Visit

Before you visit, please read the list below to check whether any of our galleries or spaces will be closed:

• The Who am I? gallery will be closed between 12-14 January 2022.
• The Garden will be closed on the 12–14 and 19–21 January, and 30 March – 1 April 2022.

During school holidays the museum is open Monday-Sunday, 10.00-18.00 (last entry 17.15)

The nearest tube station is South Kensington. This is on the District and Circle lines and is a 5-minute walk from the museum.

Gloucester Road tube station is also on the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines and is a 15-minute walk from the museum.

TfL updates

The Piccadilly line is not currently stopping at South Kensington. Follow signs on the street from both Gloucester Road and Knightsbridge stations.

Read more about the escalator works here

Find out the latest Transport for London tube status updates

TFL's suggested walking routes to the Science Museum

Bus routes 14, 49, 70, 74, 345, 360, 414, 430 and C1 stop outside South Kensington Underground Station.

Bus routes 9, 10, 52, 452 and 70 stop outside the Royal Albert Hall on Kensington Gore.

There is a coach drop-off point in Exhibition Road outside the Museum. The nearest coach parks are located at Warwick Road, Bayswater Road and Park Lane.

For more information visit Transport for London’s Information for Coach Drivers page.

Transport for London Barclays Cycle Hire docking stations are available outside the museum on Exhibition Road and on Thurloe Place near South Kensington tube station.

We do not have car parking facilities and local parking is very limited.

There is no visitor parking in Exhibition Road.

The nearest pay and display car parking is in Prince Consort Road and Queen's Gate.

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have more information about parking near the museum.

A small number of disabled parking spaces are available on Exhibition Road.

Blue Badge holders may park here for four hours between 08.30 and 18.30.

While you are at the museum please take care of your own health and safety and our collections. In order to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone, please do not:

• Touch objects on open display
• Smoke in the museum (including electronic cigarettes)
• Disregard alarms, signs, barriers or directions given by staff
• Leave personal property unattended
• Eat and drink other than in designated areas
• Bring in to the museum any restricted item (see below)
• Fundraise, demonstrate or distribute campaigning material, without prior agreement
• Ride bicycles, scooters or any other wheeled item.

Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Children 13 to 16 must provide parents or guardians contact details in line with the Government’s Test and Trace initiative. Other age restrictions may apply for particular experiences in the museum.

For education groups, separate advice and guidance on supervision of children is available in our Learning section.

Visitors are permitted to use hand-held cameras within the museum for private and non-commercial purposes, but must not:

• Use cameras in any areas where video or photography is restricted (this will always be clearly signed)
• Make any recording or take any photograph of any person without the authorisation of that person.

Non-private or commercial use of cameras/recording devices, and the use of tripods or lighting, is only allowed by prior arrangement.

We will always let visitors know if filming or photography is taking place in the museum during their visit.

Please look after your personal property while at the museum. Any property left unattended may be removed from the museum. If you lose any item during your visit, please speak to a member of staff.

Our self-service lockers are located on level -1 of the museum. Please note that these lockers are card payment only. Prices are as follows:

• Small—£3.00: Fits coats and hand size items
• Medium—£5.00: Fits rucksacks and small bags
• Large—£7.00: Fits carry-on luggage and medium sized bags*

*While our large lockers can fit carry-on sized luggage we advise that suitcases and larger items are left at home.

• Alcohol. Alcohol may only be consumed, if purchased on site, in a designated area
• Clothing with offensive signage or logos
• Animals, with exception of Assistance Dogs
• Potentially dangerous items such as fireworks or knives. Knives which are carried for religious or cultural observance (such as the Kirpan) are normally exempt from this policy
• Balloons, as these can interfere with our alarm systems if they float away

We will sometimes conduct bag searches on arrival at the Science Museum. The searches look for restricted items and any other material that might be considered a risk to our collection, or to the health and safety and enjoyment of our visitors.

Any items found will be removed at the bag-searching point will be recorded and returned to the visitor on departure. If our staff find anything they consider to be illegal, they will confiscate it and contact the Police. 

Our visitors are welcome to breastfeed anywhere on site.

All our staff are identifiable from their Science Museum passes. There is a Duty Manager on site whenever we are open to the public, to ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable visit.

If our staff think you may be causing unreasonable offence to other visitors, or are endangering yourself, others, our property or our collections, they will ask you to stop. Our staff have the authority to escort you from the museum if necessary.

We will not tolerate abuse or violence towards any visitor, contractor or member of staff.

CCTV is in use throughout the Science Museum; images are recorded for the purpose of public safety and crime prevention, in line with Data Protection legislation.