British Museum

About the museum

The British Museum was created by an Act of Parliament in 1753, when the physician and collector Sir Hans Sloane left his large collection of books, natural specimens and antiquities to the nation. It opened to the public in 1759 in Montagu House, a seventeenth-century mansion on the present site in Bloomsbury.

As the collection grew through gifts, excavations and acquisitions, the old house became too small. From the 1820s the architect Sir Robert Smirke designed the large neoclassical building with its colonnaded front that still defines the museum, and the circular Reading Room was added in the 1850s.

The natural history collections moved to South Kensington in the 1880s, and the British Library became a separate institution in 1973 before leaving the site in 1997. The Great Court, a glazed courtyard around the Reading Room designed by Foster and Partners, opened in 2000 and created one of the largest covered public squares in Europe.

Today the museum is free to enter and shows objects from every continent, from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia to Asia, Africa, the Americas and modern Europe.

Highlights

• Rosetta Stone and Egyptian sculpture (Room 4)
• Parthenon sculptures (Room 18)
• Sutton Hoo ship burial and Europe in the early Middle Ages (Room 41)
• Assyrian lion hunt reliefs from Nineveh
• Egyptian mummies and the Great Court

Permanent exhibitions

• Egyptian sculpture (Room 4) – Monumental statues, coffins and carved stones from ancient Egypt, including the Rosetta Stone.
• Greece: Parthenon (Room 18) – Sculptures that once decorated the Parthenon in Athens, shown in a dedicated gallery.
• Sutton Hoo and Europe (Room 41) – Finds from the Sutton Hoo ship burial and related objects from early medieval Europe.

Founded

1753

Operated by

Trustees of the British Museum

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry to the permanent collection is free. A free timed ticket is recommended and gives priority entry at busy times; visitors without one may have to queue. Special exhibitions are charged separately. Members of the museum enter without booking.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: not available
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description

A step-free route is available at both entrances: lifts beside the 12 entrance steps on Great Russell Street, and a step-free Montague Place entrance. Most lifts are wheelchair accessible, but a few galleries have no lift access. Manual wheelchairs can be borrowed free of charge if booked at least two working days ahead. There is no Changing Places toilet on site. Induction loops at the Ticket Desk and Clore Centre, BSL video guides, Deaf-led BSL tours, large print and braille guides, touch tours, a sensory map, ear defenders and relaxed events are offered. There is no on-site parking, but Blue Badge bays are close by on Montague Place, Montague Street and Coptic Street. Assistance animals are welcome.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities

The Families Desk (weekends and London Borough of Camden school holidays) hands out free activity backpacks and explorer trails. Free Museum Missions can be played on a phone or tablet, and the museum runs holiday workshops and paid sleepovers. Pushchairs are allowed; fold-up buggies can be left in the cloakroom free of charge. Family-friendly eating areas and baby feeding and changing facilities are available.

Getting there & parking

Main entrance on Great Russell Street, second entrance on Montague Place (WC1E 7JW). A taxi rank is at the main gates. A Santander Cycle Hire docking station is on the corner of Great Russell Street and Montague Street; on-site bicycle racks are temporarily unavailable.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Wi-Fi

Free wifi for visitors (network 'British Museum WiFi'). Court Cafés, Coffee Lounge, Great Court Restaurant, Pizzeria and outdoor food trucks. The cloakroom charges per item; fold-up pushchairs are free. Large luggage and wheeled cases are not allowed.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent

Commercial hire of spaces is offered via the museum's commercial team.

Plan your visit