National Portrait Gallery Reviews

I love this Art Gallery. I visit whenever I have a chance. It covers a long period of time. Always renewing to stay relevant and it is conveniently next door to the National Gallery.

A gallery of portraits and paintings, located near Trafalgar Square. Worth to see.

I really enjoyed my time at the national portrait gallery. A free resource that should be enjoyed by more locals.

Fascinating is nothing short of. The collection made available free of charge to the public is vast and rich in very valuable works, with brief but interesting descriptions of the subjects depicted and / or the authors. From the miniatures (observable in detail also through touch screens) to the sculptures (very different for styles and subjects), each face is full of life and full of history, which can be breathed even just walking along the corridors. But one should not think of finding only "ancient" portraits. The portraits of the most recent and important personalities of the United Kingdom (from the royal family, to Elton John, to get to the heroes of war) are accompanied by portraits of suffragettes, scholars, artists and influential personalities of the past.

There are comfortable sofas if you need to rest for a while and you can take chairs, in case you want to immerse yourself longer in the study of a work.
The toilets were relatively clean, considering the influx of people. I noticed a lot of helpfulness from the staff.

The exhibition present at the time of photographs by Mayotte Magnus, was a very pleasant discovery, strongly recommended.

Beautiful place, lots to see. One of the best free galleries in central London.

Went there to see the BP Portrait Award, one exhibition I visit every year and I felt sorry they moved it in a smaller room as it is always busy and very popular. Hope it goes back to the usual room next year!

Always make a point of visiting this gallery whilst in that area of London. BP Portrait Exhibition is particularly good in the summer.

Lovely place, we even paid extra to go and see the "Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon" gallery,which was a small but fascinating glimpse of one of the most icons movie stars ever.

Great collection. Amazing stories. Perfect place to reflect.

Loverly place to visit. Fantastic pieces of art to see for free.

Often visited starting with the excellent basement cafe and morning coffee and cake offer. Paid exhibitions always good though thought Great Victorian photographers could have been more wide ranging.

Great day out. A balanced collection of portraits with well written narratives. And it's free!!!

Nice museum, whether you're English or not you will definitely know better the country's history.

Go to the BP Portrait Exhibition every year. Doesn't disappoint

Founded in 1856 as the world's first portrait gallery, it houses portraits of famous people from British history and culture. Incredibly lively-looking paintings!

What a great gallery love visiting this great building

Great collection
International calibre
Fantastic place for a day out
highily recomended

Amazing gallery, but it's all the same religious types of portraits so it gets trying after a while

Very fine exhibition of Elizabethan miniatures. Just enough detail in the legend and labelling to make this stimulating and interesting.

The Tudor rooms make you feel like you are standing among the legendary figures.

I love this place. Anytime I'm in London this is my default place to go as I love art.

Attended the Pre Raphaelite sisters exhibition. Venue is always welcoming.

This place is beautiful, it is a peaceful bubble in the middle of the madness of the city. In addition, the visit is free. If you want to spend some quiet time and learn about English history, this is the place to go.

What a wonderful place, I planned to pop in to kill an hour, ended up in there all afternoon.

This museum is so under-rated! I had never heard of it before I went to see the BP Portrait Award exhibition. It was amazing!
It's not too big, and free. A very nice place to spend an hour or two.

It is incredible that the visit is free with the impressive works of art that there are.

Currently the BP Portrait Award 2018 winners and commended artists are being exhibited. The level of ability is outstanding. Moreover it's free to go in! (A donation is suggested.) Other exhibitions are charged for eg there is currently a Michael Jackson exhibition which you have to pay to go in. There's a cafe, loos, and loads more to see. One of my favourite London museums.

Really enjoyed the portrait exhibition, highlights were 'bowling alley mosque', 'girl with rocket-propelled grenade launcher', 'naked boy', and 'back of heads'.

Fantastic to see such an incredible art collection under such a vast roof of such a beautiful building. Learnt so much during our visit . We had not appreciated how long it would take to see the whole . We all enjoyed a delicious lunch in the restaurant , and bought some great gifts in the souvenir shop. An amazing experience .

I was asked to carry my tiny rucksack when others had larger handbags. Only wall art, no sculpture, so why?

Interesting photographic exhibition Taylor-Wessing.

We enjoyed our wonder around the gallery, not too busy and one was able to take in the wonderful portraits

If you are interested in art or photography (which can also be art) you definetly should visit this great gallery and museum. It is super inspiring. Went there already a few times. Great bookshop and coffee shop. Go there and spend a few hours looking at their amazing collection.

Bit disappointing. Went with my 6 year old son to look at pictures of kings and queens. The web site advertised family trails, specifically kings and queens and a family station and neither of these were available at 1.30 on a Saturday. I had also rung to check I didn't need to print anything myself. Only one of The 5 staff at the information desk had a clue what I was talking about, but no idea where the activity kit was. We did see kings and queens from most eras, but it's not easy to find specific people. The man on the info desk even had trouble telling us where we might find a portrait of the currant monarch. To browse it's a lovely gallery, for children, not so much.

The art they have is amazing , it was a good experience , there was a Michael Jackson exposition but again too expensive

A very exciting permanent exhibition. The audio guide is highly recommended.

Marvelous collection. Overwhelming if you aren't an art or British history buff.

Beautiful paintings of British history figures on the upper floors, as well as exhibitions of portraits of contemporary artists presented in an impressive historic building. In the spacious halls, centrally arranged wooden benches invite you to linger and take a closer look at the pictures. Nice and helpful staff are with questions to the place and keep themselves otherwise in the background. A strength for even weaker purses is the free admission dar. For art lovers and those interested in British history a good address!

One of the best surprises on our visit to the British capital was the National Portrait Gallery. The museum houses an impressive collection of portraiture that also doubles as a walk through British history. Definitely worth a visit.

Popped in here to kill some time before going to the theatre. Didn't manage to see all of it, but what I did see was fascinating. Kids really enjoyed it.

Really enjoyed the visit. It was a glimpse into history as well as art.

Very beautiful gallery, a lot of interesting paintings.

The National Portrait Gallery (free entrance) is the world's oldest of its kind. Originally opening in 1856, this is where you can see a who's who collection of historic Britons from the 15th century onward.



Can you start with the second floor rooms featuring portraits from the Tudor period (1485-1603AD) and work your way through The Stuarts (1603-1714AD) and Rebellion to Reform of the 18th and 19th centuries (1714-1790AD) and (1790-1837AD).

Then make your way to the first floor to see portraits from the Victorian age (1837-1901AD), Early and Late 20th century (1901-1959AD) and (1960-1990AD) and Contemporary and recent portraits (1990 to present).

The Map shows you were to find certain highlight portraits. However, its well worth spending a bit of time in each of the rooms getting to know important British figures who you might not be aware of, resting alongside the more famous Britons.



Overall, we found the National Portrait Gallery to be a well-planned and comprehensive collection. While not everyone's cup of tea, this is an excellent portrait gallery, well worth your time if you have interest in British history or are simply looking for something interesting (and free) to do near Trafalgar Square.

Tip: If you have a more general interest in art, you might prefer the National Gallery next door instead. This is where you can see a wide range of European art masterpieces. It is also free to visit.

My favourite part are the interactive screens, you can see multiple sketches and other details about the paintings! Very cool.

Honestly my favourite place to go in tourist trap London. They always have something new to see, and the trails that you can follow make the, usually dull museum experience, into a whole new adventure!

Fantastic picture gallery but above all free. Recommended for those who love culture.

This is definitely a place to visit. One of my favourite museums in London. Attention to details and biographies added for all portraits.

An interesting exhibition. I can not tell much about people in portraits, but the arrangement of the exhibition affects the positive perception of the whole

A must, people often go to the national gallery but often miss this place. Houses work of unparalleled beauty.

Very creepy but so cool. It was nice place to dine and to do activites. I seem to miss a notification board at the time so I was unable to know what is happening that night. The staff was actually unhelpful. I asked for directions for a conference room but no one was interested to show me, the way. I ended up in area that I felt it was a restricted area although there was not a strong indicator of what the area supposed to be. It didnt help the signage was also unclear.

Always as beautiful as neighborhood and especially cosmopolitan with street artists

Next to National Gallery (relatively small) gallery. But I liked this place. It is a place where you can see the past and present of England. The exhibit here is as good as the National Gallery. I recommend it.

Wonderful life-long experience to finally witness. To have a visual feat with some great art work was emotional. Thank you.