Last updated November 29th, 2020
The Royal Academy Of Arts was founded in 1768. Among its many treasures are paintings by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Constable and Turner. There is also the unfinished Michelangelo marble tondo of the virgin and child. The famous copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s last supper also resides here. Admission fees are dependent on exhibitions.
Note: Owing to temporary closures the times below may not accurately reflect current opening hours.
George Frederic Handel, lived in Book Street from 1723 until his death in 1759. He composed the Messiah and several of his operas while living here. The museum celebrates his life and works and displays prints, paintings and portraits. Group tours are available and a small gift shop sells souvenirs and keepsakes. Admission fees apply for the museum. Concessions are available.
The National Gallery is home to around 2000 pictures from Western European painters dating as far back as the early 13th century including Turner, Van Gogh and Picasso. Admission to the museum is free.
Founded in 1856, the National Portrait Gallery is home to a large collection of portraits of famous people, dating from the Tudor period. Paintings include Henry VIII, Edward VI, William Shakespeare and Oliver Cromwell. Admission is free.
Located in the basement of a government building in the heart of London, the Cabinet War Rooms were hurriedly converted on the eve of the Second World War to emergency underground accommodation to protect the Prime Minister and the British Government against air attack. In operational use from 27 August 1939 to the Japanese surrender in 1945, these rooms were to become the vital nerve-centre used by Winston Churchill, his War Cabinet and the Chiefs of Staff of Britain’s armed forces.