Your ticket lasts a year. Your ride on the train lasts once.
“Ticket includes unlimited access to The Postal Museum for one year from the date of your visit and one ride on Mail Rail, valid on your first visit to the Museum.”
Mail Rail is the reason most people come: the narrow-gauge railway that carried post under London, which you now ride through the tunnels. It is included once.
After that, returning annual pass holders pay £7.50 per person for an Extra Mail Rail Ride, regardless of the original ticket type, and must show the existing ticket alongside it.
So the £20.50 buys twelve months of the museum and a single trip underground. Plan the ride for a visit when everyone you want on it is there.
£2 if you work for Royal Mail, £10.25 with a National Art Pass
Two discounts worth more than the usual concession.
Adult: £20.50.
Child aged 2 to 17: £11. Under 2s free.
Disabled person plus companion: £13. Reduced Access ticket plus companion, also £13.
Adult with a National Art Pass: £10.25. Exactly half.
Current Royal Mail or Post Office staff: £2.00.
The disabled ticket at £13 covers two people, which makes it the cheapest way in for a pair after the staff rate.
One warning on refunds, and the reasoning is unusual: “Tickets are non-refundable, as by purchasing a ticket you are making a donation to the museum, a registered charity.”
Go to the wrong building and you will miss your slot
The single most practical thing on this page.
“The Postal Museum and Mail Rail are in two separate buildings on Phoenix Place.”
“Head to Mail Rail first, across the road from The Postal Museum, arriving just before the time printed on your ticket.”
The time on the ticket is the train, not the museum. Staff then route you round the museum afterwards. Arriving at the museum building at your ticket time means crossing the road late for a timed departure.
The play space is a separate ticket, and adults have to buy one
Sorted! The Postal Play Space is not included in museum entry.
A 45 minute session for children aged 1 to 8. Child £5, accompanying adult £2.50, under-1s free.
Note that the adult ticket is compulsory: “Accompanying adults must book a ticket for Sorted!” So two parents and two children is £15, on top of museum entry.
The booking advice matters too: book Sorted! roughly an hour before or after your museum entry time, not alongside it. You can also book Sorted! on its own without visiting the museum at all, which for a family with small children is the cheaper day out.
No buggies underground
A hard rule in the building people bring buggies to.
“No buggies or pushchairs allowed on the lower ground floor of Mail Rail. Buggy parking is available in Mail Rail only, on the ground floor.”
The lower ground floor is where the ride is. So the buggy is parked and the child is carried, and the parking is in the Mail Rail building rather than the museum.
Good news alongside it: there is a Changing Places toilet on the lower ground floor of Mail Rail, open to visitors and the general public. That is a genuinely scarce facility in central London.
The exhibition in the Postal Museum building is completely accessible to wheelchair users. Mail Rail has its own ride rules and ride accessibility page which the museum asks you to check before booking.
Toilets and baby changing are on the ground floor of the museum and the lower ground floor of Mail Rail, all individual self-contained cubicles available to everyone.
Closed Mondays, and allow three hours
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00. Closed Mondays.
“We recommend planning for 2-3 hours at the museum and 4 hours during holidays.”
Four hours in the holidays is the museum telling you it gets busy, and it says so elsewhere too: weekends and busy periods may be sold out, with limited walk-up tickets available. Book.
The Archive keeps its own hours: Wednesday to Friday and the second Saturday of each month, 10:00 to 16:30, by appointment.
The café is accredited for families
A small thing, independently assessed.
The café in the Welcome Space is accredited by Kids in Museums under their Family Café Standard. It has highchairs, and breastfeeding and bottle feeding are welcome anywhere, with the First Aid Room in Mail Rail available for privacy if it is not in use.
Where it is
The Postal Museum, 15-20 Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DA.
Farringdon, Russell Square, King’s Cross St Pancras and Chancery Lane are all less than a mile away, which makes this one of the better-connected small museums in London and explains why nobody can quite place it.
Buses 17, 19, 38, 45, 46, 55, 63 and 341 stop nearby.
There is no car park. Local parking is paid.
There is a cycle rack in the courtyard, and the detail people miss: you get the access code from the admissions desk. Santander docking stations are nearby.
How to plan it
Go to Mail Rail first, across the road, just before your ticket time.
The Mail Rail ride is included once. Extra rides are £7.50 for pass holders.
National Art Pass: half price, £10.25.
Royal Mail or Post Office staff: £2.
Disabled visitor: £13 covers you and a companion.
Children 1 to 8: Sorted! is separate, £5 a child and £2.50 for every adult going in.
Book Sorted! an hour either side of your museum slot.
Buggy stays on the ground floor of Mail Rail.
Closed Mondays. Allow 2 to 3 hours, 4 in the holidays.
The Postal Museum
- Address
- 15-20 Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DA. Mail Rail is in a separate building across the road
- Nearest
- Farringdon, Russell Square, King’s Cross St Pancras and Chancery Lane, all under a mile. Buses 17, 19, 38, 45, 46, 55, 63 and 341
- Hours
- Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, closed Mondays. The Archive opens Wednesday to Friday and the second Saturday of each month, 10:00 to 16:30, by appointment
- Booking
- Online in advance, as weekends and busy periods sell out with limited walk-ups. Tickets are non-refundable because the purchase counts as a donation to the charity
- Price
- Adult 20.50 pounds, child 2 to 17 11 pounds, disabled person plus companion 13, National Art Pass adult 10.25, current Royal Mail or Post Office staff 2.00. Under 2s free. Sorted! play space 5 pounds a child and 2.50 an adult. Extra Mail Rail ride 7.50 for pass holders
- Standing
- The museum of the postal service, with a ride on Mail Rail, the narrow gauge railway that carried post beneath London, and the Sorted! play space for 1 to 8 year olds
How to get in
A ticket gives unlimited museum entry for a year but only one ride on Mail Rail, valid on the first visit, with extra rides at 7.50 for pass holders. The time printed on the ticket is the Mail Rail departure, and Mail Rail is in a different building across the road from the museum, so go there first. No buggies or pushchairs are allowed on the lower ground floor of Mail Rail, where the ride is, with buggy parking on the ground floor. There is a Changing Places toilet on the lower ground floor of Mail Rail, open to the general public.
Where to go next
London Transport Museum works the same way, with a ticket that is really an annual pass, and the free museums cover what costs nothing.
King’s Cross restaurants and Fitzrovia cover the area either side of it.
Questions we get asked
How much is the Postal Museum?
An adult is £20.50 and a child aged 2 to 17 is £11, with under 2s free. A disabled person plus companion is £13 for both, an adult with a National Art Pass pays £10.25, and current Royal Mail or Post Office staff pay £2. The ticket covers unlimited museum entry for a year and one ride on Mail Rail.
How many times can you ride Mail Rail?
Once on your ticket. The ride is included on your first visit only, even though museum entry lasts a year. Returning annual pass holders can buy an Extra Mail Rail Ride for £7.50 per person, regardless of their original ticket type, and must show the existing ticket with it.
Where do you go first at the Postal Museum?
Mail Rail, which is in a separate building across the road from the museum on Phoenix Place. The time printed on your ticket is the Mail Rail departure, so arrive there just before it. Staff then show you the route around the museum afterwards.
Is Sorted! included in Postal Museum entry?
No, it needs a separate ticket. Sorted! The Postal Play Space is a 45 minute session for children aged 1 to 8, at £5 a child and £2.50 for each accompanying adult, with under-1s free. Adults must book a ticket. You can book Sorted! on its own without visiting the museum, and if combining the two, book it about an hour before or after your museum slot.
Can you take a buggy on Mail Rail?
No. Buggies and pushchairs are not allowed on the lower ground floor of Mail Rail, which is where the ride is. Buggy parking is available on the ground floor of the Mail Rail building only, not at the museum.
How long do you need at the Postal Museum?
Two to three hours, or four during holidays, which is the museum's own guidance. It is open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00 and closed on Mondays. Weekends and busy periods can sell out with only limited walk-up tickets, so booking ahead is advised.
Is the Postal Museum accessible?
The exhibition in the main Postal Museum building is completely accessible to wheelchair users. Mail Rail has its own ride rules and ride accessibility information which the museum asks you to check before booking. There is a Changing Places toilet on the lower ground floor of Mail Rail, open to the general public, and all toilets are individual self-contained cubicles.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 348 in the guide.
Last checked 6 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
