Welcome to the Royal Armouries Museum.
This sensory map is designed to help you plan and enjoy your visit by providing clear information about the museum environment. It highlights different sensory experiences you may encounter, as well as the interactive activities available throughout the galleries.
At times, the museum can feel busy and noisy, particularly during weekends, school holidays, and when school groups are visiting. Some areas may also become crowded when live shows or demonstrations are taking place.
We hope this guide helps you feel more prepared, comfortable, and confident as you explore at your own pace.
This is the main entrance to the Royal Armouries Museum. Go through the automatic doors, which will open when you approach.
When you enter the museum, you will see the café on the left. The café offers food and drink, free drinking water, male and female toilets, and an accessible toilet.
The café can be busy, loud and have strong smells of food.
Next to café, you will find the museum gift shop.
The shop can become busy and loud.
The ground and first floors contain conference rooms, which can become busy and noisy when in use.
Entrance, Café, shop and conference room
Conference rooms
The War and Tournament galleries both span the 2nd and 3rd floors. The entrances to these galleries can be accessed from the lift areas on floors 2 and 3. Food and drink should not be taken into the galleries. This is to protect the collection from damage.
The War Gallery will take you through the development of arms and armour used in warfare from as early as the Ancient Greeks until the Second World War. It is on the left of the lift area and is the largest gallery.
There are two areas where live shows happen in the War Gallery, and the gallery can become busy and noisy when these are scheduled.
The Tournament Gallery displays our collection of arms and armour used for competitions and tournaments such as jousting. It is on the right of the lift area. In the middle of the gallery is the Tournament Ring where live demonstrations take place. When shows are scheduled here the gallery can become much busier.
This is a smaller and quieter gallery.
War Gallery and Tournament Gallery
War Gallery and Tournament Gallery
The Asian and African, Self-Defence and Special Exhibitions galleries are on floors 4 and 5.
These galleries are on either side of the lift area. Food and drink should not be taken into these galleries to protect the collection from damage.
The Asian & African gallery houses an array of arms and armour from across the globe. It spans the 4th and 5th floors and is on the left of the lift area.
The lighting in this gallery is dim. This is to protect the textiles on display.
In this gallery is the Dojo which is a space used for live shows. When shows are scheduled, this area can become busy. The 5th floor of this gallery is the quietest gallery space in the museum.
The Self-Defence gallery explores the use of arms and armour for personal protection with items from the medieval period to the modern day. It is on the 4th floor and is located beyond the Asian and African gallery
This is the smallest and dimmest gallery in the museum.
This gallery is generally a quiet area on non-busy days. There are no live demonstrations in this gallery.
The Special Exhibitions gallery is on floor 4 to the right of the lift area. This gallery houses temporary exhibitions. The current exhibition is: Genghis Khan, How the Mongols Changed The World. The exhibition is a paid experience. In between exhibitions this gallery will be closed.
The lighting in this gallery is dim and contains lots of noises
Asian and African Gallery, Self Defence Gallery and Special Exhibition Gallery
Asian and African Gallery
