford Street packed with French 18th-century painting, Sevres porcelain and a serious armoury. Frans Hals's Laughing Cavalier and Fragonard's The Swing are both here, and the permanent collection is free.
Free when
Always · daily 10am to 5pm
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Not needed for the permanent collection
Time needed
1 to 1.5 hours
How to get there
Tube to Bond Street (Central, Jubilee, Elizabeth line), 7 minutes on foot north to Manchester Square
Worth it? Yes.The best free museum most visitors never reach, five minutes from Selfridges. Head upstairs to the Great Gallery first, then the armour on the ground floor.
The house of a Regency architect, left as it was when he died in 1837: an Egyptian sarcophagus in the basement, Hogarth's A Rake's Progress behind hinged panels, and mirrors everywhere. Entry is free.
Free when
Always · Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm, last admission usually 4.30pm · closed Monday and Tuesday
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
No booking, walk in on the day. Space is tight, so you may wait outside. Groups of eight or more must book.
Time needed
1 hour
How to get there
Tube to Holborn (Central, Piccadilly), 4 minutes on foot to the north side of Lincoln's Inn Fields
Worth it? Yes.Odd, cramped and unlike any other museum in London. Arrive at 10am to avoid the pavement queue, and travel light, because bags go into a clear plastic carrier they give you at the door.
Stephenson's Rocket, the Apollo 10 command module and floors of engines, planes and medical history. Entry is free, but this is the one big museum that insists on a ticket.
Free when
Always · daily 10am to 6pm, last entry 5.15pm · closed 24 to 26 December
Free for whom
Everyone
Reservation
Required. Pre-book a free timed ticket on the museum website before you go.
Time needed
2 hours
How to get there
Tube to South Kensington (District, Circle, Piccadilly), 5 minutes through the pedestrian tunnel
Worth it? Depends.Good with children aged 6 to 14, less so for adults on a short trip. Several of the most hands-on areas, such as Wonderlab, are paid extras, so set expectations before you go in.
If you spend on one thing in London, make it this.
Tower of London
Nothing free in London stands in for the Crown Jewels, the White Tower and a Yeoman Warder telling you who lost their head where. You can look at the walls from Tower Hill for nothing, but the point is inside. Go at opening time and head for the Jewel House first.
Everything above is free. This is the only paid pick on the page, chosen because no free option replaces it.
