Madame Tussauds

Although there are now branches of Madame Tussauds throughout the world, the London museum is the original and is often regarded as the best. Although all wax museums are tacky tourist traps, Madame Tussauds in London is better than most.

What to see at Madame Tussauds

The museum features startlingly lifelike replicas of personalities ranging from actors to politicians and sportspeople. There are plenty of photo opportunities as many of the wax figures are posed in a manner that makes it easy to take a photo with them.

Madame Tussauds is split into several different themed areas such the party area, Bollywood, film, sport, the royals, world leaders, culture and music.

The party area has celebrity wax figures that include Angelina Jolie, Dame Helen Mirren, Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hardy, Kim Kardashian, Benedict Cumberbatch, David and Victoria Beckham, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Kate Winslet and Colin Firth.

The Bollywood area has wax figures from big names in Indian cinema including Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Katrina Kaif.

The film area has wax models of characters from cinema including The Terminator, ET, Katniss Everdeen, Audrey Hepburn and Steven Spielberg.

The sports area has models of Muhammad Ali, Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis-Hill CBE, Mo Farah CBE, Tom Daley, Rafael Nadal, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sachin Tendulkar.

The royals area includes models of King Charles III and the Queen Consort, Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The culture area has historical figures including Vincent Van Gogh, Albert Einstein, Charles Dickens, Stephen Hawking, Pablo Picasso, William Shakespeare and Marie Tussaud.

The music area has figures that include Bob Marley, Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson, One Direction, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, Adele, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Rihanna. This area also includes the Voice UK Experience, where you can sit in the TV show’s famous red chairs next to will.i.am.

Marvel Secret Command Centre is an area dedicated to Marvel superheroes including Hawkeye, the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Nick Fury, Iron Man, Wolverine, Captain America and the Invisible Woman.

The world leaders area includes Nelson Mandela, Theresa May, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Barack Obama.

The Spirit of London ride takes you on a taxi ride through London where you can see the city through history including Tudor times, during the plague, the Great Fire of London, the Second World War and the swinging sixties.

There are also theatrical experiences that tie in with film franchises including Alien: Escape, Kong: Skull Island and the Marvel Universe 4D film.

This place gets mixed feedback from visitors, but the general consensus is that it is better than other wax museums and it’s fun to take photos with celebrities, but the queues are long and there are better things to see in London and the theatrical experiences (which incur an additional admission charge) are not worth the extra money.

Visiting Madame Tussauds

Madame Tussauds is on Marylebone Road, just south of Regent’s Park. The closest tube station is Baker Street, which is a three-minute walk away.

The wax museum is noted for its long queues. You can’t even escape the queues if you pre-book your tickets online, although pre-booked tickets let you skip the ticket queue and go straight to the main entry queue and the more expensive Fast Track and premium tickets give you ‘fast track’ access, which is essentially a shorter queue.

Standard entry without a pre-booked ticket is rather expensive and costs between £37 and £52 depending on what time of the day you visit and whether you have a fast track or premium ticket, although it may be cheaper if you book online at least a day in advance. Admission on the day (without a pre-booked ticket) costs between £33.50 and £48.50 for children (aged 4–15).

The more expensive options are the Fast Track ticket, which has a dedicated entrance with shorter queues and the premium ticket that lets you enter via the Fast Track entrance but also includes tickets to the Alien: Escape and Sherlock Holmes Experience (which normally cost an extra £5 each) as well as free popcorn during the Marvel 4D Experience. The Fast Track ticket costs £47 (£43.50 for children) and the premium ticket costs £52 (£48.50 for children).

You can also buy combo tickets that bundle admission to Madame Tussauds with the London Eye and the SEA LIFE London Aquarium and these tickets may save you money if you’re also planning on visiting these other attractions. You can also get free entry with the Merlin Annual Attractions Pass, although buying this pass usually only makes sense for people who live close to one of the Merlin theme parks (which include Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park).

Madame Tussauds used to have a complicated entry system with seven different entrances depending on what type of ticket you had. However, this has now been simplified and everyone buying or collecting a ticket (using a promotional offer or trade client voucher) goes to door one and once you have your ticket you enter the attraction through door two. If you already have a printed ticket (or a pre-booked ticket with a barcode on your smartphone) you can enter directly through door two without first queuing at door one.

Although Madame Tussauds is wheelchair accessible, only three wheelchair users can be in the building at any one time meaning that disabled customers need to pre-book their spot in advance.

Nearby attractions include the Sherlock Holmes Museum (a four-minute walk away) and the Wallace Collection (a 12-minute walk away).

Most people spend 2–3 hours at Madame Tussauds, but you should allow extra time for queuing particularly if you’re visiting during peak season.