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South Kensington in a lunchtime

If you want to spend your lunchtime learning new things, waking up your mind or getting inspired, there's plenty to do in South Kensington. Take a walk through Hyde Park, learn from exhibitions at the Natural History Museum or Science Museum, or wander through galleries at the V&A, Design Museum or Serpentine Galleries.

Young V&A

Opens 1st July
10am-5:30pm
V&A South Kensington
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Get ready to spark your creativity at Young V&A – the museum where children, young people and families can imagine, play and design. From 1 July 2023, be inspired by spaces, explore our collection and get creative. Right now, keep in touch on social.

Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery

Daily
10am - 6pm
Science Museum
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Discover how the world can generate and use energy more sustainably to limit climate change in the Science Museum’s new, free gallery. Energy Revolution looks at the past, present and future of sustainable energy and how we can achieve a low carbon world.

Image credit: Historic Royal Palaces / Alex Rory Jacobs

The Orangery Restaurant

Daily
10am - 6pm
Kensington Palace
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After major conservation work, the 18th-century Orangery at Kensington Palace has reopened its doors. Visit the iconic restaurant in a stunning setting for an elegant lunch or an indulgent afternoon tea.

The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence

on til 4 May 2025
10am - 5.45pm
V&A South Kensington
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This major exhibition celebrates the extraordinary creative output and internationalist culture of the Golden Age of the Mughal Court (about 1560 – 1660) during the reigns of its most famous emperors: Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

The Natural History Museum Gardens

Daily
10am - 5.50pm
Natural History Museum
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Say hello to a full-size Diplodocus grazing in a Jurassic garden, come face-to-face with the earliest mammals and walk in the footsteps of our earliest ancestors. As you explore the grassland, wetland and woodland habitats, experience how nature can thrive in urban spaces. Booking not necessary.

Cromwell Place Café

The Café serves breakfast, lunch, and aperitivo, alongside tea, coffee, and drinks. Open to all visitors it provides a space to meet, relax and eat.

Image credit: My English Heart, Vicky Lindo, 2019

British Studio Pottery and the V&A

Until 28 September 2025
10am-6pm
V&A South Kensington
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This display explores the V&A's collecting and exhibiting of studio pottery from the movement's beginnings to the present day.

Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum

6th June - 26th Oct
Serpentine
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The Serpentine Pavilion 2025, A Capsule in Time, designed by Bangladeshi architect and educator Marina Tabassum and her firm, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA), is now open with Goldman Sachs supporting the annual project for the 11th consecutive year.

Lunchtime Lectures: Rapid Response at 10, what we've learnt

10th July
1pm-1:55pm
V&A South Kensington
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Join Senior Curator Corinna Gardner in this Rapid Response Collecting session to explore the interplay between design and society and collecting in the here and now. This event is free!

American Photographs

Until 16th May 2027
10am-6pm
V&A South Kensington
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The V&A's collection of photography from the United States – one of the largest outside North America – reveals the breadth of the country's photographic traditions and the central role of image-making in American life. This event is free.

Pictograms: Iconic Japanese Designs

30th July-9th Nov
10am-8pm
Japan House London
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This brand new exhibition celebrates the beauty and precision inherent in Japanese design through the exploration of pictograms – both past and present – and their future potential for international communication.