Child dressed as astronaut at Winchester Science Centre

Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium

Museums

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You'll find some of the most engaging, fun and educational museums in the UK here in South East England.  Whether you're looking to discover more about the stars or cars, dinosaurs or boats, country or town life, there is a museum here for you.  You'll find many free museums, making them a great addition to a budget-busting day out that doesn't break the bank.  So if you haven't been to a museum in years, you may be interested to hear that museums in England have been transported into the 21st century.

Prepare yourself for a surprise as the South East has some of the most fun museums in England, with hundreds across the region.  In place of stuffy rooms and wardens shushing for quiet, you'll find inspirational and interactive spaces with engaging and accessible exhibits from retro cars to animatronics, the chance to journey to the stars and the worlds beyond, get hands-on with history and walk in the footsteps of famous characters in history.  Whether you're into heritage, art, science, maritime, or wildlife, you're bound to find something right up your street.

Museums in England

The featured museums are located in the counties of South East England and demonstrate the sheer variety of interest on offer. A more detailed list can be located through the map at the bottom of this page.

Car enthusiasts won’t want to miss the world-famous National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire’s New Forest. See one of the largest car collections held by any of the museums in England, with 250 cars of every age including land speed record-breakers Golden Arrow and Bluebird.  Whisk your way along to Milestones Museum, Basingstoke, where you can see an array of vintage vehicles including Hampshire's three big manufacturers.

Hampshire Cultural Trust are guardians of  2.5 million objects that relate to Hampshire’s rich and internationally important cultural heritage. Managing 23 attractions across Hampshire, including the brand new 878 AD which opened in the autumn of 2022 in Winchester, and the recently refurbished Gosport Museum and Art Gallery where you'll find museums and art galleries that explore Vikings, Victorians, Natural Sciences, Archaeology and much more.

The South East is also home to world-famous Bodleian Libraries, Oxford.  Not a museum in the traditional form, but the libraries are the oldest in Europe, and are the 2nd largest in the UK, only second to the British Library. Together, they hold over 13 million printed items and today offer the chance to visit and explore them, marvel at their exquisite architecture and dive into their fascinating history with a guided tour.

The D-Day Story and the LCT7074 landing craft, Portsmouth, is the only museum in the UK dedicated to the Allied Invasion in June 1944.  Whilst Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is home to not only the world famous Mary Rose but also HMS Victory, Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship. Discover Portsmouth's rich maritime history onboard some of the most famous war ships in British Naval history and find out what life was like for sailors in years gone by.

Museums in London

Museums in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Museums in Buckinghamshire

Museums in Oxfordshire

Museums in Surrey

Museums in Kent

Museums in Berkshire

Museums in Sussex

Museums Near Me

Use the 'Map View' button below to find museums near you in South East England including dozens of local museums showcasing their town's proud history. Check individual listings to see which museums are open today.

Number of results:

Number of results: 87

, currently showing 1 to 20.

  1. Dickens House Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Historic House / Palace

    Broadstairs

    The museum is housed in the cottage that was Charles Dickens’ inspiration for the home of Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield.

  2. Margate Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Margate

    Margate Museum is opened by a group of volunteers called the Friends of Margate Museum who work with Thanet District Council to open Margate Museum on a regular basis.

  3. Bletchley Park

    Type

    Type:

    Historic House / Palace

    Milton Keynes

    Once Britain’s Best Kept Secret, today Bletchley Park is a heritage site and vibrant tourist attraction. Open daily, visitors can explore some of the iconic WW2 Codebreaking Huts and Blocks and marvel at the astonishing achievements of the…

  4. Forest Arts Centre

    Type

    Type:

    Heritage / Visitor Centre

    New Milton

    Forest Arts Centre is the leading venue for live arts events in the New Forest. A former military drill hall in New Milton, it has a 146 capacity air-conditioned theatre, dance studio, workshop room and licensed café-bar with gallery space.

  5. Cowes Maritime Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    WEST COWES

    Cowes Maritime Museum displays a selection of objects and images which help to tell the story of Cowes and its important maritime heritage.

  6. SS Shieldhall

    Type

    Type:

    Boat Trip

    Southampton

    Shieldhall was laid down in October 1954 and entered service in October 1955. Built by Lobnitz & Co of Renfrew, she is of special interest as she was built on older classic lines with a traditional wheelhouse, of riveted and welded construction with

  7. Windsor & Royal Borough Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Windsor

    The jewel in the Royal Borough's crown, Windsor and Royal Borough Museum is a family friendly museum bursting with interesting facts and interactive displays of East Berkshire.

  8. Museum of English Rural Life

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Reading

    The Museum of English Rural Life (The MERL) is England’s most extensive museum dedicated to farming, food, craft, rural life and countryside issues.

  9. The Hop Farm Family Park

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Paddock Wood

    A collection of well-preserved Victorian oast houses, home to the Hop Story Museum and the famous grey and black shire horses. 'Decades experience,' Indoor adventure playground and nature trail.

  10. The D-Day Story

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Portsmouth

    The D-Day Story is the only museum in the UK dedicated to the Allied Invasion in June 1944. It tells the unique personal stories behind this epic event. Also, home to the new fully restored only surviving D-Day Landing Craft LCT 7074, which is…

  11. Curtis Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Alton

    One of the finest local history collections in Hampshire, exploring 100 million years of history Displays include prehistoric tools, Roman pottery reconstruction, Saxon burials, the Battle of Alton 1643, the notorious tale of Sweet Fanny Adams and…

  12. Arundel Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Arundel

    Arundel Museum is the south coast’s newest museum, revealing the story of the historic town of Arundel.

  13. Charles Dickens' Birthplace Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Portsmouth

    Visit the first home of Britain's most famous Victorian author.

  14. Worthing Museum and Art Gallery

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Worthing

    Varied collections including art, costume, toys, archaeology and local history. Exciting programme of rotation exhibitions throughout the year. Garden hosts changing sculpture exhibitions.

  15. St Augustine's Abbey

    Type

    Type:

    Abbey / Priory

    Canterbury

    This great Abbey, marking the rebirth of Christianity in southern England, was founded in AD 597 by St Augustine.

  16. Aldershot Military Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museums & Galleries

    Aldershot

    Housed in the only surviving brick-built barrack blocks left in Aldershot, Aldershot Military Museum tells the story of daily life for both soldier and civilian in the town since 1854. 

  17. Beaulieu, Home of the National Motor Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Beaulieu

    Beaulieu featuring the world famous National Motor Museum, Palace House home of the Montagu family and Abbey Ruins containing an exhibition of monastic life.

  18. Weald & Downland Living Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Chichester

    Come and discover rescued traditional rural buildings set in a beautiful landscape, which tell the stories of the men, women and children who lived and worked in them over a 950-year period.

  19. Royal Engineers Museum

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Gillingham

    There is something for all the family. Zulu War items, Boer War, World Wars I and II, planes, trains, tanks, bridges, bombs, 25 galleries.

  20. Winchester's Military Museums

    Type

    Type:

    Museum

    Winchester

    Five splendid military museums on an historic site with Visitor Centre, café displays and activities to interest all the family.