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We've included every museum in London. Use the filters to find something for you.
The nation's museum of modern war, free, in the old Bedlam asylum: two world wars on the lower floors and the Holocaust above them.
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The Imperial War Museum was proposed in February 1917, while the First World War was still being fought, to record what the country and its empire were going through, and its founders insisted from the start on collecting the personal alongside the official: letters and keepsakes as well as guns. It opened in the Crystal Palace in 1920 and moved in 1936 into the centre block of the old Bethlem Royal Hospital, the asylum Londoners called Bedlam, whose two long wings had been pulled down to leave the domed middle standing in its park.
The building was remade by Foster and Partners for the 1914 centenary, and the atrium now hangs the big objects in the air: a Spitfire that flew in the Battle of Britain, a Harrier, a V-2 rocket, and on the floor the thirteen-pounder gun that fired the British Army's first shot of the First World War. The First World War Galleries below tell that war through 1,300 objects. The Second World War Galleries and, on the floors above them, the Holocaust Galleries opened in 2021; the latter are among the most complete in any museum and are not meant for younger children. Entry is free, and the newest rooms hold the museum's art, film and photography, collected since 1917 as seriously as the hardware.
Step-free access
| Monday | 10:00 – 18:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10:00 – 18:00 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 – 18:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 – 18:00 |
| Friday | 10:00 – 18:00 |
| Saturday | 10:00 – 18:00 |
| Sunday | 10:00 – 18:00 |
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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.