Apsley House Tickets

Apsley House is the London residence of the first Duke of Wellington, standing at Hyde Park Corner and nicknamed Number 1 London. It suits anyone interested in the Duke, the Battle of Waterloo, or a compact art collection that includes Velázquez and Goya.

What Is Apsley House?

Apsley House is the historic London home of the first Duke of Wellington, located at Hyde Park Corner and popularly known as Number 1 London. It is run as a museum, displaying the Duke's art collection with works by Velázquez and Goya, alongside the celebrated Waterloo Gallery.

The house takes its nickname from its position at the tollgate that once marked the western entrance to central London, so it was literally the first house you reached coming into London from the west. The plaque on the facade still carries the address, and it remains one of the few great aristocratic town houses in the capital still open to the public. The building belonged to the Wellington family for generations, and much of the interior survives as it was arranged in the Duke's day, which gives the place an unusually complete feel.

English Heritage operates the visitor operation here, and the family connection continues: the current Duke retains private rooms in the house. That arrangement is part of why the interiors feel lived in rather than staged. You are not walking through a reconstruction, you are walking through rooms furnished and decorated for a family that still counts this as home.

The Duke in question is Arthur Wellesley, the soldier who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. The house is, in effect, a monument to one man's life and reputation, filled with gifts, trophies and purchases made across a career that took him from India to the Spanish Peninsula to Belgium. For visitors who want a single site that connects Regency London with European history, this is one of the best options in the city, and unlike the vast British Museum, it can be taken in comfortably in a single visit without a plan of campaign.

What You Actually See Inside

Inside Apsley House you see the Waterloo Gallery, a long picture gallery hung with Old Master paintings including Velázquez and Goya, plus the State Rooms, the dining rooms set for a banquet, and a basement gallery devoted to the Duke's medals, weapons and personal memorabilia.

The Waterloo Gallery is the hall mark of the house and the reason many visitors come. It was built specifically to display the paintings the Duke assembled, and it was the setting for the annual Waterloo banquet, held each June to commemorate the battle. The room itself is a statement: crimson silk on the walls, a coffered ceiling, and paintings hung in the dense, gallery-wide manner of the period rather than the sparse modern style. The star work is Velázquez's portrait, known as the Waterseller of Seville, one of the artist's most admired early paintings. Goya is represented too, with a striking portrait of the Duke painted after the war, showing Wellington in black with a fateful, weathered expression.

Beyond the gallery, the State Rooms on the first floor carry the rest of the collection. There are silver and porcelain services given by European monarchs after Waterloo, sculpture, and furniture on the grand scale you would expect from a house that hosted heads of state. The plate and centrepieces in the dining room are laid out as if for a banquet, which gives a vivid sense of the entertainment the Duke staged here.

The basement holds the interpretive side of the visit. Displays cover the Duke's military career, the Waterloo campaign itself, and his later political life. For anyone wanting the story rather than just the objects, this is where to spend time, and it provides the context that makes the rooms upstairs make sense. Visitors who enjoy naval and imperial history might also enjoy the Painted Hall across the river at Greenwich, another interior where British history is painted directly onto the walls and ceilings.

Tickets And Prices

Standard adult admission to Apsley House is £11.90, which is the museum's own standard price, not a Gift Aid figure. Children and under-18s enter free or at a reduced rate, timed entry is required, and advance booking is recommended. For any other category, check the current price on the museum's own site.

Timed entry is the system here: you choose, or are assigned, a slot, and you arrive for that window rather than at any hour of the day. This matters for planning because it discourages casual drop-ins at peak times. The practical answer for most visitors is to book ahead rather than hope for a slot on the day, particularly on weekends and around public holidays, when the small rooms fill quickly.

English Heritage members should note that membership may cover entry here, since Apsley House is an English Heritage property, but confirm the current terms on the official English Heritage page before relying on it. Concessions, family tickets and group rates are likewise listed there, and the museum's own site is the authoritative source for anything not printed in the table below.

If you are comparing this against other London attractions, £11.90 for an adult ticket is on the moderate side for a house museum with a collection of this quality. The visit is concentrated, which means you get the full experience without the multi-hour commitment that larger institutions demand.

One practical note in your favour: booking your timed slot before you travel, using the booking panel on this page, saves the risk of arriving at Hyde Park Corner only to find the next available entry window is hours away.

How Long To Allow And When To Go

Allow roughly ninety minutes to two hours for Apsley House, longer if you want to read the basement displays in detail. Timed entry spreads visitors through the day, so early slots tend to feel quieter. For current opening hours and closed days, see the museum's own site, as these change seasonally.

The house is compact by palace standards. A brisk walk-through of the State Rooms and the Waterloo Gallery takes under an hour, but most visitors slow down once they reach the paintings, and the Waterloo Gallery rewards lingering. The basement exhibition is text-heavy, so if you want the full Waterloo story, budget an extra thirty to forty minutes there.

As for timing, weekdays outside school holidays are the calmest. The house sits directly opposite Hyde Park, so summer visits pair naturally with a walk through the park afterwards, and winter visits have their own appeal, since the interiors are at their most atmospheric on a grey afternoon. Because the house is small, even a busy day rarely feels crushed in the way the major free museums do on a Saturday.

Keep an eye on the English Heritage opening times page before you set out. Opening hours and any closure days are published there, and house museums of this type do occasionally close for conservation work or private family events, given that the Wellingtons still use part of the building.

Know Before You Go

Apsley House stands at Hyde Park Corner, a few minutes on foot from Hyde Park Corner Underground station on the Piccadilly line. Timed entry is required, so arrive for your slot. For step-free access details, bag rules and any current restrictions, check the museum's own site before travelling.

Getting there is straightforward. Hyde Park Corner station opens directly into the park and the surrounding roundabout, and the house sits on the western edge of the junction at the head of Piccadilly, coordinates 51.50347, -0.15171. From the station exit, the walk is two or three minutes. Several bus routes serve Hyde Park Corner, and Victoria station, with its rail services, is about fifteen minutes away on foot across the park's southern edge.

Accessibility is a genuine consideration in a Grade I listed house of this age. Historic buildings with grand staircases are not always fully step-free, so if you or someone in your party needs level access, read the access information on the English Heritage page for Apsley House before booking. That page details what is and is not accessible, and staff can advise on specific needs.

On bags and practicalities: house museums of this type generally ask visitors to keep large bags with them or store them where directed, and photography rules are usually posted at entry. Rather than guess at policies that can change, treat the museum's own site as the source of truth on the day of your visit. Wearing comfortable shoes is wise, since the tour route covers several rooms and levels. Note that this part of town is well served for food and drink, with plenty of options along Piccadilly, though the immediate vicinity around the house is more about parkland and monuments than cafes.

What Is Nearby Worth Pairing It With

Apsley House sits at the south-east corner of Hyde Park, within a short walk of the Wellington Arch, the Green Park and Buckingham Palace end of the Royal Parks, and the museums and shops of Piccadilly and Mayfair. It pairs easily with a park walk or a second small museum in one day.

Wellington Arch stands directly across the junction from the house. It was built as a gateway to Buckingham Palace and carries a sculpture of the Angel of Peace descending on the Quadriga of war, and it can be climbed for views over the park. The arch and the house make a natural pair, telling two halves of the Wellington story within a hundred metres of each other.

Hyde Park itself is the obvious companion. From the door of Apsley House you can walk into the park and reach the Serpentine in about fifteen minutes, or head west toward the Albert Memorial and Kensington Gardens. If your tastes run to grand interiors, the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich makes a superb half-day pairing on another occasion, a painted interior often described as the finest in the country.

For a different register, the Postal Museum in Clerkenwell offers a playful contrast, with its underground Mail Rail ride and interactive galleries, a good option if you are travelling with children and want to balance the formality of a stately home. Closer to hand, Piccadilly leads east toward St James's, Green Park and the palace, so a morning at Apsley House followed by an afternoon walk through the royal parks and St James's is a classic west-end day out that costs nothing beyond your timed slot at the house.

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