Bayeux Tapestry - advice for those with tickets

[TheCompactPussycat]

I took the family to see the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum today. It was spectacular and absolutely worth going to see.

However, be prepared for the queues! The experience is supposed to be 40 minutes but don't naively think that your timed ticket means your 40 minutes starts at that time. It took half an hour of queuing after being admitted into the exhibition to actually get to the start and a further 20 minutes before we got a glimpse of the tapestry (and only then because we pushed to the front of the queue past 40 other people - apologies if that was you!).

Hopefully just teething issues at the start of such a major exhibition but I would have preferred to enjoy the tapestry without constantly looking at my watch for fear of missing our coach home.

Allow at least 2 and a half hours inside just for the Bayeux exhibition so you're not stressing!

But it was amazing!

This work?

https://www.thetimes.com/article/59caab37-6e83-432f-b79c-0f885504b240?shareToken=e18c49208a3dba94dc883acc9f6ae741

(It's archived at archive.ph too but the interactivity doesn't seem to have been captured properly.)

We're going in a couple of months or so. Hopefully will be less of a bun fight by then! Kids are very interested in history, so ai don't think we would have been forgiven if we didn't get tickets. DP cheated and saw it in France years ago.

Hope you all enjoy it, and it’s lovely the kids are interested! Seeing the Bayeux Tapestry in Bayeux is not exactly cheating though…

Not sure why the hype. It's been on display in France since 1983 and will go back there next year.

It hasn't been hiding on the moon and then will suddenly disappear in a poof of smoke!

I think if it’s in any way possible to wait until you can see it when it’s back in Bayeux do that. I went 10 years ago with my son and we were almost the only people in there, we went round 3 times showing each other bits we’d noticed. Trust the British museum to make the whole experience a shitshow. Bayeux is a really pretty town too. If you have to go in London with someone who can’t travel to France make sure to get limited mobility tickets.

Yes, we saw it a couple of years ago in Bayeux and I was so surprised at the lack of a queue! I did think the mandatory audio guide was really good at keeping everyone moving at a reasonable pace.

I last saw it sometime in the early 90s as a child and remember it being much, much busier then and queuing for ages to get in.

I'm not sure whether I want to see it again or not! I'm getting a tiny bit of FOMO now so might try and get tickets at the next release.

There is an exact hand stitched replica of it in a museum in Reading… we’re gonna go there

I saw it on a school trip in the 90s we all
got in so much trouble rushing to see who would find the arrow in the eye part first and not listening to the audio guide ! We were just too excited about that one bit!

@youngestisapsycho It's not an exact copy as they've put pants on the naked man! There's also a border around it with the names of the embroiderers on.

I o ly saw it for the first time a few years ago. My children were ignoring the audio guide and counting willies.

@TheCompactPussycat - are you able to say please what the arrangements were for getting through Security? There are usually two queues for that - one for members and people with timed tickets to whatever special (paying) exhibitions are on, and one for everyone else. Did you notice if that was the same or different today? With so many Tapestry visitors, I wondered how it was for non Tapestry visitors/members. Thanks.

Security was really easy and simple. We went in the Montague Place entrance which might have been less busy, but we didn't have to queue there at all.

Thanks @TheCompactPussycat

Thank you for the share token @whatHappensWhenMNRunsOutOfNNs - it works.

The Times have apparently done something technical which stops archive.ph capturing their articles.

Not sure it’s their fault particularly just that so many people want to see it.

There is also a full replica in Reading museum and has been for many years - not exactly the same as seeing something actually ~950 years old but just as useful for taking a child who is studying it in history etc.

Agree with you @EasternStandard. That seems an unnecessarily harsh assessment from a PP. The British Museum regularly run big exhibitions but I can't imagine there's been this much interest in anything since the famous Tutankhamum exhibition over 50 years ago. So I think I'll cut them some slack, especially in these opening days.

And as for visiting it in Bayeux. I have. I tried to on a second occasion but couldn't get tickets. So one is not always able to see it in peace and tranquility there.

I went to the exhibition on Friday, had tickets for 3pm and turned up on the dot. Our tickets were scanned promptly. We then had an hour before we got to the tapestry which then took 45 minutes. Despite them asking everyone to keep moving, it will only keep the pace of the slowest person. We kept up with the people in front of us.

There was not much to see in the hour before we got to the tapestry. I would rather have just skipped that.

When we left. there was quite a queue for ticket scanning and I felt sorry for those people who probably had an extra 1/2 hour of queuing. If you have early tickets, I would imagine it’s less of an issue.

I understand teething problems but this has been poorly planned and it will be difficult for them to get it down to the claimed 40 minutes. No one at the museum was tracking times although they can assess from the chaos with the queues.

That said, the tapestry was AMAZING and beautifully presented.

The replica in Reading is really good. Apparently it was was stitched by Victorian ladies and they skipped some of the naughty bits!

Went today - no queue - went straight in half an hour early. Was fabulous - get a much better look at it being flat rather than on the walls as it is in Bayeux

truly amazing given its age

For those who have been: any views on how manageable it would be in a wheelchair? My 93 yr old Dad has seen it before but would love to go again. I know it is flat, but is the display at floor level, or higher?

There was a lady in a wheelchair and she was having to try to stand to see it - I’d say it’s around hip height? She was short though. The wheelchair access is good though.

Was going to say that. It’s great

I’m a wheelchair user. If it’s at table height I just wouldn’t be able to see it. No good having good wheelchair access if we can’t see the thing on display!

Very true! Hopefully someone else who has seen it can give a better answer. I don’t know if the lady was trying to stand to see it or just get a better view