Several of London's biggest museums stay open into the evening every week: the British Museum until 20:30 on Fridays, the National Gallery until 21:00 on Fridays, the V&A until 22:00 on Fridays and Tate Modern until 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. On top of that, many museums hold special "Lates" with music, bars and talks, and most of these are free.
A late opening simply means the museum keeps its doors open after its usual closing time, usually on a set day each week. The galleries are the same as in the daytime, but the crowds are thinner, school groups have gone home, and the atmosphere is calmer. For visitors who spend the day sightseeing outdoors, an evening in a museum is also a good way to use time that would otherwise go on waiting for dinner.
A "Late" with a capital L is something different: a one-off evening event, often for adults, with DJs, drinks, workshops and performances around the galleries. This guide covers both, and explains how to use evening hours to see the famous collections without the daytime queues. All times were checked on the museums' own websites in September 2026.
Weekly late openings, day by day
| Day | Museum | Open until | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | V&A East Museum and V&A East Storehouse, Stratford | 22:00 | Free |
| Thursday (third of the month) | Bank of England Museum, City | 20:00 (last entry 19:30) | Free, booking recommended |
| Friday | British Museum, Bloomsbury | 20:30 (last entry 20:15) | Free |
| Friday | National Gallery, Trafalgar Square | 21:00 | Free |
| Friday | V&A South Kensington | 22:00 (some galleries close after 17:45) | Free |
| Friday and Saturday | Tate Modern, Bankside | 21:00 | Free (exhibitions paid) |
| Friday and Saturday | National Portrait Gallery, Trafalgar Square | 21:00 (last entry 20:30) | Free |
| Saturday | V&A East Museum and V&A East Storehouse, Stratford | 22:00 | Free |
Among the big museums we checked, none has a regular late opening from Monday to Wednesday. The Natural History Museum closes at 17:50 and the Science Museum at 18:00 on normal days, and Tate Britain at 18:00. If you are in London early in the week, plan museums for the daytime and keep evenings for other things; our guide to London at night has ideas.
Friday: the best evening for museums
Friday is the one evening when you can choose between five major free collections in central London. Two of them, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, stand next to each other on Trafalgar Square, so you can combine them in one evening.
British Museum
The British Museum stays open every Friday until 20:30, except on Good Friday (there is no late opening on 26 March 2027). Entry is free, but the museum recommends booking a free timed slot to guarantee entry; the last slot is at 19:00 and last entry is at 20:15. Most galleries stay open until 20:20, although some can close at short notice. The current special exhibitions are open too, for their usual charge, and the cafés in the Great Court serve food and drinks until 20:00.
On Friday evenings the museum also runs free 20-minute spotlight tours of four famous areas of the collection, including the Parthenon sculptures. It is one of the best ways to see the Great Court and the most famous rooms without the daytime crush.
National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery
The National Gallery is open until 21:00 on Fridays, with free general admission. After 18:00 the rooms of famous paintings, from Van Gogh's Sunflowers to Turner's Fighting Temeraire, are noticeably quieter than at midday. Building works mean some rooms may be closed, so check the gallery's website if there is a painting you particularly want to see.
Round the corner, the National Portrait Gallery stays open until 21:00 on both Fridays and Saturdays, with last entry at 20:30. Its restaurant and café-bar keep evening hours, which makes it an easy place to eat before or after your visit. Last entry to its paid exhibitions is one hour before closing.
V&A South Kensington
The V&A in South Kensington opens until 22:00 on Fridays, the latest of the regular openings, although some galleries close after 17:45. Its main café serves until 21:00 on Fridays. Once a month the museum also holds its Friday Late event (see below).
Tate Modern
Tate Modern opens until 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. The free collection displays and the paid exhibitions both stay open. Its riverside setting on the South Bank makes it a natural start to an evening walk along the Thames, with views of St Paul's across the Millennium Bridge.
A Friday evening at the British Museum costs nothing and beats the morning queue. Book a free evening slot (the last one is at 19:00), go straight to the Rosetta Stone in Room 4 and the Parthenon sculptures in Room 18, and then wander. The same rooms that are packed at 11:00 are often calm after dark.
Thursday and Saturday evenings in east London
The two newest V&A sites, in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Stratford, both stay open until 22:00 on Thursdays and Saturdays. The V&A East Museum, which opened on 18 April 2026, has new displays drawn from the V&A's collections. The V&A East Storehouse, open since May 2025, lets you walk among the stored collection itself, rack after rack of objects. Both are free.
They are the main option for a museum evening on a Thursday, although the V&A warns that there may be a queue to get in to the East Museum. Stratford station is 15 to 20 minutes' walk from the V&A East Museum, and Hackney Wick Overground is about 8 minutes from the Storehouse. Our guide to Stratford covers the rest of the area.
What happens at a museum Late
Lates are special evening events, often monthly, that turn a museum into a social space. Expect music, a bar, short talks, hands-on workshops and film screenings. They attract a younger, local crowd, and they are one of the easiest ways for visitors to see how Londoners use their museums.
V&A Friday Late
The V&A describes its Friday Late as "the original contemporary late night event". It covers contemporary visual culture and design, with live performance, film, installations, debates and DJs. It is free and drop-in, and normally takes place on the last Friday of every month except January, May and December. The museum advises checking with staff on the day, and hot meals are served in the main café from 18:30 to 20:00 on Late nights.
Tate Modern Lates
Tate Modern Lates run from 18:00 to 22:00 on selected Fridays and are free. The event on 25 September 2026 celebrated the artist Ana Mendieta with Latin music DJs, a collage workshop, short documentary films, ten-minute talks by Tate volunteers and a guided tour that needed a free ticket booked on the day. Bars and a pizza kiosk sell food and drink. Tate also runs free music evenings at Tate Modern in autumn 2026, such as a series with the record label Tru Thoughts (23 October and 13 November 2026).
Science Museum Lates
The Science Museum holds Lates for over-18s only, from 18:30 to 22:00 on various dates. General admission tickets are free, and VIP tickets cost £12. When we checked in September 2026 no dates were on sale, so sign up to the museum's newsletter if you want to catch one. The museum asks visitors not to bring bags if possible, because bag checks can cause long queues, and luggage is not allowed.
Lates can have queues of their own. Free drop-in events such as the V&A Friday Late and Tate Modern Lates are popular with Londoners and can have queues at the entrance. Arrive early in the evening, travel light, and book any free tickets for tours or talks as soon as they are released.
Smaller museums after dark
Some of London's small museums open in the evening for special events, and these are often the most memorable:
- Sir John Soane's Museum holds Soane Lates in the architect's extraordinary house. The first after the summer break, on 25 September 2026, cost £25.
- Dennis Severs' House in Spitalfields offers candlelit Silent Night Visits, for £25 plus a £1.50 booking fee in September 2026, in a house arranged as if an 18th-century family has just left the room.
- The Bank of England Museum opens until 20:00 on the third Thursday of each month for its free Museum Lates, with booking recommended.
- The Wallace Collection runs occasional Friday Lates among its paintings and armour; check its events page.
- Royal Museums Greenwich hosts evening concerts and events, for example on board Cutty Sark and in the Queen's House. These are ticketed and priced individually.
More about these places, and their daytime opening hours, is in our guide to London's best small museums and our Greenwich museums guide.
Using late openings to avoid the crowds
The busiest times at London's big museums are late morning and early afternoon, especially at weekends and in school holidays. Evening openings shift the balance. A few ways to make the most of them:
- Pick one museum per evening. Two to three hours is enough, and the museum cafés close before the galleries do.
- Head for the highlights first. The famous objects are the ones with the longest daytime crowds, so see them while the evening is quiet.
- Check which galleries stay open. At the V&A some galleries close after 17:45, and at the British Museum some rooms can close at short notice.
- Book free slots where offered. A free timed ticket at the British Museum or National Portrait Gallery removes the risk of waiting outside.
- Combine with dinner nearby. Trafalgar Square is next to Covent Garden and Soho, and Tate Modern is a short walk from Borough.
If you would rather end the evening with a view, the free Sky Garden is open until 21:00 at weekends with a booked ticket, and our guide to rooftop bars in London covers paid alternatives. For the complete list of museums that charge nothing in the daytime, see our guide to free museums in London.
Getting home after a late visit
All the central museums in this guide are close to Underground stations. On Friday and Saturday nights some Tube lines run all night; our guide to the Night Tube explains which. Night buses cover the rest of the city. Contactless and Oyster fares on the Tube are off-peak in the evening after 19:00, and the daily cap still applies, so an evening museum trip does not have to add much to your travel costs.
Frequently asked questions
Which London museums are open late on Fridays?
The British Museum is open until 20:30, the National Gallery until 21:00, the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Modern until 21:00, and the V&A South Kensington until 22:00. All are free to enter, with charges only for special exhibitions.
Are museum Lates in London free?
Many are. The V&A Friday Late and Tate Modern Lates are free, and Science Museum Lates have free general admission tickets with optional £12 VIP tickets. Smaller museums often charge; for example, a Soane Late cost £25 in September 2026.
Can children go to museum Lates?
It depends on the event. Science Museum Lates are for over-18s only, while the regular late openings of the big museums, such as Fridays at the British Museum and the V&A, are open to everyone. Check the age rules for each event before you go.
Is the British Museum open in the evening?
Yes, every Friday until 20:30, except Good Friday. Entry is free, the last bookable time slot is 19:00, and last entry is at 20:15. On other days the museum closes at 17:00.
Sources
- British Museum - Late opening on Fridays (Internet Archive copy, 9 September 2026) (checked September 2026)
- V&A - Friday Late (checked September 2026)
- Tate - Tate Modern Lates (checked September 2026)
- Science Museum - Lates (checked September 2026)
- National Portrait Gallery - Visit (Internet Archive copy, 28 August 2026) (checked September 2026)
- National Gallery - Plan your visit (checked September 2026)
- V&A - Visit V&A East Museum (checked September 2026)
- Bank of England Museum (checked September 2026)