National Portrait Gallery Reviews

fantastic museum..... free entrance... great collection.

Michael Jackson on the Wall exhibition is worth visiting if you are a huge fan )

Second time here, a large collection of English portrait. Expect to read a lot to understand.

Recomend! But it's better to know the history than it would be more interesting

Don't miss the galleries of contemporary portraits ... The others are a bit boring if you don't have a specific interest

A good place to urinate or do belly, clean and almost empty bathrooms

Love this place, whenever I'm nearby with even just a 10 minutes to spare I'll walk inside. the restaurant/bar also has a fantastic view down to Westminster.

A brilliant range of historic pieces. Incredible to see them all in person.

Not a lot you can do for free in London, well worth a visit if you like art and want somewhere quiet

Paintings of 'famous' people. To my mind many of them unjustified celebs by right of birth. Would be nice to see pictures (paintings or photos) of real working people.

Wow wonderful museum, full of charm and very interesting exhibitions. Well worth the visit if you're an Art Lover like me.

Super intressant and quiet do not overflow coffee and toilets perfectly

Close to China Town and Charing Cross station

usually visit it once a month

it's good to go before dinner.

Fascinating array of historical portraiture. There are so many interesting little known facts to be discovered here if you pay close attention to the details.

Love it, amazing to walk around and discover portraits on historical figures from the past. Take a day to see everything.

Anthony Gormley exhibition - intellectually challenging

This museum had too many interesting paintings for me to see on one visit.

Great gallery with a good programme of exhibitions. Entrance to the gallery is free and some of the exhibitions are reasonably priced. Good stuff in the shop too.

Founded in 1856, the aim of the National Portrait Gallery, London is to promote through the medium of portraits the appreciation and understanding of the men and women who have made and are making British history and culture, and ... to promote the appreciation and understanding of portraiture in all media .

The Gallery holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. The Collection is displayed in London and in a number of locations around the United Kingdom, including several houses managed by the National Trust. The Gallery is increasingly keen to find new ways to share the Collection through the National Programmes, as well as through this website.

Like other national museums, the Gallery is supported both by government and increasingly by a large number of individuals, companies, trusts and foundations, as well as by the receipts from ticketed exhibitions, shops, catering and events.

The Gallery aims to bring history to life through its extensive display, exhibition, research, learning, outreach, publishing and digital programmes. These allow us to stimulate debate and to address questions of biography, diversity and fame which lie at the heart of issues of identity and achievement.

The National Portrait Gallery aims to be the foremost centre for the study of and research into portraiture, as well as making its work and activities of interest to as wide a range of visitors as possible.

It is a Gallery that doesn't look like a Gallery. You can appreciate the life like portraits while listening to a DJ. It is a dynamic atmosphere with surprising portraits (that look like pictures!). Also, if you're just wondering around Trafalgar Square make sure to get in, it is free!

Here are the portraits of all kinds of famous Britons. Kings, statesmen, scientists, and so on. Especially when you know something about English history very interesting. The painting by Ed Sheeran is amazing.
You had to pay for the Michael Jackson exhibition, which I have not seen.

Great for any age and it's free. Get more out of the place using the headphones that are very cheap

Excellent place to enjoy photographic artworks and they have some fantastic exhibitions. Current exhibition is Micheal Jackson worth seeing...

Such a special place with so many portraits to enjoy.

Great free museum with a mix of old and new portraits - paintings, sculptures etc

Since 1856 one of the greatest art museums in London, which houses portraits of the most important historical (since the Middle Ages) and living Britons. Admission is in vain except for the usually interesting special exhibitions that have not disappointed me in the last ten years. For a longer stay in London is definitely worth a member chat! A must-see for sure!

Staff here are amazing nothing is too much for available in every room. Great historical place so much you can learn many floors of portraits.

I went to the National Gallery twice. If you know the history, it is this person! Strongly recommended. There are many plaster casts, so the pictures are beautiful too.

Love this place. Just pick out a section and enjoy. Something for everyone

Warm place and filled with great royalty paintings! Free and very rich. To have!

Free entrance.
For those who are fond of art you can reserve a couple of hours to get to see all the works.

Fantastic collection of portraits from history (didn't get time to look at the more modern ones). Cafe was nice too - although overpriced, as you would expect.

Nice exhibits, very nice staff. The canteen is maybe a little overcrowded.

Incredible and free place. Very worth checking out.

The Michael Jackson exibition was fantastic! ....A wonderful hour and a half of pure pleasure....Thank you NPG

I was pleased with the descriptions that helped me understand not only the artistic merit of the portraits but the historical role and connections of so many of those included .

Very good works. I recommend seeing Sorolla exhibition

This gallery was amazing. It was great to see a pretty diverse range of portraits. Was lucky enough to see the Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun exhibition Behind the Mask, Another Mask. Definitely check out this gallery.

Even for a casual art lover this place is fantastic.

Spent an hour here with a 88 students on a trip. Lots to see. Worth a visit.

If you're into portraits this is the place for you!

This is a fabulous gallery, especially if one is a history lover. I came this last time to see the Elizabethan Treasures exhibition (marvellous; make sure you ask for a magnifying glass as you enter), but ended up spending the rest of the afternoon at the rest of the gallery's halls. It's a lovely Victorian building, with some amazing paintings and sculptures of inspiring leaders, villains, scoundrels, romantic, reformists, it's like taking a time machine through the history of Great Britain. My favourite part is the 3rd floor "Tudor section", which, besides heroes of the Elizabethan era and the Virgin Queen herself, sports the only known portrait of William Shakespeare painted during his lifetime, and some of the kings and pretenders he wrote in his plays about. A must for any lover of portraiture and history.

The Pre-Raph Sisters Exhibition was/is FIRST CLASS!!

Aren't we so lucky to have such a wonderful place to visit.

Good shows. Excellent display quality. It would take more variety of types of new exposures.

very crowded , the good thing is that pictures are allowed , without flash though.

Great permanent collection of notables, from poets to politicians, from scientists to sportsmen and women, from musicians to monarchs. Interesting calendar of events and temporary exhibitions. Right in the heart of London, just off Trafalgar Square so perfect to pop in on a rainy day.

As with many of the galleries and museums in London, it's free (except for special exhibits), which includes a free cloakroom. The works on display are incredibly varied (although obviously all portraiture) and well curated, situated in an iconic building. Worth a visit or several.

THIS IS NOT THE NATIONAL GALLERY. Google maps shows the wrong entrance.

Although this is a different museum, it is lovely.
Beautiful paintings.

Free to enter (except special exhibitions)

I had a spare hour to kill in London and decided to visit here alone. I had a big bag with me which I thought would be a problem. However, I was simply directed to a cloak room, which was free but they suggested a donation which is fair enough!

Really enjoyed my time in there. I felt like I rushed it a bit in the time I had, so there was a lot to see. I really enjoyed the 'Picturing Friendship' room, which had an amazing photograph of Benjamin Britten and another European composer (whose name I really can't remember, which is annoying). I also thought that getting into the post war collections became really interesting.

Would highly recommend!

Loved Van Gogh, Turner, Degas, and Caravaggio. And nice people I met. Fantastic place I went there with my Mum too.

So interesting and an astoundingly magnificent building

A must see when in London. A small cafe downstairs with limited food selection. Lots of room to sit and observe...or just think.

Modern meets conventional, human expressions in different forms.

A beautiful gallery. Lots of really interesting art and great air conditioning on those hot London days! Free entry (donation suggested). Very easy to find and some fascinating pieces.

Most of the galleries are free and the truth is that the ones for which you have to pay are not the ones that I have found most interesting ... There are exhibitions for all audiences and others that are more or less suitable for children (very black or suggestive).

Great temporary exhibitions on the ground and first floors.

Superb !! A portrait gallery of different ages. Painting, I really appreciated ..

Less famous than the Nation Gallery, it still contains masterpieces of unimaginable value

nice place to see to get a culture on the art world

Welcoming museum with engaging contemporary exhibits

Love the gallery and the huge collection of its portraits and the contemporary exhibitions.

Had never been to this gallery in all my trips to London. It was fascinating and really easy to get around.