Museum Mile
- Supported by:
- Camden Borough Council
- King’s Cross Business Forum
- Holborn
A walk along Museum Mile provides a fascinating insight into London, past and present. From Euston Road to the River Thames, discover 13 of the city’s most extraordinary museums and galleries and their equally diverse collections.
Jump to:
- The British Library
- British Museum
- Brunei Gallery, SOAS
- The Charles Dickens Museum
- The Courtauld Gallery
- The Foundling Museum
- The Hunterian Museum at The Royal College of Surgeons
- The Library and Museum of Freemasonry
- London Transport Museum
- Royal Opera House
- Sir John Soane’s Museum
- UCL Museums and Collections
- Wellcome Collection
- Introduction to Museum Mile
- Getting to Museum Mile Print version
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
+44 (0)20 7412 7332
admission free
Discover some of the most exciting and significant books, from the Magna Carta and the Gutenberg Bible to Mozart and the Beatles, alongside remarkable manuscripts, maps, music scores, sound recordings, photographs and stamps. Marvel at the genius in Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, and see the earliest versions of some of the greatest works of literature, including Shakespeare’s First Folio of work.
An introduction to the British Library
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About the Magna Carta
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British Museum
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
+44 (0)20 7323 8299
admission free
Housed in one of Britain's architectural landmarks, the British Museum’s extensive collection spans two million years of human history. Visitors can ‘travel the world’ through the diverse collection of art and antiquities from ancient and living cultures. World-famous objects include the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Sculptures, and Egyptian mummies.
An introduction to the British Museum
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About the Rosetta Stone
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Brunei Gallery, SOAS
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
+44 (0)20 7898 4915
admission free
The Galleries within the building are dedicated to promoting a better understanding of the art, culture, history and contemporary contexts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East through a programme of temporary visiting exhibitions and events. They also display parts of SOAS’s own collections in the Foyle Special Collections Gallery.
An introduction to the Brunei Gallery
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About the portrait of David Livingstone
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The Charles Dickens Museum
48 Doughty Street
London WC1N 2LX
+44 (0)20 7405 2127
admission charge
On four floors, visitors can see paintings, rare editions, manuscripts, original furniture and many items relating to the life of the popular and beloved Victorian novelist Charles Dickens. Highlights of the fascinating and eccentric collection include the original monthly parts of the novels, fragments of the manuscripts, and the desk designed by Dickens for his reading tours.
An introduction to the Charles Dickens Museum
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About Dickens' reading desk
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The Courtauld Gallery
Somerset House, Strand
London WC2R 0RN
+44 (0)20 7848 2526
admission charge
Renowned for its breathtaking Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection – with works by Monet, Manet, Renoir, van Gogh, Gauguin and Cézanne – the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery ranges from Renaissance masterpieces to 20th-century paintings by Picasso, Matisse and Kandinsky. Set in the elegant 18th-century surroundings of Somerset House, the Courtauld is a world-famous collection on an intimate scale.
An introduction to the Courtauld Gallery
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About Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère
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The Foundling Museum
40 Brunswick Square
London WC1N 1AZ
+44 (0)20 7841 3600
admission charge
Discover the stories of the Foundling Hospital, London’s first home for abandoned children, revealed through poignant artefacts, including tokens left by mothers when their babies were admitted. The Hospital’s nationally important art collection features paintings by Hogarth, Gainsborough and Reynolds, displayed alongside Handel’s will and a fair copy of Messiah, showing that artists and musicians of the day were benefactors of the Hospital.
An introduction to the Foundling Museum
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About tokens left by mothers
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The Hunterian Museum at The Royal College of Surgeons
35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London WC2A 3PE
+44 (0)20 7869 6560
admission free
From one of the oldest anatomical collections in the world to the latest advances in minimal access surgery, the Hunterian Museum reveals 400 years of medical history. Highlights include the extraordinary collection of human and animal specimens belonging to the surgeon John Hunter (1728–1793), as well as Joseph Lister’s first antiseptic spray and Winston Churchill’s false teeth.
An introduction to the Hunterian Museum
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About the Crystal Gallery
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The Library and Museum of Freemasonary
Freemasons’ Hall
60 Great Queen Street,
London WC2B 5AZ
+44 (0)20 7395 9257
admission free
Discover one of the world’s finest collections of Masonic material housed at the home of English freemasonry. Pottery and porcelain, glass, silver, furniture, clocks and regalia are on display – everything from Winston Churchill’s apron to a Masonic jelly mould. There is also the opportunity to view the ceremonial areas of the amazing Art Deco Freemasons’ Hall.
An introduction to the Freemason Museum
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About an 18th-century Lodge
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London Transport Museum
The Piazza, Covent Garden
London WC2E 7BB
+44 (0)20 7379 6344
admission charge
After a £22 million, two-year redesign project, the Museum reopened on 22 November 2007, transformed into a series of forward looking, 21st-century galleries that consider the future of London’s transport as well as its past. Highlights include the only surviving steam engine from the world’s first Underground railway and a collection of iconic posters, including works by Man Ray, McKnight Kauffer and Abram Games.
An introduction to the London Transport Museum
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About the Design for travel gallery
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Royal Opera House
Covent Garden,
London NW3 4DD
+44 (0)20 7304 4000
admission free
Explore the Royal Opera House with a backstage tour, have lunch in the Amphitheatre Restaurant or enjoy a free lunchtime recital and go around the photographic exhibitions at a leisurely pace. Then come back in the evening to see and hear some of the finest dancers, singers and conductors in the world.
Sir John Soane’s Museum
13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London WC2A 3BP
+44 (0)20 7405 2107
admission free
Step back in time with the house and museum created by architect Sir John Soane, which have remained virtually unchanged since his death in 1837. The works of art in the collections match the outstanding originality of the architecture and include important paintings by Hogarth, Canaletto and Turner, fine English Neo-Classical sculpture, and Classical antiquities from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.
An introduction to the John Soane's Museum
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About the Egyptian burial crypt
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UCL Museums and Collections
UCL, Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
+44 (0)20 7679 2884
admission free
The museums of University College London (UCL) contain internationally important collections of archaeology, art, zoology and geology. Dense displays and changing exhibitions feature across a range of individual small museums.
An introduction to the Grant Museum
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About a skull of a 'Tasmanian tiger'
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Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE
+44 (0)20 7611 2222
admission free
Part gallery, part museum, and incorporating an extraordinary library and events, Wellcome Collection explores the links between medicine, life and art, placing science in the broad context of health and well-being. Exhibits range from the bizarre to the beautiful, the ancient to the modern, and include a DNA robot, a used guillotine blade from the French Revolution, and a baked bean-sized gastrointestinal camera.
An introduction to the Wellcome Collection
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About a plastinated body by Gunther von Hagens
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Getting to Museum Mile
- Tube
- Covent Garden,Euston, Euston Square, Goodge Street, Holborn, King's Cross St Pancras, Russell Square, Temple, Tottenham Court Road, Warren Street.
- Rail
- Euston, King's Cross, St Pancras International.
- Bus
- Numerous. 59, 68, 91, 168 and 188 run along Museum Mile.
- Car
- Limited metered parking. National Car Parks at Holborn, Drury Lane, Russell Court and Brunswick Square.
- Walking
- The best way to discover London is on foot.
- Access
- Most of the museums listed have wheelchair access to part or all of their collections. Please contact the specific museums prior to your visit to ensure your needs are met.
