Tate Modern

Tate Modern has become the central hub of London’s modern art scene and is one of the largest museums of contemporary art in the world.

TravelCurious Tip

Take a free tour with one of the many expert guides to learn more. The gallery also offers a range of free mobile apps such as the Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms to enrich your experience.

A bankside marvel

Tate Modern is part of the eminent Tate Group of galleries and museums. It began life as the gallery for modern art within the British National Art Museum, which is now Tate Britain. In 1994 the modern collection was considered worthy of its own museum and premises, and the recently closed Bankside Power Station in Southwark was renovated to create the bright and airy contemporary space visitors see today.


Warhol to Weiwei

The galleries span seven floors and four wings in this vast building, displaying everything from paintings and prints to photography, video installations and sculpture; comprising one of the world’s most important and comprehensive modern art collections, Tate Modern has the best of the whole twentieth century covered and offers a fantastically global perspective. Highlights include its important gallery of Surrealist works, some monumental Cy Twombly canvases and iconic Pop masterpieces such as Roy Lichtenstein’s Wham!

The enormous Turbine Hall makes for a huge and dramatic ramped entrance, as well as the site for large site-specific installations - acclaimed past residents include Olafur Eliasson’s The Weather Project and Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds. The more creative visitor can get involved in the art of the museum through an interactive digital drawing bar, which allows you to create your own design and have it placed instantly on the virtual mosaic wall of visitors’ art. It’s easy to spend many a happy hour here - luckily, there is also an excellent café and restaurant to refuel. Tate Modern is an unmissable experience.

Nearby Attractions

See all attractions in London
Shakespeare's Globe
The Shakespeare's Globe is an academic replica of The Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse built in 1599 in London where the most famous William Shakespeare plays were performed.
Millennium Bridge
Nick-named by Londoners 'the wobbly bridge' due to unexpected swaying in its early days, this pedestrian walkway over the Thames opened in June 2000.
Bankside Hotel
From its sustainability commitment to its partnerships with local artists, the urban hotel is the ideal spot for travelers looking for an authentic London experience.
Tate Modern Terrace Bar
In 2017, the Tate handed over their taps to independent craft brewers, embracing the idea that art extends beyond visual mediums.
Southwark Bridge
The Southwark Bridge connects The City of London with Southwark. At the time it was built, it further integrated the warehouses and industry south of the river with The City's financial district.
Blackfriars Railway Bridge
The Blackfriars Railway Bridge crosses the River Thames in London and it was opened in 1886. The red pillars that can be seen on one of its sides were used to support the original railway bridge that was dismantled in the 1980s.

Related Tours

Warhol to Banksy: Tate Modern & Street Art Private Tour
From Warhol to Banksy, explore the world-famous Tate Modern museum, a converted power station on the banks of the River Thames, followed by a stroll through the creative hub of London’s Southbank for stunning views, spectacular Brutalist architecture and London’s best street art. 

On this private walking tour you will: 

  • Begin your tour at the Millennium Bridge with stunning views along the river.
  • Walk to the Tate Modern, and enjoy an expertly guided 1.5-hour tour of this famous treasure trove of contemporary art.
  • Admire the converted power station, famous for its 99m tall brick tower, just shorter than St Paul’s Cathedral, and enter the famously spacious turbine hall
  • See world-famous art - paintings, sculpture, installations, performances, and video - by a vast range of artists, including PicassoRothkoWarholDaliChirikoBeuysFontanaHirstBarlowGallagher and more. 
  • Enjoy a stroll along the river - with stunning views of London, towards the Southbank Centre
  • Explore Europe’s largest centre for the arts, a vast and lively complex of art and performance venues, famous for its Brutalist architecture.  
  • Visit the colourful Undercroft of Southbank, the birthplace of British skateboarding and political street art, and see the street art on Hungerford Bridge. 
  • Walk towards Waterloo to see famous muralist Lionel Stanhope’s superhero Covid tribute to the NHS
  • Finally, head beneath the streets and rumbling platforms of London’s Waterloo Station to discover Southbank’s hidden treasure trove of street art and graffiti: the Leake Street Arches and Street Art tunnels started by none other than Banksy in 2008. 

London's Southbank has always had a salubrious reputation for divergent arts and creativity. Historically it was home to munitions factories and overcrowded industrial slums. The area was heavily bombed during the Blitz, but in the last decades has undergone a total regeneration. 

It is also famous for its counter-cultural vibe, its street art and graffiti, and urban creative engagement programs across the arts including theatre, dance, poetry, writing, art and sculpture, at the various buildings within the Southbank Centre, with its magnificent Brutalist architecture.  

The Tate Modern is as famous for its architecture as for the impressive collection of contemporary art within. Your tour guide will show you the highlights of this vast space, including iconic works like Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych, Fontana’s Spatial Concept, Waiting (the slashed canvas series), Beuys’ dramatic Lightning with Stag in its Glare, Picasso’s Nude Woman with Necklace, and many more.

The second part of the tour takes you on a fascinating and colourful stroll along the river Thames with spectacular views of London landmarks, towards the Southbank Centre. Soak up the lively atmosphere, admire the spectacular Brutalist architecture and head below - to the Undercroft, a Skate Space that has been going for 40 years and is covered in a mass of graffiti and that has taken on iconic status as part of London’s counter-culture. 

You’ll also see some fabulous street art on the Hungerford Bridge before walking south towards Waterloo, via the superhero Covid tribute to the NHS by celebrated muralist Lionel Stanhope. 

Lastly, you will visit the hidden gem of London’s street art scene… Below the rumbling platforms of Waterloo Train Station, you will find the Leake Street Arches and 300-metre graffiti tunnel… the longest, biggest street art space in London. As an active, free space it is an ever-changing canvas with artists working there every day… some creations last months, others days, or even hours! 

It is a vibrant hub and testament to the years of hard work and cultural regeneration that have gone into making Southbank one of the most trailblazing artistic hubs in the world. 

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