Museums in England will begin reopening their doors this weekend with new precautions in place to reduce Covid-19 risks for staff and visitors.

The first national institution to welcome visitors back will be London’s National Gallery, which will be open seven days a week from 8 July.

All visits must be booked online in advance to help the venue manage visitor numbers and reduce queueing and in-person contact. Among the other measures being taken by the gallery are shorter opening hours, a reduced maximum capacity, and an “enhanced cleaning regime”.

It has created three one-way routes through different parts of its collection and has extended its temporary exhibitions on Titian and Nicolaes Maes after these were disrupted by the coronavirus lockdown.

The gallery’s director Gabriele Finaldi says the prospect of reopening is “hugely exciting”.

“I believe there is also something symbolic in the gallery being the first major national art museum to reopen,” he adds. “We want to be a part of the nation’s recovery story and by opening the doors and letting the public back in to see our inspiring pictures, we want to make an important contribution to the process.”

The four museums in the Tate group of galleries will open on 27 July. Visitors to Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives will also have to book timed advance tickets online.

Tate’s director Maria Balshaw says: “Our number one priority remains that everyone stays safe and well, so we will continue to monitor the situation in the weeks ahead, work closely with government and colleagues, and make all the changes necessary for a safe reopening.”
Other national museums reopening this month include the National Army Museum (7 July) and the Wallace Collection (15 July). Royal Museums Greenwich will open the Cutty Sark historic ship on 20 July, and its other sites “in a phased approach over the summer”.

The Victoria and Albert Museum plans to reopen August, with further details to be announced soon.

Across England, museums that plan to reopen next week include: Scarborough Art Gallery and Woodend (4 July); the Watts Gallery and Artists’ Village in Surrey (6 July); Derby Museum and Art Gallery (7 July); and Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park (7 July).

The Royal Academy in London will open to its Friends from 9 July and the public from 16 July. The Foundling Museum will open on 8 July and the Tower of London, managed by Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), will open on 10 July. The Barbican’s Art Gallery and Conservatory will open on 13 July; Whitechapel Gallery on 14 July; and the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art on 15 July.

Among the other London venues managed by HRP, Hampton Court Palace’s interiors will reopen from 17 July and Kensington Palace will open from 30 July.

Also opening later in July will be the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft in East Sussex (16 July), Turner Contemporary in Margate and Towner Eastbourne (both 22 July).

UK nations

Museums in Northern Ireland are allowed to reopen from today (3 July). However, National Museums Northern Ireland has said it intends to open its venues later than this, with no dates yet confirmed.

Elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Titanic Belfast and SS Nomadic are welcoming visitors back from 1 August. The gardens at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens are already open, and the castle will reopen on 30 July.

Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast is opening on 3 July and the Seamus Heaney Homeplace will open from 10 July.

In Scotland, museums cannot reopen until the country moves into phase three of its route map for exiting lockdown. First minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she hopes the country can enter this stage next time the situation is reviewed on 9 July.

Wales is moving into the amber zone of its lockdown exit plan, which includes the potential opening of museums. The Welsh government has indicated that some visitor and tourist businesses should begin preparing to reopen.

National Museum Wales plans to open the outdoor grounds of St Fagans National Museum of History for a limited number of days each week from the beginning of August. Its other six sites will open at a later date that has yet to be decided.

The Isle of Man eased most of its lockdown measures and scrapped social distancing in June, meaning some museums and heritage sites on the island have already opened. Manx National Heritage reopened the Grove Museum and three other sites in June. These will be joined by four more sites, including the Manx Museum, on 4 July.

Later reopenings

English museums planning to open in August include London’s Serpentine Galleries (4 August); Nottingham Contemporary (4 August); and the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead (13 August).
Eureka, the National Children’s Museum in Halifax, plans to reopen in early August, and Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum in mid-August.
In Manchester, the Whitworth gallery is planning a September opening while Manchester Art Gallery intends to reopen at some point in the summer. The People’s History Museum will open on 1 September.

Other institutions planning a September opening include MK Gallery in Milton Keynes and Oxford University Museum of Natural History. England's Heritage Open Days festival will also return from September.

In London, the Wellcome Collection and Sir John Soane’s Museum are planning autumn reopening dates.

Following the reinstatement of lockdown measures in Leicester, no museums in the city will be permitted to open until the restrictions are lifted.

Among UK national institutions, no reopening dates have yet been announced for National Museums Liverpool, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum Group, the Royal Armouries, or Imperial War Museums.

The British Library will reopen some of its reading rooms from 22 July.