Horniman Museum and Gardens

For a free family day out in London, take time out to visit the fascinating Horniman Museum in south London. This family-friendly museum hosts a diverse series of special exhibitions and galleries, festivals, concerts, workshops, shows and activities. The Music Gallery gives kids the opportunity to discover musical instruments from around the globe. In the Aquarium, visitors can go on a journey through the diverse environments and ecosystems of the world.

Experience tropical butterflies flying around the living rainforest display with South American fish swimming around the flooded waters below. There is a Hands on Base where visitors can touch or wear objects and learn about them. The Horniman Museum is located within vast gardens, which have panoramic views over the London skyline. In the gardens, visitors will find a restored Bandstand where summer events are hosted, a Dutch Barn which provides a nice picnic spot if shelter is needed, a Totem Pole, sundials, a pavilion and meadow field now used as a play area. The Animal Walk enables visitors to walk through the centre of the animal enclosures so they can get a close-up view of them. Animals number among them alpacas, goats, sheep, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens and more.

The Animal Walk links to the Natural History collections in the museum and considers the connection between domesticated and wild animals. School sessions are available to book which include interactive, curriculum-led seminars with the museum’s learning officers, allowing kids to get up closer to the museum’s objects than ever before.