National Portrait Gallery Reviews

Great venue to while away some time & mostly for free

You can appreciate iconographic paintings and photographs for free and simultaneously analyze techniques and chronologies, as well as capture the psychological essences of the subjects, in a modern museography. The museum shop is a must see

Excellent range of portraits. Shame some in Tudor galleries incorrectly labelled!

Fantastic and diverse collection of art. The adjacent National Portrait Gallery is fascinating for its portraits of many well known historical figures. I focused on the Tudor gallery during this visit.

Overall good with beautiful paintings, but moving around the place was quite confusing and we kept getting told we are not allowed to walk in a lot of areas since those areas weren't free, which wasn't specified clearly.

An amazing gallery with a beautiful collection. Try to get there early or late and you won't be bothered by (the rest of the) tourists as much.

The crew is very friendly, very helpful. From wardrobe all the way to guards, everyone is friendly and here to assist you in any way.

It is always a special experience to stand in front of the famous and the remarkable images at the National Portrait Gallery... the feeling is like no other... and if you can pop upstairs to the restaurant, it is not cheap, but it is a treat you deserve!

The history and the talent of portraits through the ages is on show within these walls

Always a great place. Free. Good range of art to see.

Fantastic Friday night lecture. So enjoyed it at this very special spacious gallery. A real treat to listen to Edward Watson. All 3 participants relaxed and fascinating

Excellent permanent displays and informative temporary exhibitions.

A nice attachment to the National Gallery with one of the largest collections of portraits, especially major figures of English history. Also free with a suggested donation.

Always love to visit the portrait gallery when I m in London. The portrait exhibition is amazing!!

Free but really uninteresting, except perhaps for very great painting enthusiasts

Wonderful! In particular, I was struck by the areas dedicated to the Tudors and Queen Victoria.

A really nice restaurant with rather a good gallery attached. They have all of those pictures that you have seen in books but never knew where they were and the brunch is a institution for those in the know.

Amazing works of art on display, the more modern stuff draws a crowd, but the older paintings are phenomenal

I was getting kinda bored looking at pics of peoples faces. however as you delve deeper, some of the more famous ones, eg Faraday, and the story they print on the wall for you is quite interesting. Great quality work, great building but it can get a bit too much.

Great staff, great exhibitions! Lovely cafe at the top with a wonderful view.

It's big & historical. You can view many national treasures. Great central location. Relaxing cafe & fun gift shop inside. Free.

No trip to London is complete without a visit to the portrait gallery. The photography exhibits are always mesmerizing

The national remains one of the premier gallery spaces.

Excellent - the BP portrait award exhibition is great

Next to the National Gallery. Less known but highly recommended. It is attached to portraits of the history of the UK (there are no other countries like in the National Gallery) ordered by times in their different rooms. I liked it a lot.

Great place to visit! So many paintings, probably too many, but that's not a bad thing. All is free to view! The only downside is the staff. They all look miserable and aren't that friendly either!!

I live walking around at the National portrait Gallery. I have just been a little disappointed by the William morris retrospective which I expected a lot from. Morris is a craftsmaker and promoter of all kind and was the master of patternmaking. But the exhibitons seems to exclude the details and his crafts to promote the future of makers in general. this subject is however a lot vaster and wasn't so well represented for me in such a small room. Luckily I had a discounted entry ticket.

Pictures and art amazing, but no obvious route through. Just random amble, which is OK but not sure if you've missed anything.

I love this museum.full of interest. I have been coming to have look for many years
Whenever I leave this lovely building I feel cherrful. And another advantage it is free of charge .I live in London and can access it any time.

Great free gallery laid out with lots of interesting contextualising information to supplement the portraits and busts

They house a collection of various famous people. Awesome place, recommend for everyone to visit while visiting London.

Pop in ,go up the grand escalator and see the finest Tudor Portraits in the UK.See Elizabeth the first in all her glory and her puffed up father. Stroll into the restaurant for a great view of London. Many of the exhibitions are free and are well worth seeing.

Probably my fave gallery. Love to see the BP portrait exhibition.

We visited the National Portrait Gallery about an hour and a half before closing time, and I wish I had the entire day to spend there. The collection of Tudor paintings is astounding, and there are portraits of everyone from Wallis Simpson to Maggie Smith. We were a little disappointed that the portrait of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge was not on display at the time, but now I have an excuse to return.

Amazing place of interest to see, WELL WORTH A VISIT, free entry, need a full morning or afternoon to appreciate your time there.

Great range of portrates. Intresting for all to go look at

So much to see. Each floor is represents a different period. Check out the alluring picture of Princess Kate Middleton.

It gives the possibility to young artists to exhibit their works, I find it very interesting. System for collecting opinions from visitors. Activities of workshops programmed for families. Work of the new artists of a great level.

It is an art museum on the theme of portraits of historical figures of England. It is fun to find someone who knows not only the king or the aristocracy, but also the portraits of contemporary scientists and artists (there is also Adshine).

Outstanding gallery. Loved the Michael Jackson exhibit.

An incredible amount of portraits and images. Nice to get to know English history a bit better. The descriptions for each face are fun to read.

Fantastic place to spend few hours. It is free to enter.

Lots of modern art works with some nice classics, but was slightly crowded.

I love this unknown museum! As its name suggests, it only includes portraits of the most recent, photographic prices up to the most ancient medieval portraits ... especially crowned heads. Exciting!

Just pop in for 20 minutes or so to while away time before our show started.

Went to see the Michael Jackson exhibition. Very clever use of space but wasn't outstanding!

Amazing must-see huge collection of painters and sculptures. Free admission (donations encouraged). Popular restaurant on top floor.

Went to the BP Awards and was most disappointed. The space is cramped. Fellow viewers were jostling to read and it was not in anyway possible to step back to peruse the wonderful talent.
Please give us a larger venue next year.

Saw some great portraits here, was disappointed not to find David Attenborough one though.

Love this place... Shared a great day with one of my daughters

Very interesting permanent exhibition and also temporary exhibitions

Interesting museum, we saw the exhibition about the Elizabethan Treasures and were glad to see such nice pieces. The exposition was really interesting and the staff was very kind. Indeed, we first thought it was the National Gallery but one of the members of the staff took time to explain to us what it was about before that we visited it.

Especially interesting are the exhibitions on the entrance floor and especially in the summer when the portrait competition ends

A wonderful "Art Gallery" that should not miss any tour of an architect in London ...! You will have surprises in the collection of paintings and portraits you can find here, portraits of titans of painting and universal art! ...

Five stars for the gallery and the artwork that I liked. No stars taken off for the artwork that I wasn't so impressed by because there is plenty of scope to move on. The tea shop is worth an extra star for some excellent British music photography.