The Postal Museum
Bloomsbury
About
Travel back through London’s first "social network" at a museum dedicated to the postal service. This family-friendly museum showcases how sending, delivering and receiving messages via post revolutionized our lives. For added fun, take a ride on the Mail Rail through the stations and tunnels of London’s 100-year-old postal railway.
Don’t miss the chance to also look inside The Postal Museum’s temporary exhibition space. Previous shows have looked at the Great Train Robbery and the salvaged goods of a shipwreck.
The Postal Museum is a great museum to bring children. Along with enjoying interactive displays, children under eight years old can have fun in The Postal Museum’s post-themed play area: Sorted!
Along with journeying along the tracks which used to be in service 22 hours a day, you’ll get to enjoy interactive exhibits and an audio-visual show charting a century of postal engineering innovations.
All tickets to the museum include one ride on the Mail Rail.
You can also buy tickets for Sorted! The Postal Museum’s play area for children aged eight years old and under. A museum entry ticket will give you a discount on Sorted!
Give yourself time to recharge with a hot drink and some homemade cake at The Postal Museum’s café.
The closest mainline train station is King's Cross St Pancras (16 mins walk).
Bus numbers 17, 19, 38, 45, 46, 55, 63, 341 all stop close to The Postal Museum.
There are Santander Cycles docking stations on Northington Street and Wren Street.
There are bike racks for visitors in the courtyard of The Postal Museum.
What is there to see at The Postal Museum?
From Victorian valentine cards to wartime letters home and everything in between, the permanent exhibitions at The Postal Museum tell the social history of Britain via the medium of post. Learn more about the postal service itself – and how much we relied on it prior to emails and smartphones – and get an understanding of just how vital being able to communicate by post once was.Don’t miss the chance to also look inside The Postal Museum’s temporary exhibition space. Previous shows have looked at the Great Train Robbery and the salvaged goods of a shipwreck.
The Postal Museum is a great museum to bring children. Along with enjoying interactive displays, children under eight years old can have fun in The Postal Museum’s post-themed play area: Sorted!
What is the Mail Rail?
The Mail Rail is London’s 100-year-old postal railway. Jump aboard the miniature train and travel through the tunnels underneath London’s Mount Pleasant sorting office. The track stretches all the way from Paddington to Whitechapel.Along with journeying along the tracks which used to be in service 22 hours a day, you’ll get to enjoy interactive exhibits and an audio-visual show charting a century of postal engineering innovations.
All tickets to the museum include one ride on the Mail Rail.
Is it free to visit the Postal Museum and Mail Rail?
There is a charge to visit The Postal Museum and Mail Rail. All tickets give unlimited access to the museum for one year, plus one ride on Mail Rail on your first visit. There is a slight discount if you book online in advance.You can also buy tickets for Sorted! The Postal Museum’s play area for children aged eight years old and under. A museum entry ticket will give you a discount on Sorted!
How long does it take to go around the Postal Museum and ride the Mail Rail?
The Postal Museum and Mail Rail are in separate buildings, connected by a zebra crossing. Together, they make up one of London’s smaller visitor attractions. Two to three hours should be adequate to have a leisurely explore (and perhaps play!) in the museum. The Mail Rail takes 20 minutes to ride.Give yourself time to recharge with a hot drink and some homemade cake at The Postal Museum’s café.
Where is the Postal Museum and Mail Rail?
The Postal Museum is in Clerkenwell, just north of central London.How do I get to the Postal Museum and Mail Rail?
The closest Tube stations are Chancery Lane (10 mins walk) Farringdon (12 mins walk), Russell Square (14 mins walk) or King's Cross St Pancras (16 mins walk).The closest mainline train station is King's Cross St Pancras (16 mins walk).
Bus numbers 17, 19, 38, 45, 46, 55, 63, 341 all stop close to The Postal Museum.
There are Santander Cycles docking stations on Northington Street and Wren Street.
There are bike racks for visitors in the courtyard of The Postal Museum.
This content has been supplied by The Postal Museum and Mail Rail
Facilities & Accessibility
- Access Inside Building Facilities
- Accessible lift
- Lift buttons with raised numbers or letters
- Some routes suitable for limited mobility users
- Some routes suitable for wheelchair users
- Access into the Building
- Automatic doors
- Accessible Bathroom Facilities
- Designated wheelchair accessible public toilet
- Some toilets with handrails
- Accessible Communication Facilities
- Clear signage (colour contrast, large letters or pictograms)
- Films or information touch screens have visual/audible subtitles
- Hearing loop system
- Information available in braille
- Accessible Venue Facilities
- Access discounts available
- Assistance dogs welcome
- Level access, ramp or lift to restaurant or cafe
- Level access, ramp or lift to the shop
- Staff disability awareness trained
- Additional Accessible Facilities
- Accessible baby changing rooms
- Level access, ramp or lift to garden
- Level access, ramp or lift to ticket issuing point
- Portable chip and pin machines
- Attraction Facilities
- Audio commentary available
- Gift shop
- Public toilets
- Tours available in French
- Tours available in German
- Tours available in Italian
- Tours available in Spanish
- Booking Facilities
- Coach parties accepted
- Group bookings accepted
- Catering Facilities
- Cafe
- Event catering
- Food shop
- Outdoor dining / Beer garden
- Vegetarian options on menu
- Event Facilities
- Available for wedding receptions
- Breakout Rooms
- Conference rooms / Meeting rooms
- In house AV available
- Licenced for civil marriages
- Venue allows outside catering
- Wedding service
- General Facilities
- Free WiFi
- Lifts
- Lockers
- Luggage storage
- Secure cycle storage
- Payment Facilities
- Group rates available