Note: Some museums are cautiously reopening with strict safety measures, including pre-booking, social distancing and hygiene requirements. Please look at their websites before visiting, so you know what to expect and to book slots if required.
If you can’t get to any museums in person, or would prefer to wait until lockdown is over, don’t forget that many of them allow you to explore their collections through online galleries and virtual tours.
This is a long list of museums and galleries that I’ve been to, plus links to others I recommend. Most are in London, but there are also others I’ve visited around the UK. Click the names of exhibitions and tours to see my blog posts and photos.
You can find out about audio described tours over at VocalEyes. And museum websites often have disabled access information pages, many of which are listed below. I will often use large print or audio guides when browsing an exhibition by myself.
If you have any other links you think I should add here, then feel free to contact me.
Contents
- London
- Museums List – Including exhibitions I’ve attended
- Guided Tours
- Other Lists
- Other UK Museums – Places that I’ve visited, or want to visit, outside London
- Historic Buildings – A separate page listing more places of interest.
London
Museums List
- Anaesthesia Heritage Centre
- Apsley House
- Access Information
- Guided Tour with Thinking Bob, February 2018
- Bank of England Museum
- Access Information
- Audio Described Touch Tour with London Vision East (see their post), November 2017
- Benjamin Franklin House
- Bethlem Museum Of The Mind
- Biggin Hill Memorial Museum
- Bishopsgate Institute
- British Library
- Access Information
- Buddhism, audio described tour by VocalEyes, January 2020
- Harry Potter – A History Of Magic with Emily from Fashioneyesta, January 2018
- British Museum
- Access Information
- Focus Group – Large Print Guides, January 2017
- The American Dream, recorded audio tour, April 2017
- Hokusai: Beyond The Great Wave, audio described tour by VocalEyes, July 2017
- Manga, audio described tour by VocalEyes, July 2019
- Parthenon Gallery, audio described course & antiquities handling, November & December 2019
- Parthenon Room 18b, Access All Senses event, March 2019
- Pompeii Live, streamed exhibition tour, May 2020
- Scythians: Warriors Of Ancient Siberia, audio described tour by VocalEyes, October 2017
- Troy: Myth & Reality, audio described tour by VocalEyes, December 2019
- Vikings Live, streamed exhibition tour, May 2020
- British Museum Of Food
- Camberwell College Of Arts
- MA Visual Arts Summer Show with student Nihan Karim, July 2018
- Cartoon Museum
- Charles Dickens Museum
- The Charterhouse
- Chocolate Museum
- Chocolate Making Workshop with London Vision South East (see their post), October 2017
- Churchill War Rooms
- City Of London Police Museum
- Clink Prison Museum
- Courtauld Gallery
- Closed since September 2018, reopens spring 2021
- Dennis Severs’ House
- Design Museum
- Access Information
- Home Futures, Multisensory Tour, January 2019
- Moving To Mars, Multisensory Tour, January 2020
- Dr Johnson’s House
- East End Women’s Museum
- Former pop-up museum reopening in a permanent location in 2021
- Fan Museum
- Access Information
- Guided Tour with London Vision South East, February 2019
- Fashion & Textile Museum
- Florence Nightingale Museum
- Foundling Museum
- Freemasons’ Hall
- Open House Audio Described Tour by VocalEyes, September 2017
- Freud Museum
- God’s Own Junkyard
- Grant Museum Of Zoology
- Greenwich Museums including Cutty Sark
- Hall Place & Gardens
- Handel & Hendrix In London
- Hauser & Wirth Gallery
- Hyper-Palimpsest by Stefan Brüggemann, audio described tour by Caroline Dawson, April 2019
- The Power of the Line by Geta Brătescu, audio described tour by Caroline Dawson, April 2019
- Heath Robinson Museum
- Historic Royal Palaces
- HMS Belfast
- Horniman Museum
- House Of Illustration
- Household Cavalry Museum
- Hunterian Museum
- Closed since May 2017, reopening in 2021
- Imperial War Museum
- Access Information
- Touch Tour with London Vision South East, February 2018
- Institution Of Civil Engineers
- Japan House
- Keats House
- Leighton House Museum
- Library & Museum of Freemasonry
- Lloyds Register
- Open House Audio Described Tour by VocalEyes, September 2017
- London Bridge Experience
- London Canal Museum
- London Dungeon
- London Film Museum
- London Fire Brigade Museum
- London Museum Of Water & Steam
- London Transport Museum
- Access Information
- Main Exhibitions, October 2018
- London Zoo
- Guided Tour with London Vision East (see their post), June 2017
- Christmas At London Zoo, December 2018
- Madame Tussaud’s
- Access Information
- Guided Tour with London Vision East (see their post & photos), November 2018
- Migration Museum
- Musical Museum
- Museum Of Brands
- Time Tunnel, Time Out 50 & Chocolate Boxes, January 2019
- Museum Of London
- Moving to Smithfield, estimated for 2024. Current site remains open.
- Access Information
- Main Exhibitions, accessibility study with Rafie Cecilia, February 2018
- Beasts Of London, May 2019
- Fatberg, accessibility study with Rafie Cecilia, February 2018
- Votes For Women, accessibility study with Rafie Cecilia, February 2018
- Museum Of London Docklands
- Access Tours
- Sailortown Exhibition, audio described tour by VocalEyes, July 2017
- Museum Of Methodism & John Wesley’s House
- Museum Of The Home
- Formerly Geffrye Museum, reopens Summer 2020
- National Gallery
- Access Information
- Monet & Architecture, recorded audio tour with London Vision South East, July 2018
- Renaissance Lates Event with Thinking Bob, May 2017
- Still Life with Lemons in a Wicker Basket, audio described Art Through Words session, February 2019
- National Portrait Gallery
- Closed from 29 June 2020 until spring 2023
- Natural History Museum
- Access Information
- Birds, July 2017
- Fossil Marine Reptiles, July 2017
- Hintze Hall, recorded audio description tour, July 2017
- Hintze Hall, further exploration, February 2020
- Human Evolution Tour, recorded audio description tour, July 2017
- Images Of Nature, recorded audio description tour, February 2020
- Investigate Gallery, touch tour with London Vision East, April 2017
- Mammals, July 2018
- Restless Surface, June 2018
- Treasures (Cadogan Gallery), recorded audio description tour, February 2020
- Volcanoes & Earthquakes, recorded audio description tour, June 2018
- Whales: Beneath The Surface, July 2017
- Now Gallery
- Nunnery Gallery
- Old Operating Theatre Museum
- Old Royal Naval College
- Access Information
- Access Events
- Painted Hall Reopening, March 2019
- Photographers’ Gallery
- Access Information
- Against The Light: Jan Svoboda, online audio described tour, June 2020
- Pitzhanger Manor House & Gallery
- Postal Museum
- Access Information
- Audio Described Tour by VocalEyes, March 2019 (guest post)
- Pumphouse Museum
- Tube Train Supper Club, March 2019
- RAF Museum
- Royal Academy of Arts
- Access Information
- Matisse Exhibition, audio described tour, September 2017
- Saatchi Gallery
- Salters Hall
- Open House Audio Described Tour by VocalEyes, September 2017
- Science Gallery
- Science Museum
- Access Information
- Driverless: Who Is In Control?, June 2019
- Energy Hall, May 2017
- Exploring Space, May 2017
- Information Age, audio described by Audio Eyes app, January 2018
- Making The Modern World, August 2018
- Mathematics, June 2018
- Science City 1550-1800, February 2020
- Secret Life Of The Home, August 2018
- The Sun: Living With Our Star, March 2019
- Sea Life London Aquarium
- Access Information
- Family Visit, August 2000
- Sewing Machine Museum
- Only open on the first Saturday of every month, 2pm-5pm
- Sherlock Holmes Museum
- Sir John Soane’s Museum
- Access Information
- Audio Described Tour, July 2019
- St Bartholomew’s Hospital Museum
- Stephens House & Gardens (Ink Museum)
- Strawberry Hill House & Garden
- Tate Britain
- Van Gogh And Britain, audio described tour, June 2019
- Tate Modern
- Access Tours
- Anni Albers Exhibition & Conductive Coding Workshop, January 2019
- Mobile App Audio Tours – Building & Highlights, January 2018
- Tower Bridge
- Access Information
- Guided Tour (plus video), with London Vision South East, March 2019
- Twinings Tea Shop & Museum
- UCL Art Museum
- V&A Museum
- Access Information
- Exhibitions:
- Buddhism, February 2020
- Europe 1600-1815 – Room 7, 5 & 6, 3 & 4 and 1 & 2, using online audio guide, between December 2017 and May 2019. Room 7 visit was part of accessibility study with Rafie Cecilia.
- Food: Bigger Than The Plate, May 2019
- Laughing Matters: The State of a Nation, February 2020
- Mary Quant, May 2019
- Ocean Liners: Speed & Style, June 2018
- Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt, September 2018
- Events:
- Saints & Sinners Tour, with Thinking Bob, April 2017
- Ultrahaptics Testing, accessibility study with Lydia Porter, Jessica Andrich, Nicola Flüchter & Rafie Cecilia, April 2018
- V&A Museum Of Childhood
- Closed from May 2020, due to reopen in 2022
- Access Information
- Kimono: Kyoto To Catwalk, streamed exhibition tour, May 2020
- A Pirate’s Life For Me & main exhibitions, February 2019
- V&A East
- Due to open in Stratford in 2023, including a co-curated gallery with The Smithsonian Institution
- Vagina Museum
- Wallace Collection
- Access Information
- Great Gallery, accessibility study with Rafie Cecilia, testing audio guide and using Smartify, April 2018
- Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tour
- Access Information
- Tour Review, Video Footage & Merchandise Haul, with Thinking Bob, January 2018
- Wellcome Collection
- Access Information
- Access Tours
- Graphic Design, audio described tour by VocalEyes, December 2017
- Medicine Man, audio described tour by VocalEyes, December 2017
- Medicine Now, audio described tour by VocalEyes, December 2017
- Play Well, December 2019
- Smoke & Mirrors: The Psychology Of Magic, April 2019
- Teeth, June 2018
- The Who Shop (Doctor Who)
- Whitechapel Gallery
- Whitewebbs Museum Of Transport
Guided Tours
- Charles Dickens Museum – Guided Tours
- Houses Of Parliament – Guided Tours
- Kew Gardens – Sensory Walking Tours for VI people
- National Theatre – Backstage Tours
- Royal Albert Hall – Guided Tours
- How To Tour Off-Limits Areas Of Famous Venues (Londonist)
- See also the list of guided walking tours on my Walks page
Other Lists
- How To Explore London’s Museums & Galleries (Londonist)
- Historic Buildings Near London (Culture Whisper)
- Small & Unusual Museums (Culture Whisper)
- Houses & Unusual Buildings (National Trust)
- Art Exhibitions (Secret London)
- Outdoor Art In London (Culture Whisper)
Other UK Museums
Visited
Recommended To Me
- South East
- Down House (Home of Charles Darwin), Orpington
