Almshouse tours

1780s almshouse room - photography Morley von Sternberg

Restored Almshouse 

Visit one of the Geffrye's 18th-century almshouses which has been fully restored to its original condition, offering a rare glimpse into the lives of London's poor and elderly in former times. Tours are led by our knowledgeable team of volunteers.

Tours are available on the following days:

• Saturdays: 4 November, 18 November**, 2 December 2017 and 13 and 27 January 2018
• Tuesdays: 24 October, 7 and 21 November, 12 December 2017 and 9 and 23 January 2018
• Wednesdays: 1 and 15 November, 6 and 20 December 2017 and 3 and 17 January 2018

Timed entries are at 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm with additional 4pm tours between April and October.

Tours are priced at £4 per person. For Friends of the Geffrye, disabled visitors (and their companion) and children under 16 tours are free. 

Places are limited and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Please note that owing to the museum's listed building status, the restored historic almshouse has no step free access, however visitors can view a virtual tour here. 

Exciting news ... We are about to embark on a transformational £18m development project - Unlocking the Geffrye - which will mean the museum will close on 7 January 2018 for almost two years. Although the main museum building and period gardens will be closed, there will still be plenty of reasons to come to the Geffrye. Throughout closure we will run a busy programme of events, activities and installations in our front gardens. The restored almshouse will also be open for tours on certain dates throughout the year.

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Group visits to the almshouse

For advance booking for groups of 8 or more contact bookings@geffrye-museum.org.uk or 020 7739 9893.

Please note that a maximum of 10 spaces per tour can be reserved for pre-booked groups; if your group is more than 10 we can split your group over 2 tours. This allows us to keep 6 spaces for other visitors that turn up on the day.

Unfortunately we are unable to take advance bookings for tours on Saturdays.

New Almshouse Tours with Interactive Object Handling

Thursday 26, Sunday 29 October, Sunday 26 and Thursday 30 November, 12pm, 1pm and 2pm

Join us for a new look at our restored almshouse and find out about the lives of our pensioners in a themed interactive object handling tour. 

October 26 - Food preparation and eating
October 29 - Keeping Home
November 26 - Lighting and Heating
November 30 - Food preparation and eating

Booking 15 minutes before the tour starts in the Chapel. First come first serve, maximum 14 people.

Tours are priced at £4 per person. For Friends of the Geffrye, disabled visitors (and their companion) and children under 16 tours are free.

Almshouse Takeover Day **

Saturday 18 November, 10.30am - 12pm and 1 - 2.30pm

Join members of our Youth Advisory Panel as they take over the restored almshouse for the day, sharing their favourite facts and handling objects associated with the buildings.