Top 10 tips for a first-class family visit

Family enjoying the pneumatic racing cars interactive in the Mail Rail exhibition

Planning your visit

1. Book your tickets in advance

Check the ticket page on the website to help you plan which tickets are right for you. We recommend you book in advance as this will guarantee entry and get you in quicker. Plus, you save £1 a ticket by booking in advance online or over the phone.

2. Book Sorted, our postal play space, for sack-loads of fun

Sorted is an absolute must for children aged 0-8. You need to buy a separate ticket to visit Sorted – make sure you book in advance when you book entry to the museum. You can also book entry just for Sorted if you don’t fancy a visit to the whole museum. Located on the ground floor of the Mail Rail building, this immersive indoor space encourages sensory play in a mini town of streets and buildings. Kids can spend 45 minutes sorting, moving and delivering the mail using fun pulleys, slides and chutes.

3. Check out our pre-visit information and prepare for your trip

On the website, you’ll find some useful information to help you prepare for your visit, including pre-visit films and visual guides – this could be helpful if you are visiting with children or young people with additional needs.

If you’re arriving on foot, our walking trails from nearby stations suggest fun routes and things to see and do along the way. The museum is split over two buildings on opposite sides of the road separated by about a 50m walk.

We recommend travelling light if you can. We don’t have a cloakroom and locker space is limited. Buggies aren’t allowed on the lower ground of Mail Rail but there is some buggy parking on the ground floor.

On the day

4. Start your visit by riding Mail Rail

There are 2 entrances to the museum on either side of the road. When you arrive, start your visit at Mail Rail. Look out for the orange signs on the street if you’re not sure – if it says enter here for Mail Rail, you’re in the right place! Try to arrive 10-minutes before the time on your ticket and head down to the lower ground floor and join the queue to ride.

The ride will take you on a journey back in time through the original tunnels and station platforms of London’s 100-year-old postal railway. It’s an exciting, sensory experience, but it might not be suitable for everyone. Have a look at the accessibility guidelines before you book your tickets to help you decide.

Children watching a projection during their Mail Rail ride

5. Discover curious postal inventions

After the ride, explore the Mail Rail exhibition and discover curious engineering inventions and the story of the postal service’s underground world. Have a go on the Travelling Post Office carriage and see how fast you can sort the mail as the floor beneath you rocks from side to side! You can pick up a free Mail Rail trail to explore the space.

Children sorting letters in the Travelling Post Office interactive

6. Cross the road – there’s more to see

After visiting Mail Rail – don’t forget to cross over the road and visit the rest of the museum. Discover 500 years of incredible communications history through fun hands-on interactives. Our favourites for families are the design your own stamp game and the pneumatic tube, which shoots your secret messages across the museum.

Family enjoying the pneumatic tube interactive

7. Pick up free resources and trails

We have loads of free activities and trails you can collect from the welcome desks and trail pick-up-points across the museum. They’re lots of fun and can help provide a bit of structure to the visit. There are resources to suit different interests and abilities, including sensory bags, a Jolly Postman activity trail and a Mail Rail engineer trail.

Family following one of the trails in the galleries

8. Have a bite to eat in the café

Grab a bite to eat at the café on the ground floor of The Postal Museum – there are Kids’ Lunch Boxes available. We have indoor and outdoor seating; your own packed lunches can be eaten in the sheltered courtyard area.

9. Visit the gift shop

Finish your visit with a trip to the gift shops, where you can pick up a guide book, toys and souvenirs of your trip.

Once you’re back home

10. Check out our online resources and visit again

Keep hold of your ticket! You can come back for free. When you buy a ticket to the museum, you can visit the exhibitions and take part in our family events for a year. This doesn’t include the Mail Rail ride – but you can top up your ticket to ride again for just £6.

Visit the family page on the website for some fun, postal themed activities you can do from home and let us know how you found your visit by completing the survey emailed to you after your trip.

We look forward to welcoming you to the museum soon!

– The Postal Museum Team

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