London Transport Museum Launches First Family Tour of Disused Aldwych Tube Station

London Transport Museum is launching a brand-new family edition of its popular Hidden London tour of Aldwych station—the first tour in the program’s 10-year history designed specifically for families with children.

The new Aldwych: The End of the Line (Family Edition) will start on 16 July 2026, just in time for the summer holidays, and run throughout the school break.

What Is Hidden London?

Hidden London is the museum’s program of exclusive guided tours that takes visitors into closed-off parts of the Underground network, including disused stations, wartime shelters, and secret filming locations. Since launching in 2015, the tours have become hugely popular—the classic Aldwych tour alone has welcomed over 9,000 visitors in the last year.

In 2024, the museum lowered the age limit across all Hidden London station tours from 14 years to 10 years. The new family tour goes a step further, creating an experience specifically tailored for guests aged 10 to 14 (though older children are also welcome).

What to Expect

Like the classic tour, families will step behind the closed doors of Aldwych station—a former Piccadilly line terminus that closed to the public in 1994. They’ll explore the original platforms, ticket hall, wooden lifts (among the oldest on the network), and distinctive tile designs, uncovering the station’s detailed history as London progressed through the 20th century.

But the family edition adds interactive elements designed to engage younger visitors. Children and their families will work together to crack riddles, find clues, and solve problems to uncover the next chapter of Aldwych’s history. There are sensory elements including smell jars and other objects to help younger visitors understand what it would have been like to shelter at Aldwych during the Blitz.

Expert guides will reveal the many roles the station has played during its century of existence—from working Edwardian station to wartime shelter for Londoners during both world wars, through its closure in the 1990s and its current life as a filming location for Hollywood productions.

A Milestone for the Museum

“Launching our first family-dedicated tour is a big milestone for Hidden London and a reflection of how popular the programme has become with younger audiences since we opened our tours to over 10s in 2024,” said Elizabeth McKay, Director and CEO of London Transport Museum.

“It’s exciting to launch a tour that is especially written for younger guests, giving them the chance to explore London’s history right where it happened in a way that’s immersive, engaging and designed with their own curiosity in mind.”

The museum is an educational and heritage charity, and all profits from Hidden London tours fund its charitable work and help conserve and share London’s transport and design heritage.

Other Hidden London Tours

The family Aldwych tour joins a portfolio of 10 in-person Hidden London tours, including:

The closed Jubilee line concourse at Charing Cross
Secret parts of Green Park and Baker Street stations
The closed platforms at Holborn
The deep-level wartime shelter beneath Clapham South station
An above-ground walking tour around Covent Garden

Tours run year-round, Wednesday to Sunday, with locations varying week to week.

Aldwych: The End of the Line (Family Edition)

Starts: 16 July 2026

Runs: Throughout summer school holidays (16 July – 30 August), four days a week

Recommended ages: 10–14 (older children also welcome)

Prices: From £43.50 ($54) for children, £46.50 ($58) for adults

Includes: Half-price entry to London Transport Museum in Covent Garden (where under-18s go free) for up to one month after the tour, plus 10% discount at museum shops

Tickets: ltmuseum.co.uk/hidden-london