Somerset House

One of the best places to discover in London with an amazing courtyard to escape the buzz and noise of the city! The building houses several Museums. The Courtald gallery is simply amazing for painting lovers. Grab a bite at Fernandez and Wells or for a more upmarket option Tom’s Kitchen. And end up with a last drink in the river terrace.
In winter they have the most beautiful ice rink in London!

I love this place. From the courtyard with it’s fountains which is a perfect place to eat your lunch/​catch sun rays.
They have a lot of exhibitions. Free ones and ones you have to pay to get in. They have may events too from The Sony Photography Awards 2016 to Photo London. They’ve also hosted London Fashion Week.
There’s also a gallery of old paintings.
Such an amazing place, such amazing exhibitions. Why are you still reading this — go, go visit it and see for yourself.

Loooove this venue. From art to concerts to iceskating, always a great experience. This time around I went to the Pick Me Up design fest. Every year is great, but I was clever this time and went in the morning to avoid the crowds

This is a very beautiful and historical place, with different wings facing the huge courtyard where in the summer they have outdoor screenings in the evenings, and in the winter, an ice rink.
Each wing holds different exhibitions and galleries. Inside, the building is very modern and bright. I went to the International Fashion Showcase during London Fashion Week, which was in the West Wing. Works quite well as each room contained one countries’ designers’ work, as it is a warren of little rooms with a small café in the middle, with a very limited selection of sandwiches and pastries.

I’ve been to Somerset House many times now and always have a great time. They put on so many different events and exhibits, you never know which space they’ll be using next. I’ve see concerts outside, and also watched people skate in the Winter.
The main reasons for me visiting are usually their thoughtful exhibits. In the past I have seen a creative exhibit on water which took place in the tunnel below the building. I’ve seen another on tattoos, one on ‘rudboy culture’, while many of the recent ones have involved technology.
Today I visited for their Big Bang Data exhibit, which was entry with a paid ticket. It was so worth the entrance cost. It featured a brief history on data and how it’s been stored through the years, how it’s moved, and what the ‘cloud’ is really all about (a lot of physical machines actually).
There are two coffee shops you can take a break at during your visit. Come, explore, and check out the amazing building itself. Wait until the sun sets as well, it’s a steller view at night.

As a huge fan of tintin I was super excited to hear about the tintin exhibition at Somerset House, and beat of all, for free!
However, the exhibition is somewhat disappointing — only three rooms’ worth of things tintin related displayed. The wallpaper is probably the best part. I can’t give anything tintin related ¹⁄₅ so ²⁄₅ it is.
Only go if you have other things planned nearby…

Beautiful building and architecture. I spend most of my time there in the café, Fernandez and Wells. Though it is a little pricey for a sandwich and pot of tea, it is a great stop for students to utilise in between classes on the Kings College London Strand Campus. They have a recent range of hot beverages and brunch type meals, and the atmosphere is welcoming and the staff kind and friendly.

Some fascinating exhibitions here, with the occasional cool event happening. Around Christmas is when it’s most fun, with the ice rink and a whole host of activities to spend an afternoon exploring. Glorious, pretty architecture too, and a good place to stop by for an artsy afternoon out

Somerset House is open year around and hosts many events. I have only been here for the London Fashion Week and that was a good event. We saw the catwalks, heard some talks on what to expect for the next season, walked around the stalls and had a look. There was a really nice pop up bar overlooking the Thames which I really liked. I had a few glasses of champagne which was nice. It is a great event venue and I had a good time here.

I love Somerset house and more importantly I love ice skating there!
This is the first year I’ve been but getting your skates and getting on to the ice is so easy compared with the other pop up ice rinks — efficient. You also get a whole hour on the ice rather than the 30 – 45 min slots you often see which make it feel a bit rushed. A tad pricey at £16 each but worth it :)
Beautiful atmosphere with an amazing tree — if you don’t like ice skating I’d definitely recommend coming here around December to see the tree, soak up the atmosphere and get a hot chocolate in the fortnum and mason lodge.
For the past few years they have had the pop up Fortnum and mason Christmas rooms nearby which is great for a browse in a less busy environment.
I came away feeling so Christmassy and it was definitely a special evening to remember.
My only negative is that you have to pay £1 to use the cloakroom and you can’t take bags on the ice!

Fantastic building with many uses. I enjoyed sitting out on the terrace with Thames views, wandering through the Fortnum and Mason indoor ‘christmas market’, watching the ice skaters and checking out the exhibition of Herge’s cartoon creation Tin Tin. You can eat and drink at Somerset House too. Whats not to love!

What a triumph of a building or should I say collection of buildings. When can you dine out, have a coffee, see some contemporary art, what a movie outside, see the latest technologies, take part in events and so much more. all in one place.
Somerset house is a wonderful place, beautiful and grand. No wander its host to a dozen society parties, events and don’t forget. London Fashion week.
Its incredible. I’m suprised if you’ve not gone yourself. Always keep checking the latest events, as if you ever central, then its worth even popping in for a short while!

If I ever have a spare moment I always take the time to wander over to Somerset House see if there is any exhibition or event going on. Some are free and some are paid entry but more often than not you will always find something interesting. There are also free tours around the place that you can find on Tues and Thurs; which are really cool (last an hour). I also like to just walk around and discover he the beautiful design the place has. Some of the stairs, shadows, and lighting are quite wonderful depending on the time of day you go.
At night during seasonal times they will often have an open-​air film screening or ice skating in the middle for all to see. It also houses Fernandez and Wells which is one of my favourite places to drink coffee read a book and people watch. All in all I reckon this is one of my favourite places in London. A treasure.

Nice inner courtyard away from the traffic and hub-​bub of London, family-​friendly atmosphere with children running around in the upward fountains on a hot sunny day. Nice café. Great exhibitions here too but you often have to book in advance. Also great space for music gigs and films in the summer. Recommend this venue.

It’s hard not to love a venue that does it all, all year round, for everyone.
The Somerset House is one of those places you hear about, but may never go to. Stop that. Go. Check it out. See what they have on today. Maybe it’s an ice skating rink, maybe it’s a film, maybe it’s a collection of paintings, or the world’s great photography, or a live recording session by PJ Harvey.
Maybe it’s all of things at once.
It’s not hard to find, it’s a giant building with a giant courtyard. And in the summer it’s fantastic just to stand out there, in the sun, watching the fountain and the people walking by.
It can be a little confusing trying to navigate the building, since it is gigantic. And the staff, depending on what is going on, isn’t always the friendliest of people. But small gripes for such a cool space. Go now, see what they have on, enjoy a part of London’s history.

Came here for the Ice Skating in winter and Film 4 Summer Screen in August. It rained both times (which for me would usually be a night ruiner), but it was great. Staff were friendly & helpful and, the prices are good for what you get.
Definitely hoping to return again this year.

I came here on a tour, without really knowing what we’d see.
The tour was very informative and the guide told us lots about the building and its history. We didn’t get to go inside very much, but the tour did take us down to the ligthwells, which are very cool and used for filming lots of movies.
It’s definitely worth a visit to come on a tour and get a different perspective!

During the first week of every August, each year, Somerset House, is one of the top hub venues for the Film Four screening experience.
On the first day of Film Four at Somerset House, they always have the actual film première event, (in other words, an actual celebrity red carpet event) before the actual film is being showcased on the massive TV screen.
Film Four at Somerset House will usually have the main cast/​crew and the film director, together with film fans, autograph collectors and members of the UK press and other freelance photographers. And also, I’d like to mention celebrity bodyguards as well.
Somerset House is the flagship location, of where they broadcast live, the actual runway fashion, catwalk shows of the London Fashion Week.
I always like going into Somerset House, whenever I am in the immediate area
Somerset House is one of my favourite Neoclassical buildings in London.
The next Film Four Summer Screen at Somerset House will take place on Thursday, 06-​August-​2015 until Wednesday, 19-​August-​2015; with the opening night event hosted by the 007 Bond actress, Gemma Arterton.
Last year in 2014, Film Four Summer Screen at Somerset House was hosted by the French actress, Marion Cotillard (Inception & The Dark Knight Rises).
I must say, that event was one of my best days, during the long summer months in London.

Thank you Somerset House for the amazing ice rink that opens during Winter! The lights were fantastic, so is the huge Christmas Tree right at the front. The hire shoes are pretty decent (not like the horrible ones I got at the Bayswater ice rink!), and they have a pretty good DJ belting out classics that you could really groove to!
The not so goods — cloak room has a hire charge, normal «London» price café next to it, they do not allow you to bring bags with you whilst ice skating (they definitely allowed me at Bayswater and Natural History Museum as well as the London Eye ice rinks!) — not even a small lady’s hand bag!
I love the training section of the ice rink too, this is a small corridor where a qualified person stands and you can ask them to teach you things, and practise those skating backwards moves of course!

Sur les bords de la Tamise, la Somerset House est un immense lieu d’exposition à la fois permanente et temporaire.
Lors de ma dernière virée à Londres j’ai eu l’occasion de voir la sublime exposition consacrée à Isabella Blow. La Somerset House se prête tout à fait à ce genre d’exposition avec une successions de salles de tailles différentes sur plusieurs étages et permettent une véritable théâtralisation des œuvres.
Par contre s’il n’a pas été besoin de faire la queue pour acheter les billets d’entrée le vestiaire est une horreur, comptez 45min pour déposer et récupérer vos affaires.

Christmas ice rink
Valentino haute couture exhibition
Isabella Blow fashion exhibition
London fashion show + fashion weekend
Indie photographers exhibitions
Christmas Shopping Arcade
Courtauld gallery
…
I’d feel lucky to see any one of them, yet I’ve been to all of them, all at Somerset House.
Somerset House is an incredibly beautiful neoclassical building with a huge courtyard. The building itself has a rich history (that you can read on wikipedia) and is worth visiting just for the architecture. The location is great, overlooking the River Thames, east of Waterloo Bridge, walking distance to the eventful South Bank. There’s a grand terrace at the back of the main building with an amazing view of the river, great for grabbing a beer and just enjoy the open air on a lovely day. There are some decent food and drink options in the building, as well as a few interesting stores. The Courtauld gallery has one of the best impressionism painting collections in London, definitely worth a visit.
But what make the place so magical are the ever changing events and exhibitions. There are some remarkable seasonal events: popup cinema in the summer, London fashion week in spring and autumn, ice rink during Christmas time (one of the most beautiful in London)… What I like the most are the non-​stop temporary exhibitions. Usually there’s a major non-​free exhibition (always in the same venue in the main building). I’ve been to a few, they were all very interesting and well curated. Sometimes there are a few smaller free exhibitions going on in the West Wing, I found those very enjoyable as well. I could easily spend a weekend afternoon here, start with the main exhibition, stop at Tom’s Kitchen for a quick bite, take my coffee with me to the smaller exhibitions, shop at some of the popup stores, and then walk across Waterloo bridge to checkout the book market at the South Bank…
If you are mildly interested in fashion, fine arts, photography, architecture, history, ice-​skating, or even just a nice view, I highly recommend visiting Somerset House. You will never be bored.