Somerset House
A grand neoclassical building on the Strand with a courtyard and fountain court open to all, plus the Courtauld Gallery, exhibitions and a river terrace.
- Landmark
- Price: Free
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Did you know
Begun in 1776 by Sir William Chambers on the site of a Tudor palace, it was built to house government offices such as the Navy Board, and later appeared in the Bond films GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.
Local tip
The courtyard and Fountain Court are free to enter every day from 8am to 11pm, and the fountain jets run during the day. The Courtauld Gallery is ticketed, and an ice rink runs in winter.
Finding it
- Address
- Strand, London WC2R 1LA
- Nearest station
- Temple (Tube), 190 m away
Details change, so check with the place before you set off.
More places nearby
- The Courtauld GalleryAn art gallery inside Somerset House holding one of the UK's finest Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collections, from Manet and Van Gogh to the most significant group of Cézannes in Britain.
- Australia HouseThe Australian High Commission's grand marble banking hall, doubling as Gringotts Wizarding Bank in the first Harry Potter film.
- London Transport MuseumA museum tracing 200 years of London's public transport, from horse-drawn buses to Tube trains, in a former Victorian flower market building.
- Two Temple PlaceA lavish neo-Tudor building by the Thames, built in 1895 as an estate office for William Waldorf Astor and now hosting free exhibitions drawn from UK regional collections.