The National Gallery

About The National Gallery

The National Gallery sits on the north side of Trafalgar Square in central London, and it holds the United Kingdom's national collection of Western European paintings from roughly the 1200s to 1900. Founded in 1824, the collection grew from a handful of paintings into more than 2,000 works, with pieces by Van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Rembrandt, Turner, Vermeer, and Monet among the better-known names. The building most people recognize is the long, columned front with its dome and portico, finished in the 1830s, with the modern Sainsbury Wing added to the west end in the 1990s for the early Renaissance paintings.

Unlike many major museums, general entry to the main collection is free, so you can walk in and see Van Gogh's Sunflowers or the Wilton Diptych without booking anything. Special exhibitions are the exception and usually need a separate, paid ticket, often timed, and those are worth reserving ahead in busy periods. The galleries are laid out roughly by date and region, which makes it easy to focus on a single period rather than trying to see everything in one go.

The location is about as central as London gets. Trafalgar Square is a short walk from Charing Cross and Leicester Square stations, and the National Portrait Gallery sits right next door, so the two pair naturally in an afternoon. Most people spend one to two hours here, more if you join a guided tour that picks out the highlights. The square itself, with its fountains and Nelson's Column, is a sight in its own right before you even go inside.