The Courtauld Gallery

This is an execellent setting to experience a fair amount of world-class paintings by the older artists such as Botticelli and Rubens along with "newer" artists such as Manet, Monet, and Van Gogh.

I went specifically to see Manet's "A Bar at the Folies-Bergeres" and was pleasantly surprised by a number of other paintings such as Ruben's "Descent from the Cross" and Van Gogh's "Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear."

Within walking distance of the Savoy Hotel with Temple Underground Station being the closest access for subway travellers.

The Courtauld Gallery is a nice place with beautiful art in nice surroundings. The French and Italian pieces are a must see. We visited lastweek during the special Renoir exhibition. At first my main interest was only to see the famous Manet piece but there is so much more to see. Not as exciting as the National Gallery but it is a must on your to do list whilst in London.

These galleries, largely nineteenth and twentieth century paintings, are set up for art student study -- which meant that I saw beautiful things and I learned a lot. I can now tell the difference between Manet and Monet (I turn out to be a Monet person), and I sat for 15 minutes and studied the differences between silver teapots made early and late in the eighteenth century. A very welcoming place, with a great little cafe serving imaginative lunches.