Tate Modern is free, and since the cloakroom closed, your bag is not. Lockers cost £4, £6 or £8, and they do not take cash.
The cloakroom in the Natalie Bell Building on Level 0 has now closed. The only place to leave anything is the paid lockers on Level 0 of the Blavatnik Building.
Standard £4, 36 x 30 x 43cm. Large £6, 44 x 36 x 42cm. Jumbo £8, 58 x 44 x 66cm. Free for Tate Members.
Four miles away, Tate Britain still has a free cloakroom. Same organisation, same free admission, and one of them now charges you to put a coat down.
A bag over cabin size cannot come in at all
This is the harder limit and it stops people at the door.
Bags and items larger than cabin bag size, 55 x 40 x 20cm, are not permitted in the building. Not in a locker, not anywhere.
Bags are checked on arrival and Tate reserves the right to refuse any bag, parcel or item. If you are arriving with luggage, Tate’s own suggestion is the left luggage facility at London Bridge stations before you walk over.
Note the Jumbo locker is 58 x 44 x 66cm, which is larger than the maximum bag allowed in the building. So the biggest locker exists for things that are not suitcases.
Open until 9pm on Friday and Saturday
Sunday to Thursday: 10.00 to 18.00.
Friday and Saturday: 10.00 to 21.00.
Three extra hours, twice a week, for free. Tate Britain closes at 18.00 every single day, so Tate Modern is the only Tate you can visit in the evening.
That makes a Friday or Saturday after work the best-value cultural evening in London: a world-class collection, open for three hours after most galleries have shut, at no cost.
Free guided tours, three times a day
Free guided tours run most days at 12.00, 13.00 and 14.00.
No booking, no charge, included with the free entry. Almost nobody knows they exist.
Tate Britain runs four a day, adding a 15.00 tour, so if the tour is the point, the other building gives you more chances.
Everything free, listed
The collection is free for everyone. The permanent free displays include In the Studio, Performer and Participant, ARTIST ROOMS: Francesca Woodman, Materials and Objects and Media Networks.
Also free: the Turbine Hall, and the Tanks, the underground spaces given over to live performance and video.
And the thing Tate lists among its own five free things to do: the Restaurant and Bar at the top of the building, with panoramic views across the Thames to St Paul’s. You can go up and look without buying anything, which makes it one of London’s free viewpoints and nobody counts it as one.
Tate Draw lets you draw on digital sketch pads and see the results come to life, also free.
If you are 16 to 25, exhibitions are £5
The single biggest saving Tate offers, and it applies across all their galleries.
Visitors aged 16 to 25 can join Tate Collective and get £5 exhibition tickets.
Against a normal exhibition price that runs well into the twenties, that is the best art deal in London for anyone in that bracket.
The rest of the exhibition pricing:
Up to four children aged 11 and under go free per parent or guardian. Four, not one.
£5 family child tickets for children aged 12 to 18.
Visitors with a disability pay a concessionary rate and their companion enters free.
Members and Supporters go free to every exhibition with no booking at any Tate gallery, and get free lockers here too.
Booking is recommended for exhibitions but never needed for the collection.
Electric scooters are banned, including the batteries
Electric skateboards, scooters and folding bikes are not permitted in the building, and neither are the batteries removed from them.
Taking the battery out does not help. Non-electric skateboards, scooters and folding bikes are allowed but must go in the paid lockers here, or the cloakroom at Tate Britain.
Capacity is limited and at busy times they may refuse the item, so check your dimensions against the locker sizes before you set off.
Where it is, and how to get in
Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG.
Entry is via the Turbine Hall ramp or the Blavatnik Building.
Southwark and Blackfriars are the nearest stations, with St Paul’s directly across the Millennium Bridge. There is a boat service along the Thames between the two Tates.
What is on now
Frida: The Making of an Icon, until 3 January 2027.
Ana Mendieta, until 17 January 2027.
Julio Le Parc: Light. Colour. Action., until 3 May 2027. Seven decades of work by the Argentinian artist, described as turning visitors into active participants.
All three are free for Members.
How to plan it
Free, always, for the collection. No booking needed.
Evening visit: Friday or Saturday, until 21.00. The only Tate open late.
Free tour: 12.00, 13.00 or 14.00, most days.
Aged 16 to 25: join Tate Collective for £5 exhibitions.
With children: four under-11s free per adult, and £5 for 12 to 18s.
Travelling with a bag: nothing over 55 x 40 x 20cm gets in, and lockers are £4 to £8, card only.
Want a free view: go up to the Restaurant and Bar, which looks across to St Paul’s.
Want a free cloakroom instead of a paid locker: Tate Britain.
Tate Modern
- Address
- Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Entry via the Turbine Hall ramp or the Blavatnik Building
- Nearest
- Southwark and Blackfriars, with St Paul’s across the Millennium Bridge and a Thames boat service to Tate Britain
- Hours
- Sunday to Thursday 10.00 to 18.00. Friday and Saturday 10.00 to 21.00
- Booking
- Not needed for the collection. Recommended for exhibitions. Members enter exhibitions without booking
- Price
- Collection free for everyone. Exhibitions ticketed, with 5 pound tickets for 16 to 25s through Tate Collective, four under 11s free per adult, 5 pound family tickets for 12 to 18s, and free entry plus a free companion for disabled visitors. Lockers 4, 6 or 8 pounds, free for Members
- Standing
- Free modern and contemporary art in the former Bankside power station, with the Turbine Hall and the underground Tanks
How to get in
The Level 0 cloakroom has closed, so bags now go in paid lockers at 4 to 8 pounds, card only, while Tate Britain still has a free cloakroom. Nothing larger than cabin bag size, 55 by 40 by 20cm, is allowed in the building at all. Free guided tours run most days at 12.00, 13.00 and 14.00, and the top-floor Restaurant and Bar is a free viewpoint over the Thames to St Paul’s.
Where to go next
Tate Britain is the other half, free as well, with a free cloakroom, four daily tours and the world’s largest free Turner display.
The free museums page covers the national collections, and the South Bank covers the walk either side of it.
Questions we get asked
Is Tate Modern free?
Yes, entry to the collection is free for everyone, with no booking needed. Temporary exhibitions are ticketed, though 16 to 25 year olds can get £5 tickets through Tate Collective, up to four children aged 11 and under go free per adult, and 12 to 18 year olds pay £5 on a family ticket.
What are Tate Modern's opening times?
Sunday to Thursday 10.00 to 18.00, and Friday and Saturday 10.00 to 21.00. Those three extra hours at the weekend make it the only Tate gallery open in the evening, as Tate Britain closes at 18.00 every day.
Is there a cloakroom at Tate Modern?
No, not any more. The cloakroom in the Natalie Bell Building on Level 0 has closed. There are paid lockers on Level 0 of the Blavatnik Building at £4 standard, £6 large and £8 jumbo, which do not accept cash and are free for Tate Members. Tate Britain still has a free cloakroom.
Can you take a suitcase into Tate Modern?
No. Bags and items larger than cabin bag size, 55 x 40 x 20cm, are not permitted in the building at all, and bags are checked on arrival. Tate suggests using the left luggage facility at London Bridge stations.
Does Tate Modern do free tours?
Yes. Free guided tours run most days at 12.00, 13.00 and 14.00, with no booking or charge. Tate Britain runs four a day, adding a 15.00 slot.
How do you get cheap Tate exhibition tickets?
If you are aged 16 to 25, join Tate Collective for £5 exhibition tickets across all Tate galleries. Otherwise, children aged 11 and under go free, up to four per adult, and 12 to 18 year olds are £5 on a family ticket. Members go free to every exhibition without booking.
Can you see the view from Tate Modern for free?
Yes. The Restaurant and Bar at the top of the building has panoramic views across the Thames to St Paul's, and Tate lists it among its own free things to do, so you can go up and look.
Can you take an electric scooter into Tate Modern?
No. Electric skateboards, scooters and folding bikes are banned, and so are their batteries if removed. Non-electric versions are allowed but must go in the paid lockers here or the cloakroom at Tate Britain, and may be refused at busy times.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 289 in the guide.
Last checked 6 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
