Published 2026-09-21 by the Rushxo team. More guides.
Short answer: the big national museums are free, the queues are for the timed-slot ones you did not book, and you can do the three South Kensington museums in one day only if you pick one gallery in each. The best plan is a morning in one cluster, lunch, and an afternoon in another.
One day: British Museum at 10:00 (Egypt, the Parthenon galleries, the Great Court, 90 minutes), walk to Covent Garden for lunch, National Gallery 14:00 to 16:00 (Sainsbury Wing for the early Italians, room 34 for Turner and Constable), Trafalgar Square and Whitehall at dusk.
Two days: add a South Kensington morning (Natural History Museum first at opening for the dinosaurs, then the V&A cast courts and jewellery) and a Tate Modern afternoon with the free 10th-floor terrace view over St Paul's.
The V&A Friday Late (last Friday of the month, to 22:00), Science Museum Lates (last Wednesday, adults only), Natural History Museum Lates and Tate Modern's Friday and Saturday openings until 22:00 are the best free evenings in London and the least crowded way to see the collections. Sky Garden and the Tate Modern terrace are free views to end on.
See also: free things to do in London at Christmas, parks and gardens, London shopping guide.
The British Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate Britain, V&A, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Museum of London Docklands, Imperial War Museum, Wallace Collection, Horniman and the Royal Observatory grounds. Special exhibitions are ticketed.
Not usually, but the British Museum and Natural History Museum ask for a free timed slot at busy periods (school holidays, weekends). Booking takes two minutes and skips the queue.
Evening openings, usually one Friday a month, with bars, music and talks: V&A Friday Late, Science Museum Lates (adults only), Natural History Museum Lates, Tate Modern Late. Free, but the popular ones need a slot.
The Piccadilly line, about 15 minutes. With children, pushchairs or a rainy day, a fixed-fare car is a flat fare of about £25 and drops you at the door on Great Russell Street.
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