London Museum Smithfield: opening on 28 November 2026

What to see at the London Museum in Smithfield

The museum has not yet opened to the public. What follows describes what it has announced, with a source for each point. The route is laid out in three spaces, set out in the press release: Real Time, Our Time and Past Time.

The museum presents itself as a history of London from prehistory to the present day, with more than seven million objects across its collections and stores, according to The Nudge. That figure includes the stores: it says nothing about how many objects will be on display, which has not been published.

The building is a covered market designed in the 19th century by Sir Horace Jones, the City’s architect. It was restored by the practices Stanton Williams and Asif Khan, with Julian Harrap as conservation architect, according to Deep Arrival. The museum describes the site as a « social space for the city ». To go with the Victorian London the building tells, the guided tour listed below takes you into Victorian Whitechapel, an area the museum’s blog links to its fragment of « fatberg ».

Real Time, Our Time, Past Time: three spaces, one route

Opening: Saturday 28 November 2026 Permanent galleries: free Opening hours: not yet published General Market, West Smithfield

The entrance hall, Real Time, is under a glass roof and lined with Victorian shopfronts. It houses a digital wall that shows the city in real time, according to The Nudge. The large nave under the dome, Our Time, brings together thirteen installations and doubles as an events space. Past Time holds the chronological galleries, which trace the history of London.

• Real Time: the glass-roofed entrance hall, with its digital wall of the city.
• Our Time: the domed nave, thirteen installations, events space.
• Past Time: the chronological galleries on London’s history.

Pixidia tip: the museum has not published opening hours yet. Check the official page on the day of your visit, rather than trusting an old listing or a guide that shows a time range.

Jack the Ripper and Victorian London Beyond the Shadows 2.5-hour guided tour · €21.63 per adult (based on 2 adults, so €43.26 for two) · available on 14 of 30 days between 12 October and 10 November 2026 · ★ 5.0 (102 reviews)

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The pieces the museum is promoting

Before opening, the museum’s blog and VisitLondon list a set of headline objects, without naming a gallery for each. These are announcements, not a final inventory: the display can still change before 28 November.

The objects announced

• The Cheapside Hoard, announced among the museum’s headline pieces.
• An object linked to the Great Fire of London, cited by the museum’s blog.
• A fragment of the Whitechapel « fatberg ».
• Emmeline Pankhurst’s medal, announced among the headline objects.
• An execution waistcoat attributed to Charles I. VisitLondon describes it as a waistcoat the king is « said to have worn »: an attribution, not proof.
• Roman tablets and mosaics, among the traces of the city’s Roman period.
• A six-metre-wide window overlooking the Thameslink trains, cited by The Nudge and Artlyst.

Pixidia tip: don’t come for one specific piece without confirming it on the museum’s website on the day. The museum has not announced a room for each of them.

How to get to the London Museum

The most direct station is Farringdon. The museum is a few minutes’ walk from the station, according to Deep Arrival and VisitLondon. No exact time is published, so just follow the map from the exit.

Farringdon is served by the Elizabeth line, by Thameslink (National Rail) and by the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, according to TfL’s station page. Deep Arrival suggests staying near Farringdon, Barbican or Clerkenwell. That advice is about where to stay, not about access to the museum.

Step-free access is not settled. The TfL reviews consulted do not agree on Farringdon. Check the state of the route on TfL on the day of your visit, before you set off: it is the only reliable way to know whether the entrance and the interchange can be reached without stairs.

Source: TfL, Farringdon station page and TfL, Barbican station page, checked on 11 October 2026.

Don’t confuse it with the London Museum Docklands, at West India Quay. That branch is open every day from 10am to 5pm, free of charge, according to the museum’s website. It is not the new Smithfield building.

Driving isn’t a good option. No museum car park is announced in the sources consulted, and the area is dense, with a wholesale market still in operation.

Opening hours, tickets and booking: what’s confirmed

The permanent galleries are free, according to the museum’s official website and the press release. You don’t need a ticket to enter the permanent collections. The museum also announces a space called Showspace, which is free.

What had not been published at the date of writing, 11 October 2026:

• Opening hours for the permanent galleries. The museum refers to its website, which does not yet give a time range.
• Booking for the permanent galleries: the official sources do not say whether it is required.
• Late-night prices (lates) on Friday and Saturday, announced from November 2026. Some activities in the programme could be paid.
• Temporary exhibitions: none is planned before phase 2, the Poultry Market, in 2028. The museum has not announced prices for future exhibitions.
• Playdates, announced from January 2027, and the Tuesday Tea Club: prices not published.
• Cloakroom and lockers: no information found.
• Buses: no reliable list; check the routes on TfL before you go.

The table below sums up the places in the area and their entry conditions, with the official opening hours checked the same day.

Source: London Museum, Smithfield project, London Museum, visit page, The Charterhouse, visit us and St Bartholomew-the-Great, visit, checked on 11 October 2026.

A note on exhibitions: the press release and Deep Arrival agree on this point. For visitors coming to see a temporary exhibition, the nearest date is therefore 2028, not the November 2026 launch.

The neighbourhood: Bart’s, the Charterhouse and the market

The museum sits in an area where history is dense. Two sites are easy to visit in the same half-day, with their opening hours published on their official websites: St Bartholomew-the-Great and the Charterhouse. The Smithfield market is worth a look as you pass; it has no visiting hours.

St Bartholomew-the-Great

Known as Bart’s, this is one of the oldest parish churches in London still in use, according to The Past. It was founded by Rahere in 1123, a date handed down by tradition. The official site lists opening from Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and Sunday according to services. There is no admission charge: a donation is invited. Group visits of five people or more are arranged on request. Next door, the small hospital church of St Bartholomew-the-Less is open every day from 8am to 10pm.

The Charterhouse

A former Carthusian monastery, the Charterhouse was dissolved in the late 1530s. Today the museum, the chapel and the shop are free from Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30am to 4:30pm. No booking is needed for this part. Guided tours leave at 11am and 2:15pm and are booked online, on the official page thecharterhouse.org/visit-us. The price of these tours is not published on the official site: prices quoted in guide listings are undated and should not be repeated as they stand.

The Smithfield market

Smithfield is a wholesale market, not a visit: you see it as you pass, with no published visiting hours. The City of London says the traders will stay on site until at least 2028. The move to Albert Island in the Royal Docks, announced on 3 December 2025, still depends on an Act of Parliament and a planning permission from Newham: it is not settled. The market’s visitor website returned an error when it was checked. No visiting hours are therefore published here.

A possible half-day plan

The plan below takes the official opening hours into account. It is not a recommendation from the museum, and the museum’s own hours still need confirming.

1. The morning, at the museum. Start with the permanent galleries, then head down to Past Time. Deep Arrival advises arriving before noon to avoid the opening-day crowds: that is the media’s advice, not a museum rule.
2. Lunch. The Nudge reports dining spaces: the Cocoa Rooms, said to be open all day, or the Clerks House bistro, which seats 140. Prices are not published.
3. The afternoon, in the neighbourhood. Go to St Bartholomew-the-Great (Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm), then the Charterhouse (Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30am to 4:30pm). For a guided tour, book the 11am or 2:15pm slot.
4. The evening, if the programme is confirmed. Friday or Saturday late nights are announced from November 2026. Check the programme for your date before you block out the evening.

A calendar tip follows directly from the hours: pick a Tuesday to Saturday to link Bart’s and the Charterhouse. On Sunday and Monday the Charterhouse is closed to the public; Bart’s opens on Sunday only according to services.

For the rest of your stay, London day trips are compared in one place: see our guide to the best day trips from London, with 2026 prices compared.

If your trip also includes the National Gallery, our article on Van Eyck’s portraits at the National Gallery helps you prepare for this museum near Trafalgar Square.

Depending on your profile

The museum has no attendance history yet, so the profiles below rely on official information and the programme’s announcements. They mainly show what changes depending on your situation.

Families

Free entry to the permanent galleries means you can visit without buying tickets, which keeps planning simple. If the kids get restless, the Charterhouse, with its garden, offers a break, though its opening window is short. The programmes announced for 2027, such as Playdates, have no published details yet.

Couples, for an evening out

The Friday and Saturday late nights, announced from November 2026, offer a different pace from the daytime visit. Their programme is not detailed and their prices are not published. For dinner, The Nudge names two places: The Roost, a test kitchen that seats only 14 in the evening, and Clerks House, a 140-seat bistro. Prices are not published for either. Before booking a table or an evening, check prices with the museum or the venue.

On a budget

The museum costs nothing for the permanent galleries. Bart’s charges no admission, and a donation is only invited. The Charterhouse is free for the museum and the chapel on weekdays. The costs to plan for are therefore transport, food and, if you choose one, a guided tour at the Charterhouse, whose price is not published.

First visit to London

For the museum, the most direct station is still Farringdon, whose step-free access should be checked on TfL on the day of your visit. If you’re arriving from abroad, check the entry requirements first: our article on the UK ETA before London explains the process.

Visitors with reduced mobility

Deep Arrival notes that converting a Victorian market can create changes in level between the halls. The museum has not published details of its accessibility: lifts, step-free routes and seating are not confirmed. Check these points before you go, and look up Farringdon’s access on TfL.

Mistakes to avoid

Four mistakes come up again and again in content about the museum before it opens.

• Coming for a temporary exhibition at launch. There aren’t any before phase 2, in 2028.
• Confusing it with the London Museum Docklands. That site, at West India Quay, is a different address and is already open.
• Relying on an old opening-hours listing. The museum had not published opening hours at the date of writing. Check any time range against the official website.
• Taking the wholesale market for a visit. The traders work there, and the visitor website was not available when it was checked.

What other guides don’t tell you

These points are missing or wrongly presented in some of the guides we checked. Each one links to a source, checked on 11 October 2026.

• One date is circulating in error. An ArtDependence article gives 26 November in its body, while its headline, the museum and the City of London give the 28th. Museum project page and ArtDependence article (checked on 11 October 2026).
• The old London Wall site closed in December 2022. Since then, only the Docklands branch has remained open to the public, according to Deep Arrival, which picks up the London Daily News. Deep Arrival article (checked on 11 October 2026).
• The 2 million visitors a year are a forecast. The Museums Journal presents this figure as expected attendance, not measured attendance. Museums Journal article (checked on 11 October 2026).