Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum has the largest collection of decorative arts and design in the world

Inside one of the 145 Galleries of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Inside one of the 145 Galleries of the Victoria and Albert Museum cc licensed photo by gailf548

With a collection exceeding 4.5 million different items, London's Victoria and Albert Museum is unrivalled in its category. In spite of having 145 galleries spread over 51000 square metres, only a portion of the massive collection of fine arts can be displayed at any one time. Items go back as far as 5000 years and cover nearly every medium of art.

Here you will find a vast collection of items including, sculptures, textiles, glass and ceramics, jewellery, silver, iron works, furniture, textiles, costumes, prints, photographs and drawings from every corner of the world.

The Victoria and Albert museum is named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The first building on the site was constructed in 1857. Subsequent expansions and updates have resulted in today's large museum and its variety of architecture. Another feature is a central garden area with a water feature and summertime cafe. Inside there is a cafe offering hot and cold meals that is open year round.

Since this is a public museum, admission to all of the permanent galleries is free, making it a great place to visit even when travelling on a budget.

This museum is located on Exhibition Road adjacent to both the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum, so you may want to consider visiting them while in the area.

To learn more about the Victoria and Albert Museum as well as special exhibitions and hours you can visit their official website linked above.

Facts For Your Visit

Fee: No

Regular Hours:
May differ on holidays

  • Monday: 10:00 AM – 5:45 PM
  • Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:45 PM
  • Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:45 PM
  • Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:45 PM
  • Friday: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
  • Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:45 PM
  • Sunday: 10:00 AM – 5:45 PM

Address: Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL, UK

Phone: 020 7942 2000

Official Website: Victoria and Albert Museum

Reviews

Rated 4.7 out of 5 Star Rating

5 Star Rating The main reason why I visited the museum is to see the Gabrielle Chanel Fashion Manifesto exhibition which is now fully sold out. It is excellent and well curated. Many of her iconic coats and dresses are on display as well as her cosmetic range. The exhibition is not free but for Chanel fans it’s worth a visit. One also gets to see the history behind her creations. Two hours needed. I also visited the sculpture section seeing the works of Rodin. It’s nice. As for the very much raved about cafe, I find it so so. True that the high ceiling is beautiful with great art work, the service of the cafe crew begs improvement. I find ordering a bit confusing too. But the place is beautiful and given that the museum is free except for special exhibitions, it’s worth a visit.
Swanie Paddles - in the last week

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4 Star Rating Monolithic in size and content! Mainly helpful staff and good accessibility across the place, decent toilets and beautiful hallways. Some areas are in need of TLC with wording faded and tattered, with money being ring fenced for other more ‘exciting’ parts. Closed too early unfortunately and some parts of super busy, but if you go early and during the week you can have a good time, no tickets needed. The camera obscures is fun and not very busy.
Caïna Verrin - in the last week

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5 Star Rating The place is beautiful! You can spend all day there, fancying paintings, statues, photos, jewelry , fashion collections, etc. And you can rest and have a snack in the garden cafe or in the cafeteria inside of the palace. I enjoyed being at the museum very much, will come back with my family
Anna Schiraya - 2 weeks ago

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5 Star Rating The V&A is an amazing place to visit; although I always feel a little lost in there. It’s enormous and just packed full of stunning displays, collections and exhibitions. We were hoping to see the theatre collection but at the time of visiting the area had been closed because of low temperatures. Instead we explored other sections including some of the jewellery, silverware, stained glass and tapestry. The V&A is definitely somewhere that you could visit multiple times and still have more to see. There’s a really lovely atmosphere in the museum and the ground floor where you will see many people sketching us always packed. My recommendation would be to go up a couple of levels where there are fewer visitors and then you can soak up the atmosphere and really enjoy your surroundings.
Anne Stagg Hypnotherapy - a month ago

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5 Star Rating Such a beautiful free museum! Loved the layout, openness, and the courtyard. It was cool to see artifacts towering over. I would also definitely recommend the CAFE- such yummy choices.
Jaimie Varughese - a week ago

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Directions

Tube Line Nearest Station Walking Time
District, Circle and Piccadilly LinesSouth Kensington Station5 MInutes

How to get to Victoria and Albert Museum by Tube

From South Kensington Station exit onto Thurloe Street and walk to your right (east) ½ block to Exhibition Road and follow it north then right on Cromwell Gardens to the entrance on your left side.

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