Life in the UK can be pretty expensive, but there’s no denying that this country has a world-beating selection of free museums. Up and down the nation, from city galleries to immersive countryside museums, there’s tonnes of stuff to do that won’t put a dent in your finances.
Ranking the best free attractions is, naturally, a pretty tough ask – but that hasn’t stopped one study from doing so. The study compared 46 free galleries and museums throughout the UK, then ranked them based on the percentage of reviews giving a full five stars.
Top of the pile came, drum roll please... The Big Pit National Coal Museum in Torfaen, Wales! Out of 2,882 reviews, a whopping 2,588 were for five stars. Which is pretty darn impressive, considering that TripAdvisor has bit of a rep for being somewhere people go to complain.
Even if you might question the value of TripAdvisor ratings in crowning the country’s best attractions, there’s no denying that The Big Pit National Coal Museum is an excellent institution. Inhabiting the site of a former working coal mine (which it was from 1880 to 1980), the Big Pit gives visitors the chance to get a full experience of an actual mine.
From its underground tours to its miner guides, the Big Pit offers a fabulous glimpse into Wales’ (and the UK’s) rich industrial history. If you ask us, it’s a very worthy top spot.
Second in the study came The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum, which sort of says what it does on the tin, while third was London’s Wallace Collection gallery.
The study was conducted by moneylender Cashfloat, and this was its ranking of the top ten free museums and galleries in the UK.
- The Big Pit National Coal Museum, Torfaen
- The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum, Suffolk
- Wallace Collection, London
- National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
- Coventry Transport Museum, Coventry
- St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff
- National Gallery, London
- V&A, London
- Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
- The British Museum, London
If you’re on the hunt for more free stuff to do in the UK, we at Time Out have you covered. We’ve got guides to free things to see and do in cities like Edinburgh, London and Manchester, plus a recent report on the best free days out in the UK.
Did you see that two of the world’s best cities are officially in the UK?
Plus: this iconic Brighton landmark has just reopened.
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