The British Museum Will Extend Its Hours Amid ‘Extraordinary’ Demand for Bayeux Tapestry

Crowds of visitors have swarmed the British Museum since the Bayeux Tapestry arrived in London from its home in Normandy, France, earlier this fall. Along with unprecedented attendance figures and fervent international interest in the 230-foot-long textile have come some visitor experience snafus, including closing early due to an unrelated gala dinner and being sued by a blind man for not providing audio tours.

In response to some of these issues, which have resulted in visitors not being able to fully experience the 11th-century tapestry—or, in some cases, being turned away, despite having secured tickets to the sold-out exhibition—the British Museum has announced various changes to the overall visitor experience.

“You don’t want anyone that comes to see [the Bayeux Tapestry] to have a bad experience, so our focus is very much on getting it right and learning lessons,” Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, told the BBC. Cullinan noted that the museum has already welcomed nearly 1000,000 visitors in the three weeks since the exhibition opened.

These include extending the museum’s hours of operations, though the museum has not specified how much earlier or later than normal it might remain open for tapestry enthusiasts. (As of now, the museum is open from 10am to 6pm Sunday through Wednesday, and until 9pm Thursday through Saturday.) According to the New York Times, the British Museum “has a careful plan for light hour allocations” in order to comply with the French government’s strict guidelines.

The museum also plans to provide an audio guide as part of the exhibition’s app, something it had initially avoided in favor of self-guided tours. Now, however, audio guides will both make the exhibition accessible for blind and low-vision visitors as well as, perhaps, help all visitors move through the space more efficiently. For those waiting in long lines—some as long as two hours—additional seating and clearer signage will added.

The British Museum is rolling out these tweak just in time for the next member ticket booking window to open on October 6. Starting then, tickets will be available for the three-month block of January 1 through March 31, 2027.