Why go

The British Museum tells the story of people across two million years, and it does it with objects you will have seen in textbooks your whole life. More than 50 galleries spread across three floors, and the permanent collection is free to visit every day of the year apart from 24 to 26 December. You could come back a dozen times and still find rooms you missed.

The building itself is part of the experience. You enter through the columned front on Great Russell Street into the Great Court, a vast covered courtyard with a glass and steel roof wrapped around the round Reading Room at its centre. It is the obvious place to get your bearings, grab a coffee and pick up a map.

What to see

  • Egyptian sculpture (Room 4). Home to the Rosetta Stone, the slab that helped unlock hieroglyphs, along with colossal statues of pharaohs. It is on the ground floor near the Great Court, so it gets busy early.
  • The Parthenon sculptures (Room 18). Marble figures and frieze panels from the Parthenon in Athens, displayed in a long, quiet gallery that rewards a slow walk.
  • Egyptian mummies (Rooms 62 to 63). Upstairs, the mummies and painted coffins are the rooms children tend to remember most.
  • Sutton Hoo (Room 41). The Anglo-Saxon ship burial from Suffolk, including the famous iron helmet, sits in the early medieval gallery.
  • The Lewis Chessmen. Carved walrus ivory chess pieces with wonderfully glum expressions, found in the medieval European displays upstairs.
  • Assyrian lion hunts (Room 10). Carved stone reliefs of royal lion hunts and the Siege of Lachish, some of the most dramatic storytelling in the building.
  • The Islamic world (Rooms 42 to 43) and Japan (Rooms 92 to 94). Worth seeking out if you have already covered the famous names.

The museum also runs paid special exhibitions alongside the free galleries. Korea is on until 31 January 2027, and an exhibition ticket also covers the permanent collection.

Plan your visit

The galleries open at 10am and close at 5pm, with last entry at 4:45pm. On Fridays the museum stays open until 8:30pm (last entry 8:15pm), which is often the calmest time to see the big rooms. Staff start clearing galleries ten minutes before closing, so do not leave your favourite room until the last minute.

Book a free timed ticket on the official site before you go. You will get key information and updates by email, and priority entry during busy periods. If your preferred slot has gone, you can still walk up, though non-ticket holders may queue longer when the museum is busy. Please arrive at your booked time rather than early.

Everyone passes through a security check and bag search. Wheeled suitcases are not allowed at all, and nor are bags larger than 40 x 40 x 50cm or heavier than 8kg. The cloakroom charges per item (£4 for a bag up to 4kg, £3 for a coat), and folded pushchairs go free. If you are travelling with luggage, use the left luggage at Euston, King’s Cross or Charing Cross first.

Galleries are occasionally closed for maintenance. In late 2026, Room 33 (China and South Asia) and the jade and Amaravati rooms beside it close from 30 November to 11 December, and the Reading Room has several short closures in November. Check the list of available galleries on the official site the week you visit.

Tickets and saving money

The permanent collection is free, so the main way to spend money here is on special exhibitions, food and the cloakroom. Travel light and you avoid the cloakroom fee entirely. The free Audio app works on your own phone in several languages, including British Sign Language, so bring headphones. Families can pick up object trails and Museum Missions to keep younger visitors busy without paying for a tour.

Accessibility

An easy access route is available at the entrance for disabled visitors, Members, and people with buggies or children under five. Uniformed staff can help if the entrance poses a barrier, and the museum publishes detailed access information on its accessibility page. Free wifi is available throughout.

Nearby

The museum sits in the middle of Bloomsbury, so a walk through the garden squares to the north and east is an easy way to clear your head after a few hours of galleries. Covent Garden is a short stroll south for lunch, and the shops of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street are five minutes west. If you are planning a day of free culture, the British Museum pairs well with an afternoon at one of the national galleries closer to Trafalgar Square.