The Museum of Brands is a social history museum in Notting Hill, west London, tracing 200 years of British consumer culture through over 12,000 original packaging, advertising, and product objects.
This guide was updated in June 2026. Two updates many guides haven’t caught: from 1 January 2026, all tickets are valid for 12 months — making a £14 adult ticket effectively an annual pass for unlimited visits, a policy change that most current listings entirely ignore. The museum is also cashless — no cash is accepted, and American Express is not accepted. Book on Viator to secure your ticket.
Quick facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Address | 111–117 Lancaster Road, Notting Hill, London, W11 1QT |
| Hours | Mon–Sat 10:00–17:00; Sunday 11:00–17:00 |
| Closed | Notting Hill Carnival Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday (late August); 24–26 December |
| Adult (26–59) | £14 |
| Child (7–16) | £8 |
| Concession (60+ or 17–25) | £10 |
| Accessible ticket | £10 |
| Family (2 adults + 2 children) | £36 |
| Universal Credit | £1 |
| Ticket validity | 12 months from date of purchase |
| Payment | Card only — no cash, no AmEx |
| Nearest Tube | Ladbroke Grove (Circle/Hammersmith & City, 3-min walk) |
| Typical visit | 1.5–2 hours |
Opening hours
The Museum of Brands is open Monday to Saturday 10:00–17:00 and Sunday 11:00–17:00. It is open on most Bank Holidays; the exception is the Notting Hill Carnival weekend in late August (Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday), when it closes for the duration of the carnival.
It also closes on 24, 25, and 26 December. All other days are standard hours. Check the official admissions page for any additional closures related to temporary exhibition changeovers.
Partial closures to note in 2026: The temporary exhibition spaces will be partially closed between 20 April and 4 June during the installation of the new Branding Britain exhibition. The Time Tunnel — the main permanent exhibition — remains fully open throughout. The Branding Britain exhibition opens to the public on 4 June 2026.
Ticket prices
All prices include VAT. The museum is cashless — card payment only. American Express is not accepted. Walk-up tickets are available every day, with no pre-booking required.
| Ticket type | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult (26–59) | £14 |
| Child (7–16) | £8 |
| Concession (60+ or 17–25) | £10 |
| Accessible ticket | £10 |
| Family (2 adults + 2 children) | £36 |
| Universal Credit and other named benefits | £1 |
| Under-7s | Verify at the museum; age 7 is the stated child ticket threshold |
All tickets purchased in 2026 are valid for 12 months from the date of your visit. Keep your ticket or QR code. Re-entry requires a valid original ticket — replacements are not issued.
Additional discounts: Art Pass holders, Blue Light Card holders, Museums Association and ICOM members, Days Out Guide members, and Visitor Oyster Card holders are all eligible for reduced entry. Check the official admissions page for current discount details.
Book on Viator to purchase your ticket in advance.
Why visit the Museum of Brands?
- 📦 12,000 original objects from 200 years of British life: Every tin, poster, toy, cereal box, magazine, and gadget in the collection is an original — not a reproduction — assembled by founder Robert Opie over five decades of systematic collecting.
- 🕰️ The Time Tunnel: The signature feature of the museum is a chronological walkthrough of British consumer culture, decade by decade, from the Victorian era to the present — walls lined floor-to-ceiling with the packaging and products of each era.
- 🎟️ Your ticket is valid for 12 months: Since 1 January 2026, all admission tickets give unlimited re-entry for a full year. For a museum with regularly changing temporary exhibitions, this makes a single ticket substantially more valuable than most guides indicate.
- 🛍️ New Branding Britain exhibition from 4 June 2026: A new permanent exhibition exploring the history and future of British brands and branding opens this summer — not mentioned in any guide published before mid-2026.
- 🏙️ A 5-minute walk from Portobello Road: The museum is nestled in Notting Hill, a short walk from Portobello Road Market, making it a natural pairing for a west London day out.
How to get there
By Tube: Ladbroke Grove station (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines) is a 3-minute walk from the museum. Westbourne Park station (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines) is also nearby, approximately 7 minutes on foot.
By bus: The museum is well-served by buses along Ladbroke Grove (routes 7, 23, 52, 70, 452, and others). Ask for the Lancaster Road stop.
On foot from Notting Hill Gate: About 12 minutes on foot north along Ladbroke Grove through Notting Hill.
On foot from Portobello Road Market: Less than 5 minutes — the museum is one street east of the northern section of Portobello Road.
Why book The London Pass?
- 🎟️ Access 90+ Attractions: Visit London’s most legendary landmarks, including the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and The View from the Shard.
- 💰 Substantial Savings: Save significantly on total admission costs compared to purchasing individual tickets at the gate for each site.
- 🚌 Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour: Includes a 1-day sightseeing bus ticket, making it easy to navigate between major districts and see Big Ben and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
- 📱 Instant Digital Pass: Download your pass directly to your smartphone for quick, paperless entry at every attraction throughout the city.
- ⏱️ Ultimate Flexibility: Choose a pass for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 10 days, allowing you to explore the capital at whatever pace suits your schedule.
Parking
There is no dedicated car park. Street parking in the surrounding Notting Hill streets is available but subject to residential restrictions. The museum is easily reached by Tube and bus. Visitors driving to London should note that central Notting Hill falls within the Congestion Charge zone boundary — check the TfL website before driving.
Five great things to do in London
- 🚖 Take a private black cab tour around London’s highlights – with hotel pick-up.
- 🧙 Discover Harry Potter filming locations – and spots that inspired the books – on a wizarding walking tour.
- 🍴 Taste the best of British cuisine on a food tour through Borough Market.
- 🚲 Combine landmarks, pubs and street art – on a guided bike tour.
- ⛴️ Take a sightseeing cruise along the Thames from Westminster to Greenwich.
How long to spend
Most visitors spend 90 minutes to two hours inside. The Time Tunnel’s chronological walk is substantial, and visitors who pause to read the context labels or spot familiar childhood objects regularly run over their planned time. Add time for the café, garden (in fine weather), and gift shop.
Accessibility
The museum is described as fully wheelchair accessible with step-free access on all levels. A lift is available. Assistance dogs and service animals are welcome throughout. Pushchairs are permitted inside. The museum publishes an Easy Read accessibility guide on its official website. Visitors with specific accessibility requirements are encouraged to contact the museum in advance.
What to see at the Museum of Brands
The Time Tunnel is the central experience — a chronological walkthrough from the Victorian era to the present day, with walls lined floor-to-ceiling with original packaging, tins, toys, advertisements, magazines, and household objects from every decade. The collection covers over 12,000 items. Walking the full length gives a remarkable sense of how domestic life, aspiration, and visual culture have changed since the 1850s.
Each decade section carries its own texture: Edwardian biscuit tins and soap packaging give way to 1950s convenience foods and Festival of Britain branding, then to the 1970s rise of colour television and supermarket own-brands, then into 1990s nostalgia for products that many visitors will remember personally. The effect is both scholarly and immediately personal.
Temporary exhibitions change throughout the year and are included in standard admission. The new Branding Britain exhibition opens on 4 June 2026 and explores the history and future of British brand identity. The previous temporary exhibition spaces were partially closed from 20 April while this installation was prepared.
The café serves hot and cold drinks, cakes, and light snacks. The garden is a sheltered outdoor space popular in warm weather. The gift shop stocks books on design, branding, and social history, as well as a carefully selected range of nostalgic and contemporary items.
Practical visitor tips
| Tip | Detail |
|---|---|
| Your ticket lasts a year from 2026 | Since 1 January 2026, all admission tickets are valid for 12 months. Keep your original ticket or QR code — the museum will not replace it. Book on Viator so you have a digital copy to hand. |
| The temporary spaces are closed until 4 June 2026 | If you want to see the new Branding Britain exhibition, visit on or after 4 June. The Time Tunnel main collection is open throughout. |
| No cash, no AmEx | Bring a Visa, Mastercard, or Maestro card. The museum is entirely cashless and does not accept American Express. |
| Visit on a weekday morning for the quietest experience | The Time Tunnel can feel crowded on weekend afternoons, particularly when school holiday groups arrive. Weekday mornings offer a much more relaxed experience for the same ticket price. |
| Combine with Portobello Road | The Saturday market on Portobello Road — less than 5 minutes on foot — is the most natural pairing for a Museum of Brands visit. The vintage and antiques stalls on the northern section complement the museum’s historical focus well. |
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does my ticket really last 12 months? | Yes — since 1 January 2026, all Museum of Brands admission tickets are valid for unlimited visits within 12 months of purchase. Keep your original QR code safe. |
| Is the Branding Britain exhibition open? | It opens on 4 June 2026. The temporary exhibition spaces are partially closed between 20 April and 4 June during installation. The Time Tunnel main collection is open throughout this period. |
| Can I pay cash? | No — the museum is entirely cashless. Cards only; American Express is not accepted. |
| Is the museum open on Bank Holidays? | Generally yes, except for the Notting Hill Carnival Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday in late August, when it closes. Also closed 24–26 December. |
| What are the discounts available? | Book tickets in advance on Viator and check the official admissions page for current eligibility for Art Pass, Blue Light Card, Days Out Guide 2-for-1, and Universal Credit £1 tickets. |
Things to do nearby
Portobello Road Market is less than 5 minutes on foot from the museum. The antiques section on the northern end of Portobello Road operates primarily on Saturdays and complements the museum’s historical focus — many of the objects in the Time Tunnel could have been picked up on a Portobello stall 30 years ago.
Notting Hill Gate and the surrounding streets make for pleasant browsing, with independent bookshops, cafés, and the famous residential streets of Holland Park immediately south.
Holland Park is a 15-minute walk south — a formal park with a Dutch Garden, Opera House, and free-roaming peacocks, set within one of London’s grandest Victorian residential neighbourhoods.
The Electric Cinema, Portobello Road is one of London’s oldest working cinemas and one of its most atmospheric, with leather sofas and footstools in place of standard seating. A good evening option after a morning at the museum.
Leighton House Museum is approximately 20 minutes south on foot — the Victorian studio-house of the artist Frederic Leighton, with one of the most extraordinary interiors in London: the Arab Hall, lined with antique Islamic tiles. Free for under-18s and London residents.
What to visit tomorrow
Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington (~25 min by Tube): The national museum of art and design holds one of the greatest collections of decorative arts in the world, covering fashion, furniture, ceramics, jewellery, and industrial design across every culture and period. The design angle is a natural companion to the Museum of Brands.
Design Museum, Holland Park (~20 min by Tube or 25 min on foot): A dedicated museum of contemporary design, architecture, and fashion housed in a striking white building. Temporary exhibitions change regularly and consistently cover the intersection of design and commercial culture that the Museum of Brands also explores.
The Geffrye Museum of the Home, Hoxton (~40 min by Tube): A museum of British domestic interiors since 1600, presenting a sequence of period-furnished rooms from the Stuart era to the present. As a museum of everyday domestic life and design, it is the most thematically close comparison to the Museum of Brands in London.
Museum of London Docklands (~35 min by Tube): The social and economic history of London’s East End and docklands, covering trade, migration, and working-class life from Roman times to the present. A strong complement to the Museum of Brands for visitors interested in the history of commerce and consumer goods.
Horniman Museum, Forest Hill (~40 min by Overground and train): A remarkable and undervisited collection of natural history, musical instruments, and anthropological artefacts, with extensive free gardens. The eclectic scope of the collection — assembled by tea trader Frederick Horniman in the 1890s — resonates usefully with the Museum of Brands’ own founding impulse of systematic personal collecting.
More London travel
Other London travel guides on Planet Whitley include:
- Underrated London attractions: Apsley House, Jewel Tower and the Postal Museum.
- Maritime Greenwich: The Royal Observatory, the National Maritime Museum and the Cutty Sark.
- Bloomsbury and Holborn: The Foundling Museum, the Charles Dickens Museum and Sir John Soane’s Museum.
- The cultural treasure of Hampstead: Kenwood House, the Freud Museum and Keats House.
- Away from the centre: Eltham Palace, Charles Darwin’s Down House and Marble Hill.
