Two questions please:
I realize many attractions have their own official website. Will that usually give better results? Though I like the idea of one central website to minimize user accounts, logins, payment information, etc.
Thanks!
All the main museums in the UK are free to enter, so you don’t need to pay, but it’s worth checking the websites as you do need to book entry with some, eg, the BM. However, no central booking site.
If you’re interested in Natural History and lots of animal skeletons, there’s another fantastic museum that almost nobody knows about, or attends. The smaller Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy is with the University College London (UCL). It’s free, no crowds, and no reservation needed!
The popular big museums also usually have special exhibitions with limited attendance, and although those will have a charge, they’ll have a specific entry time on your reserved ticket. The British Museum has an upcoming Silk Road exhibit, for example, and a major Van Gogh exhibit is coming to the National Gallery. It’s necessary to check the individual Website for each location.
Just to be clear, you need to book timed entry tickets for the British Museum.
"I realize many attractions have their own official website. Will that usually give better results?"
Yes, particularly since most museums in London are free. If you book thru a 3rd party you will wind up paying.
Just for interest, I looked at Viator which is a 3rd party ticket reseller owned by Trip Advisor. I put in British Museum and it would "sell" me a free entry and an Audioguide for $13.45 (can't get it to do anything but dollars since I will not "sign in"). The British Museum website shows the entry is free and they just want you to reserve a timed entry (also free). There is now an Audio app you can download that costs 4.99GBP for a full bundle of content. So, at a current rate of 1GBP = $1.32 you'd pay $6.60 for the app. Instead, Viator is charging you $6.85 to book a free entry plus the cost of the app download. (I think my math is correct....remember I was a social worker for a career because I can't do math!)
Thanks everyone for the replies.
I didn't know about timed entries to free sights. I was last in London museums about 30 years ago and just walked right in.
I also didn't know about needing tickets to free sites. I was browsing google maps for other things to do in Greenwich and saw the Queen's House. Saw it was free and put it on my list to visit and I saw a list of negative reviews (which I do take with a grain of salt) but I also saw that people were complaining about needing a ticket for a free site.
Just to be clear, you need to book timed entry tickets for the British Museum.
Carol NR, when I was there in March of this year, I just walked in and had not booked anything ahead. Has something changed since then?
To be absolutely clear, you do not need to book tickets in advance for the British Museum. The museum recommends that you do and warns that if capacity is reached you may not get in without a ticket but I'm not aware that capacity is being reached on a regular basis. The museum site specifically says that you do not have to book, as they leave some space for walk-ups.
But if you know when you want to go you might as well reserve tickets.
None of the national museums in London should require booking in advance at the moment. Timed entry is a bit of a hangover from COVID and as far as I'm aware, shouldn't be necessary. There may be a line for bag checks as part of their security measures.
Definitely book a timed ticket for the Natural History Museum. When I went to visit a year ago, I assumed it was just like pre-pandemic where you just got in the queue. All of the tickets were sold out for the day and they were turning anyone who did not have a reserved timeslot away. The tickets are free.
Go directly to the museum’s website to book tickets. The ticket is free. They also have special exhibits which are for a fee.
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit.html
I just checked the Science Museum website and it says "you will need to pre-book a free ticket"
The London museum website says "online booking is recommended"
It looks like it's advisable (or perhaps necessary) to create an account. I'll try to do that before I leave.
I'm hoping there's enough availability at all the major museums to get entry either on the day, or the day before at most. We'd like to balance museums and outside tours depending on the weather. It would be a shame to have to schedule a museum visit on a nice day and then end up walking about in the rain.
In July, last month, we booked a timed entry for the British Museum (regular museum, not a special exhibition), as well as this past April, four months ago, so it’s still recommended, if not mandatory.. Back in April, there were people in the Security bag-check line ahead of us (were they on-time, too, yet still standing in line like we were?), and we were all getting rained on. So if it would be a shame to be touring outside on a rainy day, instead of being inside a museum, you’d have to be inside the museum for it to matter, and might still get wet waiting for entry.
