Overview

Having walked from Waterloo Station, our first stop was food in the restaurant followed by a 3.5 hour wander. There are 4 floors and, depending on your interest level, a lot to read and see. Staff were very helpful and I'd have given it 5 stars if they also had a CP toilet.

Transport & Parking

We walked from Waterloo Station which took 40 minutes at about 2 mph across about three road crossings. The entrance with a ramp is on the right (in the park) side of the building.

Access

This is a large museum with many areas. In the WW1 area there is low level lighting and sounds of war playing constantly in the background. There are case displays, touch screens tables and audio/visual films. In some areas two wheelchair users can not pass. Other galleries have large open spaces. The 'spy' area has sloping floors so viewing isn't easy depending on how well you can sit on a slope. There are 4 lifts in a central area with good space (one lift in level 4 just serves the Holocaust section). The restaurant had reasonable space to purchase food and we accessed a table easily. Staff offered to carry out tray. The gift/book shops were just about accessible. The museum is ramped throughout on mostly smooth surfaces.

Toilets

I only used 1 of the 8 toilets labelled as wheelchair accessible. This one was in a quiet 'out the back' hallway on an upper floor. The transfer space was in front of the door. On arrival we were immediately told about toilets being on all floors. Unfortunately none have a hoist or changing bench. Entry and exit from the toilet was difficult because of the door and door grab rail. All grab rails were present but no shelf or coat hook. Their was a general waste bin (not really needed and taking up space) but no Hygiene bins for continence pads. Although labelled as baby changing, there was no table inside.

Staff

On arrival staff opened the door for me and told me where toilets were located. In the restaurant we had our tray carried to the table and when standing by the lifts we were again informed which lifts went to which floors and a map was provided. Very cheerful and helpful.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

A good range of high quality food including vegan and glutton free options. I noticed some videos had BSL and all were captioned. Lots of auditory narratives to listen to. Background noise in some exhibits and films starting up may be upsetting or startling for some people with autism or anxiety.

Photos