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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Carlyle’s House
Read more: Carlyle’s HouseA Chelsea townhouse which was home to essayist and philosopher Thomas Carlyle and his wife Jane in the mid-19th century. While living there they hosted literary greats such as Dickens, Tennyson, and Ruskin. Now a National Trust museum, it retains its original Victorian furniture, books and even Carlyle’s smoking pipe. A time-capsule into Victorian intellectual…
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Charlton House
Read more: Charlton HouseOne of the best examples of Jacobean manor houses in London. You can explore and learn about its rich history and its walled garden. Also includes the exhibition ‘Living in Greenwich: Tales Through Time’, showcasing its collection.
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Chelsea Physic Garden
Read more: Chelsea Physic GardenOne of Europe’s oldest botanic gardens, founded in 1673 . It was originally created by The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London for its apprentices to study medicinal plants and their uses. It became one of the world’s most important centres of botany, and it continues to maintain over 5,000 plant species with medicinal, edible…
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Chisenhale Gallery
Read more: Chisenhale GalleryA small not-for-profit art gallery in East London. Found in a former veneer factory, it was founded by artists in the 1980s. It’s one of London’s leading contemporary art spaces, focusing almost entirely on newly commissioned exhibitions – which means artists create work specifically for the gallery’s programme. Many now-internationally known artists had their first…
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Cutty Sark
Read more: Cutty SarkThe Cutty Sark is a former tea clipper, and was the fastest ship of its time. It’s now an immersive experience: explore its deck and cargo hold, take the ship’s wheel, and discover what life was sea was like. Below the ship you can see the Cutty Sark dramatically suspended above you – on the…
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Dennis Severs’ House
Read more: Dennis Severs’ HouseA unique way to discover London’s history. American artist Dennis Severs bought this Spitalfields townhouse in 1979 and spent the rest of his life transforming it into a “still-life drama.” Each of its rooms is set between 1725 and 1919, as if the fictional Huguenot Jervis family, silk weavers by trade, had just stepped out…
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Design Museum
Read more: Design MuseumA world-leading museum of design, covering everything from graphics to fashion, furniture to technology. Its permanent exhibition, Designer Maker User, explores the history of contemporary design — how things are conceived, made, and used, and how this has evolved over time. It’s wide-ranging and full of surprises, featuring everything from the London Tube map to…
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Discover Greenwich (Greenwich Visitor Centre)
Read more: Discover Greenwich (Greenwich Visitor Centre)An exhibition introducing the history of Greenwich, including details about the former Tudor palace once located here and movies and TV filmed in the area. Part of the Old Royal Naval College, but can also be visited separately (ticketed).
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Eltham Palace & Gardens
Read more: Eltham Palace & GardensA dizzying fusion of architectural styles – a medieval palace which was then further developed during Henry VIII’s time, who spent time in the property (he danced in the Great Hall!). In the 1930s, eccentric millionaires built an art-deco mansion. There are also large, glorious gardens – 19 acres of them – and an awesome…
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Jack the Ripper Museum
Read more: Jack the Ripper MuseumAn immersive museum in Whitechapel which tells the story of Jack the Ripper and his crimes. It aims to plunge you into the unsettling world of Victorian East End London, with recreated (often gruesome) scenes. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the museum was extremely controversial when it first opened – its planning…
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Kensington Palace
Read more: Kensington PalaceA historic royal residence in Kensington Gardens, most famous as the childhood home of Queen Victoria. A visit explores opulent State Apartments, the beautiful Sunken Garden and the Jewel Room, home to Queen Victoria’s emerald tiara. There’s also an exhibition about Queen Victoria and the King’s Gallery, which showcases some of the finest paintings from…
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Leighton House Museum
Read more: Leighton House MuseumThe former home of Victorian artist Lord Leighton, showcasing paintings, sculptures and is studio. The highlight, though, is the Arab Hall – one of London’s most beautiful rooms, housing a collection of tiles from the Middle East, stunningly arranged. It cost more than the entire rest of the house. A real hidden gem.
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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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Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
Read more: Museum of Brands, Packaging and AdvertisingA museum tracing 150 years of consumer culture. Its centrepiece is the Time Tunnel, with plenty of historic packages, consumer items and adverts, telling the story of how our lives – and what we’ve consumed – has changed over time, and placing this in its historic context. Full of nostalgia for people who grew up…
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Museum of Immigration & Diversity (19 Princelet St)
Read more: Museum of Immigration & Diversity (19 Princelet St)A Grade II* listed Georgian townhouse, originally built for a wealthy Huguenot silk merchant. Later home to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, who created a small synagogue at the back of the house that still survives. The building went on to host the Museum of Immigration & Diversity, telling the stories of Spitalfields’ many communities.…
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Museum of London Docklands
Read more: Museum of London DocklandsThe Museum of London’s East London branch, set in a Grade I listed warehouse on the Isle of Dogs. It tells the story of London’s port and the Thames, from the rise and fall of the docks to the Blitz. Highlights include atmospheric recreated dockside streets, plenty of interactive exhibits and a Mudlarks family gallery,…
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National Army Museum
Read more: National Army MuseumThe British Army’s national museum, with a collection of over a million items going back 600 years. Explores how the British Army originated (from the Civil War to today); the lives of soldiers; the British Army’s global role (remember this is the official Army museum – don’t expect a fully rounded debate on the role…
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National Maritime Museum
Read more: National Maritime MuseumBritains premier maritime museum and the largest of its kind in the world. A must-visit for maritime history enthusiasts, with exhibitions immersing visitors in naval history – a higlight is the jacket Admiral Nelson war at the Battle of Trafalgar – and home to ships and boats from all across the world. A Fijian canoe,…
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Natural History Museum
Read more: Natural History MuseumOne of the world’s top museums in an utterly stunning Victorian building envisaged as a ‘Cathedral to Nature’. Home to a vast collection of natural history. Highlights include the ever-popular dinosaurs, its central hall with the skeleton of a blue whale, the glittering gem gallery, and rooms with just about every animal you can imagine,…
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Nunnery Gallery
Read more: Nunnery GalleryA small, not for profit art space in Bow, housed in a 19th century convent building. It’s a community-focused space, often showcasing East London artists – such as through the biannual East London Art Prize.
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Old Royal Naval College (Painted Hall)
Read more: Old Royal Naval College (Painted Hall)Greenwich’s architectural gem, designed by Sir Christopher Wren originally as a hospital for injured Seamen before becoming a naval college. It’s now most famous for the iconic Painted Hall, more than 3,700 square matres of Baroque art covering the walls and ceilings, depicting kings, queens, naval glory and mythological creaters. It’s often called Britain’s Sistine…
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Paradox Museum
Read more: Paradox MuseumAn immersive museum offering over 50 interactive exhibits that play with perception, including a Zero Gravity Room and Infinity Well.
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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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Ragged School Museum
Read more: Ragged School MuseumLondon’s largest Victorian Ragged School, which served some of the poorest children in the East End. It aims to recreate what life was like for Victorian children (it has a reconstructed Victorian classroom, where they host ‘Victorian lessons’). Exhibits also showcase the history of the school, its founder (Dr Barnardo) and what life was like…
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Ranger’s House (Wernher Collection)
Read more: Ranger’s House (Wernher Collection)A bit of a hidden gem in Greenwich Park, Ranger’s House is an elegant Georgian villa (its exterior used in Bridgerton!) home to the private art collection of Sir Julius Wernher. It’s a treasure trove for art enthusiasts, home to nearly 700 works including paintings by the Old Masters and an eclectic mix of decorative…
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Royal Hospital Chelsea Museum
Read more: Royal Hospital Chelsea MuseumA small museum within the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the Chelsea Pensioners (British Army veterans) established in the 17th century. The stable house, which houses the museum, has recently been refurbished, and is a modern, interactive museum telling the story of the Hospital’s founding by King Charles II and the lives of the…
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Saatchi Gallery
Read more: Saatchi GalleryA cutting-edge contemporary art gallery, known for large-scale, immersive art exhibitions that often push boundaries and showcase emerging artists, presented in sleek, minimalist spaces. For example, in the past it has housed the most comprehensive street art exhibition in the UK; a blockbuster showcase of JR; photography chronocling the impact of hiphop. It also shows…
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Sambourne House (18 Stafford Terrace)
Read more: Sambourne House (18 Stafford Terrace)The perfectly preserved Victorian family home of cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne, with beautiful interiors in the ‘aesthetic style’. Stunning stained glass windows and original WIlliam Morris prints. A time capsule of a museum, beautifully cluttered and over the top. You can also learn a little about Sambourne, who was most famous for his cartoons in…
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Science Museum
Read more: Science MuseumA world-famous museum of science and innovation, spread across seven floors of interactive exhibits. Very hands-on and great for kids, with a reputation for making science fun and accessible. Begin in the huge ‘Making the Modern World’ hall, which takes you through 250 years of innovation, showcasing objects that have shaped our society, such as…
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Thames River Police Museum
Read more: Thames River Police MuseumA small museum in the old carpenter’s workshop at Wapping Police Station about the Thames River Police, which was established in 1798 and claims to be the first police force set up in England. Displays historic uniforms and equipment, and information about the history of policing the Thames. Because it’s in a working police station,…
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The Fan Museum
Read more: The Fan MuseumThe first museum in the world dedicated to hand fans, located across two Grade II* Georgian buildings. Home to more than 6,000 fans displaying exquisite craftmanship and an astonishing range of artistry. The oldest dates to the 11th century. The collection will also be of interest to art lovers – it includes a fan with…
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The Queen’s House
Read more: The Queen’s HouseA former royal villa and one of Greenwich’s most beautiful buildings, now an art gallery. Designed by Inigo Jones, setting the blueprint for the rest of maritime Greenwich. Highlights include a painting by Gainsborough; a famous portrait of Queen Elizabeth I and the Tulip Stairs – its dizzying, elegant staircase, the first unsupported spiral stairs…
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The Royal Observatory
Read more: The Royal ObservatoryAn observatory in Greenwich Park which played a huge role in the history of astronomy and navigation. Also the birthplace of modern timekeeping, home to the Prime Meridian line (giving us Greenwich Mean Time). Excellent exhibitions about time and space; one of the UK’s largest telescopes; and a world-class modern planetarium.
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Tower Bridge Exhibition
Read more: Tower Bridge ExhibitionAn excellent way to experience one of London’s most famous landmarks, Tower Bridge. Inside are interactive exhibitions about its history; the Victorian Engine Rooms; glass floors, for a unique viewpoint above the River Thames; and excellent vistas of London’s skyline from the towers.
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Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives
Read more: Tower Hamlets Local History Library & ArchivesTower Hamlets’ local history archive, in Grade II listed former public library. Although most of the collection isn’t on show, they host exhibitions about local history which can be visited for free – check the website to see what’s on. For example, throughout 2025 and early 2026 it’s showing “Next Stop – 900 Years of…
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Tower of London
Read more: Tower of LondonLondon’s most famous fortress, the Tower of London has stood on the Thames for nearly 1,000 years, and was the site of many key historical moments, imprisonments and executions (and hauntings?). Today it’s one of the UK’s most visited historic sites and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Too many highlights to list here – but…
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University of Greenwich Galleries
Read more: University of Greenwich GalleriesGalleries within the University of Greenwich, including the Stephen Lawrence Gallery, showcasing temporary exhibitions, often focused on contemporary art or local heritage.
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Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)
Read more: Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)One of London’s greatest museums, and possibly its most eclectic. Amogng the world’s largest and best collections of art, design and culture, with more than 100 galleries showcasing everything from photography, to Raphael’s cartoos, ancient Buddhist sculpture and Islamic carpets, alongside modern design and fashion. Designed by the Victorians, its setting is just as jawdropping…
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Whitechapel Gallery
Read more: Whitechapel GalleryOne of London’s most important modern art galleries which, since it opened in 1901, has hosted some of the earliest London shows of artists like Pollock, Hockney, Rothko and Picasso. By showcasing emerging artists, it played a key role in the story of modern British art. Exhibitions change regularly, but if you’re into modern art,…
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Young V&A
Read more: Young V&AAn outpost of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) aimed specifically at children. It has three main galleries – Imagine, Play and Design – all designed for play and creativity, exploring design and imagination in a hands-on way. A great introduction to museums for kids! It also tends to host one paid temporary exhibition, exploring…
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