London: British Museum Skip-the-Line Guided Tour
Duration: 2 hours
See art and antiquities from around the world at the UK’s largest museum. Take a 1.5-hour guided tour of the British Museum in London, and explore…
British Museum
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British Museum: Tours & Tickets
The British Museum Tour: The Ideas That Made Our World
Duration: 2.5 hours
Likely to sell out
Explore the British Museum with a guide and experience one of the greatest stories of all time. On the tour you'll learn how humans went from living…
Afternoon Tea at the British Museum
Duration: 1.5 hours
Likely to sell out
Savor delicious treats as you enjoy afternoon tea at the Great Court Restaurant at the British Museum. Enjoy a selection of organic teas, finger…
British Museum 2-Hour Tour in Spanish
Duration: 2 hours
Enjoy a 2-hour tour of the UK's most-visited museum with a Spanish-speaking guide. Marvel at some of mankind's most valuable historic treasures.
The British Museum in London Guided Tour
Duration: 2.5 hours
Take a break from art museums and explore the mummies and historical artifacts on a guided tour of the British Museum. The charming guides will take…
London Private Family & Children British Museum Tour
Duration: 2 hours
A special children’s guide will show your family some highlights of the British Museum on a private and customized family friendly tour. Discover…
National Gallery and The British Museum Guided Tour
Duration: 5 hours
Spend your time wisely by discovering two of London’s most important – and popular – museums in the same day on a 5 hour guided tour. The…
British Museum & London Historical Guided Walking Tour
Duration: 5 hours
This tour combines the vast collection of the British Museum with the urban landscape and history of central London. Join this 5hr tour and maximize…
British Museum and Camden Town 4-Hour Tour in Italian
Duration: 4 hours
Visit the British Museum with an Italian-speaking guide and see some of the world’s greatest treasures, including the Rosetta Stone. Afterwards…
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The British Museum's Collection Highlights
You could spend all day browsing London’s grand British Museum collection, but if you only have a couple hours, here’s the essentials of what to see.
The Rosetta Stone
Soldiers in Napoleon’s army discovered the Rosetta Stone (196 BC), the most critical key to deciphering Egypt’s hieroglyphics, in 1799.
Parthenon Sculptures
Sometimes called the Elgin Marbles, these 2,500 year-old remnants of ancient Greece have been on display at the British museum since 1817.
Mummy of Katebet
She is one of the most studied mummies of modern times. Katebet, the ‘King of the Gods’ sang and performed rituals during temple rituals in ancient Egypt.
Japanese Samurai Armor
The British Museum holds a set of Samurai armor made up from different periods—the cuirass and sleeves is 16th century, helmet, 17th, and the rest, 18th and 19th.
The Royal Game of Ur
This 5,000 year-old game was popular across the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and Indian. This particular item dates from about 2600 BC and was found in southern Iraq.
Our insider tips
How long to visit
How do you decide how much time to dedicate to the British Museum? It's difficult to say when faced with such a massive collection. These are just the highlights; you'd barely scratch the surface of all 8,000,000 objects within a few hours time. It is free to enter, so there is absolutely no rush. Ideally, budget for a day spent inside wandering through history.
Do your best to avoid peak times
This means that it will be busiest on rainy days. Try to plan ahead and arrive at the 10:00AM opening.
Good to know
- When should I visit?Open daily 10:00AM to 5:30PM, closed December 24, 25, 26 and January 1.
- Is it expensive?Museum entry is free, but prices increase as you add recommended tours and other perks.
- Will I need a guide?A guide is always a good decision in a museum this large. You'll see the pieces that interest you most, woven in with history along the way.
- How to get thereThe nearest Tube stations are Holborn, Russell Square and Goodge Street, and many buses stop nearby.
- Additional information
- Selected galleries are open until 8:30PM on Fridays.
- Luggage storage and cloakrooms are available onsite for a nominal fee.
What people are saying about British Museum
Melissa was wonderful, providing an interesting & entertaining tour!
We had our 9 year old and 15 year old daughters on the tour with us. Melissa did a great job answering all their questions and making the tour interesting to both of them, while at the same time making sure that the adults also were engaged and learned a lot. I would recommend the tour to anyone with an interest in truly appreciating all the unique items on display at the British Museum.
Roberta was enthusiastic, highly knowledgeable, charming, and great!
We totally enjoyed our time with Roberta at the British Museum and would highly recommend her. She was inspiring and very knowledgeable about the works — and welcomed some of us “chiming in” with more bits of info. One can imagine that some tour guides might find this tiresome— but she was totally charming!
Brilliant guide - great knowledge, timing and sense of humor
The guide was great. We learned so many things - was amazing. He made the point of contacting me via Whatsapp to get details on the meeting point (which I didn't read of course). The telephone number for enquiries was easily found on the app and the operator made a great deal at answering me very quickly (help, can't find the guide). I'd recommend anyone to do this tour.
Excellent tour and many interesting facts
The tour guide was excellent and presented many facts and in very interesting ways. The time passed too quickly. I would recommend the tour to everyone.
Our guide) gave an outstanding survey of the big themes
I felt as if Roussa (our guide) gave us a complete review of my favorite college course in Western Civ but in a way that was easy to understand. My 15 year old grandson was totally engaged the whole time. We had to hurry past exhibits we would like to have spent more time with, but if you want to get an overview of the HUGE British Museum, the was an excellent experience!
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