Photo: MartynDavies, CC BY-SA 3.0Museums and history days out for kids in Surrey
17 museums and history days out in Surrey that suit families, each checked against official sources. Of these, 12 are free to enter, 17 have indoor space and 2 are marked as suiting toddlers.
Opening days and times at smaller museums change through the year, so check the listing and the venue's website before you travel.
Free to enter
Free entry. Parking, food and activities inside can cost extra, so check each listing.
Chertsey Museum
The borough museum for Runnymede, in an 1810 town house in the centre of Chertsey, open since 1965. Six display spaces cover local archaeology, Chertsey Abbey, art and social history, and the museum cares for the Olive Matthews Collection of Dress and Textiles.
Photo: Len Williams, CC BY-SA 2.0Cobham Mill
A Grade II listed early 19th-century watermill on the River Mole, restored by volunteers after decades of neglect and now the only fully working watermill in Surrey. On open days the team mills corn and shows a short film about the restoration.
Photo of Dorking: Paul Gillett, CC BY-SA 2.0Dorking Museum and Heritage Centre
A volunteer-run local history museum telling the story of Dorking from the Cretaceous period to the present. Displays include local chalk fossils with a large dinosaur tail, Wedgwood pottery from Leith Hill Place and the six Dorking people who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620.
East Surrey Museum
A small volunteer-run museum of local history, archaeology and geology in a Victorian flint building in Caterham, open since 1980. Four rooms include a Victorian room, a children's room and finds from Roman and medieval East Surrey, plus a special exhibition that changes several times a year.
Photo: Mertbiol, CC0Godalming Museum
The town museum since 1921, behind a narrow blue entrance opposite the Pepperpot on Godalming High Street. It opens out into history and art galleries, a local studies library, a garden and a coffee shop.
Photo of Farnham: Pjposullivan, CC BY-SA 3.0Museum of Farnham
Farnham's town museum on West Street in the centre of town, free for everyone and run alongside Farnham Maltings. The building is part of an ongoing restoration project.
Photo of Camberley: Steve Daniels, CC BY-SA 2.0Surrey Heath Museum
A local museum in The Square shopping centre that tells the story of Surrey Heath from the Stone Age to the present, including the area's military links. It has run since the 1930s and shares its building with the Heritage Gallery on the first floor.
Bourne Hall Museum
The free local history museum for Epsom and Ewell, in the first-floor gallery of Bourne Hall, a Grade II listed building open since 1970 above the headsprings of the Hogsmill. Displays run from prehistoric times to the present, including a permanent display on Nonsuch Palace.
Photo of Guildford: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0Guildford Museum
A free museum in a run of historic buildings beside the Castle Grounds, partly built into the walls of the castle gatehouse of 1256. It covers Guildford and the surrounding area from prehistoric times to today, with a fine textile collection and changing exhibitions.
Photo: David960, CC BY-SA 2.0Haslemere Educational Museum
An independent educational museum on Haslemere High Street, open since 1888, in a Grade II listed building with gardens. Entry is by donation, and the museum publishes a list of 100 things to do on a visit for all ages.
Photo: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0Leatherhead Museum
A small local history museum run by volunteers of the Leatherhead and District Local History Society in Hampton Cottage, a timbered 17th-century house on Church Street. It covers Leatherhead, Ashtead, the Bookhams and Fetcham.
Photo of Staines-upon-Thames: Ruth Sharville, CC BY-SA 2.0Spelthorne Museum
A volunteer-run museum of Spelthorne's archaeology and history, now in the Library Hub in the Elmsleigh Centre by Staines bus station. Finds range from a mammoth tusk and Roman pots to a replica of Neolithic Shepperton Woman.
Paid entry
Each card shows the price band; the listing has the details.
Photo: MartynDavies, CC BY-SA 3.0Brooklands Museum
A museum of motoring and aviation on the site of the world's first purpose-built race track, spread over 32 acres in Weybridge. You can look round racing cars, motorcycles and an aircraft park, go inside Concorde on a guided tour, and visit the London Bus Museum on the same ticket.
Photo of Woking: Mertbiol, CC0Lightbox Gallery and Museum
An award-winning gallery and museum in the centre of Woking, with changing art exhibitions over three floors and Woking's Story, a gallery on the town's history. Under 18s go free, which makes it an easy indoor visit with children.
Photo: Artistsvillage, CC BY-SA 4.0Watts Gallery Artists' Village
The village built around the Victorian painter G F Watts and the designer Mary Watts in Compton, with the purpose-built gallery of his work, their home and studios at Limnerslease, and Mary's extraordinary Arts and Crafts cemetery chapel. There are 18 acres of grounds, gardens and woodland to explore between them.
Gatwick Aviation Museum
A volunteer-run charity museum beside Gatwick with classic British aircraft and engines, hundreds of models and instrument panels, and 30 acres of parkland with a viewing area over the airport. Guided tours take visitors on board the Avro Shackleton and into the nose of a Canberra.
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 3.0Rural Life Living Museum
An open-air museum in the countryside near Tilford with historic rural buildings and a large collection of farm machinery, tools, cycles and fire engines from country life. It runs toddler mornings, activity days and courses through the year.
Questions people ask
Which museums and history days out in Surrey are free to enter?
Our listings show free entry at Chertsey Museum, Cobham Mill, Dorking Museum and Heritage Centre, East Surrey Museum, Godalming Museum, Museum of Farnham, Surrey Heath Museum and Bourne Hall Museum and 4 more. Check each listing for anything charged on top, such as parking, food or activities.
Which of these suit toddlers?
Our listings mark Guildford Museum and Rural Life Living Museum as suiting toddlers and young children.
Which of these have indoor space?
Our listings show indoor space at Brooklands Museum, Chertsey Museum, Cobham Mill, Dorking Museum and Heritage Centre, East Surrey Museum, Godalming Museum, Lightbox Gallery and Museum and Museum of Farnham and 9 more.