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 1930s 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. Go on a weekend and the chances are that there will be some vast event taking place in front of the museum, which hosts displays of Vauxhalls, Fords, BL 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 is that as well as housing lots of fabulous old cars, many of which are historically significant racers, the venue is also 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, it’s chaotic. But unpredictable, varied and fascinating will also do quite nicely, because everywhere you look there’s something that you’ll want to analyse. As well as motorbikes, toys and caravans you’ll find an array of classic cars, while the place is also crammed with glorious automobilia.

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; as a result the museum looks closely at the city’s heritage. Housing the world’s largest publicly owned collection of British vehicles, there are 14 galleries to take in 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 in an early 19th century department store, the museum’s collections of motorbikes and cars span almost a century, but the focus is on cars from the fifties to the nineties, with a particularly British flavour. There are loads of rare models to gawp at too.

Dover Transport Museum

• Adult entry cost: £12
• Website: dovertransportmuseum.org.uk

Run by volunteers, this museum has motorbikes, cars, model railways, plus ferry and Channel Tunnel memorabilia; if you’re into train and car ferries, you’ll get lost here for hours. The museum also focuses quite heavily on social history with an array of old shop fronts. Star exhibits include a 1949 Land Rover Series I, a Morris Minor panda car plus a Rover 75 Mayoral car.

Dundee Museum of Transport

• Adult entry cost: £8.50
• Website: dmoft.co.uk

As the name suggests, this is a museum dedicated to transport as a whole, so you can immerse yourself in the history of trams, railways and ships, plus there are ever-changing exhibitions such as one on transport photography that runs throughout 2025. There are plenty of car events at the weekends and lots of exhibits, our favourite of which is the future of the car, which focuses on electric cars – as seen in the sixties, seventies and eighties…

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, from an Austin A30 to a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit.  

Grampian Transport Museum

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

Based in the village of Alford in Aberdeenshire, this venue has a packed season every year, with lots of events taking place at the weekends. There are also some superb displays that chart Scotland’s automotive engineering and manufacturing history. You can also learn about the horse-drawn era, and this year there are displays dedicated to the cars of Top Gear plus the vehicles of Guy Martin.

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 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. At any one time there are multiple exhibitions; currently they include displays that focus on Ferrari, Williams, Morris, microcars, Americana and motorsport.

Isle of Man Motor Museum

• Adult entry cost: £21.50
• Website: isleofmanmotormuseum.com

Yes we know that the Isle of Man is separate from the rest of the UK, but having spent lots of time here on several occasions we just had to include it, because with more than 500 exhibits from mopeds to a space capsule(!), the variety is astonishing. Based right at the top of the island there are cars and motorbikes here that you won’t see anywhere else, including Peels galore.

Jim Clark Motorsport Museum

• Adult entry cost: £8.50
• Website: jimclarktrust.com

Opened in 2019, this museum in Duns in the Scottish Borders, is dedicated to preserving the memory of one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. Everything you could ever want to know about Clark’s life and career are told here, there’s lots of memorabilia including trophies galore, plus three of Clark’s most famous race cars: Lotus 38, Lotus Cortina and Jaguar D-Type. 

Lakeland Motor Museum

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

The Lake District is a fabulous place to visit, and if you’re there you need to call in at the Lakeland Motor Museum, which is to the south of the lakes. The museum is crammed with more than 30,000 exhibits that trace the development of road transport throughout the 20th century. In there is the world’s oldest TVR (the second car made, from 1952), lots of militaria and a 1920s 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

Opened 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 including numerous record breakers, film and TV cars and much more. The entry cost includes admission to Beaulieu Palace House and gardens, Beaulieu Abbey and the Secret Army exhibition, so it’s a very full day…

Shuttleworth Collection

• Adult entry cost: £17.50
• Website: shuttleworth.org

Although it’s best known for its aircraft, this museum in Bedfordshire also has an array of early road transport on display. Most of the six hangars are filled with priceless early aircraft (including the world’s oldest flying aeroplane, from 1909), but there are also lots of cars, motorbikes, buses and farm machinery, most of it dating back to the early part of the last century. It’s utterly absorbing.

Silverstone Museum

• Adult entry cost: £28.50 (£23.50 in advance)
• Website: silverstonemuseum.co.uk

Britain has been at the forefront of motorsport since the first races took place, and that is reflected in this homage to racing. Based at Silverstone in Northamptonshire, this is an interactive museum with a driving simulator, Scalextric layout and lots of exhibits that guide you through the most advanced racers ever made. The history of the circuit is told and there’s memorabilia plus historic cars at every turn.

Whitewebbs Museum of Transport

• Adult entry cost: £11.50
• Website: whitewebbsmuseum.co.uk

Based in Enfield, Middlesex, the Whitewebbs Museum isn’t just about cars, because there’s also masses of memorabilia, two-wheelers, plus fire engines and buses. Lagonda built just 55 Rapides and they’re now seriously rare, but there’s one on show here, along with Ronnie Peterson’s Lotus Esprit, a Ford Capri Mk1 and a Jaguar E-Type V12, plus masses of pre-war machinery too.

Now read our list of the best classic and performance car shows taking place in 2025...