Best Museums in London: Free Ones, Routes and Tips

London's best museums are largely free, which changes how you should visit them: you do not have to squeeze your money's worth out of each one, so a single galleries-and-dinosaurs day can be as short or as long as you like. The trick is choosing well. Below are nine museums sorted by neighbourhood, so you can build a sensible route instead of crisscrossing the city on the Tube.

How free entry really works

The British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Imperial War Museum all keep their main collections free to enter. Special exhibitions are usually ticketed and priced individually, so check each museum's official website before you go. Churchill War Rooms and the Courtauld Gallery charge admission, but both are compact, which suits a shorter visit.

Free does not mean empty. Weekends and school holidays bring queues at the big names, and weekday mornings are reliably the calmest window. Some museums stay open late on certain evenings; the schedule changes, so confirm it officially rather than relying on a blog post, this one included.

Bloomsbury and Trafalgar Square: the classic pairing

British Museum

If you have time for only one museum, many visitors pick the British Museum, where the Rosetta Stone and the Egyptian mummies sit alongside Greek sculpture and objects from across the world. The collection is so large that trying to see it all is a mistake. Plan about three hours, head to the Egyptian and Greek galleries first before crowds build, and then choose just one or two regions that really interest you.

National Gallery

A short walk away on Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery covers European painting from the 13th century to 1900, with works by Van Gogh, Turner and Leonardo. Two hours is a comfortable visit. The gallery stays open later on Friday evenings, when it tends to feel calmer, which makes it a good after-work option.

Because the square also leads towards Whitehall and St James's Park, this is the easiest stretch of London for a museum-plus-stroll afternoon. Lunch around Covent Garden fits neatly between the two.

South Kensington: three museums on one street grid

South Kensington has the densest cluster of museums in the city. The Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum are all within walking distance of each other, so it is the practical choice for families and first-timers. Still, resist doing all three in one day. Two, with a long coffee break, is a better experience.

Victoria and Albert Museum

The V&A is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design. Fashion, ceramics and furniture are the highlights, and the range is wide enough that even people who say they do not like museums often find something to enjoy. It is a good change of pace after a day of paintings or archaeology.

Natural History Museum

Housed in a Romanesque-style building that is half the attraction, the Natural History Museum is known for dinosaur skeletons, a blue whale and an excellent mineral collection. Children tend to remember it for years. Arrive early at weekends and in school holidays, when it is one of the busiest places in the city.

Science Museum

The Science Museum is packed with spacecraft, steam engines and interactive science galleries. If you travel with kids, mark the hands-on areas in advance. Pair it with the Natural History Museum for a science-and-nature day, then clear your head with a short walk into Hyde Park.

Along the Thames: Tate Modern and the Imperial War Museum

Tate Modern

Tate Modern fills a former power station with modern and contemporary art, and the industrial building is worth seeing whatever is on the walls. Its riverside position lets you fold a Thames walk into the visit, crossing the Millennium Bridge toward St Paul's. Most people are happy with somewhere between 90 minutes and two and a half hours.

Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum tells the story of the world wars and modern conflict through personal stories. The subject matter can be emotionally heavy, so schedule something lighter afterwards. It sits a little outside the main tourist circuit, which also means it can feel less crowded.

Paid but compact: Churchill War Rooms and the Courtauld Gallery

The Churchill War Rooms are the underground bunker and museum from which Churchill directed the Second World War. Located in Westminster, they combine well with a walk past Parliament Square and down Whitehall. Allow around an hour and a half, and buy a ticket in advance if you can; prices and opening times are on the official site.

The Courtauld Gallery, inside Somerset House, holds a select collection of Impressionist works by Manet, Cézanne and Van Gogh. It is the best answer to "I want art without the crowds": a strong experience in under two hours. From Trafalgar Square it is a short walk along the Strand.

Three sample museum days

• Classic day: British Museum in the morning, National Gallery in the afternoon, then a stroll around Trafalgar Square.
• Family day: Natural History Museum followed by the Science Museum in South Kensington, with a break in the park between them.
• Art day: Start at the Courtauld Gallery, walk down to the river and finish at Tate Modern with views of the bridges.

The rule that holds for all of them: no more than two big museums a day. A third is usually seen but not remembered.

Practical tips

• Cloakroom space at big museums can be limited, so travel light.
• Wear comfortable shoes; galleries are long and floors are hard.
• Rainy days are the best museum days, but also the busiest, so go early.
• Opening hours and late evenings change by season; check the official page before you leave.

If London is one stop on a longer trip, our three days in Paris route follows a similar pace, and the best things to do in Amsterdam is a good next city to compare.

Fitting museums into your days

With three days, give each day one area: Bloomsbury and Trafalgar, South Kensington, and the river. With less time, start with the British Museum and National Gallery; with more, spread the small ones, Churchill War Rooms and the Courtauld, between the larger visits. If you would like a day-by-day order built around your dates and interests, the planner below arranges museums in a sensible geographic sequence.

For every museum on the map, see the London city guide and the museums theme page, or open the ready-made London day plan.