Visiting

Admission to every museum of the Museums Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network will be free of charge, to the permanent galleries, to the exhibitions and to the events of the learning programme, and will be open to all visitors whether or not they are citizens of the Velocity Interoperability Network.

Planning a visit. The steps below describe a visit to any of the museums once it has opened.

1. 1

   Step 1: Check the opening date of the museum

   No museum is yet open. The register of buildings on the Our Museums page records the opening date of each, and every change is announced in the Newsroom.

2. 2

   Step 2: Decide when to come

   The planned days and hours of each museum are set out below. The last admission is thirty minutes before closing. The quietest hours are normally the first hour after opening on weekdays.

3. 3

   Step 3: Book only if you are coming in a group

   Individual visitors and families need no ticket and no booking. Groups of ten or more people should write to the Office at least four weeks ahead, so that the museum can receive the group without crowding the galleries.

4. 4

   Step 4: Ask about anything you need

   Access arrangements, school visits and the facilities at each site are described below. Questions may be sent to the Office by email and are answered within ten working days.

Opening hours. The days and hours below are those planned for each museum at opening. They will be confirmed in the Newsroom in the month before each museum opens, and this page will be amended on the day the arrangements are announced. The National Study Centre is not a museum: it holds the reserve collections and the study rooms, and visits are made by appointment on the terms set out on the Access and Research page.

Access. The arrangements below will apply at every museum from its opening day.

Step-free access

Every museum has a step-free entrance, lifts to all floors of the galleries and accessible washrooms. Wheelchairs are available at the entrance of each museum and may be reserved when a group books.

Assistance dogs

Assistance dogs are welcome throughout the museums and the study rooms.

Labels and text

Gallery labels are printed in a large, plain typeface, and large-print lists of the objects in each gallery are available at the entrance desks.

Quiet sessions

The first hour of opening each Saturday morning is held as a quiet session: the films in the galleries are silent and the attendance of groups is not booked for that hour.

Seating and rest

Seating is provided in every gallery of every museum, and water is available at the entrance desks.

Conduct in the galleries. The collections are held in trust for the citizens of the Network, and the conduct below keeps them sound for those who come after.

Please do not touch

Objects on open display may be touched only where a label invites it. The condition of every object on display is checked weekly, and handling wears objects whether or not the wear can be seen.

Food, drink and bags

Food and drink may not be taken into the galleries. Bags larger than a small day bag are left in the lockers at each entrance.

Photography

Photography for personal use is welcome in the permanent galleries, without flash, tripod or other supports. Photography of loaned objects and of works on paper may be restricted; where it is, a notice is placed beside them.

Drawing in the galleries

Drawing with pencil is welcome. Ink, fixative and wet media may not be used in the galleries; members and groups who wish to work in other media should write to the Office in advance.

Children

Children are welcome and are admitted free with the adults who bring them. Children under the age of twelve must be accompanied throughout the visit.

Sessions for schools and families at each museum are described on the Learning Programme page. For the buildings themselves and their subjects, see Our Museums. Group bookings, access questions and all other enquiries may be sent to contact@museums.gov.vin.