Name: October half term: Secrets of the City
Start: 2022-10-22T00:00:00+01:00
End: 2022-10-30T23:59:00+00:00
Location: London Transport Museum

May Half Term: Routes and Roundels

Fuel your imagination at our Festival of Curiosity this half term as your family enjoy curious and creative problem-solving challenges and meet real-world engineers. Follow our STEAM-inspired family trail, join an interactive workshop or storytelling session, and much more!

Down Street: Churchill's secret station

Experience the Railway Executive Committee’s bomb-proof headquarters during World War II, the warren of tunnels where Churchill sheltered.

Plan your school visit

Find the information you need to plan and book your visit to London Transport Museum in Covent Garden or the London Transport Museum Depot in Acton, west London.

Family activities this half term

Bring your family to London Transport Museum over the October half-term to discover another side to the capital and try activities inspired by the secret lives of some of the city’s residents.

Discover London’s nocturnal wildlife and weird and wonderful jobs on the transport network through movement workshops, a ‘make and take’ craft activity and a family trail around the Museum’s galleries.

Animal movement and sound workshop

Times: 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:30, 15:30 (Sessions last for approximately 20 minutes)

Audience: Families with children aged between 3 and 7 years oldCapacity: Up to five families per session

Location: The Transportorium, Ground Floor

Betty the bus driver needs YOU to join her on her night-time mission to help keep the nocturnal animals of London safe. In this active and immersive workshop you’ll learn about fascinating creatures, as well as taking on their movement and voices, as you explore London to an enchanting soundscape which transports you into the story.

Make-and-take bat masks

Times: 10:30-16:00 (drop-in)

Audience: Families with children aged between 5 and 12 years oldCapacity: 6 to 8 families at a time

Location: Luke’s Skills Space

Described as ‘a secret wilderness hidden in North London’, Transport for London’s disused Highgate Station now serves as a secluded urban sanctuary, home to protected species, including a colony of bats. Learn about these special creatures and how we can help and protect them, and make creative bat masks to wear and take home.

Hidden jobs self-guided family trail

Times: 10:00-18:00

Audience: Families with children aged between 6 and 12 years old

Pick up your family trail booklet at the Ticket Desk, then weave around heritage buses and trains and past iconic transport posters and quirky objects on a trail through the Museum’s galleries to find five different locations. At each stop, you’ll carry out challenges to discover the ‘secret workers’, historical and present day, who help keep London’s transport network running smoothly - as well as the tools they use. When you’ve finished the challenges, bring your booklet to the resource table outside the Transportorium (Ground Floor) to transform it into a special Staff Pass!

Hidden London exhibition

While you’re at the Museum, don’t miss the award-winning Hidden London exhibition in the Global Gallery. You’ll learn more about the protected bat colony at the disused Highgate station, as well as other secret locations on the transport network.

Other highlights for families at the Museum include seeing real buses, Tube trains and maps spanning 200 years of the capital’s transport history; learning how to drive a modern-day Elizabeth line train in the Future Engineers gallery; and having fun climbing aboard an array of kid-sized London vehicles in the All Aboard play zone.