Madame Tussauds London

About this place

Before Madame Tussaud was a global brand with an outpost in Dubai and twenty-odd other cities, she was a real Frenchwoman who learned to cast wax in revolutionary Paris, settled in London in 1835 and showed her figures in this very neighbourhood. The green-domed building on Marylebone Road, once the London Planetarium, is the original from which the entire chain descends. That alone gives it something the Dubai branch cannot buy, however glossy its figures. Inside, the rooms flow into one another at your own pace: a celebrity party by the entrance where phones crowd around the actors and pop stars, then sport and music, then the Marvel Hall of Heroes with its four-and-a-half-metre Hulk. The zone most of our readers come for, though, is the Royal Palace: King Charles and Queen Camilla, William and Kate, and the late Queen Elizabeth in a single line-up, a family photo that takes a minute here and is impossible anywhere else in London. Harry Kane and Lando Norris are among the newest arrivals, and figures are swapped constantly, so do not be surprised if a name you expected has gone. The ticket also includes the Spirit of London, a short dark ride in a miniature black cab through four centuries of the city, pleasantly theatrical, and the 4D cinema, which in 2026 replaced its long-running Marvel film with a new Jumanji safari adventure, a few minutes of wind, water spray and shaking seats that small children adore. The Chamber of Horrors is recommended for sixteen and over and can be skipped entirely, and we would with anyone younger. Price is the real obstacle. An adult pays around 39 pounds at the door, falling to roughly 27 pounds booked online with a time slot, and children aged two to fifteen pay nearly as much, so a family of five clears a hundred pounds without trying. Advance booking is not compulsory in law, but in July, August and the Christmas weeks it is compulsory in practice: the queue snakes along the pavement even for ticket holders, and the venue itself says it cannot guarantee walk-up entry on busy days. The best hour is opening time on an ordinary school day; by noon the rooms are so packed that no figure can be photographed without a stranger's head in frame. Combination tickets with the London Eye, SEA LIFE and the London Dungeon cut the cost if those were already on your list. The building is cashless. Getting there could not be simpler: Baker Street station, on the Jubilee, Bakerloo, Metropolitan and Circle lines, is directly opposite, and the Sherlock Holmes Museum is a few minutes up the same street. Pushchairs are not allowed inside but are stored free in the cloakroom, the route climbs six floors by stairs (lifts exist, but staff escort wheelchair users to them and those slots must be booked a day ahead), and two hours is ample. Hours shift with the season, typically 10:00 to 18:00 with last entry at 16:00, and some winter days close as early as 15:00; the only closure is 25 December. Our honest verdict: if money is tight and you have already done the Dubai branch, skip it. If a photo beside the royal family means something to anyone in your party, this is the only place on earth to get it.