Walk into the Rotunda and Look Up
You come to Tate Britain along Millbank, on the site of the former Millbank Prison, in the City of Westminster. Sidney R. J. Smith's classical portico faces the street; behind it, a dome. Step inside and you can climb the new spiral staircase beneath the rotunda, and step out onto the circular balcony of its domed atrium — a space closed to visitors since the 1920s and reopened during the 2013 renovation by Caruso St John. The gallery stayed open throughout that three-phase project, which added nine new galleries with reinforced flooring to carry heavy sculpture, a dedicated schools' entrance and reception beneath the entrance steps on Millbank, and a new archive gallery for temporary displays.
Follow the Turners into the Clore Gallery
Tate Britain is the national gallery of British art from 1500 to the present day, and the most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world. J. M. W. Turner bequeathed all his own collection to the nation, and the Clore Gallery of 1987, designed by James Stirling, houses his work. The building is regarded as an important example of Postmodern architecture, particularly for its contextual irony: each section of the external facade quotes liberally from the building next to it in materials and detailing. Inside, the main display spaces carry the permanent collection of historic British art alongside contemporary work, with rooms dedicated to single artists — Tracey Emin, John Latham, Douglas Gordon, Sam Taylor-Wood, Tacita Dean, Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger — all subject to rotation. More recent names in the collection include David Hockney, Peter Blake and Francis Bacon.
Time Your Visit to a Tour, a Talk or a Triennial
- Regular free tours run on the hour; at 1:15pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday you can catch a short 15-minute talk on a painting, an artist or a style.
- Every three years the gallery stages a Triennial, in which a guest curator gives an overview of contemporary British art — the 2003 edition was called Days Like These.
- Art Now is a small changing show of contemporary work in a dedicated room.
- The Turner Prize exhibition is usually hosted every other year; four nominees are announced in spring, their show opens in autumn, and the prize is given in December. It has also travelled — to Liverpool in 2007, Derry in 2013, Glasgow in 2015 and Hull in 2017.
- Late at Tate Britain runs on four evenings each year, curated by young people, and can include discussions, workshops, films, music, performances and art installations.
Cross the Thames by River Bus, or Stop for Lunch Nearby
Tate Britain and Tate Modern are connected by a river bus along the Thames, running from Millbank Millennium Pier immediately outside Tate Britain. The boat is decorated with spots based on paintings of similar appearance by Damien Hirst, and the lighting artwork incorporated into the pier's structure is by Angela Bulloch. The gallery itself has a café and a members room, and the complex also houses the Prints and Drawings Rooms in the Clore galleries and the Library and Archive in the Hyman Kreitman Reading Rooms. The Rex Whistler restaurant has closed; the room that held Rex Whistler's 1927 mural, The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats, has been repurposed and now shows the mural alongside a film installation, Viva Voce by Keith Piper. Before you leave, look for Thomas Brock's statue of the Pre-Raphaelite painter and Royal Academy president John Everett Millais, commissioned after his death in 1896 and installed at the front of the gallery in 1905 — it was moved to the rear of the building in 2000.
Getting There and Getting In
Tate Britain sits at Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. The closest Tube stations are Pimlico on the Victoria line and Vauxhall, also on the Victoria line; Westminster, served by the Jubilee, District and Circle lines, is a longer walk. Bus 87 stops on Millbank, 88 and C10 on John Islip Street, and 2, 36, 185 and 436 on Vauxhall Bridge Road. There is bicycle parking near the Manton entrance on Atterbury Street, cycle hire docking stations at Millbank Tower and Rampayne Street near Pimlico Tube among others, and a drop-off and pick-up point on Millbank just outside the main entrance. Pay-and-display parking in the surrounding streets is limited on weekdays but free at weekends and after 18:30, and there are local electric car charging points. The gallery provides accessibility features for disabled visitors.
Plan around a free tour on the hour, or the 1:15pm talks on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, and let the river bus carry you on to Tate Modern when you are done. Check the current programme before you travel — the Triennial, the Turner Prize and the rotating collection rooms mean no two visits show you quite the same gallery.