Friday night spotlight tours
Every Friday from 17.00
See upcoming spotlight tours for times.
Tours last 20 minutes.
Free
Recommended for adults, though children are welcome.
Join a volunteer guide on one of our free Friday night spotlight tours focusing on four remarkable areas of the collection.
Taking place during the Museum's late opening on Fridays, our 20-minute spotlight tours provide an engaging introduction to four key areas of the Museum: life and death in ancient Egypt, the Enlightenment period, the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon.
How to join a Friday night spotlight tour:
- Our free volunteer-led spotlight tours take place on late opening on Fridays.
- You'll need to book a free timed ticket to enter the Museum. Your timed ticket allows you to explore the permanent collection. See the Visit page for more information.
- See upcoming Friday night spotlight tours for when and where they start. Look out for signs in the gallery too.
- For now, we're limiting the capacity for each tour to eight people. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We'll gradually increase capacity over time.
- These tours are subject to cancellation. Ask at the Information Desk in the Great Court if unsure.
- In line with current government and NHS guidance, face masks are not mandatory but visitors are welcome to wear them if they wish. The Museum maintains a robust cleaning schedule and hand sanitiser stations are available across the site.
Friday night spotlight tours
Rosetta Stone
Meeting point: Room 1
Discover more about the Rosetta Stone, an object that transformed our understanding of ancient Egypt, by enabling the decipherment of hieroglyphs and unlocking 4,000 years of history, culture and civilisation.
Parthenon
Meeting point: Room 18
This tour offers a short introduction to the Parthenon – one of the most famous monuments of the ancient world – built in Athens between 447 BC and 432 BC as a temple and treasury for the goddess Athena.
Life and death in ancient Egypt
Meeting point: Room 64
Explore the lives of ancient Egyptians and their beliefs about the afterlife.
Please note: this tour visits displays that include human remains. The British Museum is committed to curating human remains with care, respect and dignity. Find out more about our principles governing the holding, display and study of human remains.
Enlightenment
Meeting point: Room 1
The Enlightenment is the name given to a period of discovery and learning that flourished among Europeans and Americans from about 1680 to 1820. This tour will give an overview of both collecting during this time and the founding of the British Museum in 1753.
