The Bayeux Tapestry — an historic 70-metre-long needlework piece depicting scenes from the Norman invasion and Battle of Hastings of 1066 — goes on display at London's British Museum in September, with tickets on sale from 1 July.
Around 400,000 people usually visit the nigh-on-1,000-year-old artwork in the French town of Bayeux, Normandy each year — and the British Museum reckons that when the lengthy embroidery project arrives in London, it'll be "one of our most popular exhibitions ever."
The Bayeux Tapestry has never left France before now (apart from when it was created, most likely in England), but when the Bayeux Museum closed in September 2025 for a two-year renovation, the scene was set to buck that trend.
Says Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum: "It's difficult to capture just how exciting and rare the opportunity to display the tapestry in the UK is.
"The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most important and unique cultural artefacts in the world, which illustrates the deep ties between Britain and France and has fascinated people across geographies and generations."
An initial batch of tickets — for entry on dates between September and December 2026 — goes on sale on 1 July. Two further ticket releases will be made in October 2026 and January 2027, for access between January-March and April-July 2027. For that first batch in particular, we're picturing a virtual clamour befitting of some of the fightier scenes in the artwork.
In exchange for the loan of the 11th century embroidery — featuring 58 scenes, 626 characters and 202 horses — from the French, treasures from the British Museum representing all four nations of the UK — including Sutton Hoo and the Lewis chess pieces — will travel to museums in Normandy.
The Bayeux Tapestry will then return to France in time for the Bayeux Museum's reopening around later 2027.
