The London Transport Museum, often referred to as LTM, is one of London’s eleven transport-themed museums, and the most important among them. The LTM is mainly dedicated to showcasing the history and heritage of London public transport.

The LTM’s collections moved around quite a lot before finally being transferred to their current location, a Victorian iron and glass building, formerly part of the Covent Garden Market, in 1980. Since then, the museum has grown and now houses all kinds of artefacts and exhibits relating to public London transport, its development, and its impact on the city and its people.

Inside the London Transport Museum, you’ll be able to see plenty of photographs, artworks, promotional billboards, signs, uniforms, engineering plans, as well as vehicle simulators (both old and modern) and original vehicles - like buses, trams, trolleybuses, and rail trains.

In chronological order, you’ll retrace the steps of London’s history through the ground-breaking discoveries and designs of its ever-evolving transport network.

Location

The Piazza, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7BB.

The London Transport Museum is located in the heart of Covent Garden, in London’s West End district, just North of the River Thames. Just east of this area, you’ll find Holborn, while Fitzrovia and Bloomsbury are to the north and Soho to the west.

Closest to the museum you’ll find the famous Covent Garden Market, while the Royal Opera House is just a few steps away from the museum. To the west are the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and Trafalgar Square. Chinatown is northwest of the London Transport Museum.

Tickets

The London Transport Museum requires its visitors to book their entries in advance. To book your entry you will first have to register for an annual pass (as the name suggests, this gives you access to the museum for a year) and then book your timed entry (which is free) for the exact time and date of your visit.

You can get an unlimited pass (£24.00 per adult) or an off-peak annual pass (£22.00 per adult). The latter is only valid for visits after 2:00 pm Monday through Friday, excluding bank holidays. You can book your London Transport Museum annual pass and timed tickets on the museum’s website .

Visitors aged 0-17 can always enter for free, without an annual pass. They must, however, book their timed entry on the London Transport Museum website.

Schedule

London’s Transport Museum is open every day between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm, with the last visitors being admitted until 5:00 pm. The Museum’s canteen is open between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm.

Transport

There are two ways you get to the Transport Museum. The first and most popular is the Underground. The closest Tube station to the London Transport Museum is Covent Garden, just a couple of minutes away from the attraction. The other one, Leicester Square station, is a little west. If you take the Piccadilly line, you can stop at either, but if you’re on the Northern, you’ll have to get off at Leicester Square.

As for buses, you’ll have quite a few options. As The Piazza in Covent Garden is fully pedestrian, the bus stops are located in the nearby streets. You can get the closest with lines 6, 9, 11, 15, 87, 91, 139, and 176, but routes 1, 26, 59, 68, 76, 168, 172, 188, and 341 are good options too. Here you can see a summary of the transport options available.

You could take a cab, but we don’t particularly recommend it, since traffic in Central London is so slow, making taxi rides even less cost-effective than they would normally be.

Nearby sights

Being located in Covent Garden, the Transport Museum is in close proximity to several interesting sights.

Covent Garden Market - right next to the Transport Museum.

Royal Opera House - 90 m (300 feet) north, 1-minute walk.

National Portrait Gallery - 550 m (0.3 miles) west,7-minute walk.

Trafalgar Square - 650 m (0.4 miles) southwest, 9-minute walk.

National Gallery - 750 m (0.5 miles) west, 10-minute walk.

Chinatown - 750 m (0.5 miles) northwest, 10-minute walk.