The new London Museum, formerly the Museum of London, opens on Saturday 28 November 2026 in Smithfield’s restored Victorian General Market, and its galleries are free. It tells the story of London from prehistoric times to today, with objects like the Lord Mayor’s Coach, the Whitechapel Fatberg and the Cheapside Hoard. It also stays open until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Here’s how to get in, when to go and what not to miss.
Is this the Museum of London?
Yes. The Museum of London renamed itself London Museum in 2024. Its old building at 150 London Wall, near the Barbican, opened in 1976 and closed in December 2022 to prepare for the move to Smithfield, so don’t head there. The museum’s other site, in Docklands, has also been renamed London Museum Docklands.
Is the London Museum free?
Yes. General admission to the new galleries is free. You don’t need a ticket, as walk-ups are welcome, but the museum strongly recommends booking a free ticket to guarantee entry, especially in the opening weeks. Tickets are on the museum’s website, and you can add an optional donation when you book.
Free general admission tickets are available for dates from 28 November to 31 December 2026. Book a free ticket
Opening hours
| Day | Hours | Last entry |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday to Thursday | 10am to 6pm | 4.45pm |
| Friday and Saturday | 10am to 11pm | Last ticketed entry 7.15pm. Walk-ins until 9.30pm, if there’s space |
The late opening on Fridays and Saturdays makes it one of the few free museums in London you can visit after dinner. For other free evenings, see our free museum lates guide.
What to see
The museum fills Smithfield’s General Market, a Victorian building that has been empty for more than 30 years. It’s in three connected parts:
- Real Time: the main entrance, on a covered former street, with data showing London as it is right now.
- Our Time: a big social space under the market’s restored dome, with a restaurant, a shop and 13 large displays of London in living memory, including the Lord Mayor’s Coach and Syd’s Coffee Stall, which traded in Shoreditch for 100 years.
- Past Time: underground galleries telling London’s history from the beginning.
Highlights to look for:
- The Whitechapel Fatberg.
- The Cheapside Hoard, Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery, in the fullest display of it ever assembled.
- Roman writing tablets from the Bloomberg Collection, among the city’s earliest surviving written words.
- Charles I’s execution vest, Emmeline Pankhurst’s hunger strike medal and Anna Pavlova’s Dying Swan dress.
- Banksy’s Piranhas.
- Hanging Out, with signs from the India Club, Topshop and the Galtymore Dance Club.
The neighbouring Poultry Market is due to open in 2028, adding two temporary exhibition spaces, a learning centre and a collections store.
Free events and lates
The museum plans a busy day-to-night programme, and much of it is free:
- Late nights: every Friday and Saturday until 11pm, with DJ sets from its Sound of London DJ Collective from 4 December.
- Tea Club: free tea and biscuits from Syd’s Coffee Stall, from 8 December.
- London Tastes: the first season, about London’s food culture, curated by Ruby Tandoh and Jonathan Nunn, from 28 November 2026 to 31 August 2027.
- For families: Showspace, with sensory storytelling about the Great Fire and Roman London, on Sundays from the opening.
Some events will be paid. Check the London Museum events page for each one.
Food, drink and bags
The museum has several places to eat and drink:
- Temperance Cocoa Rooms: coffee and hot chocolate.
- Clerk’s House: all-day dining.
- Bartholomew’s: a bar, handy for the Friday and Saturday lates.
- The Roost: a rotating lunchtime residency for up-and-coming food businesses.
There’s also a shop selling work by London artists and makers. Prices hadn’t been published when we checked. To keep a visit free, eat before you go: there are plenty of places around Farringdon.
Bags: the museum hasn’t published its bag and cloakroom rules for Smithfield yet. Travel light until it does, and see our museum bag and luggage rules guide for how other free museums handle them.
Families: there’s baby changing on every floor, and the free Showspace storytelling runs on Sundays.
Getting there and access
The museum is in the General Market, West Smithfield, London EC1A 9AG, in the City of London.
- Farringdon: Elizabeth line, Thameslink, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan.
- Barbican: Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan.
- St Paul’s: Central line.
- Buses: routes 4, 8, 25, 46, 56, 63, 100, 172, 242 and 521 all stop within a short walk.
The museum says the building has step-free entrances and spacious lifts, with accessible toilets, gender-neutral cubicles and baby changing on every floor, and a Changing Places toilet on the ground floor. Details of relaxed openings, accessible tours and sensory maps are due on its website soon.
Map view
London Museum Smithfield and free things nearby
The new London Museum in Smithfield's General Market, the nearest stations, and free places to visit within a short walk.
- London Museum
- Stations
- Free nearby
- St Paul's
7 locations available on the map.
Free things to do nearby
Smithfield is one of the oldest parts of the City of London, and you can easily turn a museum visit into a free half day:
- St Bartholomew the Great: a medieval church right on West Smithfield, with free admission. A donation is welcome. Great St Barts
- Postman’s Park: a small garden with the Watts Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice, a wall of hand-lettered tiles telling the stories of ordinary people who died saving others. Open daily from 8am to 7pm, or dusk if earlier. Postman’s Park
- Barbican Conservatory: a huge indoor tropical garden, free with a ticket on selected dates until 3 January 2027, before it closes for major renewal work. Free day tickets are released online from 9.30am on each opening day. Barbican Conservatory
- St Paul’s Cathedral: about a 10-minute walk. Sightseeing inside is paid, but the steps and churchyard are free to wander.
- A City walk: try one of the free City of London trails in our free self-guided walks guide.
London Museum Docklands
The museum’s other site, London Museum Docklands at West India Quay, is free and open from 10am to 5pm daily, with no booking needed for the main galleries. This December it also has a Victorian Santa’s grotto. See our cheap Santa’s grottos guide.
Common questions
Is the London Museum the same as the Museum of London?
Yes. The Museum of London renamed itself London Museum in 2024. Its old site at London Wall closed in December 2022, and the new museum opens in Smithfield on 28 November 2026.
When does the new London Museum open?
Saturday 28 November 2026, in Smithfield’s General Market.
Is the London Museum in Smithfield free?
Yes. General admission is free. Booking a free ticket is strongly recommended, especially in the opening weeks, but walk-ups are welcome.
What are the London Museum's opening hours?
10am to 6pm from Sunday to Thursday, with last entry at 4.45pm, and 10am to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
What is the nearest station?
Farringdon and Barbican are the closest, and St Paul’s on the Central line is also within walking distance.
Is the Whitechapel Fatberg on display?
Yes. The museum lists the Whitechapel Fatberg among the highlights in the new galleries.
For more free museums, see London’s best free museums and do you need to book a free London museum.
Details are from the London Museum’s official website, including its general admission page and opening press release, checked on 29 October 2026. The museum hasn’t opened yet, so check its website for final details before you go.