How much fun is it to browse and buy in a museum shop? It’s my guilty pleasure, and I could get lost for hours snooping around London’s fabulous museum and gallery gift shops. From books to arty must-haves for the home, clothing, cards and stationery, they can easily satisfy the shopaholic in you. And spending your pounds here is a wonderful way to support our museums. Here are the best museum shops London, with links so you can shop online or in person.
The best museum shops London: my favourites
Royal Academy of Arts: best shop for art. The Royal Academy shops are deliciously curated, and it’s practically impossible to leave without absolutely needing to buy something, or everything. Stock up your artist’s studio with a stunning range of papers, pens and crayons. Indulge your inner art collector with prints, canvases and framed reproductions from the RA’s collection, or buy some art-inspired and affordable jewellery.
Image: Royal Academy of Arts
Kew Gardens: best shop for gardeners and nature lovers. It’s not a museum, I hear you say, but it’s home to one of the best botanical galleries in the world, the Marianne North, and it holds some superb annual exhibitions. The Kew shop takes top prize for best “museum” shop in London, with a fantastic range of garden-inspired gifts, homeware, books and stocking fillers.
Historic Royal Palaces: best shop for royal gifts (and tea towels). The charity runs Kensington Palace, the Tower of London and Hampton Court, amongst others, and its shops are some of the best in town for royal-themed gifts and tea towels. Where else are you going to find Henry VIII and his six wives for the tree? Or a Field of the Cloth of Gold tea towel?
Design Museum: best shop for cutting-edge merch. It’s the world’s leading museum dedicated to contemporary design, and the shop showcases over 1,200 craft and design goodies. I’m a fan of the London Brick soap for stockings and the Designs of Our Time book.
Soane Museum: best shop for Hogarth and architecture lovers. The Soane is one of the best museum shops London, a real treasure trove of architecturally inspired gems. If you love William Hogarth, they have an extensive collection of gifts inspired by the Georgian painter. Some of my favourite pieces include the Soane Breakfast Set, the Soane Museum Picture Room pop-up card and a Rake’s Progress folding umbrella.
Image: Sir John Soane’s Museum
Dulwich Picture Gallery: best shop for quirky gifts. The shop sells a broad range of gifts inspired by the gallery’s exhibitions and collections. My favourites include the Bill Skinner dressing table necklace and a surrealist tray.
Image: Dulwich Picture Gallery
Wallace Collection: best shop for rococo. I can never leave the Wallace Collection without buying something. I expect Marie Antoinette or Madame de Pompadour would feel right at home in this exquisitely curated shop, with its eclectic range of rococo trinkets, books and homeware.
Royal Museums Greenwich: best shop for nautical and astronomical souvenirs. Anyone with an interest in the seas and the skies will be over the moon here. You’ll find Cutty Sark-inspired gear, astronomy gifts and everything from ship models to stargazing guides, watches and toys for budding astronauts.
The London Museum (formerly the Museum of London): best shop for London lovers. The shop sells items relating to its major exhibitions, books about London, jewellery and children’s gifts. As you’d expect, there is plenty of London-inspired stuff, including a Famous Londoners tea towel and a Pleasure Gardens mug.
Dickens Museum. The Curiosity Shop is full of Dickens-mad paraphernalia including homeware, books and stationery. Check out the Please Sir Oliver Twist mug and the Charles Dickens bath duck, two stocking-filler favourites.
National Gallery. The National Gallery’s superb shop includes pieces inspired by Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Monet and Seurat, to name a few. With publications, stationery, clothing, prints and a brilliant kids’ section, you’ll be spoilt for choice.
Image: The National Gallery
Picks from three guest bloggers
These museum shops were chosen by three of London’s top bloggers.
Little London Whispers: the V&A
Emma from Little London Whispers always has her finger on the London pulse with the latest in theatre, art, food and shopping, and was featured as one of the top London Instagrammers in The Evening Standard. The Victoria and Albert Museum shop is her favourite.
“I love it for their wonderful reference books, an Aladdin’s cave of inspiration. If you want to find beautiful and original jewellery at an affordable price, this is definitely the place to shop. Finally, my list is never complete without a ceramic or two. My best purchase was my Brexit egg cups, and we are still waiting for that one to crack!” Visit the V&A shop.
Image: Little London Whispers
Museum Mum: the London Transport Museum
Vyki from Museum Mum is a museum curator and writes her award-winning blog with hands-on help from her very cultured Museum Kids. She picked the London Transport Museum shop.
“You don’t have to be a transport buff to enjoy the London Transport Museum’s shop. There’s everything from London souvenirs to thousands of vintage posters, all paying homage to London’s iconic transport networks. My favourite items are the children’s Christmas jumpers, which are bright, cheerful and playful without being tacky; the Topple Tower game, which gives the well-known wooden block game a makeover in London Underground line colours; and the moquette socks. You may not know the word, but you’ll recognise the patterns from the seats of London’s buses, trams and trains.”
It’s Your London: the British Museum
Sue from It’s Your London has lived in London for 30 years and is still in love with the capital. You’ll often find her in a museum, a gallery, at a concert or at the theatre, and she also organises bespoke tailored tours. Her pick is the British Museum shop.
“The British Museum is one of the great museums of the world, so you would expect its shops to be pretty special. The main shop, placed in the centre of the glass-covered courtyard, offers everything from learned books to children’s masks of historical figures, Rosetta stone phone covers and fun histories of the world. A separate posh shop stocks jewellery, silk scarves and replica artefacts. When there are special exhibitions, a pop-up shop brings wonderful tailored gifts.”
Image: It’s Your London
Support the best museum shops London has to offer
Whether you shop in person or online at any of the best museum shops London, buying from museum shops helps fund the collections, exhibitions and learning programmes we all enjoy. For more bookish browsing, read my guide to London’s best independent bookshops, or see my guide to the Wallace Collection.