United Kingdom
15 Best Museums in United Kingdom
National Gallery leads, and the rest of United Kingdom's best museums follow, ranked by real visits.
Order reflects review volume from real travelers in United Kingdom. Refreshed monthly.
National Gallery
Museum · LondonFree entryLondon's National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square and holds more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-thirteenth century to 1900.
Read our full guide →Science and Industry Museum
Museum · ManchesterFree entryManchester's Science and Industry Museum tells the story of the city that helped birth the Industrial Revolution, and does it on a genuinely historic site: the world's oldest surviving passenger…
Read our full guide →National Portrait Gallery, London
Museum · LondonThe National Portrait Gallery, adjacent to the National Gallery, holds the world's largest collection of portraits of historically important and famous British individuals.
Read our full guide →Fitzwilliam Museum
Museum · CambridgeFree entryThe Fitzwilliam is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, and one of the finest small museums in Britain, free to enter, in a grand neoclassical building.
Read our full guide →The Courtauld Gallery
Museum · LondonFree entryThe Courtauld Gallery, in the grand Somerset House on the Strand, holds one of Britain's finest small art collections, celebrated above all for its Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces.
Read our full guide →The Postal Museum
Museum · LondonThe Postal Museum in Clerkenwell, London, tells the story of the British postal system, from the Penny Black stamp to modern mail.
Read our full guide →Charles Dickens Museum
Museum · LondonThe Charles Dickens Museum is located at 48-49 Doughty Street in Bloomsbury, London, where the famous author lived from 1837 to 1839.
Read our full guide →Manx Museum
Museum · DouglasFree entryThe Manx Museum, located in the heart of Douglas, serves as the primary cultural institution for the Isle of Man.
Read our full guide →Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret
Museum · LondonTucked away in the attic of a former church in Southwark, the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret offers a fascinating glimpse into the history of medicine and surgery.
Read our full guide →National Army Museum
Museum · LondonFree entryThe National Army Museum in Chelsea, London, offers a comprehensive look at the British Army's role in shaping the nation and the world.
Read our full guide →Golden Hinde
Museum · LondonThe Golden Hinde is a meticulously crafted full-size replica of the galleon in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580.
Read our full guide →South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum
Museum · DoncasterThe South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, located on the site of the former RAF Doncaster, offers a comprehensive look at aviation history.
Read our full guide →The Polar Museum, Scott Polar Research Institute
Museum · CambridgeFree entryThe Polar Museum, part of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, is a captivating destination for anyone intrigued by the history and science of polar regions.
Read our full guide →The Cartoon Museum
Museum · LondonThe Cartoon Museum in London's Fitzrovia district is a vibrant celebration of British cartoon and comic art from the 18th century to the present.
Read our full guide →Whitechapel Gallery
Museum · LondonFree entryWhitechapel Gallery is a renowned contemporary art museum located on Whitechapel High Street in East London.
Read our full guide →
Good to know
What is the best-known of the museums in United Kingdom?
National Gallery in London is the most reviewed, with 41,086 traveler reviews and a 4.7 rating. That makes it the safe choice if you are only fitting in one.
Which of United Kingdom's museums is worth going out of your way for?
Science and Industry Museum in Manchester rates highest at 4.5 out of 5 across 8,295 reviews. Smaller crowds than the headline entry usually explain the gap.
Which city in United Kingdom has the most museums?
London, with 10 on this list, ahead of Cambridge on 2. The list spans 5 cities in total, capped at three per city so one big city cannot crowd out the rest of the country.
Are any of these museums free to visit?
Yes, 8: National Gallery, Science and Industry Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum and others. That is based on each place's own visiting information, not an assumption about the category.
How is this list of museums ranked?
By how many travelers reviewed each place, filtered to those rated well enough to be worth your time, drawn from 2,040 tracked places in United Kingdom. No one pays to appear on it, and the order is refreshed monthly as new reviews land.
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