Discover every museum in London all in one place.
There are nearly 250 museums in London – more than just about any other city in the world. Through London’s Museum Guide I want to encourage others to share my love of London’s incredible museum scene, and help you to discover gems you might not have heard of.
Below you’ll find a full, filterable list of everything the city has to offer. Head to the London Museum Guide homepage to explore bespoke guides.
A complete A-Z of London’s museums by theme & location
How to use this guide: The cards below show an A-Z directory of all 250+ museums in London. Use the filters to the right to show only museums you’re interested in.
‘Primary focus’ splits museums by their broad area of focus. You can click ‘additional themes’ to see more specific categories, such as museums covering World War Two, or modern art galleries. If you prefer to look at a map, visit my London Museum Map here.
Finally, have fun, and if you have any tips, want to leave a review for a museum, or notice an error, don’t hesitate to comment or contact me!
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Barnet Museum
Read more: Barnet MuseumLocal museum tracing Barnets history from Bronze Age to present. Set in a historic house.
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Boston Manor House
Read more: Boston Manor HouseA 17th-century Jacobean manor in Brentford, recently restored and open to the public. Set in a scenic park, it offer s beautifully preserved interiors, including original ornate plasterwork, and community exhibition galleries, often about Hounslow’s modern diverse communities.
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Chiswick House & Gardens
Read more: Chiswick House & GardensA Grade I listed Villa, famous as one of London’s gems of Georgian architecture gems. It features large gardens (the first ever English landscape gardens); while in the house, Neo-Palladian in style and extremely striking, you can explore its ornate details, period rooms and art collection.
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Crossness Engines (The Crossness Pumping Station)
Read more: Crossness Engines (The Crossness Pumping Station)A sewage station might not be your average day out – but the Crossness is a masterpiece of Victorian engineering, credited with playing a crucial role in saving London from the Great Stink in 1858 and subsequent cholera epidemics. Architecturally it’s massive in scale and stunning, giving it the nickname ‘the Cathedral of Sewage’. Only…
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Danson House
Read more: Danson House1760s Georgian mansion in Danson Park with rich interiors. The gardens are free to visit, while the house is only available to visit as part of a guided tour. It is also Bexley’s Registery Office.
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Dorich House Museum
Read more: Dorich House MuseumThe former studio-home of sculptor Dora Gordine, in a 1930s Art Deco house close to Richmond Park. Displays Gordine’s sculptures and studio spaces, preserved as they were. Also home to an important collection of Russian art, part of Gordine’s personal collection.
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Gunnersbury Park Museum
Read more: Gunnersbury Park MuseumA large museum, with over 50,000 items in its collection, focused on the history and culture of West London boroughs Ealing and Hounslow. Features archaeological artefacts from the area; exhibitions on the culture of Ealing and Hounslow and its famous residents; social history; fashion and industry. It’s housed in a former Rothschild mansion, and some…
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Hall Place & Gardens
Read more: Hall Place & GardensA stunning Tudor country house with exhibitions about its former residents, local history and free to visit gardens. It also has an owls experience, butterfly garden and hosts farmers markets.
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Hogarth’s House
Read more: Hogarth’s HouseThe former country home of 18th-century artist William Hogarth, now a small museum about his life. It has a large collection of his work, as well as exhibits on the house, its residents and the local area, as well as a lovely garden.
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Honeywood Museum
Read more: Honeywood MuseumA historic house in the London borough of Sutton, dating back to the mid-17th century. It reopened to visitors in 2012 after a refurbishment, and is home to exhibitions about the local area and the house itself.
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Kingston Museum
Read more: Kingston MuseumA small museum exploring the history of Kingston upon Thames. Notable collections include ‘Town of Kings’, exploring the borough’s royal history, and ‘Eadweard Muybridge’, about the pioneering Victorian photographer who was from the area. Also has a small art gallery which showcases temporary exhibitions.
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Little Holland House
Read more: Little Holland HouseA bit of a hidden gem in South West London, the Grade II listed former home of Frank Dickinson, part fof the Arts and Crafts movement. The house was designed by Dickinson himself, inspired by William Morris.
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London Museum of Water & Steam
Read more: London Museum of Water & SteamA hands-on industrial museum at the former Kew Bridge Waterworks. Tells the story of London’s water supply, with interactive exhibits; live steam demonstration; the world’s largest collection of working Cornish steam engines, and a splash zone for kids.
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London Transport Museum Depot
Read more: London Transport Museum DepotThe London Transport Museum’s depot, where the majority of its 500,000-object collection is held, including vintage vehicles, trains, buses, posters and maps. Visited by guided tour focusing on specific aspects of its collection – such as design, and ‘Cab it!’ where you can explore a number of old underground trains and see the drivers room.…
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Metropolitan Police Museum
Read more: Metropolitan Police MuseumA small museum, only available by booking ahead and only open on certain days, with exhibitions about the history of the Met Police, its offices, and crimes in the city.
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Musical Museum (Brentford)
Read more: Musical Museum (Brentford)A unique museum of self-playing musical instrument, telling the story of how music has been recorded and reproduced throughout history. Engineering marvels and inventions, such as self-playing violin and The Mighty Wurlitzer, designed to accompany silent films. There are lots of opportunities to listen to the instruments. Also home to a gallery dedicated to music…
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Osterley Park and House
Read more: Osterley Park and HouseA grand Georgian country house remodelled by the famous 18th century architect Robert Adam. It’s set in a vast park and now run by the National Trust, featuring opulent neo-classical rooms, like the famous and stunning Entrance Hall and its luxurious state apartments. Throughout are paintings, sculptures and tapestries.
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Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery
Read more: Pitzhanger Manor & GalleryThe country home of Sir John Soane (Ealing was countryside back then!), designed by him. Soane is one of Britain’s most influential architects. You can explore the manjor, recently restored to Soane’s original design. There is also a contemporary art gallery.
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Red House
Read more: Red HouseThe former home of William Morris, stunningly decorated with original furnishings, Pre-Raphaelite art and gardens. Visit to the house is by pre-book only.
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Royal Air Force Museum London
Read more: Royal Air Force Museum LondonThe RAF’s flagship London museum, with six aircraft hangers looking at the RAF’s history, present and future. Plenty of interactive exhibitions and aircrafts.
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Stanley Picker Gallery
Read more: Stanley Picker GalleryA small university art gallery, showcasing students and local artists.
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Stephens Collection (Stephens House)
Read more: Stephens Collection (Stephens House)A historic mansion with landscaped gardens, owned by Henry Charles Stephens – an ink businessman. The gardens are free to visit, but the house is by guided tour only.
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Syon House and Park
Read more: Syon House and ParkA quite simply stunning Grade I listed stately home, former residence of the Duke of Northumberland. It has many layers of history, but its most famous for its interior, a masterpiece by Robert Adam with exquisite classical-style rooms. Surrounded by 200 acres of parkland and home to a famous Great Conservatory. Overall a relatively uncrowded…
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Whitehall Historic House
Read more: Whitehall Historic HouseA Grade II* listed Tudor manor house, home to exhibitions about the local area and the building’s former inhabitants.
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