The Postal Museum: Entry Ticket

Before email, before telephones—even before postcards hurried by train—there was the hum of wheels, the rumble of sorting frames, the thrill of the unknown when a letter dropped through the slot. The Postal Museum & Mail Rail in Clerkenwell, London, revives that atmosphere: a place where communication history, quirky stories, and underground tunnels converge into an immersive adventure. Whether you're a history lover, a train fan, or simply someone who delights in marvels, this museum delivers on surprise after surprise.

What You Will Experience

• Ride the Mail Rail beneath London
  Board the restored miniature train that once carried mail through the city’s belly, travelling under Mount Pleasant in tunnels built in 1927. The subterranean ride includes stations, vintage carriages, and an audio-visual show bringing the old postal railway to life.

• See the world’s first postage stamp – the Penny Black
  Behold a sheet (or sections thereof) of the legendary Penny Black, the world’s very first adhesive postage stamp from 1840. Learn about Rowland Hill’s reforms and how a simple black stamp changed global communication.

• Uncover quirky postal history & artefacts
  From a restored mail coach, to letters salvaged from shipwrecks, to five-wheeled cycles, escaped lions, wartime valentines, to peculiar devices like pneumatic tube message systems—there are stories here that’ll stay with you long after you leave.

• Explore interactive exhibitions
  Engage with displays that let you design a stamp, handle old mail equipment, peek into facsimile letters, understand the evolution of methods, uniforms, and transport. The museum does well at making the past tactile.

• Discover the tunnels up close with Tunnel Walks (optional)
  For a deeper underground experience, select Tunnel Walks give you guided access to usually unseen platforms, tracks and routes in the Mail Rail system.

• Soak up the social history
  Beyond trains and stamps, the exhibits show how mail shaped relationships, commerce, politics—how hearts and hopes crossed seas in ink and paper long before instant messaging.