Somerset House is a large 18th-century building on the Strand with a courtyard you can walk into for nothing, seven days a week, from 8am to 11pm. The fountains in that courtyard run daily from 10am to 6pm, and the Courtauld Gallery, the arts programme and most events inside are ticketed separately.
It is easiest to think of it as four wings around a square, with a terrace along the river at the back. The courtyard, the entrance hall and the River Terrace are public space. Everything else, from the gallery to the exhibitions to the guided tour, is a separate decision about money.
That distinction is the single most useful thing to understand here, because people arrive expecting either one of London's free museums and galleries or a paid attraction, and it is neither. This page sets out what costs nothing, what the £12 tour covers and how to get in without walking round the whole block.
Somerset House: what opens when
- Site-wide
- Monday to Sunday, 8am–11pm
- Fountain Court and River Terrace
- 8am–11pm; fountains switched on daily 10am–6pm
- Strand entrance
- 8am–11pm
- Great Arch entrance, Victoria Embankment
- 8am–7pm
- New Wing
- 8am–9pm
- The Courtauld Gallery
- 10am–6pm, North Wing, separate ticket
- Historical Highlights Tour
- £12, one hour, Tuesdays and Saturdays at 12, 2 and 3.45pm
- Address
- Strand, London WC2R 1LA
Which of the four entrances to use
There are four ways in: from the Strand, from Waterloo Bridge, from the River Terrace and from Victoria Embankment through the Great Arch. All four were open when we checked. Which you choose matters more than it sounds, because the building sits on a slope and the Embankment entrance is a full storey below the courtyard.
Coming from Covent Garden or Trafalgar Square, use the Strand entrance and you walk straight into the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court. Coming along the river from the South Bank over Waterloo Bridge, the bridge-level entrance drops you in at the same level. Coming from Temple station, the Great Arch on Victoria Embankment is closest, but remember it shuts at 7pm while the Strand entrance stays open until 11pm. If you are leaving late, go out the way the courtyard faces.
The information desk is in Seamen's Hall, in the South Wing, and is open every day. You can reach it directly from the courtyard or from the River Terrace, and it is where to ask about what is on and where to report lost property.
Photo: acediscovery · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized
What costs nothing
The courtyard is the main draw and it is free. Jets of water come up out of the paving, switched on daily from 10am to 6pm, and in warm weather children run through them. There is no changing facility, so bring a towel and a spare set of clothes if you are letting them.
Also free: the River Terrace along the back, with a long view up and down the Thames, which is one of the better places in central London to sit outside without buying anything. Seamen's Hall, the New Wing and the courtyard are open to anyone who walks in. Our guide to London's roof gardens and free terraces covers other spots in the same category.
The exhibitions programme is a mixture. Some displays are free and some are ticketed, and it changes several times a year, so check the What's On page for the dates you are in town rather than assuming either way. In autumn 2026 the programme included an installation by Jemma Desai running to 1 November and a commissioned film and installation by Jenkin van Zyl from 24 September to 29 November.
The Fountain Court is one of the few central courtyards open until 11pm. Most enclosed public spaces in the West End shut when the building does. If you want somewhere calm to sit after a theatre performance, the Strand entrance is open long after the galleries have closed, and the fountains are lit.
The £12 tour, and the Deadhouse
The Historical Highlights Tour is the only regular way to see parts of the building that are otherwise closed. It runs every Tuesday and Saturday at 12, 2 and 3.45pm, lasts an hour and costs £12. You can book in advance on the tour page or buy on the spot from the guide in Seamen's Hall, and you should arrive fifteen minutes before it starts.
The tour goes behind closed doors and down into the Deadhouse, the below-ground passage where gravestones from an earlier chapel on the site are set into the walls. It also explains why the building is here at all, on this particular bend of the river, and its part in the country's naval administration. Ticket holders get 10% off at Café Petiole.
Be aware that the route has uneven surfaces and small raised sections between doorways, so it does not suit everyone; the visitor team will discuss access needs by email in advance. Private tours for up to twenty people cost £400 and can be arranged at any time within opening hours, seven days a week, with payment two weeks ahead.
The Courtauld Gallery in the North Wing
The Courtauld is a separate institution inside the building, with its own ticket and its own opening hours of 10am to 6pm. Its collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting is one of the strongest in Britain for its size. Our guide to the Courtauld Gallery covers the collection and the prices.
Practical point for photographers: you may take pictures for personal use almost everywhere at Somerset House, but not in the King's Barge House, and flash is not allowed at the Courtauld. Some temporary exhibitions set their own restrictions.
Winter: the ice rink and what we can confirm
The courtyard has been used as an ice rink in winter for many years, and it is the image most people have of Somerset House. When we checked in September 2026, the winter programme for 2026/27 had not yet been published, so we cannot give you dates or prices.
Treat any figure you find elsewhere with suspicion until it appears on the venue's own What's On page, and book directly when it does. Our guide to ice skating in London lists the other central rinks and their usual seasons, and Christmas in London covers the wider winter programme.
The courtyard closes to the public during ticketed events. It is used for concerts, fairs and installations, and on those days the fountains are off and the square may be fenced. The fountains are also switched off in winter when the rink is in place. If the courtyard is the reason for your visit, look at the What's On page for that date first.
Eating, drinking and where the toilets are
There are restaurants and cafés in several wings, including Café Petiole, and you are free to sit in the public areas without buying anything. Baby-changing facilities are on the ground floors of the New Wing and East Wing, and on both the ground and Victoria Embankment levels of the South Wing.
There is no permanent cloakroom or luggage store; temporary cloakrooms appear only for specific events. Somerset House points visitors to the storage at Charing Cross station, about ten minutes away, and our guide to left luggage in London lists the alternatives.
Smoking and vaping are permitted on the River Terrace, in the Fountain Court and in marked parts of the Upper Terrace, but not inside any building. Assistance dogs are welcome everywhere; other dogs are allowed on the River Terrace and in the Fountain Court during normal open hours, on a lead, and not in the fountains.
Getting there
Temple station, on the Circle and District lines, is the closest at about 250 metres and a five-minute walk. Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line is about eight minutes, and Charing Cross and Embankment about ten. Charing Cross is also the nearest main rail station, with Blackfriars and Waterloo both around thirteen minutes on foot.
A long list of buses runs along the Strand and Aldwych, stopping within a couple of hundred metres, among them the 1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 15, 23, 26, 59, 68, 76, 87, 91, 139, 168, 171, 176, 188 and 243. River bus services RB1, RB2 and RB6 call at Embankment Pier, roughly 600 metres away; see our guide to the river bus.
The stretch of the Strand outside the building is now a pedestrianised and cycle zone. There is no car parking on site, very little on-street parking nearby, and the building sits inside the Congestion Charge zone; the nearest car park is on Parker Street. There are Santander Cycles docking stations close by, but you cannot bring a bicycle into the courtyard.
What to combine it with
Somerset House sits at a useful junction. West along the Strand is Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, both about ten minutes. North is Covent Garden. Straight out of the back and over Waterloo Bridge is the South Bank, which takes about seven minutes and gives you the best walking view of the building's river front on the way back.
The bridge itself is worth the detour for the view in both directions; our guide to the bridges of London explains why Waterloo Bridge is the one photographers use. For a family afternoon, the fountains plus the terrace plus a walk across the river is a cheap and reliable combination, covered further in London with kids.
If you are collecting grand interiors, the Victorian artists' houses in Kensington make a good contrast with the severe classicism here, and there are more no-cost options within walking distance in our guide to London without spending money.
Frequently asked questions
Is Somerset House free to enter?
Yes, the building and its courtyard are free and open to everyone from 8am to 11pm, seven days a week. The Courtauld Gallery, the guided tour and many exhibitions and events are ticketed separately. Some displays are free; check the What's On page for the dates you plan to visit.
What time are the Somerset House fountains on?
The fountains in the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court are switched on daily from 10am to 6pm. They are turned off when the courtyard is used for concerts, fairs and other ticketed events, and during the winter when the courtyard is in use for other purposes.
Which Tube station is closest to Somerset House?
Temple, on the Circle and District lines, about 250 metres and a five-minute walk. Covent Garden is around eight minutes, and Charing Cross and Embankment about ten. Charing Cross is the nearest main rail station.
How much is the Somerset House tour?
The Historical Highlights Tour costs £12 and lasts an hour. It runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 12, 2 and 3.45pm, and takes you into parts of the building that are otherwise closed, including the Deadhouse. Arrive at Seamen's Hall fifteen minutes before your start time.
Can you leave luggage at Somerset House?
No. There is no permanent cloakroom or luggage storage, and pop-up cloakrooms appear only for specific events. The nearest facility is at Charing Cross station, about a ten-minute walk away.
Sources
- Somerset House - Opening times and prices (checked September 2026)
- Somerset House - General information (checked September 2026)
- Somerset House - Getting here (checked September 2026)
- Somerset House - Historical Highlights Tour (checked September 2026)
- Somerset House - What's On (checked September 2026)