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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Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum
Read more: Alexander Fleming Laboratory MuseumThe laboratory where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin – a discovery which revolutionised medicine and earned him a Nobel Prize. It’s restored to how it was when he worked here, and tells the story of Fleming and the discovery and development of Penicillin. Within St Mary’s Hospital.
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Apsley House
Read more: Apsley HouseOnce home to the Duke of Wellington, famous for his victories over Napoleon. A stunning stately home, which is also home to an extraordinary collection of art, including work by Goya and Velázquez.
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Arsenal Football Club Museum
Read more: Arsenal Football Club MuseumThe museum at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, dedicated to the clubs history from its 19th century origins in Woolwich to present day. Filled with memorabilia, trivia, history and interactive exhibits. Included as part of a stadium tour, but can be visited separately.
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Banqueting House
Read more: Banqueting HouseThe only surviving building of Whitehall Palace, designed by iconic architect Inigo Jones. Famous for its epic painted ceiling and as the site of Charles I’s execution in 1649. TEMPORARILY CLOSED UNTIL LATE 2025 – CHECK WEBSITE
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Benjamin Franklin House
Read more: Benjamin Franklin HouseThe world’s only remaining home of Benjamin Franklin, telling the story of his life in London, his scientific work, and his diplomacy leading up to the American Revolution. It offers a variety of experiences depending on the day you visit. On Wednesday-Thursday you can visit on a self guided tour, exploring the rooms and exhibition…
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Bow Street Museum of Crime and Justice
Read more: Bow Street Museum of Crime and JusticeAn award-winning museum in a former Police Station and Magistrates’ Court, once home to London’s first official law enforcement service, the Bow Street Patrols and Runners. Its original cells and corridors now house galleries that chart the evolution of policing, the lives of those who served here, and the stories of famous cases, prisoners, and…
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Buckingham Palace
Read more: Buckingham PalaceThe royal family’s official London residence – millions of tourists peer through its gates every year, watch the famous Changing of the Guard, and wonder what’s behind its huge, majestic facade. Its opulent, magnificent state rooms open to the public every Summer, and are open to some small group tours year round. Highlights include the…
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Centre for Recent Drawing (C4RD)
Read more: Centre for Recent Drawing (C4RD)A volunteer-run small art gallery devoted to current drawing practice. Provides non-commercial exhibition space for emerging and established artists to show drawings free from market pressures.
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Churchill War Rooms
Read more: Churchill War RoomsThe secret underground headquarters where Winston Churchill and his ministers planned Britain’s strategy in the Second World War. Now open to visitors, with many rooms – including the iconic ‘Map Room’, where many of the key decisions in the war were made – left as they were on the day the war ended. Other highlights…
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Courtauld Gallery
Read more: Courtauld GalleryOne of my favourite art galleries in London, home to London’s best collection of impressionism. Includes many of the big hitters, like Van Gogh, Monet, Manet and Degas, plus the biggest collection of Cézzanes in the country. Also hosts temporary exhibitions, often focused on more contemporary art.
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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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Discover Children’s Story Centre
Read more: Discover Children’s Story CentreAn immersive museum for young children devoted to storytelling and imagination, with two floors of immersive play spaces called ‘Story Worlds’ and interactive storybook exhibitions.
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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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Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art
Read more: Estorick Collection of Modern Italian ArtThe UKs only gallery devoted to modern Italian art, best known for its Futurist masterpieces and figurative art and sculpture dating from 1890 to the 1950s. Housed in a Grade II listed Georgian villa in Canonbury. As well as its permanent collection it hosts temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary Italian artists
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Frameless
Read more: FramelessAn interactive and immersive art experience, which aims to bring some of the world’s greatest masterpieces (works by those such as Van Gogh, Kandinsky, etc) to life through multi-sensory installations using cutting edge technology. Features 42 masterpieces across four galleries.
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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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Handel & Hendrix House
Read more: Handel & Hendrix HouseA unique museum, showcasing the lives of two of the most iconic museums to live in London: Jimi Hendrix and classical composer George Frideric Handel. In a restored Georgian townhouse, it showcases the homes of both (if they’d been contemporaries, they’d have been neighbours!). Handel lived here from 1723 until his death in 1759; Hendrix…
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House Mill
Read more: House MillThe world’s largest surviving tidal mill, dating from 1776, and a beautiful space on the River Thames. Visited by guided tour.
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Household Cavalry Museum
Read more: Household Cavalry MuseumA living museum at the heart of Horse Guards, telling the story of the history, traditions and day to day life of the Household Cavalry – the personal troops of the Monarch. Exhibits uniforms, armour, ceremonial equipment and a behinds the scenes view of its working stables, all located in the historic Horse Guards parade…
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Houses of Parliament
Read more: Houses of ParliamentArguably London’s most famous building – home to the iconic Big Ben, as well as the heart of British political life. Guided tours show you around the historic building, including the House of Commons and House of Lords. You can also book self guided tours when Parliament isn’t in session. They also offer Big Ben…
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Hunterian Museum
Read more: Hunterian MuseumA museum exploring the history of surgery, from ancient times to cutting-edge technology. Housed at the Royal College of Surgeons, it recently reopened after a major refurbishment, and displays the largest public display of human anatomy in England, as well as instruments, equipment and models. Fascinating, though not for the squeamish. It’s named after the…
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Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
Read more: Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)A cutting-edge contemporary art gallery showing rolling exhibitions, focused on emerging and experimental art. Usually has one exhibition on at a time. It also has a cinema, showing often experimental films.
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Islington Museum
Read more: Islington MuseumThe local heritage museum for the Borough of Islington. Its galleries cover themes community and social history, including fashion , food healthcare, wartime Islington and radicals. Includes a bust of Lenin who lived in the borough.
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Kennel Club Dog Art Gallery
Read more: Kennel Club Dog Art GalleryA unique art gallery dedicated to art featuring dogs, dating from the present day all the way back to the 1st century AD – though most art comes from the 19th and 20th century. Housed within the offices of the Kennel Club, an organisation dedicated to the wellbeing and health of dogs.
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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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London Canal Museum
Read more: London Canal MuseumA museum devoted to the history of London’s waterways, exploring the story of canals in London – how they came to be built, the lives of the workers, and how they worked. Housed in a 19th-century ice warehouse it also tells the story of London’s ice industry. Highlights include peering into huge Victorian ice wells…
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London Transport Museum
Read more: London Transport MuseumAn excellent museum about the history of transport in London, going from Victorian times when the city was filled with horses and carriages, to the transport of the future. Features historic buses, Underground train carriages and exhibitions about the development of the Tube network and the art and design behind its iconic brand. Highly interactive.
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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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Mall Galleries
Read more: Mall GalleriesA unique art gallery, led by artists and entirely not-for-profit and self funded. Showcases exhibitions and competitions, providing a platform for emerging and unknown artists. Has a wide range of exhibitions which tend to only be on for a short amount of time – check website.
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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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Museum of Methodism
Read more: Museum of MethodismA small museum about the history of Methodism, housed in its spiritual home – the Methodist church built under the direction of its founder, John Wesley. Next door is Wesley’s former home, which can also be visited.
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Museum of the Order of St John
Read more: Museum of the Order of St JohnOne of London’s hidden gem museums, telling the history of the Order of St John – from its medieval origins, to the modern day St John Ambulance.
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National Gallery
Read more: National GalleryLondon’s world-famous major gallery, dominating Trafalgar Square. Home to a huge collection of art from the 13th century to the 20th, including work by Leonardo da Vinco and Van Gogh’s sunflowers. Usually also hosts one blockbuster (paid) temporary exhibition at a time.
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National Portrait Gallery
Read more: National Portrait GalleryHolds the world’s largest collection of portraits, including famous figures from throughout British history. It recently reopened after a major rennovation, and it’s excellent (way more interesting than the name suggests), telling Britain’s story through faces.
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Photographers’ Gallery
Read more: Photographers’ GalleryLondon’s leading museum dedicated to photography. It has no permanent collection, but instead has several temporary exhibitions running at any time, showcasing a wide range of historic and contemporary photography, across styles and geographies. Exhibitions can cover everything from Black British identity, to photography on album covers, to photography using cutting edge technology. Also home…
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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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Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum
Read more: Polish Institute and Sikorski MuseumA museum dedicated to Poland’s experience in the Second World War, especially the story of the Polish Armed Forces in exile and the government-in-exile in London. Founded in 1945 to preserve archives, artefacts, and personal testimonies, it became a vital centre during the Cold War for keeping this history alive when it was suppressed in…
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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 Academy of Arts
Read more: Royal Academy of ArtsOne of London’s most historic and prestigious art institutions, founded 1768, housed in the beautiful Burlington House. Nowadays it’s most famous for the Summer Exhibition, where anyone can enter their art to be shown (which if you’re in London during, is REALLY worth visiting, at least once). Throughout the rest of the year it hosts…
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Royal Academy of Music Museum
Read more: Royal Academy of Music MuseumThe Royal Academy of Music (still an active education space)’s collection, including historic and rare instruments and original manuscripts from composers.
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Royal Mews (Buckingham Palace)
Read more: Royal Mews (Buckingham Palace)Part of Buckingham Palace, but entered separately and with a separate ticket. Home to the royal collection of stables and a collection of carriages and coaaches used by the Royal Family. Highlight includes the Gold State Coach, used in the coronation of both Elizabeth II and Charles III.
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Serpentine Galleries
Read more: Serpentine GalleriesA free to visit modern art museum across two galleries, within Kensington gardens. Hosts excellent contemporary art exhibitions, including with internationally known artists (for example an exhibition with David Hockney in 2026) as well as outside installations within the park itself.
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Sherlock Holmes Museum
Read more: Sherlock Holmes MuseumA musueum at the real 221B Baker Street, address of the world famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Aims to recreate Holmes’ world through Victorian style rooms, including his ‘study’, filled with items referenced in the stories and guides in costume. Also home to the largest collection of Sherlock Holmes gifts and memorabilia in the world.
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Somerset House
Read more: Somerset HouseA huge, neo-classical building on the River Thames, which hosts exhibitions – often contemporary art, but also exhibitions about photography and design. Also worth visiting if you’re in the area for the stunning courtyard and fountain.
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Spencer House
Read more: Spencer HouseA rare 18th-century noble townhouse, describing itself as one of the finest buildings ever built in London, and home to extremely opulent, well-looked after state rooms. Visited by guided tour, providing an insight into the lives of Britain’s aristocracy.
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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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Tate Britain
Read more: Tate BritainOne of London’s major art galleries, sister to the Tate Modern on South Bank. It focuses on British art throughout time, from Hogarth to Hockney, and is also home to a major collection of work by JMW Turner.
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The Charterhouse
Read more: The CharterhouseA historic building with a multi-layered history – having been a medieval monastry, a Tudor mansion, and a school. You can explore this history through its well-preserved rooms, its garden and its museum
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The Guards Museum
Read more: The Guards MuseumTells the story of the five regiments of Foot Guards who guard the Royal Palaces (the ones with the big fluffy hats). The museum’s display follows these regiments’ histories from the English Civil War to modern conflicts.
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The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace
Read more: The King’s Gallery, Buckingham PalacePreviously known as the Queen’s Gallery, a public art gallery within Buckingham Palace that showcases work from the Royal Collection on a rotating basis. Exhibitions often explore members of the Royal Family, its history and fashion, as well as its vast collection of art and photography.
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The Postal Museum (with Mail Rail)
Read more: The Postal Museum (with Mail Rail)A museum about the history of post in the UK, with interactive and immersive displays. Its highlight is the Mail Rail – a small train running underground, originally used to transport mail across the city, which you can ride as part of your visit and learn about its history.
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The Showroom
Read more: The ShowroomA not-for-profit contemporary art space supporting emerging artists and socially engaged projects. It often focuses on political art, and supports artists who haven’t previously had significant exposure in London
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Twinings Museum (Tea)
Read more: Twinings Museum (Tea)A small museum inside Twinings’ flagship store on the Strand, which is the oldest dry tea and coffee shop. It’s mostly a shop, but features a small exhibit on tea and the history of Twinings.
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V&A East Storehouse
Read more: V&A East StorehouseThe storehouse for the some of the V&A’s vast collection not on display in the main museum, allowing you to get a behind-the-scenes look. Across three levels are public walkway to see the museum store at work and some of its collection. There are also mini displays showcasing the collection, and free group sessions highlighting…
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Wallace Collection
Read more: Wallace CollectionA world-class collection of 18th and 19th century art in the historic townhouse of the Seymour family (it was originally Edward Seymour’s home, brother of Jane Seymour). Across lavish stately rooms, it showcase one of the world’s most significant collections of fine and decorative arts, including paintings by Titian and Van Dyck, arms and armour,…
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Wellington Arch
Read more: Wellington ArchThe iconic triumphal arch at Hyde Park Corner. Inside is a small museum about the arch’s history and World War One, and at the top you’re rewarded with views over the park.
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Wesminster Abbey and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries
Read more: Wesminster Abbey and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee GalleriesOne of the key locations in British history, Westminster Abbey is a large Anglican church complex that has hosted the coronations of 40 English and British monarchs since 1066. Thousands of people are buried here, including former kings and queens, as well as prominent figures such as Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, and several…
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