Royal Air Force Museum in Northolt

50 years old and changing to stay relevant in the age of the drone. There has been a wholesale move of aircraft to other locations and the building has suffered during lock down from some differential movement between the 100 Yr old hanger and the 1970s outer shell. The world war one hall is more harmoniously presented. Its easy to spend several hours here and you will remember planes made as Airfix kits in your youth.

Excellent day out! Id recommend to anyone, theres tones to do, and if your interested in planes, theres an awful lot to see too! I have been going on and off since I was a child, and it still gives me an enormous sense of excitement whenever I can convince someone else to come with me. I really look forward to my next visit, and the best part is, its free admission!

Easy to find from Colindale tube station. Great for kids too with photo opportunities on small planes. A total of 6 separate hangers, so youll need to walk outside to reach the others. Plenty to do, see and learn while here. And to top it all, it was free. But please consider a small donation.

What an amazing place! The newest hangar is great for kids and interactive exhibits. The older hangars are full of the most amazing planes from the early days of flight through to modern day. My son loved it and didnt want to leave. I loved it too!

We were lucky to have a different half term to most other schools last week and went on a weekday, it was so quiet! Really amazing displays we had a great day, and the food at the café was delicious as well

What a brilliant day outing, to discover the earliest planes to update ones, from large to small ones the museum as it all. Plenty of parking, tollets, food areas, suitable for all ages, this is a free museum so please donate to keep this wonderful place open.

Great Day out for the kids and family.. A walk in history with amazing Aircrafts from World War 1 and 2. Totally recommend anyone that has love for history and Aircrafts to visit here.It has a restaurant and cafe if you feel hungry or need to take a seat for refreshments as it can take the whole day to view everthing. There is also a play area situated outside for kids and a mini golf park. The great thing is its totally FREE..

Great museum despite the nearby property developers doing all they can to spoil any sense that this place used to be an airfield. Love the hanger buildings and the aircraft are so important. The exhibits are well presented and the museum seems to be trying to engage new audiences which is great. Kind of want to access more aircraft but this is v difficult and you do get chance to go in the short Sunderland which is great. Surprisingly good for kids too.

A must visit place if you or your kids have interest in the combat airplanes. The museum is free to visit with online booking where you can book free tickets, parking (£5), 4d experience and donate to the museum. The museum / all the facilities are well managed by the friendly staff. There are five hangers each displaying numerous planes, armaments, interactive exhibitions like flying simulator for the kids, many plane shaped ride ons and there is an outdoor play area. You can enjoy the company of old biplanes, spitfires all the way to the modern jets like Eurofighter Typhoon etc. Also you can pay for extras like 4d experience, sitting in the Spitfires.

Worth visiting a hidden gem in London. Family orientated, not too busy on the weekend, even during half term, staff members are extremely professional and polite, thank you to the server for making a wonder macchiato. Loved the number of planes and history displayed on site.

Great collection of planes, jets, wreckage, and information. Kids can enjoy little planes. The 4D show was disappointing though. Do book your free tickets before you go. Good collection of merchandise to shop too.

This place is amazing!! From the moment you walk in its just wow, wow, wow. Lots of parking, very accessible (we took two wheelchair usersso much to see and do. Im not into military stuff, but I have to say, this is somewhere everyone should visit. Literally awesome!!

One of the best aviation museums in the world. Just about everything from WW1 to modern day. Very clean facilities, cafe on site and friendly staff. The aircraft are restored to perfection.

Absolutely awesome place to visit for aviation fans. Its a little out of the way but you need plenty of space for the sheer amount of airplanes youre about to see there, across all generations of airplanes. It took me a while to finally go there, but wasnt disappointed!

Great afternoon out with the kids, its very big, and will keep you walking for around 3 hours, Expect to stay between 3-5 hours depending on if you like reading about each plane or not ! we just took 3 hours to look at each of the planes in thev6 hangers.Huge amazing RAF planes, boat planes, and ships..great for plane enthusiasts

Spent a lovely few hours here with my son, nephew and niece. Everyone really enjoyed the day. Full of all different types of planes really interesting. Brought lunch and ate outside on deck chairs. Would recommend a visit and its free all you need to do is go online on their website and book your visit.

Great aeroplane experience. Great exhibits. So many planes. Free. Exciting for children. The Red Arrows experience a must. Food hall and space to sit around. Good childrens play area. Food a bit expensive. Good day out.

A must go family day trip museum! Very well maintained site with history of the RAF. For the young ones there are little planes to play with, for the older kids games and science and for us as parents kids happy we happy. At the end little kids can play at the plane themed playground and parents having a cup of coffee next to it.

First visited in the 80’s how it’s improved is amazing and all for free. Must book however.Took my son for the first time who loves modern aircraft and we were not let down they have a euro fighter typhoon & an F-35 space lightning ⚡️ great day out !

One of the best place to visit in London! Not only among museums but all tourist attractions. Plenty to see and do, would recommend around 4-5hr for visit time.Location wise, can get there by Northern line plus 6-7min walk. And the museum is well designed with 6 hangers each with somewhat unique theme.

This place is really cool!It a FREE place to go in London that not far from colindale tube station.As a plane fan, its really cool. They have different planes from all countries based around WW2 and WW1.They have a spitfire wing, bombers, a beginning to the RAF hanger and the WW1 hanger.When we went the museum had a crazy golf themed as planes. There is a park for kids, 2 cafes, interactive games and videos to watch.

I love this Museum. Hangar 2 is my absolute favourite place...amazing World War 1 planes, including rare and wonderful examples: Caudron 3, Sopwith triplane, Sopwith Dolphin. And a wonderful Bristol F2 with lots of its woodwork and interior exposed. But there are lots more. They are the most amazing machines and weirdly beautiful. Cant recommend it enough. It goes without saying that the WW2 collection is vast and spectacular. And its all free.

The only thing that let the Museum down was the restaurant, took best part of an hour to produce 1 burger and a pitiful amount of chips felt like a child portion.The museum on the other hand was brilliant. managed to sit in the cockpit of a spitfire. although it was £25.

Astonishing place! One can easily spend a whole day in the many hangars. The cafe/restaurant is good and there is a big outdoor area to chill. Highly recommended!

Fantastic day out, thousands of exhibits in 6 hangars, from the first RFC biplane days through to modern jets. Good restaurant, shop and cafe onsite, museum site is huge, flat and very accessible for prams/wheelchairs plus has a golf cart to ferry people around.

Had a great time at the museum. If you like military airplanes and history it’s a must visit. We got a tour about the place with a gentleman called Stephen. He was very knowledgeable and passionate and we got to see a lot of things we would have missed if we went just by ourselves. There was no cues for tickets or in the guest shop and we bought our tickets at the gate. I would suggest you need the whole day to look around if your very interested in the finer details of the displays.

Came here with younger brother as a 15 year old to find it closed on Sundays. 50years later I fulfilled my dream. It was well worth the wait, spotted my name on the Names on a Plane donations wall of contributors. Aircraft from every era, very informative and well presented over multiple hangers. Nice cafe good range of items. Great gift shop.

Its great to know that there are people, like the museum staff, who take such good care of these historical pieces! We learned a lot from our visit. I recommend, mainly, taking the children to learn the importance of preservation.

Lovely museum and wonderful to see so many historical aircraft on display. Staff friendly throughout. Despite free entry, no queues to get into the various hangers etc. Great history behind each aircraft. Very educational for children as well. Plenty of car park spaces. Cafe and gift shop a little see on the expensive side.

This is a great place to visit and tells the story of the RAF and the Royal Flying Corp during two world wars and the subsequent conflicts. The exhibits are imaginatively arranged creating a dramatic effect. I took my two sons who showed a real interest. I highly recommend a visit.

There is really really big museum. You should organize all day to visit here. Absolutely family friendly and lots of options for kids. My son loved there and never bored all day. I recommend everybody to visit here. Free entrance. Big Playground for kids

Must see. Highly recommended.Great day out for the family. Huge museum. Lots to see, lots to learn. My son enjoyed 4D experience of flying with Red Arrows and the flight simulator. He could even seat in one of the aircrafts.Good range of products in the gift shop. Great playground for children.

I absolutely loved this place, I would highly recommend for young kids. There is no ticket as it runs on donations, but a pre booking is still required. With kids we spent a good 3hours there. There is also a lovely playground for the kids to keep them busy for a good amount of time. I loved the layouts the different hangers, the amount of aircrafts in each. It was a really good experience. With kids running around I could not go through all the details written beside each aircarfts. But I would love to visit soon.Thank you RAF museum, you guys are doing an amazing job in maintaining the place.

Visited here Sunday 17th April 2022 and what a place this is for all ages!.The staff are pleasant and helpful and the experience i had was excellent.Aircraft enthusiasts and children will love the many aircraft and exhibits to be viewed here.There are plenty of areas to relax outside the hangars and the grounds are clean and well kept.Young kids will love the aircraft themed playground.From a Tiger Moth to a Typhoon fighter jet there is a huge amount of aircraft and vehicles on show here.Also in Hangar 1 in particular there is plenty to interactive with.I recommend what must be one of the best free museums to visit in London.

Great day out for the family. Lots to see and do for all ages, plus great playground for children to explore. Toilet facilities were adequately maintained. Parking costs were reasonable (for Londonand the venue is outside the Ulez zone.Bad points were that several displays werent working or had no sound and that the cafe was extortionate. £6.50 for a basic cheese sandwich! The gift shop had a good range of products at a varying price range. If you bring a packed lunch then this is a great day out.

A day well spent. Took 3 hours to view in entirely. Booked a slot on their website a day before (mandatory). No charges applicable (Free!!). Went alone and had a great time! Good connectivity by bus.

First of all it is a Free and amazing venue👏, just go online book a visit and you are in. This museum/ exhibition is for all of those who like airplanes and aero development it is a must. Check all 6 hangars ranging from the Wright Brothers, WW 1 and 2, desert storm and more. The 1st hangar displays a general and well detailed description of the RAF, its beginning, achievements, tragedies and more. Some displays show collections of perfectly crafted british airplanes throughout the history. Also youll find plenty of interactive modules so you can practice and get to know different types of services you can do for the Air force, you can even design your own virtual plane for different and specific missions and then test them to see how effective they would be in real life( i built a plane for long distances and 1 for high speed). Youll have the opportunity to get inside some very famous and iconic airplanes and choppers ( ac130, Catalina, Chinook,etcAll in all the history of air warfare is here. Bet youll get inspired to follow some of the many and diverse options to be a part of RAF.

Outstanding facility with dozens of planes from all through history! A wonderful experience for my young family with loads for the kids to do and see. I would highly recommend it!

Fantastic place to visit if your into aviation. Many exhibits of full size aircraft through the ages. Very clean and well laid out with toilets and lifts. Good well stocked shop selling books, toys, flying garments, etc. Could keep you busy for a few hours. Free entry just pay for the car park. Booking essential. Would definitely return when I have more time.

Excellent museum! Need to book "slot" (free), online, before access. If theres a queue when entering check that it isnt just for the bag check. If youve no bags then you can jump straight to ticket validation. Plenty of excellent parking for a flat rate £5 which is very good value IMO (I see some people here think not). The range of exhibits is fantastic and well layed-out across three main halls. We spent almost 3 hours there when I was expecting 1, or maybe 2, at the most. Also a great place to bring children (although we didnt...only a few grown up kids 😁!!)

First time visitor. Had a great time walking round d these amazing machines. Wasnt too busy but theres lots to see so plan a couple of hours. Has a kids at area and cafe/restaurant. Very interesting.There is car parking but it costs a bit, caught a train instead so dont know the exact prices.Can be part of a Great family day out.

Excellent place, great for kids. Even the food in the cafe was quite alright. Lots and lots of gift ideas on the air force theme.We tried the 4D experience of flying with Red Arrows and the flight simulator. Both were fun, really good for kids.My only gripe would be that the displays are not set up for photography, the lighting and setup is only good viewing. You can see what I mean in my photographs. its a nice fun day out if you want to go out with family. Children will learn a lot and enjoy the place. About 4 hours is a good time for a visit, including a break in the cafeteria.They have a big parking but its paid so keep that in mind. You will need to book the parking in advance from their website. The museum itself is free to visit.

Excellent day out, free entry but you need to book a slot. I got an online purchase for parking. Lots of space. Really friendly and helpful staff. 4hrs went very quickly so obviously lots to see 😀Got to sit in a Spitfire as well for a fee. Thanks Steve for the information

Amazing place to see airplanes, all sizes and models. You can stay all day long, free of charge, just dont forget to book online in advance.The whole walk can last around 3 to 4 hours, a nice place to spend with family.

Visited mid January 2022 and the place was super quiet, more parking than you could shake a stick at. Went with a friend and 2 2 year old who loved it. Plenty for young children to see and interact with. Really enjoyed it myself too as my first visit for 30 years, and a lot has changed, grown and improved in that time. New buildings, exhibitions, contents and facilities are great. So well laid out and clean. We will be back for another visit this year for sure!

Very well set-out museum, and very spacious. A lot to see and entertainment for toddlers upwards. Wisely gets you to consider the morality of warfare.You could easily spend more than a day here, although my son and I got around it in about 4 hours, even though we went into some of the specific exhibitions.Fantastic, and free!

Wow! This is so much more than I thought I will find visiting Royal Air Force Museum. The volume of collected exhibits is simply put, impressive. Kids will find so much to see and to learn about, that one visit may not be enough! It is certainly worth considering donation to places like these, as learning about past would be so much harder without it, that I can not even imagine. Obligatory point on your itinerary map when visiting London and have some craving for learning history.

This is a firm favourite with the kids. Lots of interactive and informative displays, plenty to see across the 6 hangars and exhibitions. The aircraft are amazing and the museum has definitely got better over the years. Large on-site car park (£5 for 3 hours). Clean facilities, friendly staff, children’s outdoor play area. Free admission, but you can donate and there are lots of donation stations dotted about. Food and shop are as expensive as you would expect at a museum.

A must see museum for those who appreciate the engineering marvels of this world. Great display and set up, amazing pieces of the aviation history are being arranged in different halls and periods in history. The experience is one of a kind! Seeing these planes in their real dimensions is definitely worth it, the designs are inspiring.

My group and I had a fantastic experience here yesterday, largely due to the fact that the staff were incredible. They were friendly and accommodating, going above and beyond. Our experience felt like we were VIPs - special thanks to Russell for his hospitality.After the museum closed, our group attended the after Hours Battle of Britain Tour. Then at 7-8pm we attended the candlelight concert under the plane in hanger 1 which was a great end to the visit.Lovely venue, experience and staff