Free museums in London are the best money-saving move on any trip, and I would plan the first days of a visit around them. The national collections in this page, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the National Gallery and Tate Modern, all charge nothing for general entry, per their official sites. Below the museums come other free sights, with the one real catch: Sky Garden, a free viewpoint where tickets go quickly.
Free Museums in London: My Shortlist
Everything in this section was free to enter on the official pages I read in November 2026. Special exhibitions are the exception at all of them. Where a museum’s own page was blocked to me, I say so, and you should trust the museum over my summary.
Museum
Free to enter
Hours I found
Source
British Museum
Yes, book a free timed slot
10 am to 5 pm, Friday to 8:30 pm
Google Maps, Wikipedia
Natural History Museum
Yes
10:00 to 17:50, last entry 17:30
nhm.ac.uk
Science Museum
Yes
10:00 to 18:00 daily
sciencemuseum.org.uk
National Gallery
Yes
10am to 6pm, Friday to 9pm
nationalgallery.org.uk
Tate Modern
Yes, collection
Sun to Thu 10:00 to 18:00, Fri and Sat to 21:00
tate.org.uk
British Museum
The British Museum is the first of the free museums in London I would book, because it is the most visited and the only one that asks for a timed slot. Entry is free, and the museum asks you to book a free slot on britishmuseum.org. Wikipedia confirms that, like all UK national museums, it charges no admission except for loan exhibitions. Google Maps lists 10 am to 5 pm, and a Friday close of 8:30 pm. I could not open the museum’s own hours page, so check it for Christmas dates.
The Natural History Museum is among the free museums in London that families ask me about, and its own site is clear: “Our galleries are free to explore.” The official visit page gives 10:00 to 17:50 daily, with last entry at 17:30, and lists closures on 24, 25 and 26 December. The same page says you can book a free entry ticket to guarantee entry on a busy day, and paid exhibitions and events are extra.
If you want a guide or an audio tour, my Natural History Museum London tickets page lists ten, and the opening hours guide covers the entrances. The museum sits beside the Science Museum and the V&A; I could not read the V&A’s visit page, so check its own site before you plan that third stop.
Science Museum
The Science Museum lists “Free entry” on its homepage and opens daily from 10:00 to 18:00, closed 24 to 26 December. Some attractions inside, such as Wonderlab and Power Up, are paid, and booking ahead lowers their price. Individual galleries may close earlier, and Wonderlab’s listing reads 10:00 to 17:40.
National Gallery
The National Gallery says it is free to visit, with a charge for some exhibitions, and exhibition tickets include free general admission. It is open daily from 10am to 6pm and stays open until 9pm on Fridays, which makes it the best of these free museums in London for an evening. It is closed 24 to 26 December and 1 January. The gallery is at Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN, per its site.
Tate Modern
Tate Modern states that “Entry to the collection is free for everyone”, and booking is recommended for exhibitions. Opening hours are 10:00 to 18:00 Sunday to Thursday and 10:00 to 21:00 Friday and Saturday, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. Exhibitions are charged for non-members, but the page does not list adult prices, so I will not quote one.
Tours of the Free Museums in London
Free entry is the right default for free museums in London, and a guide is an upgrade you choose. These four are the ones I would look at, two for each museum. Prices are in US dollars from GetYourGuide in November 2026.
BEST TOURS LONDON LTD
2h British Museum Guided Tour with Priority Entrance
★4.9 (1,715 reviews)
2 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: My pick for the British Museum: a 2 hour guided tour with priority entrance, 4.9 from 1,715 reviews, $39.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Guided tour of the British Museum with commentary in English/Italian
✓ Entrance tickets to the British Museum for the main entrance with priority timeslots
✓ Option for headsets are available
Not included / not suitable
✕ Transportation
✕ Food and drinks
✕ Tips
Meeting point: The MEETING POINT is inside of the museum, on the right side of the information desk, next to the column. Your guide will be there 5-10 minutes before the tour starts and will have a YELLOW FLAG.
https://goo.gl/maps/93hhDrcHH7An1ftf9 52 Great Russell St, London WC1B 3BA, UK
Languages: French, Italian, English, Greek, Chinese
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“we had a good time with Daniel.He helped us to focus on the most essential part in the museum as we have only limited time.Will recommends to those who have limited time.” – GetYourGuide review
My pick: The cheapest way into a guided British Museum visit at $7, with an audio app, if you want structure but not a guide.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Express guided tour in English (1 hour)
✓ Self-guided tour with audio (1 hour)
✓ Priority entry to the British Museum
✓ Host at the meeting point
✓ Donation to British Museum
✓ Multilingual audio (downloadable app) in English, French, German, Chinese, Italian, Korean and Spanish
Not included / not suitable
✕ Access to the Bayeux tapestry
✕ Cloakroom fees
✕ Mobile device
Meeting point: Meet your guide at the fountain in Russell Square, WC1B 5EH. Your guide will be wearing a ‘VoxCity’ uniform. Please arrive 10 minutes early to check in with your guide. Russell Sq, London WC1B 5EH, UK
Languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Italian
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Alex was excellent and embodied the spirit of the museum. Excellent commentary.” – GetYourGuide review
Natural History Museum Guided Tour & Priority Entry
★5.0 (27 reviews)
2 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: A 2 hour small-group Natural History Museum tour with priority times at $39, my pick if you want a guide.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ 2-hour guided tour of the Natural History Museum
✓ Professional English-speaking guide
✓ Small group experience for a more personal visit
✓ Entrance tickets with priority timeslot
Not included / not suitable
✕ Tips
✕ Transport
✕ Food and drinks
Meeting point: Enter the museum through the main entrance on Cromwell Road and use the ticket holders’ line: https://maps.app.goo.gl/LA8vig5NvnjYxtMB7?g_st=ac. Tickets will be shared the day before the tour.
The meeting point is inside the museum, on the left-hand side of Hintze Hall, next to the giraffe display. Please see the attached meeting-point photo. Your guide will be there 5–10 minutes before the tour starts and will have a yellow flag. Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, UK
Languages: Italian, English
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Daniel was a fantastic tour guide. He was so knowledgeable and personable. We had a lovely time, would highly recommend this tour.” – GetYourGuide review
Natural History Museum Tour + Reserved Entry & Audio
★4.1 (367 reviews)
30 minutes
Free cancellation
My pick: The $7 Natural History Museum option with reserved entry, a short outdoor tour and an audio app; 4.1 from 367 reviews.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Natural History Museum reserved entry
✓ Live 40-min guided tour in English only (exterior and museum introduction)
✓ Digital map and downloadable audio guide app
✓ Multilingual audio commentary in English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean and Spanish
✓ Child-friendly audio guide in English only
✓ Donation to the Natural History Museum
Not included / not suitable
✕ Headset and mobile device
✕ Guided tour of the exhibits
✕ Priority entry
✕ Entry to special exhibitions
Meeting point: Meet your tour guide under the large white arch entrance for ‘Victoria & Albert Museum' located on Exhibition Road Courtyard (near Knightsbridge).
Your guide will be holding a ‘VoxCity’ flag. Please arrive 5 minutes early and bring your own headphones.
To pin point exact location please use - what3words: cube.stump.wrong Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL, UK
Languages: English
Duration: 30 minutes
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“The Historical Museum in London is excellent, outstanding!” – GetYourGuide review
After the museums, the best free things in London are viewpoints, squares and parks. Most are open all day, and I only claim what the sources I read say.
Sky Garden
Sky Garden is the free sight where planning matters most. Per the official site, free tickets are released every Monday morning, excluding bank holidays, three weeks ahead for the whole week, and the venue accepts free walk-ins daily, subject to availability. Public tickets are valid for an hour. The official hours page gives 10 am to 6 pm on weekdays and 11 am to 9 pm at weekends and bank holidays.
At the time of my last check, the site said capacity was reduced because a visitor lift was out of service, so some ticket holders may not get in at their booked time. My Sky Garden tickets page compares the free slot with the paid options, and the opening hours guide has the entrance details.
Parks and Squares
Hyde Park is in the Royal Parks, and its page lists pedestrian gates open from 5am to midnight, with the Serpentine lake at its heart. I did not find an admission statement either way, so I describe it only by its hours. The squares and parks below come from Google Maps, and I make no claim beyond what it shows: a place, a rating and a position on the map.
Trafalgar Square sits in front of the National Gallery, so it pairs with it in one morning. Kensington Gardens is next to the museum district, and Parliament Square Garden is across from the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
Free Views of Paid Sights
You can walk past Big Ben, Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace at no cost; going inside is what you pay for. I found no cited free-entry day for any paid sight in my list, so I won’t promise one. If one matters to you, the sight’s official site is where to look.
Which Free Museum in London Suits You
The five free museums in London above overlap less than you might think, so I choose by who is travelling.
Children: the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. Both are free to enter, both open in the morning, and both are in South Kensington. Pay only for the Science Museum attractions your family wants, such as Wonderlab.
Art lovers: the National Gallery for older paintings and Tate Modern for modern art. Both are free to enter, and each has a late night, Friday at the Gallery and Friday and Saturday at Tate Modern.
Ancient history: the British Museum, which is the one that asks for a free timed slot.
Rainy days: any of the five. All of them are indoors, so a wet forecast is a reason to use the free museums in London, not a reason to pay for a ticket.
How to Visit Free Museums in London Without Queues
Free entry means the doors are open to everyone, so with free museums in London the queue is the real price. I can’t give you crowd numbers, because I found no published source. What I can say comes from the official pages. The Natural History Museum says weekends and school holidays can be busy, and it offers a free entry ticket to guarantee entry on a busy day. The British Museum asks for a free timed slot. For the others, I would arrive at opening time, which is 10:00 at all five.
Plan around the late nights too. A Friday evening at the National Gallery, which stays open until 9pm, or at Tate Modern, which also closes at 21:00, avoids the middle of the day. The British Museum is open later on Fridays as well, to 8:30 pm per Google Maps. Last entry matters: Tate Modern’s is 30 minutes before closing, and the Natural History Museum’s is 17:30.
What Is Not Free
Free museums in London still have costs around them. Special exhibitions are charged at the National Gallery, Tate Modern and the Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum charges for Wonderlab and Power Up. Guided tours are paid at every museum. The sights people call London’s headline attractions are paid as well: the Tower of London, the London Eye, The Shard and St Paul’s Cathedral. Going up The Shard, for example, costs $36 as a single ticket on GetYourGuide.
If you want a free view of the city instead, Sky Garden is the answer, as long as you book a slot. And if you are comparing a pass against these free options, remember that a pass buys nothing at a free museum.
Plan a Day of Free Museums in London
A day of free museums in London works well when you pair neighbours. Natural History Museum and Science Museum are next to each other in South Kensington; National Gallery and Trafalgar Square share a spot; Tate Modern is a different stop on the river. Add one fixed slot, the British Museum or Sky Garden, and the free museums in London give you a day without a single entry fee. When you do want something paid, my London city pass comparison shows when a pass helps and when it does not, and the London attraction tickets hub lists every paid sight. To see where everything sits, use the London attractions map.
Where to start if you have only one day for free museums in London: the Natural History Museum in the morning, because it opens at 10:00 and last entry is at 17:30, then a walk to the Science Museum, and the National Gallery on a Friday evening if you are in town. These are my choices, not a ranking from a source.
Frequently asked questions
Are the museums in London free?+
The big national ones I checked are. The Natural History Museum says its galleries are free to explore, the Science Museum lists free entry, the National Gallery says it is free to visit, and Tate Modern says entry to the collection is free. The British Museum follows the same free-entry rule, with a free timed slot. Special exhibitions are the exception and cost extra.
Do I need to book free museums in London?+
For the British Museum, yes: it asks you to book a free timed slot on its website. The Natural History Museum says you can book a free entry ticket to guarantee entry on a busy day. For the National Gallery, Science Museum and Tate Modern the pages I read did not ask for a ticket, but exhibitions and some attractions inside need one.
What are the best free museums in London to visit first?+
For a first visit I'd start with the British Museum and the Natural History Museum, because both are among the most visited in the city. Add the National Gallery if you like paintings, the Science Museum for children and Tate Modern for modern art. All five were free to enter on the official pages I read.
How do I get into Sky Garden for free?+
Sky Garden's own site says free tickets are released every Monday morning, excluding bank holidays, three weeks ahead for the whole week. The venue also accepts free walk-ins daily, subject to availability. Public tickets are valid for an hour. Sky Garden is a free viewpoint, but the queue can be long, so book early if you can.
Which London museums are open late?+
The National Gallery stays open until 9pm on Fridays, and Tate Modern closes at 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, per their official pages. Google Maps shows the British Museum open until 8:30 pm on Fridays. The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum close at 5:50 pm and 6 pm in the hours I found.
Are there free guided tours of free London museums?+
Guided tours are paid, even though entry is free. On GetYourGuide I found British Museum tours from $7 and Natural History Museum tours from $7, and the better-reviewed small-group tours cost $39. You are paying for the guide, priority times or an audio app, not for entry.
