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Ninety seconds on South Kensington
It is London's museum quarter. The Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the V&A stand within a few minutes of each other on or beside Exhibition Road, with the Royal Albert Hall at its northern end.
Yes. The Natural History Museum's galleries are free to explore without a ticket, and entry to the Science Museum is free too, though a free ticket has to be booked online before the visit.
As of October 2026, both the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum open at 10am every day. The Science Museum shuts at 6pm and is closed from 24 to 26 December.
The Natural History Museum suits children who want dinosaurs and animals, and the Science Museum suits those who want machines and hands-on galleries. The V&A, with its fashion and design collections, suits older visitors.
Albertopolis is the nickname for the area centred on Exhibition Road. Prince Albert presided over the Royal Commission that used money from the 1851 exhibition to buy the land for the museums and the Hall.
Pick two of the free museums on Exhibition Road, one before lunch and one after. Then walk up to the Royal Albert Hall and on into the park while there is still light.
Exhibition Road runs north from South Kensington station towards Hyde Park. The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum stand near its southern end, with the Victoria and Albert Museum close by.
The road is named after the Great Exhibition of 1851, whose profits bought the land, and the area is nicknamed Albertopolis after Prince Albert. It is a shared space where pedestrians have priority and traffic is slowed.
At the top, across Kensington Gore, stands the Royal Albert Hall under its glass and iron dome. A mosaic frieze about 240 metres long runs round the outside, so you can look at it from the pavement. The BBC Proms fill the hall every summer.
A subway tunnel runs step-free from South Kensington Underground station to the Natural History Museum's Central Entrance. Above ground, the Exhibition Road side is about five minutes on foot.
Take one museum in the morning and one in the afternoon, with lunch in between. The Science Museum needs a free ticket booked ahead.
When the galleries close, walk north up Exhibition Road to the Albert Hall and circle its outside. Pair it with Kensington Gardens, which lies just beyond the Hall.
Do not attempt all three museums in one day. Two leaves energy for the walk to the Hall and the park.
If the weather turns fine, swap the second museum for Kensington Palace and its gardens.
On a wet day, the tunnel under the street gets you from the Tube into the Natural History Museum without stepping outside.
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