What are the opening hours?

Monday 10am - 5:30pm Tuesday 10am - 5:30pm Wednesday 10am - 5:30pm Thursday 10am - 5:30pm Friday 10am - 5:30pm Saturday 10am - 5:30pm Sunday 10am - 5:30pm

Horniman Museum and Gardens

Name: Horniman Museum and Gardens
Address: 100 London Road, London, SE233PQ, GB
Telephone: +442086991872
Price range: $
Rating: 4.6

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Horniman Museum and Gardens

An inspiring, surprising, family-friendly, free Museum and Gardens in South London’s Forest Hill.
(3248)

We’ve been open since Victorian times, when Frederick John Horniman first opened his house and extraordinary collection of objects to visitors. Since then, our collection has grown tenfold and includes internationally important collections of anthropology and musical instruments, as well as an acclaimed aquarium and natural history collection. Unusually for such an important museum, you can see ou

r collection up-close and face-to-face. You can even pick up, try on and play with some of our objects. Our visitors come time and again to explore our free Museum, take part in our activities and enjoy our 16-acre Gardens. And they discover something fascinating and mesmerising every time.

- The Museum is open daily, except for Wednesdays.
- The Gardens are open from 7.15am (8am Sundays and Bank Holidays) until Sunset.
- The Butterfly House is open from 10.30am - 4pm (last admission 3.30pm) daily, except Wednesdays. See the website for more details about how to plan your visit: https://www.horniman.ac.uk/plan-your-visit/

31/08/2026

We've had a great summer with the Babur restaurant 🌞 🐯

Rupam, the sommelier and mixologist for Babur, talks us through the creative process for the Horniman x Babur Botanical Tipple, one of two cocktails inspired by a visit to the Gardens.

There is still time to enjoy the Babur 'In Bloom' Menu this summer, available until 20 September. You can also purchase the cocktail bottles in the Horniman cafe.

26/08/2026

Crossing Borders returns to the Horniman on 19 September 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Join us for a free celebration featuring a vibrant programme of activities, workshops and performances led by refugees and people seeking sanctuary.

With something for all ages, from family-friendly activities to sessions for adults, the day offers plenty of opportunities to learn, create and connect.

🎙️ Join Pan Intercultural Arts for drama workshops for 8-16 year olds, and a live podcast recording.

🍰 Plateful Cafe lead cupcake decoration classes and an arts exhibition by refugee artists, with the opportunity to buy artwork and food on their stall.

💃 Orgullo Catracho warmly invites everyone to discover a little more about the beautiful folkloric dance and costume traditions of Honduras.

🪁 Try the amazing Afghan art of kite making with Ahmadzia Bakhtyari

🎵 Hear traditional Ukrainian music performed on the bandura by Mariia Petrovska

The event is free from 11am until 4pm, hope to see you there!

25/08/2026

Photographer Jude Watkinson recently visited our Gardens and took these gorgeous flicks around the site.

It's always really interesting to see the Horniman through different eyes. You can visit hundreds of times, but someone has found a frame or captured a moment that you've never seen before.

To anyone visiting, please do continue to share your photos and art with us, we love to see it!

24/08/2026

As part of our 125th year, we're sharing photos and memories from visitors 💭

Julie remembers bringing her son here in the 90s, and has shared a selection of images including the Festival of Brazil in 2016:

'As a young mother in the mid-90s, the rose Garden was an oasis of calm. I would come here with my son who had just found his running legs and he would love running round and round at different levels. I would sit and watch him with my baby daughter in her pram. It was a lively place but also have us all a breather somehow.'

Get in touch if you want to share your memories and photos. Email [email protected]. Please send your memories in maximum 50 words and a selection of photos! 📩

21/08/2026

More foxes spotted on our trailcam! 🎥 🦊

Some of them exploring, some of them yawning. You might even be able to spot a fox taking a well-earned bath in our pond. The heatwave clearly getting to all of us...

It's important that dogs (apart from guide dogs) are kept away from the Nature Trail, so that the ecosystem is protected. Litter, dog poo and other disturbances can have a profound impact on animal habitats.

20/08/2026

There is a another Plant Fair coming to the Horniman this September! 🌱

Head of Horticulture Errol Fernandes and Apprentice Isaac Guard recently visited the Niwaki store at Chiltern Street, and arrived bearing gifts!

Ahead of the Horniman Plant Fair on 5 September, Errol potted some bat wings in their window box, as well as sowing seeds for omphalodes that will bloom later in the year.

Alongside over twenty nurseries from up and down the country, Niwaki will be at the Plant Fair selling their special garden tools and accessories. You can book tickets for the Plant Fair on our website now!

19/08/2026

📸 Happy World Photography Day!

Today we're highlighting the award-winning images on display in our British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition 🖼️

This free exhibition showcases the best in British wildlife photography, celebrating the beauty and wonder of the natural world 🙌

On display now at the Horniman Museum 🌿

18/08/2026

Unboxing our taxidermy condor specimen 😍

The condor was very unstable: it is top heavy, and the base too light/small.
The mount is made of papier mache over scraps of wood which support the weight of the bird. Emma in our conservation team tidied up the rough edges using unbleached Kozo paper (long fibred tissue made from the inner bark of paper mulberry) and wheat starch paste, these have been in-painted with gouache. Any holes were filled and in-painted and chips had a layer of protective coating applied and were in-painted. Loose bits of moss were reattached with tabs of Kozo paper and wheat starch paste.

The specimen is pretty dirty so it was cleaned with a soft brush, gentle vacuum suction and cosmetic sponge. The white tips to the feathers were cleaned with a 1:1 solution of alcohol & water. Blotting paper is inserted under each individual feather and it’s brushed on. There is pest damage and losses to the feathers but I’ll preen what I can with a cocktail stick.

It will be removed from the base with some help from the mount makers and moved onto a new base that will make it more stable and match the new gallery colours. as that is not part of the content visually.

Nature + Love is made possible with the thanks to National Lottery players.

17/08/2026

For July's Hear it Live! we played host to the Kausary Band at Gallery Square! 🎶

Johnny F Rodriguez spoke to us about Kausary, meaning 'to revive' in Quechua, the native language of the Andes. The band is intergenerational, with grandfather, son and grandson all playing together.

You can catch a free Hear it Live! performance every second Thursday of the month, see our website for more details on who and where you can find these unique performances 🔽 🔽 🔽

14/08/2026

Wild champagne making, natural dyeing, ceramics and fungi foraging workshops all at the Horniman 🥂 🎨 🍯 🍄

A variety of hands-on workshops for adults are now available to book online!

📅 23 August - Wild Champagne Making and Tasting

Meet food artist and writer Barney Pau for this two hour immersive workshop, as you discover all about and making your own foraged champagne.

📅 26 September - Threads of Colour: Natural Dyeing

Facilitated by Mexican-British artist and natural dyer Mariana Leyva (Studio Kuhu), discover a journey through plants, pigments and place.

📅 8 November - Guided Fungi Walk

A guided walk through the Horniman Gardens with Rights for Weeds, searching for wild fungi, identifying them and discussing their ecology.

📅 21 November - Ceramics Workshop

Join ceramicist Neve Beill for a ceramics workshop exploring the relationship between London’s geology, sustainable making, and craft.

Address

100 London Road
London
SE233PQ

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	10am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	10am - 5:30pm
Thursday	10am - 5:30pm
Friday	10am - 5:30pm
Saturday	10am - 5:30pm
Sunday	10am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+442086991872

Website

https://www.horniman.ac.uk/

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