Two things decide a trip to the Design Museum, and the first is a date.
The museum is fully closed to the public on Tuesday 13 October 2026. Not a gallery, not a floor: the whole building. It is published on their own visit page and nowhere else you would look.
The second is the split. The permanent collection is free and the exhibitions are not.
What is free
Designer Maker User, the permanent collection display, is free and is on Level 2. It needs no ticket at all.
Other free displays run alongside it. The only booking requirement is for self-led learning groups, who must book in advance.
So you can spend a useful hour here for nothing, which is worth knowing because the museum’s marketing leads with the paid exhibitions.
What is not
The temporary exhibitions are ticketed, and the museum recommends pre-booking. Members go free and get discounts in the events, shops and cafés.
If you are visiting more than twice a year, that membership is the obvious purchase, which is the same arithmetic as everywhere else in this bracket.
The hours
Monday to Thursday: 10am to 5pm.
Friday to Sunday: 10am to 6pm.
An hour longer at the weekend, which is the reverse of several London shops and worth knowing if you are planning a Friday evening.
Closed on Tuesday 13 October 2026, and over Christmas on 24, 25 and 26 December, reopening on the 27th.
Card only
The museum takes digital and card payments only, across the whole building. No cash anywhere, including the shop and the café.
Worth knowing before you arrive with a twenty pound note and a plan.
The café opens two hours after the museum
The Design Kitchen is on Level 2 and runs midday to 5pm Monday to Thursday, with last food orders at 4.15pm, and midday to 6pm Friday to Sunday, with last orders at 5.15pm.
So an early arrival has no food for two hours, and a late one needs to order 45 minutes before closing.
The Design Kitchen is also closed on Tuesday 13 October and Thursday 10 December.
The shop and café spaces are being refurbished under the museum’s Transformation 2029 plan, ahead of its 40th birthday, so there is a pop-up shop on Level G in the meantime.
Practical notes
224 to 238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG, with High Street Kensington the nearest station.
There are storage lockers on Level minus 1, subject to availability.
It sits at the Kensington end of the museum belt, so the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum are both a walk or one stop east. The Kyoto Garden is in Holland Park, directly behind it, and free.
How to plan it
Not Tuesday 13 October.
Free visit: Designer Maker User on Level 2, no ticket, no booking.
Eating here: arrive after midday, and order before 4.15pm on a weekday.
Paying: bring a card, because cash is not accepted anywhere in the building.
Design Museum
- Address
- 224 to 238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG
- Nearest
- High Street Kensington
- Hours
- Monday to Thursday 10am to 5pm. Friday to Sunday 10am to 6pm. Fully closed on Tuesday 13 October 2026 and on 24, 25 and 26 December
- Booking
- Not needed for the free displays. Pre-booking recommended for paid exhibitions, and required for self-led learning groups
- Price
- The Designer Maker User permanent collection on Level 2 is free. Temporary exhibitions are ticketed, and members go free
- Standing
- A free permanent collection inside a ticketed museum, at the Kensington end of the museum belt
How to get in
Card and digital payments only across the whole building, with no cash accepted. The Design Kitchen cafe on Level 2 opens at midday, two hours after the museum, and takes last food orders 45 minutes before closing.
Where to go next
The Kyoto Garden is in Holland Park behind the museum and costs nothing, and the free museums page covers the national collections.
The Science Museum is the other free one nearby, and the art galleries cover the commercial rooms.
Questions we get asked
Is the Design Museum free?
The permanent collection, Designer Maker User on Level 2, is free and needs no ticket, along with other free displays. The temporary exhibitions are ticketed, with members going free.
What are the Design Museum opening times?
10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 6pm Friday to Sunday. It is fully closed on Tuesday 13 October 2026, and over Christmas on 24, 25 and 26 December, reopening on the 27th.
Does the Design Museum take cash?
No. It accepts digital and card payments only, across the entire museum including the shop and the café.
What time does the Design Museum café open?
The Design Kitchen on Level 2 opens at midday, two hours after the museum. It runs to 5pm Monday to Thursday with last food orders at 4.15pm, and to 6pm Friday to Sunday with last orders at 5.15pm. It is closed on Tuesday 13 October and Thursday 10 December.
Where is the Design Museum?
224 to 238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG, nearest to High Street Kensington. Holland Park and the Kyoto Garden are directly behind it.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 253 in the guide.
Last checked 5 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
