Madame Tussaud is one of London’s most visited attraction. Located in Marylebone, Madame Tussaud in London is a great place to visit life-sized wax replicas of popular celebrities and artists with over 300 wax figures. The wax figurines of almost every top celebrity from across the world of icons of sports, movies, modeling and cultural significance can be found here in themed galleries. Madame Tussaud’s London is one of the best places in London to see the who’s who of the world.
How to get to Madame Tussaud’s
Madame Tussauds is just a few minutes’ walk from Baker Street Underground tube station making it a breeze for anyone visiting the attraction. The station is served by Bakerloo line, Circle line, Hammersmith line, Jubilee line and Metropolitan line making it accessible to almost every part of London.
History of Madame Tussauds Museum
Madame Tussaud was French and lived in Paris, attending the court of Versailles. Marie Tussaud was taught the art of wax modelling by Dr Philippe Curtius, who was not only a physician, but was also skilled in wax modelling. After starting her wax museum in Paris, she moved to London in 1802 when she received an invitation from Paul Philidor of magic lantern.
Mr. Philidor wanted to showcase the French sculptor’s work alongside his own at a show at the Lyceum Theatre. The exhibition was a major hit and it resulted in Ms. Tussaud making London her home. In 1835, she had settled in the Baker Street area of London and had opened a museum – originally called The Baker Street Bazaar.
Following Ms. Tussaud’s death in 1850, her sons took over the museum and relocated to Marylebone Road in 1884. It has stayed there since then and survived the wars. In 1990 it underwent significant renovation and held a number of special exhibitions including one of the wedding dresses made for royalty.
Today the brand has spread across the globe with Madame Tussauds museums being opened in every corner of the world.
Opening times and admission prices
Standard opening time
Monday to Friday: 9 AM – 4 PM
Saturday and Sunday: 9 AM – 5 PM
Ticket office prices:
Adult: £35.00
Child (3 – 15 Years): £30.00
There are several entrance doors for different types of ticket giving different levels of priority for admittance all at very different prices.
From ticket office
If you just turn up on the day of your visit to buy a ticket, it can easily be a 2 hour wait at peak times. Buying the ticket from the site ticket office is also costly, almost 30% more than advance purchase from their website.
Advance Purchase Standard Tickets from Madame Tussaud’s’ website
You can purchase your tickets in advance directly from the Madame Tussauds website. While purchasing you have to select the date and time when you want to visit. You will get a 15-minute time window to gain entrance. These tickets are cheaper than the tickets purchased at the site. The ticket prices are variable depending on the peak/off peak time of the day, generally the most expensive tickets are for morning entrances.
Advance Purchase Priority Tickets from Madame Tussaud’s’ website
You can purchase a priority ticket for a premium, that can be almost double the price of the standard ticket. Priority tickets give you admission into Madame Tussauds within 10 minutes. While purchasing you have to select the date and time when you want to visit. You will get a 15-minute time window to gain entrance. The ticket price is fixed for all time slots.
Combination tickets combining Madame Tussaud’s with 4 other Major attractions in London
Madame Tussauds is owned by a company called Merlin who own and operate 5 major London attractions: Madame Tussauds, London Eye, London Dungeon, Shrek’s Adventure and Sea Life Aquarium.
Merlin’s website offers a very flexible combination tickets where you can combine from just two attractions to all five of them into one money saving pass valid for 90 days from the first visit. While purchasing this combination attraction pass you have to decide which attraction you want to visit first and the time slot. Remaining attractions can be visited in the next 90 days.
You may find it cheaper or better value to buy tickets to two or three attractions in one go. These can be purchase at Merlin’s website.
There is also flexibility at Madame Tussauds to choose which priority entrance ticket you require.
Inside Madame Tussaud’s
We pre booked our time slot online and reached 30 minutes before, even then there was a long queue moving very slow and it takes another 45 minute to get in.
Once inside it’s very impressive. The central hall is full of waxworks that are extremely well done and span a range of Hollywood , Bollywood stars, sports & political personalities along with historical figures with some more modern heroes. Some of the figures are recognized by our kids and for few others we have to educate them at certain times.
After the central hall there are themed room after themed room with 007, King Kong, Star Wars and the British royal family.
After the wax figurines and the themed rooms, it’s time for a theme park style taxi ride in a replica of a London taxi. The carousel like ride takes you through the history of London with moving parts, lights, sounds and some story telling.
At our visiting time the tour ended to a 4D Avengers movie shown in the dome shaped theatre. It was a usual superhero movie where different superheroes trying to save the Buckingham Palace and then Madame Tussauds itself from a huge metal monster. This was a cool experience and kids enjoyed a lot.
Useful Tips
- This is an expensive trip so plan ahead and purchase online ticket. If visiting other Merlin’s attraction, buy a combination ticket.
- This place is very crowded during peak season. If you are travelling in off season, include this in your itinerary. The whole attraction is indoor and not weather dependent.
- There are a lot of stairs inside and you can’t take a child stroller inside.
- They accept a limited number of wheelchair user inside at any time, that should be pre-book in advance. To reserve Wheelchair slot, make a disabled booking from their website.
