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Royal Academy of Arts: Winter 2026 Exhibitions, Ticket Prices, Free Rooms and Opening Hours

The Royal Academy of Arts on Piccadilly is W1's biggest art venue, and this winter it has two paid exhibitions plus several free displays. Painting the French Riviera runs to 31 January 2027, and Peggy Guggenheim in London opens on 21 November 2026, telling the story of the gallery she ran on Cork Street round the corner. Here are the dates, ticket prices, opening hours and what you can see without paying.

Exhibitions at the Royal Academy this winter

Painting the French Riviera

The RA's big autumn show tells how the Côte d'Azur shaped modern art, from the 1870s to the 1960s. More than 160 works are on display, including paintings by Monet, Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Derain, Dufy and Yves Klein, alongside sculpture, travel posters and film. It was organised with the Cleveland Museum of Art. Reviews have been warm: five stars from The Independent and four from The Standard and the Mail on Sunday.

On Fridays and Saturdays, ticket holders and Friends can get a coffee and a madeleine for £8 in the RA Café and the Hugh Casson Room. The Saturday late opening to 9pm runs for the length of this exhibition.

Peggy Guggenheim in London

This is a W1 story. In January 1938 the American collector Peggy Guggenheim opened her first gallery, Guggenheim Jeune, on Cork Street, a couple of minutes' walk from the Royal Academy. Over the next year and a half she staged more than 20 exhibitions there, including the first UK solo show of Vasily Kandinsky and the first exhibition of collage in Britain. The RA show reunites works from those displays and the period, by artists including Eileen Agar, Salvador Dalí, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Piet Mondrian, Cedric Morris and Sophie Taeuber-Arp. It was organised by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice with the RA.

Friends of the RA get preview days on 18, 19 and 20 November before it opens to everyone on Saturday 21 November.

What you can see for free

You do not need a ticket to enjoy the Royal Academy. These displays are free:

• The John Madejski Fine Rooms, the RA's free display rooms in Burlington House, until 29 January 2027.
• In the cradle of British art: John Constable and the RA, 12 October 2026 to 1 February 2027.
• Nicole Eisenman, a sculpture in the courtyard, 22 September 2026 to 5 February 2027.
• Selling displays, including In Provence and Southern France, with works for sale, to 28 February 2027.

Combine them with the Wallace Collection, which is also free; our Wallace Collection guide covers it, and our list of free things to do in W1 has more.

Opening hours and getting in

Use the Piccadilly entrance at Burlington House. The RA's second building, at 6 Burlington Gardens, is closed until autumn 2027 while the RA Collection Gallery is expanded, so the back door is shut to general visitors.

• Bags: backpacks, suitcases and large bags cannot be taken into the galleries or stored. There are self-service lockers and a small cloakroom for smaller items.
• Payment: the RA is cashless.
• Security: extra bag checks are in place on arrival, so allow a few minutes.
• Photos: allowed unless a sign says otherwise.
• Book ahead for the paid exhibitions, especially on Saturdays and in the last weeks of a show.

Piccadilly Circus and Green Park stations are each a few minutes' walk away; our guide to getting around W1 covers buses and the Elizabeth line too.

Is it worth becoming a Friend?

Friends of the RA get unlimited entry to the paid exhibitions, can bring a family member as a free guest, and get preview days and use of the Keeper's House bar and restaurant run by José Pizarro. If you plan to see both the Riviera and Guggenheim shows with a partner, that is already four tickets, so compare the current Friends price on the RA website with what you would pay at the door.

Make a day of it

Burlington House sits between Mayfair and St James's. After the galleries, walk up to Cork Street, where Guggenheim Jeune stood, and on to Savile Row, or cross Piccadilly for Fortnum and Mason. Our Mayfair art galleries guide lists the commercial galleries nearby, and afternoon tea in W1 covers the classic places for a sit-down nearby.

Sources: Royal Academy of Arts website (Plan your visit; Exhibitions and events; Painting the French Riviera; Peggy Guggenheim in London), checked 9 November 2026. Prices and dates can change; confirm on royalacademy.org.uk before you go.

More things to do in central London on the W1 London homepage.