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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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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Bruce Castle Museum
Read more: Bruce Castle MuseumA Grade I listed, 16th century manor house, which is also home to the museum of the London Borough of Haringey. Its collection includes artefacts from the past and present of Haringey’s neighbourhoods (including Tottenham, and Tottenham Hotspurs memorabilia!). The former grounds of the manor house are now a large public park. As of 2025,…
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Brunei Gallery, SOAS
Read more: Brunei Gallery, SOASGallery at SOAS University showcasing rotating exhibitions highlighting art and artifacts from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Its aim is to promote a better understanding of the art, culture, history and contemporary contexts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
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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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Eel Pie Island Museum
Read more: Eel Pie Island MuseumA funky little volunteer-run museum celebrating Eel Pie Island, which was home to a legendary 1960s music club. Everyone from Howlin’ Wolf to David Bowie, Rod Stewart to the Rolling Stones and Eric Claptop played there. The museum (which isn’t actually on the Island where the venue was, but nearby) celebrates this rock’n’roll heritage, and…
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Freud Museum London
Read more: Freud Museum LondonFinal home of Sigmund Freud, including his collection of antiquities, his study and his library, and his famous psychoanalytic couch. There are also temporary exhibitions, and a portrait of Freud by Dali.
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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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Hackney Museum
Read more: Hackney MuseumHackney’s local museum, exploring over 1,000 years of history. This includes exhibitions on Saxon Hackney all the way through to its modern, diverse identity and rich history of migration. It’s all presented in an engaging, family-friendly way and is know for being an inclusive community resource with plenty of interactive elements for children.
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Havering Museum
Read more: Havering MuseumA community museum exploring Havering’s history, from pre-history to the borough’s diverse present. Located in a historic brewery.
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Horniman Museum and Gardens
Read more: Horniman Museum and GardensA huge, popular family museum with a wildly eclectic collection which is impossible to define. Highlights include the World Gallery, with collections from across continents; an aquarium; a natural history display; a display of music instruments. It’s also popular for its large gardens home to a number of interesting sights – like a butterfly house,…
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Irish Cultural Centre
Read more: Irish Cultural CentreAn Irish culture centre which hosts exhibitions and art exhibitions throughout the year.
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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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Japan House
Read more: Japan HouseArea: West Borough: Kensington & Chelsea Size: 2? Entry Free entry Opening Days Seven days a week What it is
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Jewish Museum London
Read more: Jewish Museum LondonExcellent museum of Jewish heritage and culture in Britain, with ceremonial objects, personal stories, and exhibits on the Holocaust.
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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 Comedy
Read more: Museum of ComedyA hybrid of museum and live comedy venue tucked beneath St George’s Church in Bloomsbury. It celebrates British comedic history with memorabilia from iconic performers, and also hosts stand-up shows and events.
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Museum of Croydon
Read more: Museum of CroydonCroydon’s local museum, sharing stories of the borough’s history and people. Also home to the Riesco collection, of Chinese ceramics.
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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 Richmond
Read more: Museum of RichmondRichmond’s local museum, inside the borough’s lovely Victorian Old Town Hall. Covers the borough’s history from medieval times to present, with community-driven exhibitions, talks and tours. Exhibitions are split across themes, such as Richmond’s Industry, Richmond’s Archaeology, Richmond’s Architecture and Richmond’s People. One of its highlights is the model of Richmond Palace, one of Henry…
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Museum of Wimbledon
Read more: Museum of WimbledonAn independent, volunteer-run local history museum showcasing Wimbledon’s history and the people who’ve lived here. Includes a collection relating to the campaign for Women’s Suffrage; models of lost manor houses; and local archaeology finds.
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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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Redbridge Museum & Heritage Centre
Read more: Redbridge Museum & Heritage CentreA newly refurbished community museum covering 150,000 – everything from how medieval manors shaped modern Redbridge, to the boroughs links to the British empire, Victorian orphanages and its modern, multicultural community.
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The British Library
Read more: The British LibraryOne of the world’s largest libraries, with a free exhibition showcasing some of its treasures – including handwritten Beatles lyrics and the Magna Carta, along with important artefacts from across the world.
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The British Museum
Read more: The British MuseumOne of the world’s most famous and London’s most visited museum, guiding you through Global history, with artefacts from every corner of the world. Highlights include the Rosetta Stone and the Benin Bronzes. It also hosts exceptional temporary exhibitions, among the best in London.
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The Cartoon Museum
Read more: The Cartoon MuseumMuseum of British cartoons, comics and animation from 18th century to present, celebrating humor and political satire in cartooning. It also hosts excellent and fun temporary exhibitions.
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The Cinema Museum
Read more: The Cinema MuseumA volunteer-run museum of cinema memorabilia housed in a former workhouse. Focused on cinema before the age of the multiplex, with a collection going back to the 1890s.
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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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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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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 cartoons, 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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Wellcome Collection
Read more: Wellcome CollectionA museum exploring the ‘human experience’ and health. Home to a permnanent exhibition ‘Being Human’, and rotating exchibitions on science, medicine, life, and art.
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