The best of London 8 - small art galleries

London has some of the world's greatest treasurehouses (the British Museum, National Gallery and Victoria & Albert collection come to mind), but at some point during your visit you might prefer a smaller and more manageable gallery.

One of these I can recommend is the Wallace Collection. One of the finest small art collections in the country, the Wallace resides in the palatial Hertford House on Manchester Square behind Selfridges.

The focus is on French painting (Poussin, Delacroix and 19 Bouchers!) though there are also superb Dutch genre canvasses, portraits by Gainsborough and Reynolds, plus an exotic mix of armour, porcelain and extravagant clocks. Amongst the Old Masters represented here are Rembrandt, Reubens, Velazquez and Van Dyck. Probably their best-loved painting is The Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals.

The gallery is a joy to wander around and you could pop in for only an hour but still see everything. Best of all, it's free to visit.

INFO The nearest Tube stop is Bond Street (Jubilee and Central lines). The museum is open daily 10am-5pm, but is shut over Christmas. Ongoing renovations mean a few select rooms will be shut or have more difficult access for certain visitors, their website has full details.

A more grand but still compact affair can be found at Somerset House. This is an old royal palace and former government offices which is now home to a clutch of galleries collectively administered by the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Their art gallery is a treat with some of the finest of the French Impressionists on view: oils by Seurat and Cezanne, exquisite bronzes of ballet dancers by Degas, plus Monet, Gauguin and every other major name of the movement. One of the masterpieces of the collection is A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Manet.

The collection is not given over completely to Impressionists, though. There is one room nearly full of works by Reubens and another dedicated almost entirely to Kadinsky. A chamber on the ground floor is devoted to gilded Italian altarpieces. The rooms are small and intimate, often with extravagant ceilings and furniture.

INFO Admission to the gallery is £5 per adult (but free for National Art Fund members). There is a combo ticket if you are interested in visiting other parts of the complex, which include items from the St Petersburg's Hermitage and a decorative arts collection (a bit frou-frou for our tastes, though). The nearest Tube stop is Embankment (Bakerloo, Northern, District and Circle lines).

Finally, how about Leighton House? Tucked away in the genteel back streets of Kensington you'll find the home and studio of Lord Leighton, a famous painter and one-time president of the Royal Academy. For fans of the pre-Raphaelites, a visit is a must as not only is his sumptuous house filled with his own works, but there is a collection of art by his contemporaries such as Burne-Jones, Watts and Millais.

The highlight of the house is the fantastical Arab Hall with its bubbling fountain, intricate mosaics and exotic blue tiles. The sumptuous space has been featured in several films, including Bright Young Things, and music videos starring the likes of Spandau Ballet and The Stranglers.

INFO Leighton House is at 12 Holland Park Road, north of Kensington High Street (a 10-minute walk from the Tube there - District and Circle lines). THE HOUSE IS CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS UNTIL THE END OF 2009 - CHECK THE WEBSITE FOR DETAILS.