With over 250 museums in Greater London, it is inevitable that some of these will appeal to a very niche audience. If you’re a fan fan, then you’ll love the Fan Museum and even those less interested in fans may become fans after visiting this unique museum.
Opened in 1991, the Fan Museum is the first museum in the world dedicated to the hand fan. There are over 4,000 fans in the museum’s collection with an extensive collection of 18th and 19th-century European fans and the museum’s oldest fan dates back to the 10th century.
What to see at the Fan Museum
The museum’s permanent exhibitions occupy two rooms on the ground floor of the museum and give you a good introduction to the hand fan with displays about the history of fans, how they are made and the various types of fans. These displays include unmounted and extended European fans from the 17th and 18th centuries.
![Fan Museum in Greenwich, London (Photo: Visit Greenwich (The Fan Museum) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)](https://englandrover.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/fan-museum-greenwich-london-01.jpg)
Temporary exhibitions at the Fan Museum
The museum also hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions that focus on a particular aspect of fans. Previous temporary exhibitions have included themed displays such as animals or birds and exhibitions of fans from specific historical periods.
Visiting the Fan Museum
The Fan Museum is in a Georgian townhouse close to the centre of Greenwich, just a seven-minute walk to both Cutty Sark DLR station and Greenwich railway station (which has trains every 10 minutes from London Cannon Street and London Bridge stations).
There is free museum entry if you hold a valid London Pass or National Art Pass.
Free entry to the Fan Museum with the London Pass
The London Pass gives you free entry to the Fan Museum plus entry to over 80 other attractions in London.
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