Sir John Soane’s Museum: A Rake’s Progress Is Revealed at 2pm, Once a Day

Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress is behind a wall. It is revealed once a day, at 2pm, and if you arrive at half past one you will stand in front of closed panels and never know.

This is the single most important thing about visiting Sir John Soane’s Museum, and it is published as four words and two times:

“2pm: A Rake’s Progress (north wall).”

“11am, 3pm and 4pm: Picture Room Recess (south wall).”

The Picture Room has hinged walls. Soane built them so that a small room could hold three rooms’ worth of pictures, and they fold open to show the paintings hanging behind. When they are shut, the paintings behind them do not exist as far as you are concerned.

So the north wall, holding one of the most famous series in British art, opens once a day. The south wall recess opens three times.

Time your visit around 2pm, or come at 11am, 3pm or 4pm for the recess. Arriving at noon gets you a Picture Room with its walls closed.

The 2pm clash nobody warns you about

There is a problem with that advice, and it is worth knowing before you are standing in the building deciding.

The free Private Apartments tour also starts at 2pm.

So on a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday, 2pm is both the opening of A Rake’s Progress and the departure of the only tour of Soane’s private rooms. You cannot do both.

If you want both, you need two visits, or you accept that the Rake’s Progress opening happens while you are upstairs.

Two free tours, neither bookable, with tiny capacities

Both are free, both run first come first served, and both have caps small enough that you need to put your name down early.

Private Apartments tour: Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 2pm. Around 30 minutes, starting from the South Drawing Room on the first floor. Maximum eight people.

These were the family rooms of Soane and his wife Eliza on the second floor, restored to how they looked when the museum was a home.

Drawing Office tour: Thursdays and Saturdays at 2.30pm. Around 20 minutes, departing from the Library-Dining Room on the ground floor. Maximum six people.

The Drawing Office is described as the oldest surviving example of its kind, and it opened to the public for the first time in its 200-year history in May 2023.

How to get on either one: ask the Visitor Assistant in the relevant room to note your name. The South Drawing Room for the apartments, the Library-Dining Room for the Drawing Office. There is no online booking and no list before the day.

And the caveat that decides it: “our ability to provide both Private Apartments and Drawing Office tours is subject to staff availability. When visiting us, please check with the Museum team to confirm if that day’s tour is going ahead.”

Ask on arrival, not at five to two.

Free, no booking, but you may queue

Entry is free. There is no need to pre-book. You can walk in on the day.

That is rarer than it sounds for a house museum this famous, and there is a trade-off:

“The Museum has limited space and is very popular, so you may need to wait for admission which can lead to delayed entry.”

Numbers are deliberately restricted to protect the collection, and entry is through the original front door of No. 13. Expect to wait to get into some interiors once inside, and expect some rooms to be visible only from behind stanchions.

Groups are handled separately: eight or more must contact the museum first, and group visits of 8 to 15 run only on particular days and must be booked in advance.

Open Wednesday to Sunday, and open on bank holidays

Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Last admission usually 4.30pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Two details on top. “If the Museum is at capacity we may have to close admissions earlier”, so 4.30pm is not guaranteed.

And the useful one: “We are closed Monday and Tuesday, but remain open for bank holidays.” A bank holiday Monday is one of the few Mondays the museum opens, which makes it a genuinely good bank holiday option when much of London is shut or heaving.

You get a clear plastic bag, and its dimensions are published

The bag policy here is stricter and odder than most, and it is about the width of the rooms.

“We request that visitors do not bring any luggage or large bags to the Museum. This includes large rucksacks, suitcases, and bikes. As the Museum spaces are narrow and our museum objects are fragile, we will provide a clear plastic bag for any small items you’d like to carry. The dimensions of the bag are 375mm x 450mm + 75mm deep.”

So whatever you carry round goes into their transparent bag, at 37.5 by 45cm and 7.5cm deep. Anything bigger does not come in.

There is a limited free cloakroom for smaller rucksacks and bags, with the standard disclaimer that neither the museum nor its staff accept liability for anything left in it. For actual luggage they point visitors to paid left-luggage locations nearby.

Prams can be left outside, within the gates but outdoors. Baby slings and carriers are welcome inside.

Photography is allowed. Large cameras are not

A permissive rule with a specific list of exceptions.

“Photography is permitted inside the Museum. Flash photography, filming your visit, tripods, selfie sticks, large cameras and phone calls are not permitted.”

Six bans: flash, video, tripods, selfie sticks, large cameras, and taking phone calls. So a phone or a compact is fine, a professional body is not, and you cannot film at all.

The other standing request: “Please do not touch any doors or surfaces in the Museum.”

The wheelchair has published maximum dimensions

The most precise access information of any museum we have looked at, and it exists because the corridors are genuinely too narrow.

First, the lift needs notice: “we require that visitors requiring the lift call at least 24 hours ahead.”

There are now an internal and an external platform lift giving step-free access, but with a Grade I listing constraint: “the lift cannot be in a public space”, so a member of staff has to be on hand to operate it. Call 020 7405 2107.

Then the dimensions:

“Visitors with wheelchairs larger than 41cm wide, 84cm deep and a height of 82cm, will be asked to transfer to our own specially manufactured narrow wheelchairs.”

41cm wide is narrower than a standard wheelchair, so most visitors will transfer. The museum has custom narrow chairs to borrow, booked by phone ahead.

Crutches and walking sticks are fine throughout, but some spaces are too narrow for walking frames.

What the building is actually like, in their own words: uneven flooring with grilles in places “through which you can see the floor below”, walls covered with extremely fragile objects, and “some areas are dark and narrow.”

There is historic furniture everywhere and you should not sit on the chairs, though staff will find you a seat if you ask.

The guide dog policy is unusually honest

Developed with the Guide Dogs Association, and it does not pretend the building is suitable.

“If you use an assistance dog, we recommend leaving them with us in a designated safe space (where they’ll have plenty of water) during your visit.”

You can still bring the dog in, with a condition: “To bring your dog with you into the Museum, you have to be accompanied by a member of staff, both for your dog’s safety and your own.” That needs arranging by phone in advance.

A museum recommending you leave your assistance dog behind, and explaining why, is more useful than one that waves you in and hopes.

Come during the day, because there is barely any light

Their advice to blind and partially sighted visitors is good advice for everyone.

“We advise visiting during the day, because we use very little artificial light.”

Torches and extra overhead lighting can sometimes be provided on request. On a dark winter afternoon, that is the difference between seeing the Sepulchral Chamber and standing in it.

Also available: an audio tour, bookable in advance; large print labels and panels, plus a large print or braille short guide; induction loops at the front desk and in the shop, and for seated talks if arranged at booking; a British Sign Language tour film; and an Easy Read Guide and Visual Story to download before visiting.

Free digital guides, including a virtual tour

Two free things worth loading before you go.

Bloomberg Connects carries a free multimedia guide to the museum. If you use it inside, wear headphones.

Explore Soane is a virtual tour built with photogrammetry scanning, covering the Model Room, the Sepulchral Chamber, the Picture Room and the restored Drawing Office. Useful if you cannot get there, and useful for seeing the Picture Room panels open at a time that suits you.

Where it is

Sir John Soane’s Museum, 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3BP. 020 7405 2107.

Holborn on the Central and Piccadilly lines is a five minute walk. Temple on the Circle and District is fifteen.

Buses: the 1, 59, 68, 91, 168, 171, 188, 243, 521 and X68 stop on Kingsway, and the 8, 25 and 242 on High Holborn.

Santander docks at Sardinia Street and Portugal Street, and you can leave your own bike at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Note that bikes are not allowed inside the museum.

Driving: it is in the congestion charge zone, with a few pay-and-display spaces and green-badge bays in Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

The museum is Soane’s own house, left as it stood at his death in 1837, and it remains one of the strangest interiors in Britain.

How to plan it

Be in the Picture Room at 2pm for A Rake’s Progress, or at 11am, 3pm or 4pm for the recess.

The 2pm Private Apartments tour clashes with it. Pick one.

Want a free tour: put your name down on arrival, in the South Drawing Room or the Library-Dining Room, and check it is running.

Closed Monday and Tuesday, but open on bank holidays.

Free, no booking, though you may queue.

Travel light. Everything you carry goes in their clear bag, 375 by 450 by 75mm.

Photos on a phone, yes. Big camera, filming, tripod or selfie stick, no.

Need the lift: call 24 hours ahead on 020 7405 2107.

Wheelchair wider than 41cm: you will transfer to one of theirs, booked by phone.

Go in daylight. There is almost no artificial lighting.

Sir John Soane’s Museum

Address

13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3BP

Nearest

Holborn on the Central and Piccadilly lines, a five minute walk, and Temple on the Circle and District, fifteen minutes. Buses 1, 59, 68, 91, 168, 171, 188, 243, 521 and X68 on Kingsway, and 8, 25 and 242 on High Holborn

Hours

Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm, last admission usually 4.30pm and earlier if the museum reaches capacity. Closed Monday and Tuesday, but open on bank holidays

Booking

None needed, walk in on the day, though you may have to queue. Groups of eight or more must contact the museum, and group visits of 8 to 15 run only on particular days and must be booked ahead

Price

Free

Standing

Sir John Soane’s own house, left as it stood at his death in 1837, holding the Picture Room with its hinged walls, the Model Room, the Sepulchral Chamber and the Drawing Office

How to get in

The Picture Room panels open only at set times: 2pm for A Rake’s Progress on the north wall, and 11am, 3pm and 4pm for the south wall recess, so arriving between those times means seeing closed walls. The free Private Apartments tour also starts at 2pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, clashing with the Rake’s Progress opening. Free tours take a maximum of eight for the Private Apartments and six for the Drawing Office, are not bookable, and depend on staff availability, so give your name to the Visitor Assistant on arrival. Luggage, large rucksacks, suitcases and bikes are refused and visitors are issued a clear plastic bag measuring 375 by 450 by 75mm. Photography is allowed but flash, filming, tripods, selfie sticks and large cameras are not. The lift needs 24 hours notice, and wheelchairs over 41cm wide, 84cm deep or 82cm high must be swapped for the museum’s own narrow chairs.

Where to go next

Dennis Severs’ House is the other great preserved interior, and Two Temple Place is the one that opens on select days only.

Free museums in London covers the rest, and Rosewood London is the place to eat on the same stretch of High Holborn.

Questions we get asked

When does the Picture Room open at Sir John Soane's Museum?

The hinged panels open at fixed times. A Rake's Progress on the north wall is shown at 2pm only, once a day. The Picture Room Recess on the south wall opens at 11am, 3pm and 4pm. Outside those times the walls are closed and the paintings behind them cannot be seen, so a visit at, say, midday will miss both.

Is Sir John Soane's Museum free?

Yes, entry is free and there is no need to pre-book: you can walk in on the day. The museum is small and very popular, so you may have to wait for admission, and some interiors are visible only from behind stanchions. Groups of eight or more must contact the museum in advance.

Are there free tours at Sir John Soane's Museum?

Two, both free and neither bookable. The Private Apartments tour runs Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 2pm from the South Drawing Room, lasts about 30 minutes and takes a maximum of eight people. The Drawing Office tour runs Thursdays and Saturdays at 2.30pm from the Library-Dining Room, lasts about 20 minutes and takes six. Give your name to the Visitor Assistant in the relevant room on arrival, and check with staff that the day's tour is running, as both depend on staff availability.

What days is Sir John Soane's Museum open?

Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, with last admission usually 4.30pm, though admissions may close earlier if the museum reaches capacity. It is closed Monday and Tuesday but stays open on bank holidays, which makes a bank holiday Monday one of the few Mondays you can visit.

Can you take photos in Sir John Soane's Museum?

Yes, photography is permitted, but with six exclusions: no flash, no filming your visit, no tripods, no selfie sticks, no large cameras and no phone calls. A phone or compact camera is fine; a professional body is not, and video is banned outright.

What bags can you take into Sir John Soane's Museum?

Very little. Luggage, large and camping rucksacks, suitcases and bikes are all refused because the spaces are narrow and the objects fragile. Visitors are given a clear plastic bag measuring 375mm by 450mm and 75mm deep for small items. A limited free cloakroom takes smaller bags, with no liability accepted, and the museum points visitors to paid left-luggage services nearby for anything larger. Prams can be left outside within the gates, and baby carriers are welcome inside.

Is Sir John Soane's Museum wheelchair accessible?

Partly, and with preparation. Internal and external platform lifts give step-free access, but the lift must be operated by staff because of the Grade I listing, so you must call at least 24 hours ahead on 020 7405 2107. Standard wheelchairs are usually too wide for the corridors: anything over 41cm wide, 84cm deep or 82cm high means transferring to one of the museum's own narrow wheelchairs, which should be reserved by phone. Crutches and sticks are fine throughout, but some spaces are too narrow for walking frames, and the flooring is uneven with see-through grilles in places.

Can you take a guide dog into Sir John Soane's Museum?

Yes, but the museum's policy, developed with the Guide Dogs Association, recommends against it. It suggests leaving the dog in a designated safe space with water during your visit. If you do bring the dog in, a member of staff must accompany you for both your safety and the dog's, which has to be arranged in advance by phone.