Science Museum
London's Science Museum turns curiosity into a hands-on journey, from steam power to spaceflight. Stand by thumping beam engines, study Babbage's Victorian "computer", and peer at the Apollo 10 capsule that rehearsed the Moon landing. Britain's largest Medicine galleries map five centuries of care, prosthetics, and public health in thousands of objects. It's free to enter; major exhibitions and IMAX are ticketed. Expect families, interactives, and plenty to tinker with. Start at the Energy Hall on the ground floor, then climb through computing and space before looping back to medicine. Allow two to three hours; pre-book a free timed ticket at busy times, and bring a short list of must-sees so you don't drift.
Opening Hours
What's not to miss inside?
Apollo 10 Capsule
Spacecraft that orbited the MoonFlown in May 1969, the Apollo 10 command module rehearsed the first Moon landing, travelling around the Moon and returning at a record re-entry speed.
📍 Flight Gallery, Level 3
DNA Model
Double helix that changed biologyThis 1953 model shows Watson and Crick’s double-helix structure of DNA, explaining how genetic information copies itself from cell to cell.
📍 Exploring Space corridor, Level 2
Difference Engine
Victorian computer, built in 1990sCharles Babbage designed this mechanical calculator in the 1840s. The museum built a working version in 1989-1991 to prove the design works.
📍 Computing Gallery, Level 2
Medicine Galleries
Britain’s largest medical galleriesOpened in 2019, these vast rooms use 3,000+ objects to tell 500 years of medical history, from prosthetics to penicillin.
📍 Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries
Energy Hall
Historic steam power in motionTowering engines from the 18th and 19th centuries show how steam powered mines, mills and cities, sparking the Industrial Revolution.
📍 Ground Floor, Entrance
Inspire your Friends
- The Apollo 10 capsule flew around the Moon in May 1969 before Apollo 11’s landing.
- The museum’s Medicine galleries opened in 2019 and are the largest medical galleries in the UK.
- A working version of Babbage’s Difference Engine was built at the museum in 1989-1991 from original plans.
- Over 2.8 million people visited in 2024, among the UK’s most popular museums.
- James Watt’s Workshop was moved here in 1924 with 8,000+ items preserved in place.
