The free museums, and the hour to arrive at each one

The list of free London museums is long and well known. What is less well known is that the difference between a good visit and a bad one is almost entirely the hour you turn up.

Weekday mornings, for the famous ones

The Natural History Museum at ten on a weekday is a different building from the same museum at noon on a Saturday. So is the Science Museum. If you have a choice of day, take a Tuesday.

Evenings, for the ones that open late

The monthly lates are the best-kept part of this: the same collections with the lights down, a bar, and a crowd in its twenties and thirties. Tate Modern runs later than most, to nine on a Friday and Saturday.

Any time, for the small ones

Sir John Soane’s Museum, the Wellcome Collection and the Museum of the Order of St John are never full enough to need a strategy. On a wet afternoon they are the better answer anyway, which is the whole of the case for going indoors.

The full picture is in the guide to free London, and the dated list is on the free listings.