National Portrait Gallery, Charing Cross, London

Was very pleasently suprised how great this was…..free, not to rammed with tourists, great work and peices especially if like me you like contemporary art, sculputres and photography more than the usual traditional peices. Went for the Mick Jagger exhibition and it was worth the visit alone some very cool photos and prints. Top attraction for me.

Super basement coffee shop, very reasonable prices for central london, an oasis of calm just round the corner from Trafalgar Square

One of my favourite galleries
I esp love the Tudor Gallery of
portraits (up the escalator)
Tip to show you how important
these paintings are :
choose one, then choose one small section of that painting
- say 20cm square - & look at the intricate painting contained within
that space. They were consumate masters! (there are few contemporaries
who can compare) I also love the yearly Portrait Awards : such talent

An oasis of beauty indeed. From the decor of the building, architecture, to the variety of art pieces and styles found.
It's great.

Try to visit it before 12 as it's more quiet.
Also there's a cafe upstairs with a lovely view of London.

The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalger Square. As the name suggests, it's full of portraits. Hundreds of 'em. I also can't believe that it's free.

I love that this gallery displays art dating from the Tudor era right up to modern stuff, like the current Twiggy exhibition. The individual galleries are arranged so that you can visit the portraits in chronological order, which is really interesting.

It does get very busy during the weekend, and if you visit during the week expect lots of kids on school trips.

This is one of my favourite galleries in London! Although i have yet to visit The National British Museum (is that what its called?), so it could change!

I tend to go when there are special exhibitions on, my favourite being the BP Portrait awards as I love seeing work by up and coming artists.
After that, its nice to leisurely wonder around and discover areas you have never been to before.

They have a large tudor collection, which really excited me. It was great seeing portraits of those you have studied. It gives you a sort of nostalgic feel.

Overall, definitely worth a visit, and much more after that!

My favourite museum in London!
I was impressed by the variety of portraits. I was expecting some boring 500 years old portraits with people that look and sit there, all looking alike. However, it was the totally different.
I especially liked the photographs from the last 25 years, you can tell that the artist liked to experiment and some pictures just need to be looked at. Admission is free here, just like almost everywhere in London.
It’s easy to reach by tube and a very short walking distance.

The upstairs bar is fantastic for a date - one of the best views of London - a real hidden gem! We recommend this on our website as somewhere that's perfect for an early days date:
http://www.thegreatdateguide.com/dates/portrait-restaurant

This is great for the different exhibitions that are here during the year, luckily my employer is a sponsor so I get to go to the exhibitions for free. Often extremely packed at the weekends!

National Portrait gallery is my choice for quality temporary exhibitions. Their permanent display is eclectic, however it is the changing exhibitions that I return for. The last one I saw was a comprehensive collection from Annie Leibovitz, even though it was an extremely popular exhibition I didn't feel rushed through. Cheaper if you're a member, but the usual display is of course free.

One of the many things that makes London a great place to live is this gallery. Arranged with the oldest portraits on the highest floors, and descending to the most modern stuff on the ground floor (and with one feature exhibition always running), this gallery is free and provides a fantastic space to wander about in for an afternoon.

UPDATE If I could give them another star for the upstairs bar, I would. It's stunning. They win the accolade of serving the best mimosa I've ever had in London. Great views too. If only they had another door so the bar could stay open past 5 during the week. UPDATE

I don't come here often enough. Every time I come here I think that. And I still haven't seen the Annie Leibovitz exhibition. Dammit.

I took my family here at the weekend and they really enjoyed it. Luckily there are escalators and lifts about the place so my nan could get about the place - she doens't walk very quickly having just turned 70. It's just the right size to walk around without getting too tired.

The best bit of this whole place is the Tudors and Stuarts section at the top. It's really cool to see the real life paintings of stuff i used to read about in school history books.

Still can't believe it's free to come here.

I really don't come here enough.

This is one of my favourite galleries in London. The special exhibitions always lure me in; my favourites to date have been the works of Annie Leibovitz and the Wyndham Lewis exhibition last year. I always go to the annual portrait and photography competition exhibitions - the works are always incredible and diverse.

I love going to the little tea shop in the basement, right next to the book shop - it's the perfect escape on a rainy day.
For a more decadent treat, the upstairs resto/bar is a wonderful spot to take in views of London.

Another amazing thing? Apart from the special exhibitions, it's free to go - what's not to love about that?

A superb place. There's always something interesting to look at: amazing photography and wonderful paintings in a really lovely space set in the perfect location for nipping in on the way to somewhere else central.

I often stop by at the NPG without quite enough time to have a leisurely look around so will make a proper visit very soon, hopefully catching the Twiggy exhibition - I saw a glimpse of it during a quick visit to the gallery recently and there were some wonderful images there.

Despite the fact I have a friend that works here, I am here much less often than I ought to be; time after time I see news of a great show and say “I really should go and see that” to myself, and never do. However most recently I was tempted through its doors once more by the fantastic Gay Icons show, which if it’s still running by the time you read this you should definitely see, regardless of whether you bat for the pink team or not.

Overall, it’s the ideal place to be if you’re in the mood for a bit of cultural stimulation, happen to be in the area and find the adjacent National Gallery in Trafalgar Square a bit overwhelming. It was opened in 1896, and features portraits off the most famous people in British history, so if you like contemplating the celebrities of yesteryear, then what a suitable place to start. It’s also home to the annual BP portrait award, which is a free show. In fact there are loads of free shows here, making it a great ‘first date’ place as it guarantees to give you loads of fodder for conversation the moment you leave. It does late openings on Fridays (till 9pm) and has a charming café where you can snag some light bites.

The National Portrait Gallery was surprisingly good and I still don’t think I have gone to a better art gallery in London (although I should probably get to a few more exhibitions before I say that). It is a fascinating way of discovering about both history and art and also to look at how individuals have impacted on society and how they are rendered in the public mind. The tours are the biggest highlight as they are usually themed. My guide was so wonderful, as she showed us portraits of one particularly tragic figure she actually started cheering up. I was so moved.

The national portrait gallery, despite being in one of the best locations in Britain is somewhat overlooked by tourists and residents alike. However for those who do venture through its portico should expect a truly stunning collection of works, with the vast majority of British historical figures immortalised on canvass. As with all public museums in England entrance is free, which makes this wonderful collection all the more worthwhile in our current climate.

The National Portrait Gallery is a little bit different from the National Gallery as they focus more on the paintings of the famous people, like the Elizabeth I and Charlie II.

It is a place for the combination politics, arts and science. From the very past to the recent past, you can also find in this gallery.

Just around the corner from the National Gallery, as its name implies this one is for portraits only. As a big fan of portraits, I love going to this place to see paintings through the ages. There is a lot of choice here - if ur a Londoner, i recommend doing a floor at a time (that way u don’t overdo it). In a few wks youll be an expert.

Often show modern portrait and photography expos (e.g. vanity fair,competition, etc.)

The National Portrait Gallery is located on St. Martin’s Place in central London and is found close to the National Gallery. It is only a few minutes walk from Leicester Square. The gallery houses over 1000 portraits of men and women from the Middle Ages right up to the present day.

The museum is fairly easy to navigate and you can pick up a free map as you enter the museum which will assist you to find your way around. The rooms are also well signposted and there are lots of gallery attendants who will be able to assist you as you walk around. For a very reasonable £2 you can also get an audio guide which gives you commentaries as walk around. It also has a very clever feature that allows you to put in the number of a particular painting that you have found that is interesting and the audio guide will then give you the information on that painting.

The gallery is open daily from 10am until 6pm with the last admission at 5.50pm. On Thursdays and Fridays it is late night opening and the gallery is open until 9pm.

The gallery is spread out over 6 floors although the actual collections are housed in the ground, first and second floors. The gallery suggests that you start your visit on the second floor as this allows you to view the collection in a chronological order.

We therefore entered the gallery and made our way through the bright airy entrance up the escalator to the second floor. Here the collection begins with The Tudors. For both my husband and I this was the collection we were most interested in. My husband has a real interest in the Tudors and has read many books and we have both watched The Tudors series on television and The Other Boleyn Girl film. We were not disappointed and there are some really beautiful paintings.

Also on the second floor are portraits from the 17th century, 18th century and the 19th century. Many of the people I had not heard of but there are information cards next to the paintings telling you who they are and why they are of interest.

Down onto the first floor you begin with The Victorians and Queen Victoria herself then leading on to the early 20th century including the first world war and on into the late 20th century.

Carrying on down onto the ground floor are the more recent collections from 1990 onwards and the special exhibition which is only accessible via ticket which you have to pay for. When we visited the exhibition was Annie Leibovitz - A photographers life, 1990-2005 although this was due to close on the 1st February 2009.

The gallery is well equipped for facilities there are toilets on the ground floor, lower ground floor and the Top Floor. There are lifts for those with wheelchairs or pushchairs. There is also a baby changing room on the lower ground floor. If you are looking for somewhere to eat there is a café and a restaurant. We didn’t visit these so I can’t comment on what they are like.

I liked this gallery it’s a nice place just to spend some time browsing around. The fact that admission is free means that you don’t feel you have to see everything all in one go. We visited here briefly last year and came again this year for a better look around. There are of course plenty of opportunities to leave a donation which is a much better way of doing things as you don’t feel you have to get your moneys worth in one go.

There are plenty of seats around the place so you can just sit down and look at the paintings. Children might get a little bored after a while but they have tried to make it interesting by having special children’s information points and little puzzles and quizzes.

Personally I preferred the National Gallery to the Portrait Gallery perhaps because I enjoyed looking at some of the more famous paintings and painters that I had heard of. However it’s a nice gallery to have a browse around or if you are really into your art it will be a place that you will quite easily spend a lot of time in.