The Natural History Museum London opening hours are 10:00 to 17:50 every day, with last entry at 17:30, according to the official visit page, and entry to the galleries is free. This guide covers the opening times, the three entrances, free entry and what a ticket would add, and how to get there. If you want a guide or an audio tour, my comparison of every Natural History Museum London ticket sets out the options.
Natural History Museum London Opening Hours
Today, Saturday 7 November 2026, the Natural History Museum London opening hours per Google Maps are 10 am to 5:50 pm, and that is the same pattern as the other six days.
Day
Hours per Google Maps
Monday
10 am to 5:50 pm
Tuesday
10 am to 5:50 pm
Wednesday
10 am to 5:50 pm
Thursday
10 am to 5:50 pm
Friday
10 am to 5:50 pm
Saturday
10 am to 5:50 pm
Sunday
10 am to 5:50 pm
The official visit page says the museum is open daily from 10:00 to 17:50, with last entry at 17:30, and those Natural History Museum London opening hours agree with Google Maps. Where the two ever differ, trust the museum. The same page lists the museum as closed on 24, 25 and 26 December, so a Christmas visit needs a different plan. I did not find a seasonal calendar with shorter winter hours on the pages I read, and I did not read any evening openings either.
Natural History Museum London Opening Times
The Natural History Museum London opening times and the wider Natural History Museum London opening hours matter most at the end of the day. The galleries are large, and last entry at 17:30 gives you only 20 minutes before the 17:50 close, so a late arrival is a quick look and not a visit. Doors open at 10:00, and the official page says weekends and school holidays can be busy. The 10:00 start of the Natural History Museum London opening hours is the moment I would aim for if you want the open space of Hintze Hall before it fills. That is my judgement, since I found no published crowd data.
National History Museum London Opening Hours
Plenty of people search for the National History Museum London opening hours, and the Natural History Museum London opening hours they mean are the same, when they mean the Natural History Museum, and the answer is the same: 10:00 to 17:50 daily. The Natural History Museum is on Cromwell Road in South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, per Google Maps and the official site. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road, with the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, according to Wikipedia. The other two keep their own hours, so check each site before you plan a day across all three.
Is the Natural History Museum London Free
Is the Natural History Museum London free? Yes. The official site says “Our galleries are free to explore.” Paid exhibitions and events are the exception, and the museum does not list their prices on the page I read. The same page says that to guarantee entry on a busy day you can become a member, book a free entry ticket or buy a ticket to an exhibition or event.
That matters when you look at tickets from resellers, and the Natural History Museum London opening hours apply to them too. On GetYourGuide the Natural History Museum products are tours and audio guides, and the listing for one of them says outright that the museum entrance is free. The cheapest I found is $7, and it includes reserved entry, a short outdoor tour and an audio guide app. I’d pay for a product only if the guide or the audio is what you want.
Natural History Museum London Ticket Cost
The Natural History Museum London ticket cost for general entry is nothing. What costs money is a guided tour. The 10 tours I compared run from $7 to $172, with the $39 small-group tour and the $33 priority-entry tour the two I’d look at first for value. Prices are in US dollars from the listings in November 2026. The one that suits a first visit, in my view, is the two-hour small-group tour, and the card below shows it.
BEST TOURS LONDON LTD
Natural History Museum Guided Tour & Priority Entry
★5.0 (27 reviews)
2 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: My pick for a first visit with a guide: 2 hours, small group, priority timeslot, $39, 5.0 from 27 reviews. Few reviews, so read them first.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ 2-hour guided tour of the Natural History Museum
✓ Professional English-speaking guide
✓ Small group experience for a more personal visit
✓ Entrance tickets with priority timeslot
Not included / not suitable
✕ Tips
✕ Transport
✕ Food and drinks
Meeting point: Enter the museum through the main entrance on Cromwell Road and use the ticket holders’ line: https://maps.app.goo.gl/LA8vig5NvnjYxtMB7?g_st=ac. Tickets will be shared the day before the tour.
The meeting point is inside the museum, on the left-hand side of Hintze Hall, next to the giraffe display. Please see the attached meeting-point photo. Your guide will be there 5–10 minutes before the tour starts and will have a yellow flag. Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, UK
Languages: Italian, English
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Daniel was a fantastic tour guide. He was so knowledgeable and personable. We had a lovely time, would highly recommend this tour.” – GetYourGuide review
The guide meets you inside the museum, on the left of Hintze Hall next to the giraffe display, per the listing, and the tickets are sent the day before. You can cancel up to 24 hours ahead for a full refund.
Natural History Museum London Entrance Fee
The Natural History Museum London entrance fee is zero for the permanent galleries, which is the reason I describe every paid listing as a tour or an audio guide. Whatever the Natural History Museum London opening hours, the one thing to know about the money is that temporary exhibitions are separate. None of the tours I compared include them, and several say so in their not-included lists. If an exhibition is the reason for your visit, buy that ticket from the museum.
Natural History Museum London Entrance
The Natural History Museum London entrance you use depends on how you arrive and whether you need step-free access. The official getting-here page lists three.
Entrance
Where
Access
Central Entrance
Corner of Cromwell Road and Exhibition Road, via the East Gate
Step free with a ramp
East Entrance
Exhibition Road
Not step free, lift from the lobby to the galleries; may close when busy
West Entrance
Queen’s Gate
Open daily until 17:00, lift to the galleries
The page also says the coach drop-off point is outside the main entrance on Cromwell Road. If you are arriving from South Kensington Tube, the Central Entrance is the one to use. The page says there is a subway tunnel with step-free access to it via the Subway Gate.
How to Get to the Natural History Museum
South Kensington is the nearest Tube station, about a five-minute walk from the Central Entrance and the East Entrance per the official page. Gloucester Road is about 12 minutes from the Central Entrance and seven minutes from the West Entrance, but that station is not step free. By my estimate from Google Maps coordinates, using straight-line distance times 1.3 at 4.8 km/h, Knightsbridge and High Street Kensington are each about 20 minutes on foot. Check Transport for London for the lines and any planned engineering work, because I have not read their live status. The official page says several bus routes stop near the museum and there are cycle racks on Exhibition Road, with Santander Cycles docking stations on Exhibition Road and Thurloe Place.
Most of the guided tours meet outside the museum rather than inside it. The Strabo and Vox Londoners tours meet outside the Embassy of Venezuela at 1 Cromwell Road, the UTG tour at a metal plate on Exhibition Road, and the Vox City Walks tour under the large white arch of the V&A on Exhibition Road. Read the meeting point on your voucher, because they differ.
Best Time to Visit the Natural History Museum
The official page says weekends and school holidays can be busy, and that is the only crowd guidance I could source. A weekday morning right at 10:00 is my first choice for that reason, but it is my judgement and not a published figure. The weather argument for timing your Natural History Museum London opening hours visit is easier to make. Open-Meteo data for 2025 shows 16 rainy days in November and 13 in January, against 3 in March and 3 in April, so this is a good rainy-day plan in the cold months. Sunset is at 16:11 in November and 15:51 in December, so you will leave in the dark.
Natural History Museum London Audio Guide
The galleries are free, so the Natural History Museum London opening hours are the only gate and the audio guide is an add-on and not an entry ticket. The cheapest listing is the Vox City tour with reserved entry at $7, rated 4.1 from 367 reviews, which pairs a live 40-minute English tour of the exterior and museum introduction with a digital map and downloadable audio app. Another audio-tour listing from WeGoTrip drew complaints: reviewers said the audio guide would not download and did not recognise the rooms. I’d test the app before you set off, and check the Natural History Museum London opening hours of 10:00 to 17:50.
Things to Do Near the Natural History Museum London
Whatever the Natural History Museum London opening hours, my places data holds no sight within 2 kilometres of the museum, so I won’t list neighbours I cannot support. The official getting-here page lists three entrances, covered above, and the guided tours I compared are the clearest next step: the 2-hour tour with priority entry at $39 is rated 5 from 27 reviews. See the Natural History Museum London map for the galleries.
What to Know Before You Go
The official page says that when you arrive your bags may be searched, and it points to a separate security page that I could not open, so I can’t quote size limits. Allow a few extra minutes at the door whatever the Natural History Museum London opening hours say, and keep your bag small so a search is quick. If you are visiting with a pushchair or a wheelchair, use the Central Entrance with its ramp. Plan your time as well: the tours I compared run from 1 to 2.5 hours, and I’d allow 2 to 3 hours for a first visit.
For the tickets themselves, my advice is simple. Book the free entry ticket from the museum if the day looks busy, and pay for a tour only if you want a guide. When you are ready to compare the options, every Natural History Museum London ticket I compared is on one page, and you can also start from my home page to see the other attractions on this site.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Natural History Museum London opening hours?+
The official visit page says the museum is open daily from 10:00 to 17:50, with last entry at 17:30. Google Maps shows the same 10 am to 5:50 pm every day of the week. Check the official page for the date you plan to go, because it is the source I trust over the map listing.
What time is last entry at the Natural History Museum?+
Last entry is 17:30 per the official visit page, 20 minutes before the 17:50 closing time. I'd arrive by about 16:30 if you want more than a quick look, because the galleries are large.
Is the Natural History Museum closed on any days?+
The official visit page lists closures on 24, 25 and 26 December. Check the page before you go for any other closure.
Is the Natural History Museum in London free?+
Yes. The official site says the galleries are free to explore. Paid exhibitions and events are ticketed separately, and the pages I read do not list their prices.
Which entrance should I use at the Natural History Museum?+
The Central Entrance on the Cromwell Road and Exhibition Road corner is step free with a ramp, and it is five minutes from South Kensington Tube. The East Entrance on Exhibition Road is not step free but has a lift from the lobby, and the West Entrance on Queen's Gate is open daily until 17:00.
How long should I spend at the Natural History Museum?+
The guided tours in my comparison run 1 to 2.5 hours and cover the highlights. I'd allow 2 to 3 hours for a first visit, which is my judgement and not an official figure.
