Footsteps of WWII · Britain
Imperial War Museum London
Museum · 1939–1945
The story
Britain's national museum of modern war has occupied the former Bethlem Royal Hospital on Lambeth Road since 1936. It is the best single place in Britain to see the Second World War as a whole: the Blitz, the war at sea and in the air, the home front and the campaigns from 1939 to 1945. In October 2021 it opened new Second World War and Holocaust galleries, which follow the war in Europe and the persecution and murder of Europe's Jews side by side. Outside stand two 15-inch naval guns, one from HMS Ramillies and the other mounted on HMS Resolution and HMS Roberts, which fired in support of D-Day.
What to look for
Head for the Second World War Galleries and the Holocaust Galleries on the upper floors; the central atrium holds aircraft, rockets and vehicles, including a V-2 and a Spitfire. The two huge 15-inch guns frame the entrance.
Plan your visit
Open daily 10:00–18:00, closed 24–26 December. Free; no booking needed for general entry. Some special exhibitions are ticketed. Check the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Churchill War Rooms, London · 2 km
- St Paul's Cathedral and the Blitz, London · 2 km
- Biggin Hill Memorial Museum · 21 km
- Bentley Priory Museum, Stanmore · 21 km
- Battle of Britain Bunker, Uxbridge · 25 km
- IWM Duxford · 68 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
Open the guide