Tate Modern
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A former power station turned landmark London gallery, Tate Modern is a must-see for spectacular displays of modern and contemporary art.
Tate Modern is dedicated to international modern and contemporary art. Combining free displays with paid exhibitions, including major retrospectives and group shows, the gallery draws on a collection of nearly 78,000 works of art.
Opened in 2000, the gallery occupies the former Bankside Power Station, originally designed with a low profile to avoid competition with St Paul's across the river. The building's architecture is what makes Tate Modern so special: a full-width slope leads down into the repurposed turbine hall, 35 metres high and 152 metres long. Here, artists including Louise Bourgeois, Olafur Eliasson and Ai Weiwei have created installations breathtaking in scale.
The station's scarred, concrete oil tanks now host performances, projections and special commissions, while an extension on the site of the old switch house offers ten new floors of gallery space. In the Natalie Bell Building, there's an interactive Timeline of Modern Art designed by an Oscar-winning visual effects studio, and digital screens that project visitors' own drawings on the walls.
Home to three shops, a kitchen and bar, espresso bar and members room, Tate Modern is quietest at the start and end of each day.
Why you should go
Modern and contemporary art from around the world
Immense installations in the Turbine Hall
Viewing platform on top floor of the Blavatnik Building
Visitor information
Address
Bankside, London, Greater London, SE1 9TG
020 7887 8888
Opening times
Daily 10am-6pm.
Visitor information
The more you see, the more we do.
The National Art Pass lets you enjoy free entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, while raising money to support them.