Opened in July 2017, the Postal Museum chronicles 500 years of history of the postal service, although the museum’s real highlight is the London Post Office Railway, which was used to transport mail across central London.
What to see at the Postal Museum
There is a lot more to the Postal Museum than you would expect and its appeal is much broader than just postal workers and stamp collectors. Firstly, the museum has exhibits about 500 years of the postal service (which the museum calls the first social network). As well as interesting galleries that include several interactive exhibits, a visit to the museum also includes a ride on the London Post Office Railway.
The main museum galleries include exhibits about the postal service including a collection of postal vehicles and a whole sheet of the world’s first postage stamp, the Penny Black. There is also the opportunity to dress up in vintage postal uniforms.
![Air mail post box in the Postal Museum in London (Photo: Gaius Cornelius [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons)](https://englandrover.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/postal-museum-london-1.jpg)
Temporary exhibitions at the Postal Museum
The Postal Museum hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions. Current and planned exhibitions include:
Dressed to Deliver
The Dressed to Deliver exhibition (until September 2024) lets you take a closer look at postie uniforms from Victorian times to the present day.
Riding on Mail Rail – London’s unique underground postal railway
The museum also has an excellent gallery about the London Post Office Railway, which is often referred to as Mail Rail. The exhibit shows you how the system operated in its heyday in the 1930s, includes a short film about Mail Rail and you can go down to the platforms below the Mount Pleasant sorting office where you can take a short ride on the system.
A ride on Mail Rail is the highlight of a visit to the museum. The 15-minute ride lets you see the original tunnels and stations of this unique underground rail network, which up until recently was off-limits to the general public.
Visiting the Postal Museum
The Postal Museum is located near the Mount Pleasant sorting office in Clerkenwell. The closest tube stations are Chancery Lane, Farringdon and Russell Square, which are all around a 10-minute walk from the museum.
Nearby attractions include the Charles Dickens Museum, a five-minute walk away and the Foundling Museum, which is a 10-minute walk from the museum.
Space on the Mail Rail trains is tight as they were not designed to transport people. This means that you need to put any loose items (cameras, handbags and umbrellas) in lockers before getting on the train.
The confined space on the trains also means that Mail Rail is not suitable for disabled visitors, and wheelchair-bound visitors have a cheaper entry fee (which includes one companion). With the exception of the Mail Rail ride, the rest of the museum is fully wheelchair accessible.
An audio guide (£2.99) is available in five languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
The Counter Café near the museum’s entrance serves tea and coffee with pastries and light lunches. The museum also has two gift shops, one near the main exhibition space and another near Mail Rail.
If you include a ride on the Mail Rail alongside your visit to the Postal Museum, then you should allow 2–3 hours for your visit.
Book your tickets to the Postal Museum
Save time and money by pre-booking your tickets to the Postal Museum in London. Tickets include a ride on the Mail Rail train.
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