Free tickets are now available for the London Museum’s new home at Smithfield, which opens its doors on Saturday, 28 November. After four years without a main site, the capital’s history museum is returning in a converted Victorian market building in West Smithfield, and visitors can already reserve a timed entry slot for the opening weeks.
General admission is free, as it was at the museum’s former home, but anyone planning to visit in the first few weeks is being urged to book ahead. Tickets are currently listed for dates between 28 November and 31 December 2026, with visitors choosing a date and an available entry time through the museum’s official website. Walk-in visitors will still be welcomed, but only if space allows, so an advance booking is the only way to guarantee entry during the busy opening period.
The new museum sits in the General Market building at West Smithfield, London EC1A 9AG, a short walk from Farringdon, Barbican and St Paul’s stations. It will open seven days a week, with extended evening hours on Fridays and Saturdays, a nod to the area’s nightlife that should suit visitors who want to explore after work.
What visitors will find inside
The galleries will trace London’s story from prehistoric times to the present day, with themed tours and objects that have never previously been on display. Alongside the permanent collection, the museum is promising a programme of activities, shopping and food experiences designed to make the building a destination in its own right rather than a single-visit attraction.
One of the more unusual features sits below ground. Part of the museum’s underground gallery space was once a goods depot for the Great Northern Railway, and visitors will be able to watch trains travelling past as they explore. The restoration work behind the opening has been extensive: 10,000 square metres of brickwork have been cleaned, roofs have been reinforced, and a network of historic vaults beneath the building has been uncovered.
Food and drink will be part of the offer from day one. Visitors will be able to stop for coffee and hot chocolate at the historic Temperance Cocoa Rooms, eat all day at Clerk’s House, and have a drink at Bartholomew’s. A rotating food residency called The Roost will showcase emerging culinary talent.
The wider redevelopment will not stop at the first opening. The neighbouring Poultry Market building is scheduled to open in 2028, bringing temporary exhibition spaces, collection stores and learning facilities alongside the permanent galleries.
A return four years in the making
The opening marks the end of a long move. The museum’s previous main site, on London Wall near the Barbican, closed in December 2022 after 45 years, and the institution changed its name from the Museum of London to the London Museum in July 2024 ahead of the relocation. The Smithfield project restores a disused historic market building to public use, and the museum’s Docklands site has continued to operate throughout the gap.
Accessibility has been built into the new site from the start, with step-free entrances, spacious lifts, accessible toilets and a Changing Places facility. Farringdon, served by the Elizabeth line, Thameslink and several Underground lines, is the nearest station, with Barbican and St Paul’s also within walking distance.
For Londoners looking for a free day out in the opening weeks, the advice is simple: book a timed ticket now rather than turning up and hoping. Demand is expected to be high, and the first dates to go are likely to be the opening weekend itself. Those who miss out on the first wave can still try their luck as a walk-in, or look further ahead, with the museum open daily and late on Friday and Saturday evenings.
More free days out across the capital are covered in our guide to the Bayeux Tapestry display at the British Museum, while the Tower of London’s 2026 ticket prices include a £1 scheme worth knowing about, and the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition has opened at the Natural History Museum. Tickets for the new Smithfield museum can be booked through the official London Museum website.
