Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, Marylebone W1U 3BN. Telephone: 0207 563 9500. Website: wallacecollection.org
How much do the tickets cost?
The Wallace Collection is free, but temporary exhibitions might cost extra.
What are the opening hours?
Opening times are 10am to 5pm (Mon-Sun).
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to the Wallace Collection takes 1½ to 2 hours.
Which buses go to the Wallace Collection?
Bus routes 2, 10, 12, 13, 30, 74, 82, 94, 113, 137 and 274 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Bond Street, which connects with the Central Elizabeth and Jubilee lines. You can walk the ⅓ mile to the Wallace Collection in about 6 minutes.
Which other attractions are nearby?
Here are four attractions within 15 minutes walk of the Wallace Collection: Madame Tussauds, Marble Arch, Handel & Hendrix in London and Sherlock Holmes Museum.
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Email My review of the Wallace Collection
This 18th-century townhouse was home to the first four marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, who together collected the paintings, porcelain, sculptures, furniture, arms and armour that are on display throughout.
You won’t believe it’s free the first time you see the interiors because they rival the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace – it’s like an art gallery, museum and Royal residence all rolled into one, and it’s still filled with the same antique mirrors, marble fireplaces, chests, desks, clocks, barometers and dangling chandeliers that Sir Richard Wallace had when he lived here.
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Collection of paintings and the Great Gallery
After you’ve explored the downstairs rooms and seen the Sèvres porcelain, the Medieval and Renaissance paintings, and furniture that once graced the finest aristocratic homes in France, you sweep up the staircase with its Parisian balustrade for a better selection of Dutch, Flemish, French, Italian and Spanish paintings than they’ve got at the Courtauld.
They’ve got nineteen Bouchers, twelve Reynolds, nine Rubens, eight Canalettos, five Rembrandts, four Van Dycks, four Turners, three by Velázquez and another couple by Titian and Gainsborough.
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The most famous painting is The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, but the picture that everyone comes to see is The Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals. Other famous works include Titian’s Perseus and Andromeda, Boucher’s portrait of Madame de Pompadour, and Thomas Lawrence’s huge picture of George IV in the Great Gallery, which is up there with the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace, King’s Gallery at Kensington Palace and Waterloo Gallery at Apsley House as one of the finest art rooms in London.
Photo: londondrum.comEuropean and Oriental Arms & Armour
You could start a war with the weapons in the armoury. They’ve got swords, sabres, scimitars, cutlasses and crossbows, daggers and axes, pistols, rifles and flint-lock firearms from the Far East, Middle East, Medieval and Renaissance Europe… all inlaid with gold, embellished with silver studs, etched with intricate fruits and flowers, and arranged in displays of fans and sunbursts.
Photo: londondrum.comThey’ve also got a few beautiful suits of armour made for Louis XIII, Louis XIV and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, plus two full-size fighting horses with sword-wielding knights on top so you can see how terrifying the noblemen must have been charging at you during the Royal jousts and tournaments.
Photo: londondrum.comAfternoon tea in the Cafe Bagatelle
I wouldn’t normally visit a museum just to sit in the cafe but their peach coloured restaurant with green trees under glass is modelled on the Château de Bagatelle in Paris. You can have a quick coffee if you want (it will be the smallest one you’ve ever had!) but it’s also a nice place to treat someone to an afternoon tea with freshly baked scones, clotted cream and jam.
I’ve ranked the Wallace Collection as ★4 in my top 10 London galleries and ★10 in the museums I’d recommend in London
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What do you think? (4)
Ask a question, or share your experience of the Wallace Collection
Mimi National Gallery, tick. Tate Britain, tick. Tate Modern, tick. So where to go next? After perusing a guidebook for a while I decided on the Wallace Collection, and boy was I glad that I did. I was surprised to find so many paintings by the masters like Titan, Rembrandt, Rubens, Canaletto, Van Dyck… I could go on. (reply)
pp I can’t believe this place is free, I love it. (reply)
anthony How far from the train station? (reply)
Craig Hi Anthony, it’s just a ten minute walk from Bond Street station… probably not even that. (reply)
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