iBritish MuseumBloomsbury
The Bayeux Tapestry
The 70-metre tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman invasion, shown in the UK for the first time in almost 1,000 years.
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Early on, two messengers race across France with their hair flying out behind them in straight black threads. That's how an 11th-century embroidery shows speed, and it keeps it up for 70 metres. Lent by France, the Tapestry is in England for the first time since it was made, and it runs from the build-up to Hastings through the battle to the stripping of the dead.
You see it first from a parapet, then walk it left to right along one long, dark gallery. The route is one-way and the Tapestry lies flat in its case, 80 cm off the floor. The Guardian's Jonathan Jones called it "stupefying and delightful"; his one complaint was the ethereal soundtrack. The Times and the Standard also gave it five stars.
The Museum allows 40 minutes and Jones needed "under an hour". Every 2026 slot has sold out and later dates are released in batches, so book the moment one opens. Treat each release like Glastonbury ticket morning. Photography and sketching aren't allowed.
Editor's pick
Harold's dog carried aboard ship, Halley's Comet, the stripping of the dead: 70 metres of embroidery, in England for the first time since it was made. Jonathan Jones in the Guardian called it "stupefying and delightful".
Look for
Harold's dog getting a lift
One of Harold's men carries his hunting dog aboard ship so it doesn't get its paws wet.
Halley's Comet
Look up into the top border, where the comet streaks through "like a rocket", in Jones's words.
The faltering Norman cavalry
At Hastings one horse is flipped completely, face to the earth and rear legs in the air, at the moment William seems to be losing.
The burning house
A woman and her child watch Normans set their home alight, and in this light you can see one of the men torching it looks conflicted.
The last scene
Small, shabby figures pull the mail shirts off dead knights and leave them naked on the field.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- First-Timers
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
About 40 min
Skip if
You can only go on a whim: every 2026 timed slot has already sold out.
With kids
Under-16s go free with a paying adult (up to four each) but still need a booked ticket. Buggies aren't allowed inside, and the lighting is low throughout.
Free in the same building
- Africa, Oceania & the AmericasThe Sainsbury Africa Galleries plus rooms dedicated to North America, Mexico, and Oceania: extraordinary cultural diversity from four continents.
- Ancient Egypt GalleriesMummies, sarcophagi, the Rosetta Stone, and the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities outside Cairo, spanning 5,000 years.
- Ancient Greece & Rome GalleriesThe Parthenon sculptures, the Portland Vase, and masterworks of classical antiquity across 20 rooms spanning Greek and Roman civilisation.
- Asia GalleriesChina, South Asia, Japan, and Southeast Asia across multiple galleries, from Tang dynasty sculpture to the Japanese sword and lacquerware collections.
- Clocks & Watches GallerySeven centuries of timekeeping, from medieval cathedral clocks to jewelled pocket watches, one of the world's finest horological collections.
- Enlightenment GalleryRoom 1 recreates the original 18th-century museum: a cabinet of curiosity on a grand scale, revealing how the Enlightenment shaped how we collect and classify the world.
- Medieval Europe & Sutton HooThe iconic Sutton Hoo helmet, the Lewis Chessmen, and treasures from Anglo-Saxon, Viking, and medieval European cultures.
- Middle East & The Islamic WorldAssyrian lion hunts in carved relief, the Cyrus Cylinder, and the Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic world: 6,000 years of Near Eastern history.
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Image credits
9
- The Bayeux TapestryCourtesy of British Museum
- Michael Landy: Future Ruins© Michael Landy. Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Prudence Cuming Fine Art Photography.
- The Coming of AgePhoto: Steven Pocock. Source: Wellcome Collection
- Rudy Loewe: Intimacies of Care – Spaces of Grief and PossibilityCourtesy of Wellcome Collection
- British MuseumHam / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sir John Soane's MuseumSarah Smith / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Wellcome CollectionOsama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- London Transport MuseumColin Park / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- The Photographers' GalleryThe wub / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0