Tickets and Times

From Ancient Egypt to modern China, the Oriental Museum is devoted to the art and archaeology of the great cultures of Northern Africa and Asia. 

The museum galleries are laid out over four floors. There is plenty of seating and lots of activities for all the family. To allow time to see all our internationally important collections, you may wish to plan for a visit of at least two hours. We hope you enjoy your visit.

Opening times

The Oriental Museum is free entry: 

Note:

Saturday 5th April: The Eid al-Fitr celebration event will run from 12noon until 3pm, tickets required: https://www.dur.ac.uk/things-to-do/whats-on/events-calendar/2025/04/celebrating-eid-al-fitr/. Normal opening resumes after 3pm. 

We are open until 7pm on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month April to October and the 1st Thursday of the month November to March. 

Over the Christmas period 23rd December – 2nd January we are closed.

Group visits

We are very happy to welcome group visits to the Oriental Museum. 

Museum staff can offer a range of gallery talks and tours for pre-booked groups, subject to staff availability. These can be presented by curators or members of the Learning Team, depending on the age and interest of the group. In order to ensure that everyone in the group can hear and see, we recommend a maximum group size of 20-30 for a single tour. For larger groups, please contact us to discuss your booking. 

For specialist interest groups, it may also be possible to arrange handling sessions if enough notice is given. Please contact us as far in advance as possible if you are interested in seeing material that is not on display. 

Please note, we only have a small café area that seats a maximum of 16 people on a variety of seating. If you are coming with a larger group, we can arrange additional space for tea and coffee or lunch at an additional charge – please advise if this is required when you book. 

To make an enquiry please email oriental.museum@durham.ac.uk.