Most of the best museums in London are free — a genuinely staggering fact that people who didn't grow up here tend to find almost suspicious. Yes, you can walk into the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the British Museum without paying a penny. There are a few exceptions on this list (London Transport Museum, I'm looking at you), but even there the under-17 rule saves the day.
A quick note on the rankings: this isn't about which museum is objectively "best" from a scholarly perspective. It's about which ones work with children — i.e. which have enough to look at, touch, or gasp at to justify the logistics of getting there, and which have accessible loos.
| Venue |
Best Age |
Crowd Level |
Entry Cost |
Best For |
Visit Time |
| Natural History Museum |
All, esp 3–12 |
Very High |
Free |
Dinosaurs, wow-factor |
2.5–3 hrs |
| Science Museum |
5–14 |
High |
Free (Wonderlab extra) |
Hands-on science |
2–3 hrs |
| Young V&A |
0–10 |
Low–Medium |
Free |
Toddlers & under-8s |
1.5–2 hrs |
| British Museum |
6+ |
Very High |
Free |
Egyptians, world history |
2–3 hrs |
| Museum of London Docklands |
4–12 |
Low |
Free |
Mudlarks activity area |
1.5–2 hrs |
| Horniman Museum |
All |
Low |
Free (aquarium ~£5pp) |
Quirky collections + animals |
2–3 hrs |
| RAF Museum London |
6–14 |
Very Low |
Free |
Aircraft, WWII history |
2.5–3 hrs |
| National Maritime Museum |
4+ |
Medium |
Free |
All Hands interactive gallery |
1.5–2 hrs |
| Grant Museum of Zoology |
8+ |
Very Low |
Free |
Curious specimens |
1 hr |
| Tate Modern |
5+ (better 8+) |
Medium–High |
Free (perm. collection) |
Turbine Hall, modern art |
1.5–2 hrs |
| London Transport Museum |
2–10 |
Medium |
Adults ~£21, U17 free |
Buses, tubes & trains |
1.5–2 hrs |
| Wellcome Collection |
10+ |
Very Low |
Free |
Medicine, curiosities |
1.5–2 hrs |
1. Natural History Museum
📍 South Kensington, SW7
🎟 Free
👶 Best ages: All ages, especially 3–12
If you only take your kids to one museum in London, make it this one. The moment you walk through the doors and look up at Hope — the 25-metre blue whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling of the Hintze Hall — you get it. This building is magic. The Dinosaur Gallery alone is worth the trip: Stegosaurus, Triceratops, a T. rex that moves and makes noise, and a cast of Dippy the Diplodocus that tours the country but whose original home this is. Kids who couldn't care less about palaeontology will stand absolutely riveted in front of it.
Beyond dinosaurs, the Earth Galleries (accessed through a giant globe) have an earthquake simulator that's genuinely thrilling, the Mammals gallery is full of hulking skeletons and specimens, and the Creepy Crawlies gallery will either delight or terrorise your children depending on their sensibilities. Budget a good three hours minimum and accept that you won't see everything.
Parent tip: Timed entry tickets are required for weekends and school holidays — book online in advance, it's free but essential. Aim for the first entry slot of the day to beat the queues. The café is expensive; the picnic area outside is excellent.
The honest parent details
- Best time: The first entry slot on weekdays (10am) is transformative. Weekends are never quiet, but before 10:30am or after 3pm are the least bad windows.
- Buggy access: Excellent. Wide entrances, lifts throughout, dedicated buggy park near the main entrance. You can push a double buggy through Hintze Hall without drama.
- Toilets: Good, multiple locations, baby changing available. Ground floor near Hintze Hall and next to the café. Rarely a long wait except at peak times.
- Skip if short on time: The Minerals Gallery and Ocean Gallery are pleasant but not spectacular. Prioritise: Hintze Hall → Dinosaurs → Earth Galleries earthquake simulator. That's your 90 minutes sorted.
- Eat cheaply nearby: Picnic on the grass along Exhibition Road (free, and lovely in good weather). For a coffee fix, Pret on Cromwell Road is a 3-minute walk. Skip the museum café — £6.50 for a toastie is a choice they've made.
- Crowd warning: The T. rex enclosure on a Bank Holiday Saturday is a full-contact experience. Shoulder-to-shoulder from the entrance. If you see the school holiday crowds arriving, make a beeline to the Mammals gallery instead — most people go straight to dinosaurs.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Hintze Hall — spend 10 minutes just looking up at Hope the blue whale and the architecture
- Dinosaur Gallery — T. rex, Stegosaurus, the animatronics; allow 40 minutes minimum
- Earth Galleries — ride the escalator through the giant globe and do the Kobe earthquake simulator
2. Science Museum
📍 South Kensington, SW7
🎟 Free (Wonderlab extra)
👶 Best ages: 5–14
Directly next door to the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum is the second half of the perfect South Kensington double-header. The free galleries cover space exploration, mathematics, engineering, medicine, and the history of technology — and they do it with enough interactive exhibits and spectacular objects (a real Apollo 10 command module! Stephenson's Rocket!) to keep kids genuinely engaged rather than glazed over.
Wonderlab, the interactive science gallery, is the standout for hands-on fun — it costs a bit extra but is absolutely worth it for kids aged 7 and up. You can make lightning, explore the forces of motion, and get comprehensively wet with the water experiments. The IMAX cinema shows immersive science films and is worth booking for older children.
Parent tip: The café is pricey and always rammed. Pack sandwiches and eat outside or in the free picnic areas. Wonderlab tickets sell out at busy times — book online before you go.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Weekday mornings in term time. The museum opens at 10am — arriving at 10:15am on a Wednesday in October is a completely different experience from a Saturday in August.
- Buggy access: Good overall, with lifts, though the interactive gallery spaces can get congested with buggies at peak times. The free galleries on the ground floor are spacious.
- Toilets: Good and multiple, including baby changing. Near the main entrance on ground floor and accessible from most gallery levels.
- Skip if short on time: The Information Age gallery is fascinating for adults but loses children under 10 quickly. The Energy Hall (bottom floor, giant steam engines) is wonderful but a detour if time is short.
- Eat cheaply nearby: The Science Museum has a decent free picnic area inside. Otherwise, Whole Foods on Kensington High Street (10-min walk) is good for grab-and-go. Or pack it from home — you'll save £20 easily.
- Crowd warning: Wonderlab has timed entries and sells out on busy days. Book before you travel, not after you arrive. The Launch Pad interactive gallery gets very loud and frantic from about 11am onwards.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Making the Modern World gallery (ground floor) — Apollo 10 capsule, Stephenson's Rocket, genuine jaw-dropping objects
- Exploring Space gallery — rockets, satellites, space suits; universally popular with children
- Wonderlab (if pre-booked) — or the free Launch Pad interactive gallery for a hands-on finish
3. Young V&A (formerly V&A Museum of Childhood)
📍 Bethnal Green, E2
🎟 Free
👶 Best ages: 0–10
Completely reimagined and reopened in 2023, the Young V&A in Bethnal Green is hands-down the best museum in London for under-8s. It's purpose-built for children and families in a way that most museums simply aren't: everything is touchable, explorable, and designed to spark play and curiosity rather than tell you not to touch things. The galleries are split into Imagine, Play, and Design — exploring creativity, childhood, and the process of making things — and every corner has something for small hands to fiddle with.
The toy and games collection from the original museum of childhood remains, with historic dolls, trains, puppets, and games that will mean more to the adults in your group than the children, but there's a wonderful democratising quality to seeing something that was just a toy taken this seriously. The sensory and baby-friendly spaces make it one of the genuinely great options for under-2s too.
Parent tip: Check the workshop programme before visiting — there are regularly free and low-cost drop-in sessions for different age groups. Bethnal Green station is a two-minute walk. Much less crowded than South Kensington, which is a gift in itself.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Weekday mornings are noticeably quieter. Weekend afternoons can be busy with local families, but it rarely feels overwhelming — the space is well-designed for managing flow.
- Buggy access: Genuinely excellent — purpose-built with families in mind, wide corridors, lifts to all levels, buggy-friendly throughout. One of the best in London for pushchair access.
- Toilets: Good, with well-maintained baby changing facilities. Easy to find and not usually busy.
- Skip if short on time: It's a manageable size — you can do the whole museum in 90 minutes. If pushed, the Design gallery is the one to skip with under-5s; Imagine and Play are the highlights for little ones.
- Eat cheaply nearby: The museum café is reasonable (sandwiches around £5). For proper cheap East London eating, Bethnal Green Road has numerous cafés. Noodle Village on Roman Road is a 5-minute walk and excellent.
- Crowd warning: The free weekend workshops are genuinely popular — they sometimes have a waiting list. Turn up early or check availability online before you go if a workshop is the main draw.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Play gallery — building blocks, physical play, soft spaces for babies and toddlers; the heart of the museum
- Imagine gallery — creative, open-ended, brilliant for 3–8 year olds exploring ideas
- Historic toy collection — spot something from your own childhood and have a small emotional moment
4. British Museum
📍 Bloomsbury, WC1
🎟 Free
👶 Best ages: 6+
The British Museum is enormous, overwhelming, and absolutely extraordinary. For children old enough to grasp what they're looking at — roughly 6 and up — the Egyptian galleries are a perennial hit: mummies both human and animal, sarcophagi, hieroglyphs, and the Rosetta Stone itself, which is smaller than you expect but no less thrilling for that. The Lewis Chessmen (medieval chess pieces with hilariously expressive faces) always go down well, as does the Lindow Man, which is either fascinating or deeply unsettling depending on the child.
The Great Court — the spectacular glass-roofed central courtyard — is a great place to regroup, rest legs, and eat lunch before tackling the next wing. Free family trails are available from the information desks and make a significant difference to how much kids get from the visit.
Parent tip: Avoid weekend lunchtimes — the museum is genuinely heaving and the queues for the cloakroom are demoralising. Weekday mornings in term time are the golden window. Download the free family trail from their website before you go.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Weekday mornings in term time, arriving at opening (10am). The first hour before the tour groups arrive is measurably more peaceful.
- Buggy access: Accessible overall with lifts, but the Great Court gets genuinely congested. Some galleries have ramps rather than flat floors. Manageable, but not effortless.
- Toilets: Adequate but the main toilets near the Great Court get busy. There are quieter ones in the wings — ask staff. Baby changing available in family facilities near the main entrance.
- Skip if short on time: The Greek and Roman galleries are impressive but lose most children under 10 within minutes. Skip straight to the Egyptian galleries — that's what everyone came for.
- Eat cheaply nearby: Museum Tavern on Great Russell Street does a decent pub lunch from around £12. For cheaper, the Great Court café is pricey but you can picnic in Russell Square (5 minutes away) if the weather is decent.
- Crowd warning: The Rosetta Stone room on a weekend is a genuinely heaving scrum. Everyone wants the same photo. Either get in early, accept the crowd, or skip it entirely — the Egyptian mummy rooms are better anyway.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Egyptian mummies (Room 63) — human and animal mummies, sarcophagi, canopic jars; reliably spectacular for kids
- Rosetta Stone and hieroglyphs (Room 4) — smaller than expected, but the history is genuinely gripping if you tell it well
- Lewis Chessmen (Room 40) — medieval chess pieces with enormous character; children always want to find the worried-looking bishop
5. Museum of London Docklands
📍 Canary Wharf, E14
🎟 Free
👶 Best ages: 4–12
Tucked inside a beautifully converted Georgian sugar warehouse in Canary Wharf, the Museum of London Docklands tells the story of the Thames, the docks, and London's relationship with trade and the sea across several thousand years. It's a proper, serious history museum — but crucially, it has Mudlarks, one of the best children's activity areas in any London museum.
Mudlarks is a brilliant, hands-on space where kids can excavate replica archaeological finds from sand, load cargo into a model ship hold, and explore a recreated Victorian street market. It's aimed at under-10s and genuinely absorbs them. The wider museum galleries — including the unsettling and historically important London, Sugar and Slavery section — are well worth doing with older children too.
Parent tip: Mudlarks is a real draw for under-6s — combine this with lunch at one of the Canary Wharf restaurants or a walk along the dock itself. Easy to get to via Jubilee or DLR. Much less crowded than central London museums.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Any time, really — this museum is rarely busy enough to make timing critical. That said, Mudlarks can fill up with school groups midweek; weekend mornings are pleasantly quiet.
- Buggy access: Excellent. The converted warehouse has wide open spaces and lifts throughout. One of the more spacious museum buildings in London.
- Toilets: Good, with baby changing. Clean and rarely busy. On the ground floor near the main entrance.
- Skip if short on time: The upper floors covering Victorian-era shipping history are excellent but lose under-6s quickly. If you've got young children, stay on the lower floors with Mudlarks and the docklands history sections.
- Eat cheaply nearby: Canary Wharf has a huge range of food options around the dock — Wahaca, Pret, various street food stalls. A 3-minute walk. Or bring a picnic and eat beside the water, which is lovely.
- Crowd warning: Mudlarks has a capacity limit and during school trips it fills up. If the room looks at capacity when you arrive, the upper galleries are worth doing first and coming back to Mudlarks later.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Mudlarks (lower ground) — digging, loading cargo, recreated Victorian street; young children will happily spend an hour here alone
- Sailortown (recreated Victorian docklands alley) — atmospheric and well-done; even older kids find it genuinely evocative
- The docklands quayside outside — the warehouse setting and working docks make for a genuinely interesting walk back to the DLR
6. Horniman Museum
📍 Forest Hill, SE23
🎟 Free (aquarium and animals extra)
👶 Best ages: All ages
The Horniman is a bit of a hidden gem, known mainly to people who either live in SE London or have been tipped off. It's a genuinely eccentric and lovely place: part natural history museum, part anthropology collection, part aquarium, part music collection, all set in a stunning Victorian building with wonderful views over South London from its terrace. The Natural History Gallery has a famous overstuffed walrus — taxidermied in the 1890s before anyone knew what a walrus was supposed to look like — which is required viewing.
The grounds are free and excellent: there's a bandstand, a nature trail, formal gardens, and an animal walk with chickens, sheep, and alpacas that are always a hit with the under-5s. The aquarium (around £5 per person, well worth it) has sharks and rays and a touch pool. The music gallery has instruments from around the world you can actually listen to.
Parent tip: Get the overground to Forest Hill — the museum is a short walk from the station. The café serves decent food with gorgeous terrace seating. Relatively untroubled by tourist crowds, which makes the whole experience markedly more pleasant.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Weekday mornings are lovely and quiet. Sunny weekend afternoons bring local families out in force — still manageable, but you'll share the animal walk with rather a lot of excited toddlers.
- Buggy access: Good inside the museum, with lifts. The gardens have some slopes but are generally navigable with a buggy. The animal walk is gravel paths — doable but not effortless with a heavy pushchair.
- Toilets: Good, with baby changing. In the main building near the café. The garden loos are basic port-a-cabin style — use the main building ones.
- Skip if short on time: The African Worlds gallery is excellent for adults and older children but tends to lose under-7s. Prioritise: overstuffed walrus → aquarium → animal walk → café terrace, in that order.
- Eat cheaply nearby: The museum café is actually one of the better ones — reasonably priced, generous portions, and the terrace view makes it worth the money. Around £8–10 for a main. For cheaper, Forest Hill has a few good spots on Dartmouth Road.
- Crowd warning: The animal walk gets genuinely mobbed on sunny spring afternoons when the alpacas are out. The alpacas, to their credit, remain entirely unfazed by this. Arrive before noon on weekends if the animals are the main draw.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Natural History Gallery — find the overstuffed walrus immediately; it's the correct priority
- Aquarium (worth the ~£5) — shark tunnel and touch pool are reliably excellent
- Animal walk — alpacas, chickens, sheep; under-5s will consider this the highlight of their entire day
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7. RAF Museum London
📍 Hendon, NW9
🎟 Free
👶 Best ages: 6–14
The RAF Museum is a genuine sleeper hit. It's a bit of a trek to Hendon in North London, but once you get there it delivers in spectacular fashion: vast aircraft hangars housing over 100 real aircraft, from fragile WWI biplanes to a Spitfire, a Lancaster bomber, a V2 rocket, and a supersonic Lightning jet fighter. The scale of it is breathtaking, and unlike many museums, you can get genuinely close to the aircraft — close enough to see the dents and rivets.
The Our Finest Hour exhibition covers the Battle of Britain with skill and emotional intelligence, and the interactive gallery lets kids try a flight simulator and explore cockpits. It's particularly brilliant for children who are already aircraft-obsessed, but the sheer visual drama of the hangars impresses even the uninitiated.
Parent tip: Take the Northern Line to Colindale and it's a 10-minute walk. Free parking on site if driving. Budget a full day — there's more here than you'd expect, and a decent café. Check the website for special events, which are often brilliantly done.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Any time — this museum is rarely crowded. It's one of London's best-kept secrets and the absence of queues is genuinely refreshing. Midweek school trips arrive in waves, usually late morning.
- Buggy access: Outstanding. Vast flat hangar floors with no steps between areas. Probably the single most buggy-friendly museum on this list. You could push a small car through here.
- Toilets: Good and well-maintained. Located near the café and entrance. Baby changing available.
- Skip if short on time: The First World War in the Air gallery is excellent but more document-heavy — better for older children. Head straight to the Milestones of Flight hangar for maximum visual impact.
- Eat cheaply nearby: The on-site café is decent and not London-central prices — a sandwich and drink for around £7–8. There's also a picnic area. Hendon itself is not exactly a food destination, so eat at the museum.
- Crowd warning: School trip groups can descend on the interactive simulators in force, making the wait for the flight simulator long. Get to the simulators early in the morning before the groups arrive.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Milestones of Flight hangar — the main event: Spitfire, Lancaster, Concorde, and the sheer scale of it all
- Our Finest Hour exhibition — Battle of Britain story told well; even children who aren't WWII buffs find it compelling
- Interactive flight simulators — book a slot on arrival; brilliant and genuinely realistic
8. National Maritime Museum
📍 Greenwich, SE10
🎟 Free
👶 Best ages: 4+
Part of the Royal Museums Greenwich group, the National Maritime Museum is one of the world's great maritime collections and also surprisingly child-friendly. The All Hands gallery is the highlight for younger visitors: kids can navigate a ship, fire cannons at an enemy vessel, attempt Morse code, and handle real ship's equipment. It's well-designed, well-maintained, and hits the sweet spot between education and fun.
The wider museum galleries cover explorers, the age of sail, the slave trade, and naval warfare across centuries — all with impressive artefacts including Admiral Nelson's coat (with the bullet hole from Trafalgar, which nine-year-olds find extremely satisfying). The museum sits in beautiful Greenwich Park, making it an easy full-day trip.
Parent tip: Greenwich is a brilliant family day destination — combine the Maritime Museum with a walk up Greenwich Park to the Royal Observatory, and maybe the Cutty Sark (paid, but brilliant). The DLR to Cutty Sark or train to Greenwich Mainline both work well.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Weekday mornings are reliably good. Greenwich is a popular tourist destination, so weekend afternoons can be busy — particularly in summer. The museum itself rarely gets as crowded as central London equivalents.
- Buggy access: Good overall. Lifts between floors, wide corridors. The All Hands gallery has some narrow sections but is navigable with a standard buggy.
- Toilets: Good and well-maintained. Multiple locations including baby changing. Near the main entrance on the ground floor.
- Skip if short on time: The upper floor naval history galleries are fascinating but lose under-8s quickly. Do All Hands first — it's the reason most families visit — then decide whether to explore the wider galleries based on remaining energy levels.
- Eat cheaply nearby: The Trafalgar Tavern pub on the Thames is a 5-minute walk and does reasonable food with brilliant river views. Or picnic in Greenwich Park, which is right outside the back of the museum. The museum café is decent but not cheap.
- Crowd warning: The All Hands gallery fills up on school holidays and some activities have limited spaces. Go there first when you arrive to avoid disappointment. The cannon-firing simulation is always the longest queue.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- All Hands gallery — fire cannons, steer a ship, send Morse code; this alone is worth the trip
- Nelson's coat with bullet hole (Great Map room) — simple but surprisingly powerful to see in person
- Walk through Greenwich Park to the top of the hill — the view of the Thames from the Royal Observatory path is one of London's finest, and entirely free
9. Grant Museum of Zoology
📍 Bloomsbury, WC1
🎟 Free (booking recommended)
👶 Best ages: 8+
The Grant Museum is small, atmospheric, and genuinely unlike anything else in London. UCL's zoological museum, it houses 68,000 specimens in a single room — skulls, skeletons, jars of preserved creatures, and some of the only remains of extinct species on earth, including the quagga (a zebra subspecies hunted to extinction in the 19th century). The jar of moles — hundreds of moles in a single specimen jar — is either wonderful or horrifying and possibly both.
This isn't a museum for toddlers or the faint of heart. But for curious, science-minded children of around 8 and up, it's an extraordinary place — intimate, slightly eccentric, staffed by people who clearly love what they do, and full of things you simply won't see anywhere else.
Parent tip: Book ahead — the museum is small and visitor numbers are limited. It's on Gower Street, a five-minute walk from Euston Square tube. Combine it with a look around the UCL campus for a slightly different sort of London outing.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Weekday visits are best — it keeps school holiday crowds manageable. It's open limited hours (check the website) so plan ahead. It feels intimate whenever you go, which is part of the appeal.
- Buggy access: Genuinely difficult — it's a single Victorian room packed with specimens. Leave the buggy at reception or bring a carrier instead. There simply isn't space to manoeuvre a pushchair between the display cases.
- Toilets: Basic — accessible via the UCL building. Not designed as a visitor attraction in the conventional sense. Fine for a short visit, but plan accordingly.
- Skip if short on time: Nothing — it's one room. You'll see everything in 45–60 minutes, which is roughly the right amount of time anyway. Linger on the quagga remains and the jar of moles.
- Eat cheaply nearby: Marchmont Street in Bloomsbury has good, affordable cafés — Doppio Coffee is great, and there are several independents. Russell Square is a 5-minute walk for a picnic.
- Crowd warning: The museum feels full with 15 people in it — which happens, because it's small and popular with a certain kind of curious visitor. Book ahead and you'll be fine. The intimacy is actually part of the experience.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- The jar of moles — yes, just find it immediately; nothing prepares you for it
- Quagga skull — one of only a handful of remains of this extinct zebra subspecies; take a moment with that fact
- Walk around the UCL main quad afterwards — free, beautiful, and gives the visit a sense of occasion
10. Tate Modern (Kids Angle)
📍 Bankside, SE1
🎟 Free (permanent collection)
👶 Best ages: 5+ (better for 8+)
The Tate Modern is not, if we're being honest, primarily a children's museum. But it has more to offer families than its austere exterior might suggest. The Turbine Hall — the vast former industrial space at the heart of the building — hosts a major free annual art commission that is reliably spectacular and large enough to make children's jaws drop regardless of whether they understand what they're looking at. Recent commissions have involved vast slides, mirrored mazes, and sun simulations.
The permanent collection is free and includes the kind of art (giant Picasso faces, Rothko's brooding colour fields, Louise Bourgeois's towering spider sculptures) that provokes genuine reactions from children. Family Activity Backpacks are available from the information desk — trail-based activities that make the galleries much more engaging for younger visitors.
Parent tip: Pick up a Family Activity Backpack from the information desk near the entrance — they're free and make a real difference. The view from Level 10 is one of the best free views in London. Combine with a walk along the South Bank and the playground near Gabriel's Wharf.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are the quietest. Weekends from about noon onwards are busy. The Turbine Hall is always at its most dramatic in the first hour of opening when the light is good.
- Buggy access: Very good. The building has been designed with accessibility in mind — lifts everywhere, wide spaces, smooth floors throughout. Turbine Hall is ideal for buggy-pushing.
- Toilets: Good, multiple locations, baby changing available. Level 2 has the most accessible family toilets. Signposted throughout.
- Skip if short on time: The upper levels of the Blavatnik Building can be a detour too far with young children. Spend your time in the Turbine Hall and one or two permanent collection galleries — the Surrealism and figurative art rooms tend to get the most reaction from children.
- Eat cheaply nearby: Pret on Bankside is a 2-minute walk (lunch from £4–6). Borough Market is 10 minutes away for more adventurous options. The Tate café is expensive — £5 for a slice of cake expensive.
- Crowd warning: When the Turbine Hall commission is particularly viral (it happens every few years), the space gets absurdly crowded. The slides commission a few years back had queues stretching outside. Check what's on before you go and manage expectations accordingly.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Turbine Hall — whatever the current commission is; even if it bewilders everyone, the scale is spectacular
- Permanent collection level 2 or 3 — pick up a Family Activity Backpack first; it transforms the experience
- Level 10 viewing platform — free, best panoramic view of the Thames and the City in London
11. London Transport Museum
📍 Covent Garden, WC2
🎟 Adults ~£21, under-17s FREE
👶 Best ages: 2–10
The London Transport Museum is one of the few entries on this list that charges adults for entry — but the under-17s are completely free, and honestly, once you're inside you'll feel it's been money well spent. The museum is housed in the beautiful Victorian Flower Market building in Covent Garden and covers the full history of London's transport network from horse-drawn omnibus to the Jubilee line extension.
For children who are obsessed with buses and tubes — and there are always several, usually small boys, for whom this is a formative interest — this is hallowed ground. You can sit in the cab of a real tube train, drive a bus simulator, and explore dozens of historic vehicles. Even children who aren't especially transport-minded find plenty to engage with, and the shop is predictably excellent.
Parent tip: The under-17 free policy is genuinely generous and makes the adult ticket feel more reasonable. Covent Garden is a lovely area to combine with lunch and a post-museum wander — though it gets very busy on weekends. Check for family events and special exhibitions which are regularly outstanding.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Weekday mornings are significantly better. Covent Garden itself is busy at weekends, which adds to the stress of getting there. First entry slot on a weekday is genuinely pleasant.
- Buggy access: Good — the Flower Market building is spacious, with lifts and wide paths between the historic vehicles. Parking buggies near the interactive areas is easy.
- Toilets: Good, with baby changing. Located near the main entrance and accessible throughout the museum. Well-maintained.
- Skip if short on time: The upper floor poster gallery and memorabilia collection is wonderful for adults and design-minded older children, but under-7s find it dull. Prioritise the ground floor vehicles — the tube trains, buses, and the All Aboard interactive zone.
- Eat cheaply nearby: The Covent Garden Market Building has reasonable café options. For cheaper, walk 5 minutes to Neal's Yard for good independent food options, or Flat Iron Square nearby. The museum café is not the main draw.
- Crowd warning: This museum has a dedicated following of very young children and their families, which means the All Aboard interactive area can feel overwhelming on busy days. The historic vehicles themselves are usually fine — most of the competition is for the simulators.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Historic vehicles (ground floor) — sit in the cab of a real tube train and a Victorian horse bus; brilliant for small children
- All Aboard interactive zone — bus driving simulator and transport-themed play; always a hit with under-8s
- The shop — unavoidable, and genuinely excellent; budget accordingly
12. Wellcome Collection
📍 Euston, NW1
🎟 Free
👶 Best ages: 10+
The Wellcome Collection is a museum about the relationship between medicine, science, and human experience — and it is, frankly, brilliant. The permanent exhibition Medicine Man features the extraordinary collection of Henry Wellcome, a pharmaceutical entrepreneur who spent his fortune buying medical objects from across history and culture: shrunken heads, chastity belts, Napoleon's toothbrush, an iron lung. It is fascinating, sometimes disturbing, and quite unlike anything else.
This is a museum for children who like thinking, questioning, and being slightly unsettled by the world. The temporary exhibitions are consistently excellent and thought-provoking, the café is one of the best museum cafés in London, and the bookshop is an object lesson in good curation. Not for young children, but for curious 10-and-overs it's one of the best museum experiences the city offers.
Parent tip: Euston station is right outside — very easy to get to. Check the current temporary exhibitions on the website before visiting as they rotate regularly. Admission to everything is free. The café and restaurant are genuinely good and not overpriced, which in a London museum is cause for celebration.
The honest parent details
- Best time: Any weekday morning — it's never very crowded, which is part of its considerable appeal. Enough of a destination that it deserves a deliberate visit rather than a passing one.
- Buggy access: Excellent. Very accessible building, lifts everywhere, wide spaces throughout. More relaxed about buggies than many central London venues.
- Toilets: Good and clean. Well-maintained, baby changing available. On the ground floor near the café. Notably un-stressful as museum toilets go.
- Skip if short on time: The temporary exhibitions vary — some are brilliant for older children, others are more adult-oriented. Check what's on. The Medicine Man permanent gallery is the main event and is worth prioritising.
- Eat cheaply nearby: The Wellcome café is the rare museum café that's actually good and not outrageous — around £8–10 for a main. For cheaper, Euston Road has Pret, Itsu, and various fast-food options. Or bring your own — no one minds.
- Crowd warning: This museum doesn't get crowded in the way that the NHM or British Museum do. It attracts a self-selecting audience of curious, grown-up-inclined visitors. If anything, it's wonderfully peaceful.
⏱ If you only have 90 minutes
- Medicine Man gallery — Napoleon's toothbrush, iron lung, Victorian surgical instruments; this is where the extraordinary objects live
- Current temporary exhibition — check the website; the Wellcome's temp shows are consistently excellent and thought-provoking
- The bookshop and café — not frivolous; the bookshop is genuinely one of London's best and the café is worth the stop
General Tips for Museum Visits With Kids in London
A few things that make museum trips significantly less stressful, gathered from hard experience:
- Book ahead for the big free museums. The Natural History Museum, Science Museum, and V&A require timed entry tickets during weekends and school holidays. They're free but not unlimited — and turning up on a Saturday without a ticket is a one-way ticket to disappointment.
- Weekday mornings in term time are gold. If you can manage it, museums visited during the school week before noon are a fundamentally different experience from the same museums on a Saturday in August.
- Bring food and water. Museum cafés are invariably expensive and almost always rammed. A bag of snacks and a bottle of water will save you significant money and prevent at least one meltdown.
- Do less, not more. Two or three galleries done properly is infinitely better than a frantic dash through an entire museum. Let children linger where they're interested and move on quickly where they're not.
- Get the family trail or activity sheet. Almost every museum has one. They're almost always free. They make the difference between children engaging and children drifting. Ask at the information desk.
- Museum membership pays for itself. If you visit the Science Museum or Natural History Museum more than twice a year (and you will), a family membership pays for itself rapidly and removes the logistical friction of booking individual tickets.
London's museums are one of the genuinely great things about living in or visiting this city, and the fact that the best ones are free is something that should never be taken for granted. Get out there.
Planning a day out whatever the weather? Our rainy day activities guide covers every good indoor option in London when the weather turns — from trampoline parks to escape rooms to the best soft play. And if you're looking to stretch the budget further, the free things to do in London with kids guide goes well beyond museums — parks, playgrounds, walks, and markets that won't cost a penny.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are London museums really free?
Yes — the major national museums in London are free to enter for everyone, including visitors. The Natural History Museum, Science Museum, British Museum, National Maritime Museum, Tate Modern, and many others charge nothing for their permanent collections. A small number of museums charge adults (the London Transport Museum is the main exception on this list, at around £21 for adults), but under-17s are free there too. Temporary exhibitions at free museums often do charge separately.
Do you need to book London museums in advance?
For weekends and school holidays, yes — you need to book timed-entry tickets in advance for the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, and British Museum. The tickets are free, but there is a limited number per slot, and turning up without one on a busy Saturday will see you turned away. Booking takes about two minutes on each museum's website. Smaller museums like the Horniman, Young V&A, and Museum of London Docklands typically do not require advance booking.
Which London museum is best for toddlers?
The Young V&A in Bethnal Green is the best London museum for toddlers and under-5s, by some distance. It was completely redesigned and reopened in 2023 specifically for children and families — everything is touchable, the spaces are safe for crawlers and wobblers, there are sensory areas, and the whole place is designed around how small children actually experience the world. A close second for under-5s is the Natural History Museum, where the sheer drama of Hope the blue whale and the dinosaur skeletons produces genuine awe even in very young children.
Which London museum is least crowded?
The RAF Museum in Hendon, the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, and the Museum of London Docklands in Canary Wharf are consistently the least crowded of the museums on this list. The RAF Museum in particular is spacious, free, and rarely feels busy. The Grant Museum of Zoology is tiny and limits visitor numbers, making it feel intimate even at capacity. At the other end of the scale, the Natural History Museum and British Museum on weekends in school holidays are genuinely, vigorously crowded.
Can you bring food into London museums?
Most London museums allow you to bring food in and eat in designated picnic areas, café spaces, or in some cases throughout the museum. The Natural History Museum has an outdoor picnic area along the side of the building that's excellent in good weather. The Science Museum has a free indoor picnic area. The British Museum's Great Court is a popular indoor spot for eating your own food. Bringing a packed lunch is rarely an issue — museum cafés are universally expensive and almost always busy at peak times.