National Gallery

The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square in Westminster, London, holds one of the world's great collections of Western European painting, spanning from the 13th to the early 20th century. The Sainsbury Wing houses early Renaissance works including Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin of the Rocks and Botticelli's Venus and Mars, while the main building's later rooms display Turner's The Fighting Temeraire, Constable's The Hay Wain and Van Gogh's Sunflowers. The gallery's neoclassical portico, designed by William Wilkins and completed in 1838, forms the northern edge of Trafalgar Square, one of London's principal public squares with Nelson's Column and the fountains directly in front. A visit typically takes two to three hours to see the major highlights across the collection's 60-plus rooms. General admission is free, with the permanent collection open daily; special loan exhibitions in the Sainsbury Wing are ticketed and often require advance booking. Friday evenings, when the gallery stays open until 21:00, are notably quieter than weekend afternoons, when both the galleries and the square outside fill with tourists. The square itself is at its most photogenic around midday when the fountains are lit and busiest with street performers.