The Victoria & Albert Museum

Highlights: 2-story jewelry exhibit, the Raphael Cartoons, Idina Menzel’s Elphaba costume from Wicked, John Constable room, teapot collection, stained glass hallway, the Vivien Leigh archive, a plaster cast of Michelangelo’s David

The British Museum

Highlights: the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, the Sutton Hoo mask, a mosaic that is the earliest image of Christ in Britain

The National Gallery

Highlights: Sunflowers by Van Gogh, Venus and Mars by Botticelli, The Immaculate Conception by Velazquez, The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Delaroche, Bathers at Asnières by Seurat, The Painter’s Daughters Chasing a Butterfly by Gainsborough, and many beautiful pieces by Renoir and Monet

The National Portrait Gallery

Highlights: try to spot portraits of Ed Sheeran, Emily Brontë, Mary Wollstonecraft, Ira Aldridge, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, Dame Gladys Cooper, Winifred Radford, Prince Harry, Amy Johnson, and Sarah Siddons

The Natural History Museum

Highlights: Pompeii casts, Iguanodon and Hypsilophodon dinosaurs, breathtaking Hintze Hall and Hope — its gigantic blue whale skeleton

House of MinaLima

Highlights: all of the front pages from the editions of The Daily Prophet in the Harry Potter movies, textbook props from the films (such as The Tales of Beedle the Bard or Advanced Potion Making) that were actually handled by Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, graphic art from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and even Eddie Redmayne himself (if you happen to be extraordinarily lucky like us)

Tate Britain

Highlights: Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais, Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent, The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Singer Sargent, The Squash performance art

Tate Modern

Highlights: Monet’s Water-Lilies, Guerilla Girls, Untitled (for Francis) by Gormley, Salvador Dalí’s quirky Lobster Telephone, Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen

Museum of London

Highlights: London Wall (the remains of an old Roman city wall on the premises), a Victorian era replica shopfront, the Votes for Women suffrage exhibit

The Guildhall Gallery

Highlights: tour of the Roman amphitheatre ruins underneath (uncovered in the 1980s), letters between Augustus de Morgan and Ada Lovelace, The Garden of Eden by Hugh Goldwin Rivière

The Wallace Collection

Highlights: extensive armor and weaponry collection, The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (Yes, this is the painting from Frozen), cream tea in their pink courtyard

The Mithraeum

Highlights: modern art exhibit on the first floor, interactive Roman artifact wall, temple of Mithras ruins underneath (with a complimentary spooky light show included)

Notes: The British Library is also a must-see but does not allow any photography in their special collection, which is why it is not included separately above; its highlights include the Magna Carta, Shakespeare’s First Folio, the Gutenberg Bible, Jane Austen’s notebook, original sheet music by Bach and Handel, Da Vinci sketches, work by Ada Lovelace, etc. Basically, it’s heaven. The Cortauld Gallery, affiliated with the Somerset House, is free for college students and everyone under 18 but charges £8 otherwise. Though I vastly enjoyed it and would suggest visiting, that is why I refrained from including it above. Also, I would highly recommend The Charles Dickens Museum and The Sherlock Holmes Museum, which can both be enjoyed without spending a pence; they have very nice gift shops and immensely promising aesthetic exteriors for any desired photo opportunities. However, technically, neither is free, which is why they are not included above either. For adult admission and/or a tour, prices are £10-15.