From 23 July – 31 August, families visiting the award-winning London Transport Museum in Covent Garden can enjoy a packed programme of rail-themed family fun, celebrating Railway 200 which marks the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. From the construction of the world’s first underground railway to the opening of the cutting-edge Elizabeth line, visitors will discover the people and innovations that have kept London moving for almost two centuries.
Families can get hands-on with creative activities that will bring London’s railway history to life, from coding electric toy trains and designing pop-up railways to meeting costumed characters from the past and joining a birthday party for trains. Each day of the week will feature a different activity, with the full programme available on London Transport Museum’s website.
Activities include:
- Poster-making
- Building a pop-up railway model inspired by the first railway in London
- Designing a carriage of the future
- Arts and crafts sessions run by other museums who will pop-up at London Transport Museum throughout the holidays
- A birthday party for trains
- Creating a signalling system to run trains through a capital city
- Chatting to costumed characters to discover what it was like to work on London’s railways over the past 200 years
- Interactive storytelling session
- A historic challenge of how to reach deep-level Tube platforms
London Transport Museum’s Cubic Theatre will see the return of ‘Transport Explorers: A Live Show’. Packed with live experiments, comedy, and plenty of audience interaction, this 60-minute show puts children right in the middle of the action as they journey through amazing moments in London’s transport history. Tickets for ‘Transport Explorers: A Live Show’ start from £12.00.
Further afield, families with children aged 10 and over can join the Museum’s exclusive Hidden London tours this summer. These guided tours offer a rare chance to explore Clapham South deep-level shelter and other off-limits parts of the Tube. Visitors can discover disused stations, wartime shelters and secret filming locations, walk alongside former railway tracks or watch trains come and go from hidden ventilation shafts. Tours run all year around with three locations available to explore this summer.
During a visit to London Transport Museum, families can also explore historic vehicles, climb aboard mini trains in the All-Aboard play zone, try driving an Elizabeth line train in the Future Engineers gallery and enjoy a break in the Museum cafe.
Adult tickets to London Transport Museum include free return entry for a whole year and kids go free. Concession tickets are also available. Book tickets for the museum and other activities in advance online at ltmuseum.co.uk
