Unofficial comparison

Photo rules, museum by museum

What each museum allows: phones and cameras for personal use, no flash, and the rooms or exhibitions where photos are not allowed. Always follow the signs in each room.

Acropolis Museum Athens: Allowed everywhere except the Archaic Acropolis Gallery, which protects sculptures with traces of ancient paint. No flash, tripods or professional lights anywhere.
Belvedere Vienna: Allowed for private, non-commercial use without flash, tripods, selfie sticks or drones, keeping one metre from the works. Rooms, exhibitions and works with a no-photography sign are excluded, and photographing other visitors, especially children, is not allowed.
British Museum London: Allowed for private use with handheld cameras and phones, except where a notice says otherwise. No selfie sticks; tripods need prior arrangement.
Budapest History Museum – Castle Museum Budapest: Photos are allowed for personal use; flash and tripods are not. Commercial photography or filming needs the director-general's permission.
Capitoline Museums Rome: Allowed for personal and study use, without tripods, selfie sticks or extra lighting. Works in temporary exhibitions are excluded.
Doge's Palace Venice: You may take low-resolution photos for non-profit use, as long as you don't touch the works. Flash, video, tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed.
Galleria Borghese Rome: Allowed for non-commercial use, without flash or other lights, tripods or stands, and without touching the works. The museum can ban photos, especially of loans in temporary exhibitions, which are shown along the permanent route.
Galleria dell'Accademia Florence: Allowed for personal use where permitted, without flash, tripods or other professional equipment, and following staff instructions. Selfie sticks must be left at the entrance.
Hungarian National Gallery Budapest: Photos and video are allowed with any ticket for personal use, without flash, monopods, tripods or selfie sticks. Some temporary exhibitions restrict them, with signs at the entrance.
Hungarian National Museum Budapest: Allowed for private use without flash, tripods or selfie sticks. Photography is banned in the Coronation Mantle room, which has been closed to visitors for renovation since 2 December 2025 and was still closed on 21 October 2026.
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna: Photography and filming for private, non-commercial use are allowed without flash or tripod. Signs mark individual works that may not be photographed, and selfie sticks must be left at the cloakroom.
Louvre Museum Paris: Photos and videos for personal use are allowed in the permanent collections. No flash, lighting, selfie sticks or tripods; temporary exhibitions may forbid photos or videos of some works.
Museo Egizio Turin: Photos and video are allowed without flash or professional equipment. Tripods, easels and other bulky supports need permission in advance from the museum (info@museoegizio.it).
Museo Reina Sofía Madrid: Allowed throughout the museum without flash, tripods, selfie sticks or other camera stands, unless a sign says otherwise. That includes Guernica, which visitors have been allowed to photograph since 1 September 2023. Filming for publication or commercial use needs the press office's permission.
Museum of Ethnography, Budapest Budapest: Photos and video with your own phone are allowed for personal use. A camera needs a HUF 700 photo ticket. Flash, tripods, selfie sticks and stabilisers are banned.
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest Budapest: Photos and video are allowed with any ticket for personal use, without flash, monopods, tripods or selfie sticks. Some temporary exhibitions restrict them, with signs at the entrance.
Musée d'Orsay Paris: Allowed for private use. No flash, lights, tripods or telescopic poles; some works, especially in temporary exhibitions, are marked as not to be photographed. The visitor rules also say that any photo or recording in which staff or other visitors appear needs the consent of those people and the museum's authorisation.
National Archaeological Museum Athens: Photographing antiquities with a handheld camera without flash is allowed free of charge, except for objects marked with a plate. Flash is not allowed, and tripods, filming and video need permission from the Museum's Directorate.
National Gallery London: You may take photos and film for personal, non-commercial use. This includes exhibitions, unless the label beside a work says otherwise. Flash, extra lighting, tripods, selfie sticks and gimbals are not allowed, and signs mark some loan paintings where photography is restricted. Do not photograph or film children and young people without the accompanying adult's consent, and do not photograph, record or stream guided tours.
National Museum of Indonesia Jakarta: Phone photos are fine without flash. Professional cameras, meaning DSLR, mirrorless, action and compact cameras and the like, are not permitted, nor are tripods or drones; for professional cameras at particular events, the museum asks you to contact its public relations team.
Natural History Museum London: You may take photos and film for your own personal, non-commercial use. Some objects or exhibitions may be restricted, so follow any sign next to the object or at the exhibition. Flash, extra lighting, tripods, monopods, camera stands, gimbals and selfie sticks are not allowed without the Museum's permission, and you must not photograph or film identifiable children without the accompanying adult's consent, or film guided tours.
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: Allowed without flash. Selfie sticks, tripods and lamps need written permission; no photos in the exhibition wing or the Cuypers Library.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York: Allowed for personal use without flash, unless a work or gallery is marked otherwise. Tripods, monopods and selfie sticks need prior approval.
Tokyo National Museum Tokyo: Allowed for personal use in the collection galleries, without flash, tripods, monopods or selfie sticks. Not allowed in the special exhibition galleries (Heiseikan 2nd floor) or where a sign says so.
Uffizi Galleries Florence: Allowed for personal or study use, without flash, selfie sticks, tripods or professional equipment. Works on loan to temporary exhibitions are excluded.
Vatican Museums Vatican City: Allowed for personal use everywhere except the Sistine Chapel, where photos, filming and phone use are forbidden. No flash, tripods or selfie sticks.

Checked on 14 October 2026 from each museum's official pages; sources are on each guide page. Rules can change, so check the signs on the day.

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