A landmark exhibition showcasing the Bayeux Tapestry is coming to London in September, and boy has it been an ordeal to get it here. Britain has attempted to borrow the tapestry four times in the last century – once in 1931, then in 1953 for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and again in 1966 for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings – all unsuccessfully.
The green light was finally given in 2018 for a display in 2022, then those plans were scuppered by the pandemic. Last summer, finally, it was confirmed that the Bayeux Tapestry would be coming to the British Museum in summer 2026.
Naturally, here at Time Out we’re very excited to see the tapestry in London. Earlier this year we named the British Museum’s Bayeux Tapestry exhibition the best thing to see in the entire UK in 2026. It’s gonna be huge.
In 2026, the time has finally come. The British Museum’s exhibition opens in September and will run until July 2027. The exact dates and ticket prices are yet to be announced, but we do know that tickets will go on sale on July 1.
Plus, the British Museum has just announced that kids will be able to visit for free. Yep, anyone under the age of 16 won’t have to pay to view the 70m-long artwork, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest in 1066. Bosses at the museum said they decided to let kids in without paying because embroidery is studied as part of the history curriculum for Key Stage 3.
Prices for adults and concessions are also expected to be decided this week, ahead of advance British Museum Member bookings opening in June.
Though the world’s most famous tapestry has resided in Bayeux, Normandy for the past 900 years, it’s widely believed to have been embroidered in Canterbury, Kent. The London exhibition will mark the first time ever that the epic artwork has ever been displayed outside France.
In another departure from convention, the tapestry will be laid out flat in a straight line in the Sainsbury Exhibition Gallery. In Bayeux the piece is presented in a U shape.
Ex-politician George Osborne, the British Museum’s chairman, has already called the exhibition ‘the blockbuster show of our generation’ ahead of its opening.
But before the exhibition can open, the tapestry will have to make the precarious crossing to London – a decision which has caused a lot of controversy. Even artist David Hockney has weighed in, calling it ‘madness’ to risk damaging the 900-year-old work. Experts behind the project have painstakingly planned every inch of the route to avoid potholes, using bespoke vibration-dampening technology to protect the iconic embroidery.
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