This is a long list of museums and galleries in London, with links to my blog posts and photos were applicable. Further exhibition spaces can also be found on my historic buildings list.
You can find out about audio described tours and handling sessions on the VocalEyes website, and on the access pages of museum websites (which are listed below). Some museums even allow you to book personal descriptive tours with advance notice. Large print books and audio guides are often available as well. All of these accessibility improvements enable me to enjoy and appreciate museums like everyone else. So it’s always worth contacting museums and looking at their websites to see what they offer.
If you have any links you think I should add here, then feel free to contact me.
- Anaesthesia Heritage Centre
- Access information is on their home page.
- 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
- 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 Rooms, audio described course & antiquities handling, November & December 2019
- Parthenon Room 18b, Access All Senses event, March 2019
- Scythians: Warriors Of Ancient Siberia, audio described tour by VocalEyes, October 2017
- 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
- Dennis Severs’ House
- Design Museum
- Access Information
- Home Futures, Multisensory Tour, January 2019
- Dr Johnson’s House
- 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
- House Of Illustration
- Household Cavalry Museum
- 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 Museum Of Water & Steam
- London Transport Museum
- 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
- 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)
- National Gallery
- Access Information
- Art Through Words (audio described artworks):
- Still Life with Lemons in a Wicker Basket, February 2019
- Monet & Architecture, recorded audio tour with London Vision South East, July 2018
- Renaissance Lates Event with Thinking Bob, May 2017
- National Portrait Gallery
- The gallery will be closed for 3 years from June 2020 for rebuilding work.
- Natural History Museum
- Access Information
- Birds, July 2017
- Fossil Marine Reptiles, July 2017
- Human Evolution Tour, recorded audio tour, July 2017
- Investigate Gallery, touch tour with London Vision East, April 2017
- Mammals, July 2018
- Restless Surface, June 2018
- Volcanoes & Earthquakes. recorded audio tour, June 2018
- Whales: Beneath The Surface, with large print guide, July 2017
- Old Operating Theatre Museum
- Old Royal Naval College
- Access Information
- Access Events
- Painted Hall Reopening, March 2019
- Photographers’ Gallery
- 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, with large print guide, June 2018
- Secret Life Of The Home, August 2018
- The Sun: Living With Our Star, with large print guide, March 2019
- Sea Life London Aquarium
- Access Information
- Family Visit, August 2000
- Sewing Machine Museum
- Only open on the first Saturday of every month, from 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
- Victoria & Albert Museum
- Access Information
- Exhibitions (using large print guides):
- Europe 1600-1815 – Room 7, 5 & 6, 3 & 4 and 1 & 2, also 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
- 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
- Victoria & Albert Museum Of Childhood
- Access Information
- A Pirate’s Life For Me & main exhibitions, February 2019
- 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
- Smoke & Mirrors: The Psychology Of Magic, with large print guide, April 2019
- Teeth, with large print guide, June 2018
- The Who Shop (Doctor Who)
- Whitechapel Gallery
- Whitewebbs Museum Of Transport
Still not enough for you? Check out How To Explore London’s Museums & Galleries by Londonist for a huge PDF flow chart of museums you can visit. This isn’t a sponsored link, I just think it’s a neat summary of museums in the city, well known and obscure.
