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the museum that's all about play

Young V&A

Free
Bethnal Green · Bethnal Green
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The V&A's brilliant, award-winning museum of childhood in Bethnal Green, free, packed with toys, games and hands-on design made for kids but a joy at any age.

Getting there. A couple of minutes from Bethnal Green on the Central line, in the East End.
Free museum
ALWAYS
FREE
Bethnal Green · Bethnal Green
LONDON FREE GUIDE

The lowdown

The old Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green reopened in 2023 as Young V&A after a top-to-bottom redesign, and it promptly won Museum of the Year. It is free, it is aimed squarely at children and families, and it is one of the most joyful museums in London whatever your age.

The collection is built around play, design and creativity, dolls houses and historic toys alongside hands-on galleries where kids can build, dress up, perform and make. It is bright, loud in the best way, and thoughtfully designed so the youngest visitors are genuinely catered for rather than dragged round.

Housed in a grand Victorian iron-framed hall that was once part of the original V&A, it is both a beautiful building and a brilliant free destination on a wet day in the East End. Adults leave just as charmed as the kids.

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The insider tip

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Go in term time and mid-morning if you want the hands-on galleries before the after-school and weekend rush. It is completely free, so it is the perfect rainy-day fallback in the East End rather than a once-a-trip splurge.
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