Car museums: the best UK summer attractions for car fans in 2025

UK car fans are spoilt for choice over the summer as Britain has some of the best museums in the world. There is a wonderful variety of things to see and activities to take part in, covering the full spectrum of cars and motoring.

We’ve put together a list of the best museums around the country to visit should you have a passion for all things four-wheeled. There's everything from attractions for the more mature car fan to cheap, fun days out for car-loving kids.

Below you’ll find our run-down of the highlights complete with prices, locations, contact details and links to the websites where you’ll be able to book your visit...

Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum

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• Adult entry cost: £12
• Contact: atwellwilson.org.uk

Based in Wiltshire, Atwell-Wilson has around 100 exhibits, including some motorsport greats such as a couple of Williams Formula One cars and a superb Austin Seven special with an amazing story. Chuck in a thirties garage plus lots of automobilia, and there’s plenty to keep you amused. There’s even a video on the museum’s website that gives an online tour, so you know what to expect. 

British Motor Museum

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• Adult entry cost: £20 (£17 in advance)
• Contact: britishmotormuseum.co.uk

Opened in 1993 and now home to the world’s largest collection of historic British cars, the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire features more than 400 vehicles, many of which are unique prototypes or concepts. Visit at a weekend and chances are there will be some vast event taking place in front of the museum, which hosts displays of Vauxhalls, Fords, British Leyland models and much more. 

Brooklands Museum

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• Adult entry cost: £25.30 (£24 in advance)
• Contact: brooklandsmuseum.com

The great thing about Brooklands, in Surrey, is that as well as housing lots of fabulous old cars, many of which are historically significant racers, the venue is crammed with old aircraft, including a Concorde. The astonishing 24-litre Napier-Railton from 1933 is a major highlight, but if you prefer something more recent, you’ll love the exhibition on the development of the McLaren Senna GTR. 

Cotswold Motoring Museum

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• Adult entry cost: £9.50
• Contact: cotswoldmotoringmuseum.co.uk

If there’s one word that best describes the Cotswold Motor Museum in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, it’s ‘chaotic’. But ‘fascinating’ will also do quite nicely, because everywhere you look there’s something you’ll
want to analyse. As well as motorbikes, toys and caravans, you’ll find an array of classic cars.

Coventry Transport Museum

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• Adult entry cost: £16.50 (£15 in advance)
• Contact: transport-museum.com

The Midlands used to be the beating heart of Britain’s car industry, with Coventry a major hub for automotive production. Housing the world’s largest publicly owned collection of British vehicles, this museum has 14 galleries with such gems as Thrust 2 and Thrust SSC, plus masses of cars, commercial vehicles and motorcycles.

County Classics Motor Museum

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• Adult entry cost: £13.95
• Contact: countyclassicsmotormuseum.co.uk

Britain’s newest motoring museum, County Classics, is unusual in that it’s an urban creation. Based in the centre of Taunton, Somerset, in an early 19th-century department store, the museum’s collections of motorbikes and cars spans almost a century, but the focus is on cars from the fifties to the nineties, with a particularly British flavour. 

Great British Car Journey

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• Adult entry cost: £19.50
• Contact: greatbritishcarjourney.com

Housed in a Victorian factory unit in Derbyshire, the Great British Car Journey is home to more than 130 cars, with a focus on what was once everyday, but which has now largely disappeared. Unusually, you don’t have to just gawp at the cars on display; for a fee, there are also more than 50 that you can drive around the museum site.

Grampian Transport Museum

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• Adult entry cost: £13
• Contact: gtm.org.uk

Aside from being the unlikely home of Brit-winning pop star Emeli Sandé, the pretty village of Alford in Aberdeenshire – population 2,600 – has few claims to fame, but it’s a worthwhile visit for petrolheads on account of the Grampian Transport Museum. The award-winning GTM has an interesting permanent collection of some true motoring curios, and in 2025, TV’s Guy Martin will lend it some of his prized possessions. Even better, the museum is only a short diversion from the North East 250 (northeast250.com).

Haynes Motor Museum

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• Adult entry cost: £23.75 (£21.38 in advance)
• Contact: www.haynesmuseum.org

Founded in 1984 by DIY manual supremo John Haynes, the Haynes Museum, in Yeovil, Somerset, originally featured just 35 cars. Since then it has expanded beyond all recognition and there are now more than 300 cars and motorcycles to pore over. Current exhibitions focus on Ferrari, Williams, Morris, microcars, Americana and motorsport.

Lakeland Motor Museum

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• Adult entry cost: £12.50
• Contact: lakelandmotormuseum.co.uk

The Lake District is a fabulous place, and if you’re there, you need to call in at the Lakeland Motor Museum in Ulverston. The museum is crammed with more than 30,000 exhibits that trace the development of road transport throughout the 20th century. Highlights include the world’s oldest TVR, militaria and a twenties garage.

Museum of Land Speed

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• Adult entry cost: £7
• Contact: cofgar.wales

Pendine Sands, on the shore of Carmarthen Bay in south Wales, became synonymous with land speed record attempts after Sir Malcolm Campbell drove the iconic Sunbeam Bluebird into history there in 1924, by reaching a then unheard-of 146.16mph. Now visitors can relive the drama of Campbell’s record-breaking exploits courtesy of the Museum of Land Speed, which opened in May 2023. A permanent interactive exhibition details the beach’s rich history of speed attempts, and occasionally plays host to legendary vehicles such as the V12-engined Babs.

National Motor Museum (Beaulieu)

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• Adult entry cost: £30 (£27 in advance)
• Contact: nationalmotormuseum.org.uk

Launched in 1952 by Lord Montagu as a collection of five cars in his home’s entrance hall, Beaulieu as we know it opened in 1972. Now there are 280 vehicles on display at the ever-popular Hampshire attraction, including numerous record breakers, film and TV cars, and much more. You also get admission to Beaulieu Palace House, Beaulieu Abbey and the Secret Army exhibition.

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