London Museum Smithfield Opening Date, Tickets and Hours: Free Entry From 28 November

Updated 11 Nov 2026, 18:56 · First published 11 Nov 2026

The new London Museum opens its doors at Smithfield on Saturday 28 November 2026 – and entry is free. After four years without a permanent home, the museum that used to sit at London Wall has moved into the restored Victorian market buildings in the City of London, and free timed tickets for the opening weeks are already available to book.

Here is everything you need to know before you go: opening hours, how tickets work, how to get there and what you will actually see inside.

Read more: Hyde Park Winter Wonderland 2026: Opening Date, Ticket Prices and What’s New

How do I get tickets?

General admission is free, but the museum runs a timed-ticket system. You can book a slot online through the London Museum website, and you will be offered the chance to add a donation – it is optional. Tickets released so far cover 28 November to 31 December 2026.

Walk-ups are welcome, but the museum itself says booking is strongly recommended, especially in the opening weeks. If you want to go on the first weekend, book early – a free new museum in central London right before Christmas is going to be busy.

Opening hours – including late nights

From Sunday to Thursday the museum is open from 10am to 6pm, with last entry at 4.45pm. On Fridays and Saturdays it stays open until 11pm. The last ticketed entry on those nights is 7.15pm, and after that walk-ins are let in, subject to space, until 9.30pm.

Those late openings are a big part of the plan. The museum is running “Shared Late Nights” every Friday and Saturday, including a free Sound of London DJ collective series from 4 December. A monthly House Party with fabric – the Farringdon club is just around the corner – is due to start in February 2027.

What is inside?

The museum is split into three connected spaces. Real Time is the covered street you walk in through. Our Time is a social space with 13 installations about recent London life. Past Time, below ground, tells the story of London in order, from prehistoric times to today.

Among the objects on show:

• The Cheapside Hoard – the famous stash of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery found under a Cheapside cellar in 1912
• The vest said to have been worn by Charles I at his execution in 1649
• Queen Victoria’s mourning dress
• The Whitechapel Fatberg – yes, a piece of the giant lump of fat and wet wipes pulled out of the sewers

There is also a six-metre window looking straight onto a working Thameslink line running under the market – something the museum calls a world first.

Why has the museum moved?

For 45 years the Museum of London sat at London Wall, next to the Barbican. It closed in December 2022 so it could move into the empty General Market and Poultry Market buildings at Smithfield, and it was renamed the London Museum in 2024.

The market was designed by Sir Horace Jones – the architect behind Tower Bridge – in 1883. The restoration was led by Stanton Williams and Asif Khan with Julian Harrap. The £437m project was paid for by the City of London Corporation, the Mayor of London and private donors, including Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Food, drink and the shop

There are several places to eat and drink inside: Temperance Cocoa Rooms for coffee and hot chocolate, Clerk’s House for all-day food, Bartholomew’s for drinks and The Roost, a lunchtime food residency that changes. A food season called London Tastes, co-curated by writers Ruby Tandoh and Jonathan Nunn, runs from 28 November until August 2027, and a free weekly Tea Club starts in December.

Getting there and accessibility

The closest station is Farringdon (Elizabeth line, Thameslink, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines). Barbican and St Paul’s are also a short walk. Bus routes 4, 8, 25, 46, 56, 63, 100, 172, 242 and 521 all stop nearby.

The museum has step-free entrances, large lifts, accessible toilets and a Changing Places toilet on the ground floor, plus baby changing on every floor. It says fuller access details – including relaxed openings and sensory maps – will be published before opening.

Planning a pre-Christmas day out? The Elizabeth line is closed between Stratford and Romford over part of the festive period – check before you travel.

Photo: Alexey Fedorenko / Shutterstock. Sources: London Museum, City of London Corporation.