Plan your visit

• We're limiting numbers of people in the Museum to ensure there's room for you to safely enjoy your visit. Everyone, including Members, is advised to book a free timed ticket in advance.
• To book simply pick the date and time you'd like to visit. Please only book tickets for the dates and times you plan to attend.
• If the date or time you wish to visit has no availability, please note that each day, a limited number of tickets for General Admission are released online for that day. They're likely to book quickly so please act early to avoid disappointment. In addition, a limited number of walk-up tickets are available each day for those who arrive at the Museum without advance bookings – please speak to staff on your arrival at the Museum to enquire about availability, as entry can't be guaranteed.
• To book tickets for exhibitions, visit our exhibition pages. If you want to guarantee your visit to the permanent collection as well as the exhibition on your visit, you'll need to book a separate ticket. 
• To book tickets for an exhibition as a Member, see our Visiting as a Member page. 
• If you need any access assistance, please see our Accessibility page.

Important information about your ticket booking

• Tickets to the permanent collection are free. 
• You can book tickets for up to six people, following government guidance. 
• Tickets will be released on a regular basis so if there's no availability showing then please check again soon. Sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest updates. 
• We'll email your ticket to you, and you'll need to show it either printed out or on your device when you arrive.
• Please arrive at the time stated on your ticket – we can't guarantee admission before or after your allotted time slot.
• We kindly ask you to contact us if you no longer need your ticket so that we're able to reallocate it.

• Members are advised to book free timed entry in advance for the permanent collection and exhibitions.
• To book your Member timed entry, please go to our Visiting as a Member page.
• Have your Membership card ready when you book. You'll need to show your Membership card and evidence of your booking (eg a ticket or confirmation email) when you visit. If you can't find your card, please contact friends@britishmuseum.org
• We kindly ask you to contact us if you no longer need your timed entry, so that we're able to reallocate it. Please email bookingcancellation@britishmuseum.org
• Visit our Membership page for enquiries or to find out about becoming a Member.

Under the UK Government's NHS Test and Trace scheme, we're required to ask every visitor aged 16 and over to provide their contact details for Test and Trace. You can do this by using one of the following methods: 

• If you have a smart phone and have downloaded the Test and Trace app, you can scan the NHS QR code when you arrive at the Museum.  
• If you provided your contact details when you made your online booking, we shall also use them for Test and Trace unless you have chosen to opt out. 
• If you have booked tickets for additional guests aged 16 and over, please supply their names and contact details using this form. Alternatively, if you have a smart phone and have downloaded the Test and Trace app, your guests can scan the NHS QR code when they arrive at the Museum or they can provide their details to a member of staff at the Ticket Desk.  
• If you are not using the Test and Trace app you can provide your details to a member of staff at the Ticket Desk.  

Although we hope that all of our visitors will participate in Test and Trace, this is not a precondition of entry. However, under the current COVID-19 regulations, the British Museum requires a record of your contact details for NHS Test and Trace if you wish to use the café seating areas. For further details on how we use your data for Test and Trace, including how you can opt out, please see our Test and Trace Procedure or request to see a copy at the Ticket Desk. 

We have created a one-way route through the Museum, which now includes the Upper floor galleries. This will allow you to safely explore world cultures from the Mediterranean to the Middle East and from the Americas to Africa. 

• View a map of the route. 
• Explore more of the Museum with our object trails.
• The Audio Guide Desk is closed but audio guides are available on YouTube Music and Apple Music. You'll be listening to them on your own device so please bring along headphones.

See the list of available galleries for you to enjoy (please note this list is subject to change):

Lower floor

• Room 25: Africa (The Sainsbury Galleries) 

Ground floor

• Great Court
• Room 1: Enlightenment
• Room 2: Collecting the world 
• Room 2a: The Waddesdon Bequest (funded by The Rothschild Foundation)
• Room 4: Egyptian sculpture 
• Room 6: Assyrian sculpture and Balawat Gates
• Rooms 7–8: Assyria: Nimrud
• Room 10: Assyria: Lion hunts, Siege of Lachish and Khorsabad
• Room 23: Greek and Roman sculpture 
• Room 24: Living and Dying (The Wellcome Trust Gallery)
• Room 26: North America 
• Room 27: Mexico
• Room 67: Korea (The Korea Foundation Gallery)
• Room 95: Chinese Ceramics – Sir David Percival Collection (The Sir Joseph Hotung Centre for Ceramic Studies)

Upper floors

• Rooms 38–39: Clocks and watches (The Sir Harry and Lady Djanogly Gallery)
• Room 40: Medieval Europe, 1050–1500 (The Sir Paul and Lady Ruddock Gallery)
• Room 41: Sutton Hoo and Europe, AD 300–1100 (The Sir Paul and Lady Ruddock Gallery)
• Rooms 42–43: The Islamic world (The Albukhary Foundation Gallery)
• Room 46: Europe 1400–1800
• Room 47: Europe 1800–1900
• Room 49: Roman Britain (The Weston Gallery)
• Room 50: Britain and Europe 800 BC–AD43
• Room 51: Europe and Middle East, 10,000–800 BC (The Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Gallery)
• Room 52: Ancient Iran (The Rahim Irvani Gallery)
• Room 53: Ancient South Arabia (The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gallery)
• Room 54: Anatolia and Urartu, 7000–300 BC (The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gallery)
• Room 55: Mesopotamia, 1500–539 BC (The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gallery)
• Room 56: Mesopotamia, 6000–1500 BC (The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gallery)
• Rooms 57–59: Ancient Levant (The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gallery)
• Room 61: Egyptian life and death: the tomb-chapel of Nebamun (The Michael Cohen Gallery)
• Rooms 62–63: Egyptian death and afterlife: mummies (The Roxie Walker Galleries)
• Room 64: Early Egypt (The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gallery)
• Room 65: Sudan, Egypt and Nubia (The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gallery)
• Room 66: Ethopia and Coptic Egypt
• Room 68: Money
• Room 69: Greek and Roman life
• Room 70: Roman Empire (The Wolfson Gallery)
• Room 71: Etruscan world
• Room 72: Ancient Cyprus (The A.G. Leventis Gallery)
• Room 73: Greeks in Italy
• Rooms 90–90a: Prints and drawings displays
• Rooms 92-94: Japan (The Mitsubishi Corporation Japanese Galleries)

Due to regular maintenance work, there is no step-free access to Room 67: Korea and Room 95: Chinese Ceramics – Sir Percival David Collection. However lift-access can be provided if booked in advance. Please email access@britishmuseum.org to arrange a visit with lift-access or for further information.

For more information on access to the galleries visit our Accessibility at the Museum page. 

Galleries in the Museum may be closed for maintenance, refurbishment or private events. Where possible, we'll list the time and date of the closures below. All upcoming and current closures will also be detailed on the affected gallery pages. 

We regret that we are unable to open the Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery of China and South Asia at present. This is due to the need to address air circulation in line with current guidelines. We hope to be able to reopen the gallery in due course.

Due to regular maintenance, Rooms 12–18 and Rooms 46–47 have been temporarily removed from the one-way route: 

• Room 12: Greece: Minoans and Mycenaeans (The Arthur I Fleischman Gallery) 
• Room 13: Greece 1050–520 BC 
• Room 14: Greek vases 
• Room 15: Athens and Lycia
• Room 16: Bassai sculptures
• Room 17: Nereid Monument 
• Room 18: Greece: Parthenon 

To comply with social distancing, the following galleries remain closed:

• Room 3
• Room 19: Greece: Athens 430–400 BC
• Room 20: Greeks and Lycians 400–325 BC
• Room 21: Mausoleum of Halikarnassos
• Room 22: The world of Alexander
• Room 48: Europe 1900 to the present
• Room 69a
• Room 91 and 91a

Occasionally we may need to close galleries at short notice for safety reasons. We regret that in these cases we're not always able to alert the public in advance. 

Our opening hours are Monday to Sunday, 10.00–17.00 (last entry at 15.30). 

• Great Court: 10.00–17.30 (Fridays 20.30)
• Galleries: 10.00–17.00 (please note: we begin clearing galleries 10 minutes before they close)
• Information Desk: open
• Ticket Desk: open
• Box Office: 10.00–16.50, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)
• Cloakroom: closed
• Audio Guide Desk: closed
• Families Desk: closed
• Ford Centre for Young Visitors: closed

There'll be no late opening on Fridays for the permanent collection.

The Museum is closed 24–26 December. 

Special exhibitions are open daily 10.00–17.00 (last entry at 15.50) and on Fridays until 20.30 (last entry at 19.10).

Please arrive at the time stated on your ticket – we cannot guarantee admission before or after your allotted time slot.

We begin clearing galleries 10 minutes before they close.

• Bookshop: 10.00–17.00
• Family shop: see opening hours above 
• Collections shop and Grenville Room: see opening hours above 
• Online shop: open 24 hours a day

• Court Cafés: 10.00–17.00
• Great Court Restaurant: closed
• Pizzeria: closed
• Montague Café: closed
• Coffee Lounge: closed

Find out more about the Museum's cafés and restaurants. 

Our library, archive and study rooms remain closed to the public until further notice. We look forward to welcoming you back when they reopen later this year.

• Please note that due to the new measures necessary to ensure the safety of our visitors and staff, the Museum is currently unable to provide a cloakroom service, for visitors or Members. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
• Items of large luggage (including some bags and rucksacks, and all wheeled suitcases) are not permitted on site. Please see the restricted items section for full details.
• Storage for luggage is available at major rail stations, including Euston, King's Cross and Charing Cross.

• Free wifi is available for all visitors to the Museum.
• Please connect to 'British Museum WiFi' only.
• You'll be required to supply your full name and email address before using the service.
• Free wifi is funded by the Mayor of London and Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. Connectivity is supported by the Daisy Group.
• Charging phones and plugging in any other electronics is not allowed.

If you've lost an item while visiting the Museum, please email lostproperty@britishmuseum.org

For information about facilities for parents, babies and young children, please see the Family visits page.

If you need help during your visit, please speak to a uniformed member of staff.

For information about facilities and resources for disabled visitors please see the Accessibility at the Museum page.

If you need assistance during your visit, please speak to a uniformed member of staff.

• Hand-held flash photography and video recording is allowed in most galleries for private purposes only.
• Signs will indicate where photography is restricted.
• Tripods, monopods and selfie sticks may not be used inside the Museum building.
• In special circumstances, a permit to use these items can be issued – if you have any queries, contact the Museum at filming@britishmuseum.org or on 020 7323 8380
• For questions regarding commercial photography or filming, please see our Commercial page.
• We regret to advise that sketching in the galleries is temporarily not allowed to help facilitate distancing measures and visitor flow.