World Class Museums - why are they free to everyone?

I actually agree and feel a small fee would be appropriate.

I don’t agree, would we have to produce our passports or council tax bills? It would be unworkable.

Museums were not free prior to 2001 and people complained!

We took our youngest grandson to the Space Centre in Leicester recently. It cost £60 ish which we were very happy to pay but it occurred to me that lots of people couldn't possibly afford to pay that and so many children would, therefore, miss out on the chance to be inspired.

Museums, and the like, should be free.

I think it is a mark of our civilised society that access is free to all.

Danish art historian and Tate director Karin Hindsbo wrote in The Guardian about this in March 2026. Starts:

Twenty-five years ago, the UK made the bold and generous gesture of making its national museums free to all.

In the years that followed, this policy proved to be a huge success. It led to a dramatic and sustained increase in audiences. Within the first decade, visits to museums which used to charge rose by 151% – the uplift was 180% at the Natural History Museum and V&A, and 269% at National Museums Liverpool. Is now really the moment to reverse direction by charging international tourists to access our museums and galleries, as ministers are proposing?

She argues that tourists don’t just spend in museum shops and cafes, they also use local restaurants, hotels and transport, fuelling a much wider economic picture that it would be counterproductive to disrupt.

She goes on:

Our national collection itself has also become increasingly international over the years. Tate, for example, has championed a more global story of art – from modernism in Nigeria and surrealism in Egypt, to digital art in Brazil and performance art in Japan. To erect barriers between the art that crosses continents to reach our gallery walls, and the people from the very countries that art was created in, seems like a paradox.

Tate Modern is the most popular modern art museum in the world by a long shot, attracting 4.5 to 5 million visitors every year. By contrast, MoMA in New York, which charges for entry, attracts around half that number.

(General entrance to MoMA current costs $30 excluding concessions so about £22.)

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/29/uk-museum-free-entry-economy-visitors

Also, every year, regular gallery visitors donate roughly £3 million to £6 million directly to the Tate through general voluntary donations, donation boxes, and the optional Gift Aid top-ups added to paid exhibition tickets, so though you haven't seen it, it's happening a lot and that's just one organisation.

I took my grandson last weekend to a little known museum near Gatwick relating to the history of aviation so I understand why it's very niche and couldn't function otherwise without admission costs. It wasn't particularly cheap but he enjoyed it, we both did. Plus we could walk out to a perimeter fence to see planes taking off and landing. I was always amazed when we did the London ones such as the Natural History, an absolute must for dinosaur fans. They usually asked for just a donation. My favourite is The British Museum, I could spend a month there.

If you have, like I have, years ago now, stood outside the Natural History Museum overhearing a conversation as a family with 4 children tried to fit their budget to their family, and the children's eager faces, you would want museums to be free to all.

On another note, a friend and I went to the V&A recently and had lunch in the imposing looking restaurant for members only. It was awful! The food was appalling, the service was non-existent (they forgot her order). Frankly, it was embarrassing to think this is a major tourist attraction.

I told my 2 granddaughters to look round the free museums and see some of the world famous art in London. They are young and travel on a budget. It is free to go in museums here mostly but you have to pay for short term imported shows like the one we have at the moment, Cartier jewellery. I think it is something the UK should be proud of and would not be in favour of charging tourists for the normal entrance.

Cossy

I actually agree and feel a small fee would be appropriate.

I think you are right a small amount, say £5 per adult but free for children under 16 and over 65 would be appropriate.
When visiting other countries we always had to pay for museums and art galleries, but I believe in some instances those who lived in that country got a reduced rate.

No I don’t agree let everyone enjoy our history, our culture, our treasures
Keep them as they are

Fallingstar

Cossy

I actually agree and feel a small fee would be appropriate.

I think you are right a small amount, say £5 per adult but free for children under 16 and over 65 would be appropriate.
When visiting other countries we always had to pay for museums and art galleries, but I believe in some instances those who lived in that country got a reduced rate.

So true re paying for attractions when abroad. In Italy for instance every attraction we went to included an entrance fee.

BlueBelle

No I don’t agree let everyone enjoy our history, our culture, our treasures
Keep them as they are

I agree with this. Why exclude people just because they can't afford to share our culture? I think it's important that everyone can see our history, not just those with spare money to spend on doing so.

What's worse, IMO is a two tier system which allows people in receipt of certain benefits to get in free but means tests those with a small amount more out of free admission.

I don’t understand why at least tourists aren’t charged. But hat would mean Brits having to produce ID…

In Amsterdam a few years ago I was surprised to be charged IIRC over €25 for entry to the Rijksmuseum. And that was for wrinklies, if there was a difference - I don’t remember that bit.

We have also paid in Greece to visit museums and sites of antiquities, but IIRC the charges were much more moderate.

I believe it has been proved that good museums, art galleries and so on actually make MORE income by not charging entry fees but having a glass box for donations instead.

See Graphite's post today at 12.19.01

Twenty-five years ago, the UK made the bold and generous gesture of making its national museums free to all.

Within the first decade, visits to museums which used to charge rose by 151% – the uplift was 180% at the Natural History Museum and V&A, and 269% at National Museums Liverpool.

Tate Modern is the most popular modern art museum in the world by a long shot, attracting 4.5 to 5 million visitors every year. By contrast, MoMA in New York, which charges for entry, attracts around half that number.^

(General entrance to MoMA current costs $30 excluding concessions so about £22.)

There is a psychological element - watching others put money into the donations box, or seeing visible evidence through the glass reminds visitors of the practical need for the £sd to help fund the collection.

I wonder if people believe that the popular museums and galleries which attract large numbers of tourists are receiving more financial support from central government than they are.

In 2024–25, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) provided 15 museums and galleries with £484 million in funding, about 25% of the department’s overall spending.

By far the largest recipients of DCMS funding are the BBC (£3.8 billion), the Arts Council (£570 million) and Sport England (£180 million). It’s the Arts Council which distributes public money to regional and local museums.

The 15 museums and galleries sponsored directly by the DCMS and the amounts awarded 2024/25 (rounded) were:

• British Museum £74 million
• Horniman Museum £6 million
• Imperial War Museum £33 million
• Museum of the Home (Geffrye) £2 million
• National Gallery £30 million
• National Museums Liverpool £26 million
• National Portrait Gallery £11 million
• Natural History Museum £89 million
• Royal Armouries £8 million
• Royal Museums Greenwich £27 million
• Science Museum Group £62 million
• Sir John Soane’s Museum £1 million
• Tate Gallery Group £54 million
• Victoria and Albert Museum £56 million
• The Wallace Collection £3 million

If the argument is that overseas tourists are receiving a freebie at the expense of UK taxpayers, then to put it into perspective, £484 million works out at around £8 per year from every adult in the UK, less than the tax on a couple of bottles of inexpensive wine or just 16p each a week.

It isn't a lot to pay to provide enjoyment and cultural enrichment for both ourselves and to people the world over.

It would be good to see the investment spread around the county instead of concentrated in London so much.

Seeing that list makes the Londoncentric nature of investment very clear, doesn't it? Thirteen of the top fifteen are in the capital.

I’m carefully reading the comments. However, I still don’t understand why these places are free to everyone in the world?
If people are holidaying in London then they’re probably not short of a few bob and able to afford an entrance fee . Try Madame Tussaud’s, Tower of London etc etc
If it’s raining, then visitor numbers shoot up and the concourse resembles a buggy park. Im sure that is not due to a burning desire to soak up the culture, rather a cheap way to keep dry !

I’m not sure I understand your argument. Is it that you think that overseas visitor numbers are too high and make the venues crowded to the detriment of your own enjoyment?

Of course people chose indoor activities on rainy days but the major of overseas tourists will probably be on tight itineraries anyway and just have to work around the weather.

As with other things, the cost of proving free anything is usually exceeded by wider economic benefits to business which is turn creates tax revenue for the Treasury.

Overall tourism generates £52 billion in total tax revenue for the Treasury each year, with overseas visitors specifically spending around £32 billion during their trips. (VisitBritain).