The Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM): Free, Family-Friendly, World-Class
If you only have one wet afternoon in Exeter, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (everyone calls it RAMM) is the right call. It sits on Queen Street, opposite the old Higher Market, in a confident red-brick Gothic building that has been turning out free family days since 1868. Sixteen galleries, a giraffe in the entrance hall, mummies, Polynesian carvings, Devon birds, contemporary art and a cafe with proper coffee. None of it costs anything.
This is a guide to what is in there, how long to allow and how to do it with children of different ages.
The basics: free entry, when it opens, where it is
RAMM is on Queen Street in central Exeter, a five minute walk from both Princesshay and Exeter Central station. Entry is free, including the permanent collections. Some special exhibitions carry a small charge, but they are clearly signposted at the front desk.
Opening hours in 2026 are Tuesday 10.30am to 5pm, then Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm. The museum is closed on Mondays and bank holidays, which catches people out, so plan around that. Last entry is 30 minutes before close. The cafe usually winds down a little earlier than the galleries, so if you are coming for cake go before 4pm.
The galleries worth heading to first
RAMM is not enormous, but it is dense. With a half day you can see all 16 galleries comfortably. With younger children you will probably want to pick four or five and treat the rest as bonus. The headliners:
Sealed by Time: The Lost Tombs of Egypt
The ancient Egyptian display is the one most children make a beeline for. There is real mummified material, painted coffins and the kind of context boards that explain mummification at a level that is honest without being grim. RAMM’s antiquities collection also includes Roman mosaics and Greek pottery, so there is a coherent classical-world thread running through this part of the building.
World Cultures Gallery
RAMM holds around 12,000 ethnographic objects, with roughly seven percent on display at any time. The gallery has been rehung in recent years with strong attention to where the objects came from, who made them and how they came to be in Exeter. Look for the carved Maori pou, the bark cloth from Polynesia and the large tapestry from the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre near Cairo, acquired in 2009.
Devon Wildlife and the giraffe
Gerald the giraffe stands sentinel in one of the central galleries and is the unofficial mascot of RAMM. He is paired with British and Devon wildlife displays, plus the museum’s natural history collection. Smaller children tend to spend a surprising amount of time here, partly because everything is at eye level.
Finders Keepers and the local archaeology
The Roman Exeter material is excellent. The city sits on the Roman fortress of Isca Dumnoniorum, and finds from local digs are presented in a way that genuinely connects what is under your feet today with what was there 1800 years ago.
Family-friendly extras: trails, sketching kits, baby change
RAMM does the small things well. At the front desk you can pick up a free explorer trail aimed at primary-age children, which sends them gallery to gallery looking for specific objects. There are sketching trolleys with pencils and paper in several galleries. Family backpacks are available to borrow, themed around topics like Ancient Egypt or natural history. Buggies are welcome, lifts reach every floor and there is a baby change room near the front entrance.
Wheelchair access is good throughout. The building was overhauled in a major refurbishment in 2011 and the design has stood up well.
The cafe, the shop and how to time it
The cafe is on the ground floor near the entrance hall, light and reasonably priced. Kids’ lunchboxes are usually around six pounds, adult lunches sit around the eight to ten pound mark. Cake is excellent. You can come in just for coffee without paying for anything else, which makes RAMM a useful drop-in if you are between meetings or waiting for the rain to ease.
The shop has a strong local-makers section: ceramics, prints, jewellery and a children’s table that is better stocked than most museum shops you have been in. The book section is good for natural history and Devon-specific titles.
How long should you allow?
For a focused visit with primary-school children, allow two hours plus a half hour in the cafe. For adult visitors who want to look properly at the art galleries upstairs and the antiquities, allow three. Annual passholders treat RAMM almost as a coffee shop with extras, which is what free national-scale museums in regional cities ought to be.
If you are planning a wider central Exeter day, pair RAMM with our Exeter Cathedral visitor guide for a morning of indoor culture, or with Princesshay and Exeter’s Shopping Scene for a shop, eat and look afternoon.