Quick Facts
Tate Modern occupies the converted Bankside Power Station on the Thames south bank. Opened 2000, it's the world's most-visited modern art museum (5+ million annually). Holds works from 1900 to today including Picasso, Matisse, Warhol, Rothko, Hockney, Bacon, Hirst, Emin and Ai Weiwei.
- Address: Bankside, SE1 9TG
- Nearest Tube: Southwark or Blackfriars (5-8 min walk); Mansion House (cross Millennium Bridge)
- Open: 10am-6pm daily
- Cost: FREE permanent collection · £15-22 special exhibitions
Must-See Works
- Picasso — The Three Dancers (1925)
- Rothko — Seagram Murals — entire dedicated room, hypnotic
- Warhol — Marilyn Diptych
- Hockney — A Bigger Splash
- Bacon — Triptych August 1972
- Matisse — The Snail
- Duchamp — Fountain (urinal)
- Pollock — Summertime: Number 9A
- Yayoi Kusama — Infinity Mirror Room (when on display)
- Turbine Hall — annual large-scale commission, free, often spectacular
Free Viewing Platform
The Switch House (Blavatnik Building) extension has a free 10th-floor viewing platform with 360° London panorama — Thames, St Paul's Cathedral, the Shard, the City. One of London's best free views.
- Take the lift to floor 10
- Open during museum hours (10am-6pm daily)
- Free, no booking
- Best at sunset for golden Thames + St Paul's
- Indoor (with windows on all sides) so weather-proof
Special Exhibitions
- Cost: £15-22 adult; £10-15 student; under 12 free
- Recent: Yayoi Kusama, Cezanne, Andy Warhol retrospective, El Anatsui
- Members go free + early access
- Tate Membership: £85/year — pays back in 4 exhibitions
- Always book ahead online — popular shows sell out
Tips & Practicalities
- Free cloakroom (£1 charity donation suggested)
- Tate Café (5th floor) — Thames views, mid-priced
- Combine with Borough Market (15 min walk) and Shakespeare's Globe (5 min)
- Cross Millennium Bridge for direct walk to St Paul's Cathedral
- Late-night Fridays-Saturdays till 10pm — galleries quieter, bar open
- Tate Britain (Pimlico) — sister gallery for British art only, also free
🎨 Tate Boat: A high-speed catamaran shuttles between Tate Modern and Tate Britain every 40 min, £10 single. Beats the tube and crosses the Thames with great views.