Leighton House

What it’s like

A Victorian artist's house with a jaw-dropping tiled Arab Hall, a new family trail, and a café you can visit without a ticket.

This is Frederic Leighton's old house, and the bit everyone remembers is the Arab Hall, a room dripping in real Islamic tiles with a golden dome overhead. There's a new family trail to help kids actually look at the place rather than trail round bored, and a current exhibition on the Arab Hall's past and present if you want to dig a bit deeper with an older child. It's a proper historic house rather than a hands-on museum, so it suits kids who like looking and asking questions more than ones who want buttons to press.

You don't need a ticket at all if you just fancy the new wing, since the Tavolozza Drawings Gallery and the huge Oneness mural by Shahrzad Ghaffari are free to walk into. Everything else needs paying for, and last entry is 4:30pm even though the house shuts at 5:30, so don't roll up at five expecting a proper look round. Booking ahead is recommended, though the site says walk-ups are fine too, which takes some of the pressure off a spontaneous rainy Tuesday plan. Except it can't be a Tuesday, because that's the one day Leighton House is closed.

The De Morgan Café is open to anyone, ticket or not, and does sandwiches, soups and bakes from a seasonal menu. Worth flagging to staff if anyone has allergies, as the kitchen can't promise dishes are completely allergen-free. The building is wheelchair accessible and has toilets on site, which makes it easier to plan around nap times or just a mid-visit break.

Given the museum only runs to 5:30pm and last entry is an hour before that, you're looking at an afternoon visit rather than a full day out. It's small enough that a determined toddler won't wreck the schedule, but the real audience is a child who'll actually stop and stare at that tiled hall.

Facilities

Need to know

Best for

Older kids who'll engage with art and history over toddlers

Last entry

4:30pm

Booking

Advance booking recommended but walk-ups available

Food

De Morgan Café serving sandwiches, soups, bakes and hot/cold drinks

• Closed on Tuesdays, so don't plan a visit round that day
• Last entry is 4:30pm, an hour before the house actually shuts
• Tell staff about any allergies as the café kitchen can't guarantee allergen-free food
• The free new wing is worth a look even if you skip the paid galleries

Plan your visit

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