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Buckingham Palace
Attractions in Westminster

Buckingham Palace tops the list in Westminster

258 of the 457 places to visit in and around Westminster are museums or galleries. There are 158 places to visit inside Westminster’s built-up area, and 299 more within 5 km of its edge. British Museum drew 5.8M visitors in 2023. The list includes 14 places in care: 7 by English Heritage, 5 by the National Trust and 2 by Historic Royal Palaces. At 9.5 km, Kew Gardens is worth the journey.

Photo: Buckingham Palace, Diliff (CC BY-SA 3.0)
In Westminster
158
inside the built-up area
Within 5 km
299
of the town’s edge
Museums & galleries
258
in or near town
Castles & historic places
57
in or near town
Cared for
14
National Trust, English Heritage, Cadw and others
Best known

Highlights of Westminster

After Buckingham Palace come a cathedral, an attraction and an art gallery.

Each has a page of its own: what it is, who runs it, the weather month by month and what else is near it.

The map

Where each one is

Beyond the town, the 299 nearby are mostly to the east.

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The dashed line is Westminster’s built-up area; orange marks its middle (where most people live). Numbers match the list below. © OpenStreetMap contributors · ONS built-up area 2022

By kind

Grouped by kind

Most are museums or galleries, 258 in all, ahead of other attractions (99).

Museums & galleries 147 museums · 111 art galleries86 in town · 172 nearby
Castles & historic places 15 historic houses · 10 cathedrals · 7 historic sites · 6 churches · 4 abbeys or priories · 4 castles · 4 historic ships · 4 forts · 3 palaces25 in town · 32 nearby
Gardens & estates 23 gardens6 in town · 17 nearby
Zoos, theme parks & days out 15 piers · 4 zoos · 1 aquarium3 in town · 17 nearby
Other attractions 99 attractions38 in town · 61 nearby

Green: inside Westminster. Grey: within 5 km of its edge.

14 places are cared for: 7 by English Heritage, 5 by the National Trust and 2 by Historic Royal Palaces (Westminster Abbey, Saint James's Palace, Apsley House and Jewel Tower, and 10 more).

Every place

Place by place

It starts in town with 158 places and goes on to 299 within 5 km of its edge.

Serpentine South

Art gallery · in town

A complex of two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, in the center of London. These are the Serpentine Gallery and the Serpentine Sackler Gallery.

953K visitors a year (2019)

London Eye

Attraction · 200 m outside town, to the east

Observation wheel in London, England.

Run by Merlin Attractions Operations Limited

Tate Modern

Art gallery · 900 m outside town, to the east

Modern art gallery located in Bankside, London, England.

1.2M visitors a year (2021)

HMS Belfast

Historic ship · 2.2 km outside town, to the east

1938 Edinburgh-class light cruiser.

Run by Imperial War Museum · 241K visitors a year

BT Tower

Attraction · 100 m outside town, to the east

Communications tower located in Fitzrovia, London, England, UK.

Kenwood House

Historic house · 3.6 km outside town, to the north

Art museum and historic house in Hampstead, London.

Run by English Heritage · 160K visitors a year (2015)

Young V&A

Museum · 4.2 km outside town, to the east

National museum in Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom.

400K visitors a year

Ludgate

Fort · 600 m outside town, to the east

Ancient and ceremonial gate of the London Wall within the City of London.

Newgate

Fort · 700 m outside town, to the east

Ancient and ceremonial gate of the London Wall within the City of London.

Keats House

Historic house · 1.9 km outside town, to the north

Writer's house museum in Keats Grove, Hampstead, London Borough of Camden, England, UK.

Fulham Palace

Museum · 3.9 km outside town, to the southwest

Grade I listed historic house museum in London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, United Kingdom.

Run by Church of England

BFI Gallery

Art gallery · 300 m outside town, to the east

The BFI Gallery was the BFI's contemporary art gallery dedicated to artists' moving image housed within BFI Southbank, the British Film Institute's flagship venue in London..

SOAS Gallery

Museum · 600 m outside town, to the east

Gallery and collection of over 600 artworks and objects, spanning from the 12th Century to the present day, based at the School of Oriental and African studies, University of London.

Kyoto Garden

Garden · 1.1 km outside town, to the southwest

Garden in Holland Park, London, United Kingdom.

Run by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The 158 inside Westminster come first, best known first; then the places within 5 km, close and well known first. Churches and listed buildings are on the History page, not here.

3,887 listed buildings and 3 scheduled monuments are on Westminster’s History page → · Parks, footpaths and green space in Westminster →

Big names nearby

The wider area

Head 9.5 km out for Kew Gardens, the best known of 11.

Places well known beyond Westminster (Wikipedia articles in several languages, published visitor counts, or a National Trust, English Heritage or Cadw property), close and famous first. Distances are straight lines from the middle of the town.

Before a day out in Westminster

What are the main attractions in Westminster?

The best known inside Westminster’s built-up area are Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Elizabeth Tower and National Gallery. In all, 158 places to visit are mapped inside the town, and 299 more within 5 km.

Does Westminster have a museum?

258 museums and galleries are in or within 5 km of Westminster: National Gallery, Madame Tussauds, Royal Academy of Arts and Tate Britain.

Is there a National Trust or English Heritage property near Westminster?

Yes. In or within 5 km of Westminster, 14 places are cared for: 7 by English Heritage, 5 by the National Trust and 2 by Historic Royal Palaces (Westminster Abbey, Saint James's Palace, Apsley House and Jewel Tower).

What are the best-known days out near Westminster?

Within 40 km: Kew Gardens (9.5 km), Royal Observatory Greenwich (12 km), Crystal Palace High Level Station Entry (12 km), National Maritime Museum (12 km).

Where are Westminster’s historic buildings listed?

Westminster has 3,887 listed buildings, 203 of them Grade I. They are on its History page, from Historic England’s list, not repeated here.

How is this list made?

From OpenStreetMap (museums, galleries, zoos, theme parks and attractions, castles, forts and abbeys, and historic houses and gardens that are open to visitors) and Wikidata (what each place is, who runs it, its website and visitor counts). A place counts for Westminster when it is inside the ONS 2022 built-up area, and as nearby within 5 km of its edge. Opening times and prices are not shown: check the official site.

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (231)

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.