The National Gallery, London

Address: Trafalgar Square, London
Opening hours: Daily: 10:00 - 18:00
No admission fee

The opportunity to see one of the finest assemblages of Western European painting anywhere really should not be missed. During their stay, visitors to London will more than likely find themselves at least once on the famous Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery occupies a distinguished place on its north side. Since the gallery opened in 1824, the collection has expanded from 38 works of art to 2,300 works of art. It now spans more than six centuries (from around 1250 to 1900). Some of the most illustrious paintings include: The Wilton Diptych, Uccello's "The Battle of San Romano", "Venus and Mars" by Botticelli, Titian's "Bacchus and Ariadne", Rembrandt's "Belshazzar's Feast" and two self portraits, Canaletto's "A Regatta on the Grand Canal" and "The Stonemason's Yard", "The Rokeby Venus" by Velazques, da Vinci's "The Virgin of the Rocks" and Cartoon of "The Virigin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist", Cézanne's "Les Grandes Beigneuses", "The Water-Lily Pond" and "The Thames Below Westminster" by Monet, Renoir's "The Umbrellas" and "Boating on the Seine", "Sunflowers" and "Van Gogh's Chair" by van Gogh and Raphael's "Portrait of Pope Julius II" and "The Madohnna of the Pinks". Though Tate Britain is the main repository of the National Collection of British art, some pieces by Hogarth, Stubbs, Gainsborough, Wright, Turner and Constable hang here as well.