The Postal Museum, London: A Sensory-Friendly Haven for Autistic Families
- May 11
- 4 min read
Updated: May 14
The Postal Museum in London offers an interactive, tactile experience ideal for autistic and ADHD children.
Discover our sensory friendly guide and pro tips for autistic families thinking of visiting this great London Museum.
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The Postal Museum, London
The Postal Museum is a vibrant museum which often flies under the tourist radar. Only a short walk from Russell Square Tube Station, the museum is split across two sites and has a range of fascinating and interactive exhibits on the history of London's incredible postal service/ Their interactive game challenging visitors to sort letters into the right postcode boxes before the timer runs out and they fall to the bottom was a hit with us. The kids loved it, and the optional costumes were great fun as well.
The staff were friendly and helpful too. Read on to discover what we loved most about our visit!
Don't miss the Mail Rail Ride!
The highlight for all of us was the fantastic Mail Rail ride. Making clever use of the original network track that transported mail across London, the Mail Rail experience reveals the secret story of the postal service's subterranean world. The ride uses specially adapted carriages to speed you around the tunnels, stopping at various points so passengers can watch fun and informative films and see scenes from the past come to life.
Pro Tip: Weekends and holidays are very popular, prebook your tickets in advance and avoid queuing on the day.*
Sensory Triggers:
The mail rail tunnels are small, and the carriages are very cramped with limited head and leg room. We found it a tight squeeze for two adults and two kids. If your child has claustrophobia or struggles with confined spaces, this may be a challenge.
The ride includes pitch darkness, loud screeching noises from the tracks, and a simulated power cut that lasts about 30 seconds.
In addition to the main Postal Museum exhibits and Mail Rail ride you can also take your younger kids to SORTED! - see below.
SORTED! Play Space (Ages 8 & Under)
SORTED! is an autism-friendly haven where children "self-organise" into play based activities of their own choosing. I cannot tell you how much our autistic boys loved this immersive space!
How it works: SORTED! is a miniature town that recreates a postal ecosystem; with streets, trolleys, pulleys, and chutes for sorting and transporting thousands of parcels. Our boys spent ages at the sorting booths, throwing parcels down the chutes, pulling up buckets of parcels using pulleys and whizzing down the slides. It’s the perfect environment for kids with a strong need to organise, sort and move.
It was amazing to watch all these little people take on different roles in this imaginary postal army, variously posting, collecting, sorting, receiving, selling and transporting these parcels and letters all around the room. Whoever designed this space absolutely gets children, and has created an sensory friendly world for autistic kids - as long as they can cope with other children around them also sorting, moving and touching the parcels they have handled.
Capacity: Sessions are 45 minutes and numbers are strictly limited, which helps keep the space calm.
How to Book Tickets for the Postal Museum
General entry and Mail Rail Ride
I would strongly advise booking a timed ticket in advance*. At the same time make sure to book your time slot for the Mail Rail Ride. If pre-booked alongside a general museum ticket their website states the average queue time for the Mail Ride is 20 minutes. However we visited in November, got there half an hour after it opened and only waited 5 minutes.
Dont fancy the Mail Rail Ride?
The museum recognises that the Mail Rail ride may not be accessible for everyone, and offers a discounted ticket which excludes this - it is available to purchase from their own website.
SORTED!
Tickets for the SORTED! play space need to be booked separately from your main entrance ticket. Make sure you check slots are available for your date / time before booking the main tickets. You can book SORTED! places in advance directly on the museum's website.
Accessibility & Relaxed Events
Postal Museum Quiet Session - Early Birds:
The museum runs fantastic "Autism Friendly" relaxed events throughout the year. At these events they close the museum to the general public, turn down the sensory triggers, and create a calm, inclusive atmosphere. Tickets are very reasonably priced and include the option of taking Mail Rail train ride too, they need to be booked directly from their own website.
The museum also offers the following to autistic families:
Free Carer Entry: You are eligible for one free carer ticket per disabled visitor (bring your DLA/PIP letter as proof).
Sensory Maps: Download the Postal Museum Sensory Map before you go to identify loud areas (like hand dryers) and quiet breakout zones.
Sensory Objects: You can borrow ear defenders and sensory bags from the welcome desk to help reduce the sensory aspects of the exhibits.
Non-Ride Tickets: If the Mail Rail isn't suitable, you can purchase a discounted ticket that excludes the ride.
Getting to the Museum
The Postal Museum is a manageable walk or short bus ride to the museum from Russell Square and Farringdon.
There is very limited on-street parking by the venue, so if you can use public transport that is probably best.
Travel Tip: For the easiest journey, use Trainline to book travel into King's Cross or Farringdon*.
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