Tate Modern London 2026: Free Entry, Frida Kahlo & What to See
Tate Modern is free — permanent collection, no reservation required. Here's how to navigate two buildings, find the Rothko Room before it fills up, and book the Frida Kahlo exhibition, now open.
The Turbine Hall is bigger than most museums. It's just the entrance.
Tate Modern occupies a former power station on the South Bank — two connected towers, Boiler House and Blavatnik Building, holding one of the most visited modern art collections in the world. Entry to the permanent collection is free. The building is large enough that most visitors spend two hours and leave without finding the Rothko Room.
Is Tate Modern free in 2026?
Yes. The permanent collection — Rothko, Picasso, Warhol, Dalí — is free with no booking required. Special exhibitions are ticketed separately.
Now open: Frida — The Making of an Icon. Opened 25 June 2026, showing through 3 January 2027. Over 30 Kahlo works alongside 200 pieces by Diego Rivera and the Mexican muralists — the first major Kahlo show in London in over 20 years. Adult tickets £25 · £5 for Tate Collective (ages 16–25) · free for Tate Members. Timed entry; Members enter free with unlimited visits and pre-sale access. Book direct on the official Tate Frida page.
The rate most families miss: under-12s go free with a paying adult, so two adults and two small children pay £50 rather than £100. Children aged 12–18 pay a few pounds rather than a share of the adult price, and the figure moves with the slot you pick: checking in August 2026 we found £4.37 on one and £5.00 on a Tuesday afternoon in September, so treat it as roughly a fiver and check your own date. Disabled admission is £23 and the companion enters free.
No platform sells the plain £25 admission — Tate keeps that to itself. The one third-party route in is Tate's own guided exhibition tour on GetYourGuide: an hour with a Tate expert, groups capped at 15, entry included, at roughly double the price of the ticket alone. The listing is still thin at 3.7 stars from 9 reviews, so take it for the small group and the context, not on its record.
Also on: Tracey Emin: A Second Life (until 31 August 2026) is the largest Emin exhibition ever staged, so it's the one to catch if you're here before then. Ana Mendieta runs until 17 January 2027 and Julio Le Parc until 3 May 2027. In the Tanks, nora chipaumire: Gadzi is free and closes 23 August.
What's coming to the Turbine Hall?
Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui, 13 October 2026 – 11 April 2027. Free, no ticket. Atoui is a Lebanese artist who builds instruments and works with sound, which makes the hall an unusual choice: it's the most acoustically difficult space in the building, and that appears to be the point. This is the annual Hyundai Commission, the large-scale installation Tate puts in the hall each autumn.
Two things worth knowing if you're planning around it. Until 13 October the Turbine Hall is empty and functions as the entrance and a covered public space, which is still worth the walk through but isn't an exhibition. And the commission is free while Frida Kahlo is £25, so on a tight budget the hall plus the permanent collection is a full visit at no cost.
Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography opens the day after, 14 October, and runs to 21 February 2027.
Where to book
Our take: The permanent collection needs no booking — walk straight in. Buy Frida direct on Tate at £25; no platform sells the plain admission ticket, so there is nothing to compare. Both guided options are Tate's own, sold through GetYourGuide with free cancellation: an hour on the free collection from £25, or the Frida exhibition tour at roughly double the ticket price.
The Tate Modern guide — room-by-room route
- Use the Blavatnik entrance on Park Street — skip the Turbine Hall queue entirely
- The Rothko Room: which floor, and why to go before 11 AM
- Level 10 terrace: the one time it's actually worth going up
What should you see first?
The Rothko Room (Boiler House, Level 2). Nine Seagram Murals painted for a Four Seasons restaurant Rothko ultimately refused to deliver. The room is dim, close, and quiet when it isn't full — which is before 11 AM on a weekday. Go here first.
Picasso's Weeping Woman and Warhol's Marilyn Diptych hang in the same collection wing. Picasso painted Weeping Woman in 1937; Warhol's Marilyn dates to 1962. Walking between them in sequence makes the 25-year distance feel short and the difference in approach feel enormous.
Level 10 viewing terrace (Blavatnik Building). Panoramic Thames views. Worth it on a clear Friday or Saturday evening after 18:00 — the museum stays open until 21:00 and the queue for the lift thins out considerably.
What do most visitors wish they knew about Tate Modern?
Enter via the Blavatnik Building on Park Street. The Turbine Hall entrance on Bankside has 40–60 minute queues on weekend mornings. The Blavatnik entrance is five minutes along the riverside and almost never has one.
Free guided tours run daily. Check the board at the information desk on arrival — free 45-minute permanent collection tours depart several times a day, no booking required.
Late opening Fridays and Saturdays until 21:00. Crowds drop sharply after 18:00. The Rothko Room is often empty by 19:00.
- Admission
- Free (permanent collection) · Frida Kahlo exhibition £25 adult · £5 Tate Collective (16–25) · from £4.37 ages 12–18, varies by date · under-12s free with a paying adult · £23 disabled, companion free · Members free
- Turbine Hall
- Hyundai Commission: Tarek Atoui, 13 Oct 2026 – 11 Apr 2027 · free, no ticket · empty until then
- Hours
- Mon–Thu + Sun 10:00–18:00 · Fri–Sat 10:00–21:00
- Closed
- 24–26 December
- Best entrance
- Blavatnik Building, Park Street — not Turbine Hall (weekend queues)
- Quietest times
- Tue–Thu mornings · Fri–Sat evenings from 18:00
- Nearest tube
- Southwark (Jubilee) · Blackfriars (District/Circle) · Tate Boat from Tate Britain
- Book at
- Frida Kahlo tickets (official Tate) · Tate's own guided tour, from £25 (GetYourGuide)
Hours can change — confirm on the official site before you go.
Last verified: July 2026
Frequently asked questions
Is Tate Modern free in 2026?
Yes. The permanent collection is free, no booking required. The Frida Kahlo exhibition (25 June 2026 – 3 January 2027) is £25 adult, £5 for Tate Collective (16–25), free for Tate Members. Under-12s free with a paying adult, 12–18s from £4.37 by slot, disabled £23 with companion free. Tickets are on sale now on the Tate website.
What are Tate Modern's opening hours?
Mon–Thu and Sun: 10:00–18:00. Fri–Sat: 10:00–21:00. Closed 24–26 December.
What is the Frida Kahlo exhibition at Tate Modern?
Frida: The Making of an Icon runs 25 June 2026 – 3 January 2027. Over 30 Kahlo works plus 200 pieces by Diego Rivera and the Mexican muralists. First major Kahlo show in London in over 20 years. Adult £25, Tate Collective (16–25) £5, Members free, under-12s free with a paying adult, 12–18s from £4.37 by slot. Timed entry — book direct on Tate; no platform sells the plain admission ticket.
What is the best time to visit Tate Modern?
Tuesday to Thursday mornings are quietest. Use the Blavatnik entrance on Park Street, not the Turbine Hall. Friday and Saturday evenings from 18:00 are calm — open until 21:00 those nights.
What is in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern right now?
From 13 October 2026 to 11 April 2027 the Turbine Hall holds the Hyundai Commission by Tarek Atoui, a Lebanese artist who works with sound. It is free, with no ticket and no booking. Until it opens, the hall is empty and works as the entrance and a public space. The Hyundai Commission is the annual large-scale installation Tate commissions for the hall; a further one is announced for 2027 without dates yet. Checked against tate.org.uk on 10 August 2026.
Tate Modern is free and large, and both facts work against you if you don't have a plan. Start at the Blavatnik entrance, go to the Rothko Room first, and leave the Level 10 terrace for a clear evening. For the full room-by-room route with floor numbers, timing, and the three works worth stopping at, get the guide below. See how Tate Modern compares in the full London museums ranking, or read the Tate Modern vs Tate Britain breakdown if you're choosing between the two. Tate Modern is one of London's permanently free museums — for the full list of what else costs nothing, see free museums in London. For the evening: Bermondsey is 10 minutes south — 40 Maltby Street is in the railway arches. See our best wine bars in London for the full list.
Last verified: July 2026
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