National Gallery audio guide is now free to access with new Bloomberg Connects partnership
The National Gallery’s audio guide is now free to use. Fees have been abolished thanks to a new two-year partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, bosses have announced.
The National Gallery Collection Audio Guide includes commentaries of 60 of the nation's favourite paintings which are permanently displayed on their walls. These range from the 14th century Wilton Diptych and The Rokeby Venus by Velázquez, to Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and John Constable’s The Hay Wain. Listening to all of it would take over five hours.
Photo © The National Gallery, London
Until this week, visitors needed to pay up to £7 to access it. But that paywall has now been removed as Bloomberg Philanthropies have become the gallery’s digital innovation partner, and so the guide has moved over to the free-to-access Bloomberg Connects platform.
Everyone who visits can now get the guide on their own smart phones by scanning a QR code in the galleries, or they can access it online from home before hand.
The commentaries are voiced by experts from the gallery — such as curators and conservators — but also famous and high profile names. These include HRH Princess Eugenie, ‘Gruffalo’ illustrator Axel Scheffler, broadcaster and actor Sir Stephen Fry, and astrophysicist Becky Smethurst.
Visitors to the National Gallery’s temporary exhibitions should note however, that the bespoke audio guides that accompany these are not free, and a charge remains to hear these.
The National Gallery. Photo © David Levene; Art Fund 2026
It’s because these continue to be provided by rival software company Smartify. So if you’re heading to see the current smash hit Renoir exhibition you’ll need to fork out £5 for the additional audio commentary. Although for the upcoming Van Eyck portrait exhibition, a complimentary audio guide is included in the £18 ticket price.
The free collection audio brings the National Gallery in line with 1,500 other global museums and cultural organisations who host complimentary guides on Bloomberg Connects. These include London’s Imperial War Museum and the Horniman Museum, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
Many museums still charge however. The British Museum audio guide is £6 for the full bundle of commentaries, while the Louvre lets you rent an audio headset for €6.
