National Portrait Gallery Reviews

Great museum with masterpieces that are worth visiting

The portraits take us back in time. A real journey between lives, stories and relationships ..

Great portraits going back in history to recent times with pop artists, good place to visit and convienently located in the heart of London so could meet up with friends and family later.

The photographs exhibit was worth watching. Loved the regular exhibits as well

we only used the bathrooms here.. they were nice tho lol!

Great place, interesting art with something to suit all tastes. Truly fab!

Absolutely loved my visit here. Plenty of hidden gems.

Always interesting. Sometimes crowded .
Good gift shop and cafe . Staff very helpful

Saw the exhibition Pre-Raphaelite Sisters excellent!

Amazing collection of pictures with plenty of space. Good cafe and useful baggage deposit service.

Full of portraits from across the ages. Also home to a nice cafe and an amusing shop

Love that this place was free. The Tudors section was fab, and everything else is really interesting to browse. It was very quiet and calm when I went so that added to the nice atmosphere. There's a cute small bookshop, and another small souvenirs shop with suffragettes, Shakespeare, the Queen and other stuff. It's a great place to go to if you're walking by!

Not a museum person, but I was very impressed by the portraits (Tudor period) that I saw.A lot to take in for 1 visit.

I can't believe it took me so long to visit. It's actually amazing even if you're not into paintings

Not my cup of tea. Little diversity but impressive building and history

Lawrence's paintings up close are impressive ... you'll never forget that

Stunning and inspiring collection of portraits, ancient and modern. You can literally feel the history here. Portraits are both exceptional art, and records of lives long gone. Photography allowed. Theres a very cafe in the basement. Admission by donation. A WONDERFUL WAY TO SPEND A FEW BLISSFUL HOURS

Excellent exhibition of portraits. Especially enjoyed the 20th century ones. Good coffee shop serving reasonably priced food. No entrance charge.

It's lovely. More contemporary stuff is what I would like to but still a great place to pop in. And it's free!

Enjoyed my visit to the National Portrait Gallery. Admission is free and the collection is more than worth the price.

Amazing free gallery that also has a varied programme of temporary exhibitions.

Another beautiful gallery with a wonderful collection. A donation is recommended but is optional.

Elizabeth Payton portrait paintings exhibition - was one of its kind.
Incredable experience to see all those works in one place and time.

The Pre-Raphaelite Sisters exhibition is fab (though I was expecting more actial works by the 'Sisters'.

One of my favourite galleries. It's immensely interesting and enriching to be able to chart the historical, social, fashion and artistic changes through the ages; this is what having a consistent subject (the human) brings.

But that human element brings something else. My favourite picture is of Sir John Fielding; it makes appreciating this blind 18th century magistrate and social reformer all the more real. It intrigues with all that it does and does not tell you about this man and his life.

The national portrait gallery is a pantheon of human notoriety and achievement (albeit predominantly British) and it does all of this without a single brown painting of a decidedly caucasian Jesus (I'm looking at you National Gallery). Albeit that dude wasn't a Brit...

Good permanent free collection, plus nice affordable temporary exhibitions. Oddly, I like that it's next to the National Gallery, as they complement each other, and it sometimes feels like an escape from its neighbor's crowd.

There are many portraits, and the pictures drawn by people were not difficult to see and fun, so I could feel free to see them.

Many portraits of aristocrats which the English did not have the chance to get rid of like the French in 1789.

Go and listen to a short lecture and come away edified.

I really liked the modern section of this museum..the rest was a bit not of my taste but its free so you can just visit whatever you want.

If you like history and art an amazing place to visit, can actually take your time and sit an look properly at the beautiful paintings

A favourite place of mine on London visits. Enjoyed the Taylor Wessing Photographic Prize exhibition this time. Always such a pleasant ambience in the cafe.

This is a wonderful place to visit but my only point is that there is far too much to see. So I suggest you choose two or three galleries of prime importance and visit them in depth. Then leave and maybe come back later or even the next day. Otherwise one portrait begins to blend in with the next. But this is not a negative. This place is extraordinary and well worth a visit. And it is FREE!!

Brilliant exhibition of Courtauld's Impressionist collection. Plus plenty more.

Went to see pre-raphaelite sisters exhibition. Fascinating!

I found this to be a highly enjoyable visual and intellectual experience, especially when juxtaposed with my earlier experience at the National Gallery. The Portrait Gallery has done a phenomenal job of arranging the displays to present the visitor with a chronological and thematic narrative which flows nicely through the museum. It was so interesting to see the portraits of historical figures I'd studied or who had shaped the world in which we live; the added que cards provided useful information that made many more paintings sensible.

Love the fact that you can see the King Henry 7th original - really was special

I'm a fine arts student. This is boring, but cool if you like portraits. The BP portrait award is the only thing I come here for, everything else is just old portraits.

Apparently they are closing for the years refurbishment so get there now The people who make Britain great and others

It is very beautiful here. For example, there are portraits of celebrities, both today and yesterday. It's great

Go, wander around, there's so much to see even without going in to the paid exhibitions and don't forget to give a donation if you enjoyed yourself. There's an interesting bookshop on the first floor, much better than the gift shop on the ground floor and if your hungry, the restaurant is very good with an interesting view of some London roofs and icons

Great collevtion but missing some thinngs you would expect. Onevsmall picture of Lord Nelson and not even a good one considering all that the post in their catalogue.

Very nice museum, free, for lovers of portraits. It starts with the Tudor period and you continue the tour chronologically. There is a charge for the temporary exhibition.

A fascinating introduction to the personages of British history as depicted by portrait artists through the centuries. The art enthusiast and the student of history will both find a lot to love here. The top floor restaurant features a wall of windows looking out to Trafalgar Square. The Late Shifts on Thursday and Friday nights include a bar and a D.J. in the lobby, a welcoming place to get out of the weather on cold, rainy evenings.

An art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. Entry to the museum is free. The place has great ambience and very friendly atmosphere. Convenient for patents to take their kids along. The building is also disabled friendly.

The portrait gallery doesn't get the same attention the National Gallery does, which is a shame. There are many wonderful paintings arranged chronologically, giving three viewer a glimpse of the people -or at least the ruling elite- of the the past. The Tudor and Stuart sections are particularly interesting.

One of my favourite places to visit in London- especially the Tudor Gallery- paintings on display are changed time to time so each visit is different and there are such a variety of paintings to enjoy.

Beautiful exhibition of the Pre-Raphaelite Sisters.

Live the way that you start with earlier portraits at the top and work your way down

Interestingly designed painting gallery, which focuses less on the artists and more on the people who were portrayed. The texts for the paintings are short and crisp, but informative. The museum is also a good size - so you can get through easily in two to three hours without having to rush. Like many London museums, entry is free, only a voluntary donation is requested. The cloakroom staff was incredibly nice and helpful, almost caring. The museum is perfect for a rainy afternoon in London.

The photo is from the shop. There was also a giant close up portrait of ed Sheehan's face. Make of that what you will.

Free museum, loads to see. We probably only did half of it as it's so big.

This is a must visit London attraction. The place is fantastic it has every genre of paintings in huge quantities, but the quality is never sacrificed.

Ah, the English! A great gallery of these and for free !! Only here! If you can, reserve a table at the third floor restaurant and enjoy the view!

Amazing art on display. Not too formal feel and didn't get the feeling that I was out of place (I am no art expert!) Information about artists/subjects was helpful. Gallery was set out in a logical manner and you can't help but get drawn in. We only intended to look at the Tudors and spent 2 hours there!

Fantastic !
To see during a London visit !

Staff fantastic. Helpful, polite and couldnt do enough for us.

A wonderful learning experience for all! Mesmerising art.

Most of the exhibitions here are free and wonderful to see such a large collection of portraits. Many of these portraits date back hundreds of years and relate to the rich, famous and royalty, no paupers depicted here. Such people as Elizabeth Ist, Francis Drake, Nelson, Isambard Kingdom Brunel to name but a few. The pictures of the House of Commons and House of Lords with each person individually drawn is notable for the absence of any women, but this was the 1800's.
The exhibitions are organised into the specific periods of history e.g. The Stuarts, Tudors, Victorians, but there is also an exhibition of contemporary art.

Beautiful way to spend an afternoon, especially when the Archibald prize is being exhibited. Also worth just wandering around if not too crowded as entry is in any case free like most museums and galleries in London - one of the few things that is!

The museum is one of the most beautiful museums in London and admission is free