Is the British Museum unusually crowded these days?
We would like to visit the museum and the Korea exhibit and are concerned that the entrance queue and museum generally will be overly crowded with those wanting to see the Bayeux Tapestry.
Usually at opening those with tickets to a special exhibition (and members) have a separate entrance line, but if that's filled with Bayeux Tapestry people it could be a long and annoying wait.
Arriving a little before opening may help you avoid the biggest crowds. The Bayeux Tapestry exhibition could attract extra visitors, so checking the museum’s latest entry information before your visit is a good idea.
I visited the last week of September at around 11am on a weekday. There was virtually no queue at the entrance on Montague Place; I almost always use this rear entrance rather than the main entrance on Great Russell Street.
The museum was very crowded; I went specifically to see the Parthenon exhibit. There were lots of school groups in that section. The last time I visited the British Museum was pre-pandemic. I think crowded museums have become the new norm.
I visited the museum 2 weeks ago. I had a 10:00 a.m. Tapestry slot and arrived at the main entrance around 9:00 a.m. The staff had Tapestry folks in one queue and general admission folks in another. Although I had expected crowds, I was surprised by how long the general admission line was by 10:00. By the time I exited the Tapestry exhibit the place was pretty packed. I always visit the Assyrian section, it's usually pretty quiet but not this time.
All my visits to the British Museum have been between May and September, so I have no experience with fall conditions. I was last there four years ago, I believe. I visited the museum often on that trip, arriving between 10 and 11 AM. The ground floor of the museum was nearly as crowded as the Vatican Museums until mid-afternoon or later, at which point the situation improved somewhat. The upper floor was busy but not as terrible as the ground floor.
Museum personnel told me the place was most crowded on weekends, holidays, Fridays and rainy days. You see a lot of young people in the museum, so I imagine school holidays are a tough time to visit.
If you have a timed entry ticket, you will have done everything you can to reduce waiting time. As for crowds inside the museum, going mid- to late-afternoon on Friday, when the museum is open until 8 PM, will probably make for the most pleasant visit. Just don't expect to find any food available after 3 or 3:30 PM.
@pippin789 "the staff had Tapestry folks in one queue and general admission folks in another.
Usually there's a long entrance queue on the street, then a special queue for those with special exhibition tickets and next to that a special queue for members. Are you saying they had a different arrangement when you went?
There is no separate member’s queue at the moment per the website:
We aim to ensure the quickest entry for Members, so that wherever possible you can skip any queues that may develop. At present we have had to temporarily pause this expedited entry, while we manage the practicalities of weather conditions in the entrance spaces. Please speak to staff at the Great Russell Street and Montague Place entrances for guidance on entering the Museum as a Member. Please note that our welcome and security team will ask to see your Membership card or confirmation email.
From this page:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/membership/visiting-as-a-member#:~:text=We%20aim%20to%20ensure%20the,conditions%20in%20the%20entrance%20spaces.
Does anyone know whether, after attending an Out-of-Hours tour at the British Museum, you’re allowed to stay inside the museum for a 10:00 AM timed visit to the Bayeux Tapestry?
I’d hate to finish the tour only to be ushered outside and have to queue again with the general admission crowd. When I’ve done Out-of-Hours tours in the past, the guide allowed us to stay in the museum afterward and explore the rest of the collection without exiting and re-entering.
My Out-of-Hours tour finishes at 10:00 AM, which is also the time of my Bayeux Tapestry reservation. The British Museum website doesn’t seem to specifically address going directly from an Out-of-Hours tour to a timed special exhibition.
Has anyone done this recently, or know whether staff will let you go straight to the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery when the tour ends?
