Postal Museum
- Transport enthusiasts
- Social history enthusiasts
- Families with children
What Visitors Say
The postal museum is a hidden gem among London's countless museum. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the logistics challenges of delivering millions of letters each day by all kinds of transportation. The star of the show isn't he underground mail train, which ran for oven eighty years until 2003, unbeknownst to many Londoners. The train has now been turned into a passenger train for a unique twenty minute ride. The museum includes many interactive exhibits, great for children. Cafe and gift shop. A separate play area for children called 'Sorted' requires separate timed tickets. Great for 3-6 year old children.
The Postal Museum in Clerkenwell is such a brilliant and underrated London experience. I went in expecting a nice museum visit, but it ended up being one of the most unique things I’ve done in the city. The highlight for me was definitely the Mail Rail ride — going underground and exploring the old postal railway was fascinating. It’s incredible to think this hidden network was used for decades to move mail across London. The whole experience felt both historic and immersive. I also really enjoyed the costume experience, especially dressing up in the 1890s mail coach guard outfit. It made the visit much more memorable and gave me some great photos as well. The museum itself is well laid out, full of interesting facts, and gives a real insight into the history of the postal service in Britain. It’s great for families, history lovers, and anyone looking for something a bit different from the usual London attractions. Highly recommended—it's educational, interactive, and very fun! I'm not usually a museum kind of guy, but I don't mind another train ride tour.
We really enjoyed our visit to the postal museum - we were greeted by a friendly staff member who pointed us in the direction of the mail rail train. We had to wait a while for the train, as not too many people can fit in at the same time. The train was really enjoyable, I could have gone round again. The museum is well laid out, well lit and we enjoyed the pneumatic tubes and create your own stamp interactive exhibits.
The museum is simply magnificent. The interesting exhibitions, interactive stands and, of course, the highlight of the visit - a ride on the Mail train through the small original underground tunnels. I would advise booking tickets in advance. There are a lot of exhibits, some of which you can touch and press, and also try out some of the technological processes on the imitation models. This is interesting for both adults and, of course, children. I highly recommend visiting.
We had a fantastic visit to The Postal Museum! The kids were incredibly happy and had so much fun exploring the interactive exhibits—it kept them engaged the whole time. It was a great experience overall, and the adults enjoyed it just as much. There’s plenty to see and learn for all ages, which makes it a perfect family outing. The staff were also very friendly and helpful, which made the visit even more enjoyable. Highly recommended for anyone visiting London with kids!
Highlights
Mail Rail Ride
London’s secret postal railway, reborn as a rideFrom 1927 to 2003 a driverless railway rushed letters beneath rush hour. You now glide the same tunnels past platform projections of its 1930s heyday.
Rail Building (opposite main museum), lower level
Penny Black & Friends
The world’s first adhesive postage stamp (1840)A tiny square that democratised long-distance love, business and news—and launched a design language still used today.
Main Museum, Stamp & Design zone
Coach, Postmen & Pillar Boxes
From night-coach speed to street-corner convenienceMail coaches beat turnpikes; pillar boxes turned pavements into post offices. Uniforms and hardware show how public trust was built piece by piece.
Main Museum, Ground floor
War & the GPO
Keeping Britain talking under fireTelegrams, field post and an underground rail kept messages moving through blackouts and Blitz.
Main Museum, People & Stories
Sorted! Play Zone (Kids)
Role-play the whole postal journeyMini-posties scan, sort, load and deliver across a make-believe town—systems thinking disguised as play.
Main Museum (timed sessions)
Opening Hours
Fun Facts
The ‘secret’ railway wasn’t a Tube at all—it used 2-foot-gauge tracks and ran without drivers decades before the DLR or Elizabeth line automation.
Anthony Trollope, the Victorian novelist, worked for the Post Office and helped champion pillar boxes; your red street icon has literary DNA.
London briefly had blue pillar boxes in the 1930s for airmail—post a letter into a colour-coded shortcut to the skies.
The Colossus code-breaking computers were built by Post Office engineer Tommy Flowers at the GPO’s Dollis Hill lab—Britain’s wartime computing started inside ‘the Post’.
Before Mail Rail, London tried a Victorian underground ‘pneumatic post’ that literally fired canisters through tubes; it worked—until it didn’t—and was scrapped by the 1870s.
Similar Museums
Nearby Places
Charles Dickens Museum
3 min 👣
L-13 Light Industrial Workshop
4 min 👣
Foundling Museum
7 min 👣
Islington Museum
9 min 👣
Museum of the Order of St John
10 min 👣
Goldsmiths' Centre
11 min 👣
Sir John Soane's Museum
11 min 👣
The Ship Tavern
11 min 👣
Cubitt Gallery
12 min 👣
Pushkin House
12 min 👣