You can no longer take pictures of the Bayeux Tapestry in London – but it’s still well worth the trip

Visitors to the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum can no longer photograph the 70-metre embroidery, HotMinute found on a visit on the evening of Saturday (19 September).

Staff at the entrance to Room 30 told us that photography of any kind is now prohibited after a “few incidents” of flash photography raised concerns about damage to the tapestry.

The ban arrives only nine days after the exhibition opened to the public on 10 September, and it would be a shame if it stays in place for the coming months of a run that continues to 11 July 2027.

The tapestry itself is absolutely worth seeing with your own eyes, and the loss of photos does little to dent the experience.

What the visit looks like

We were let in at 18h30 and shepherded into a long, slow-moving queue that snakes past a series of projected displays explaining the history of the tapestry and the story it tells.

The wait in that line felt a little long, although the museum was very busy for a Saturday evening slot and the projections do a decent job of filling the time.

Once through, we were given around 30 minutes with the tapestry itself, which is ample time to walk its full length and take in the detail of each scene at a comfortable pace.

The tapestry is displayed flat at a height of 80cm in a dimly lit gallery, with a supporting animation running behind it to help visitors follow the narrative.

The effect is closer to viewing a single great work of art, such as the Mona Lisa at the Louvre or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, than to walking through a conventional exhibition.

Given its age and the sheer density of symbolism stitched into it, we found the experience quietly moving, though we will concede to being the kind of fuddy-duddy who enjoys this sort of thing.

Where the exhibition could do more

The show is tightly centred on the tapestry itself, which leaves a couple of fascinating threads largely unpulled.

Transporting an eleventh-century embroidery across the Channel was a monumental feat, and we would have liked far more on how the museum and its French counterparts actually moved it.

Some background on the women believed to have made the tapestry would also have added welcome context, although both subjects are readily covered online for those who want to dig further.

Do stop at the gift shop

We are not usually ones for museum gift shops, but this one is worth walking through on the way out.

The standout purchase is the exclusive exhibition guide, priced at £30, which walks through each panel in detail alongside the history behind it and makes a genuinely useful companion after the visit.

Tickets and how to book

The exhibition runs until 11 July 2027 in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, with Tottenham Court Road, Holborn and Russell Square the nearest Tube stations.

Tickets for visits between September and December 2026 sold out within a day of going on sale on 1 July, in what the museum described as the biggest day of ticket sales in its history.

The next general release covers visits between January and March 2027 and opens at 10am on 21 October, with British Museum members getting priority access from 6 October.

A final release for April to July 2027 is expected in January 2027, and the museum has advised prospective visitors to sign up for email alerts ahead of each drop.

Standard adult tickets cost £33 at peak times and £27 off-peak, with a super off-peak rate of £25 available on term-time weekday afternoons.

Students, 16 to 18 year olds, jobseekers and disabled visitors pay £25 at all times, and a companion for a disabled visitor goes free.

Under-16s enter for free when booked alongside a paying adult, with a limit of four children per adult, and each ticket covers a timed slot of roughly 40 minutes.

Membership starts from £82 and includes two visits to the tapestry, although member priority tickets for 2026 dates have already sold out.

On the evidence of our visit, the exhibition is well worth the ticket price and the queue, with or without a camera.

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