London is alive with art, culture, and a little bit of stardust this season. From the vibrant gumballs of Wayne Thiebaud to the intimate power of contemporary portraits, and even an immersive lunar journey with Tom Hanks, there’s an exhibition to spark everyone’s curiosity. Thameslink makes it simple to explore the city’s cultural highlights, with exclusive ticket offers and easy train access from across the South East.
This is our pick of the most unmissable new exhibitions this season, all with special discounts when you travel by train.
Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025 at the National Portrait Gallery
Image credit: Elena Bianca Zagari
See the faces shaping modern photography at the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025, back for its 18th year at the National Portrait Gallery.
This celebrated exhibition brings together the best in contemporary portrait photography, featuring powerful images by emerging talents, passionate amateurs, and world-renowned professionals. Each portrait tells its own story, from striking commissioned works to raw, intimate moments between friends and family.
When you travel by train between 1 - 31 December 2025, you can get two adult exhibition tickets for the price of one. Make sure you book in advance, this one’s popular.
National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Place, WC2H 0HE
Nearest Thameslink station: City Thameslink or London Blackfriars
The Griffin Catalyst: Wayne Thiebaud at The Courtauld Gallery
Image credit: Wayne Thiebaud
Step into a world of colour, charm and pure Americana at The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Wayne Thiebaud. American Still Life at The Courtauld Gallery. This is the first full UK show of Wayne Thiebaud’s iconic still life work, from doughnuts and cakes to gumballs and soda bottles.
Known for his joyful, mouth-watering paintings, Thiebaud captured the optimism and style of post-war America like no one else. His vibrant still life made him a star of the 1960s art scene - and now, for the first time, they’re here in London.
When you travel by train between 10 October 2025 - 4 January 2026, you can get two adult exhibition tickets for the price of one.
Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 0RN
Nearest Thameslink station: London Blackfriars
The Moonwalkers: A Journey With Tom Hanks at Lightroom
This immersive exhibition brings the Apollo missions to life in extraordinary detail, revealing what it took to land on the Moon… and what it will take to go back. Featuring exclusive insight into NASA’s Artemis programme and narrated by the iconic Tom Hanks, this experience combines stunning visuals and sound to make you feel as if you’ve actually stepped onto the lunar surface.
Get 20% off when you travel with Thameslink, don’t forget to book in advance.
12 Lewis Cubitt Square, N1C 4DY
Nearest Thameslink station: London St Pancras International
Tanoa Sasraku: Morale Patch at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
Image credit: Tanoa Sasraku, Watchlist
Tanoa Sasraku’s solo show is a sharp visual critique exploring the allure and danger of oil, and its deep links to war, power, and identity. Through sculpture, print, textiles, and found objects, Sasraku transforms raw materials into stories, drawing on landscapes, pigments, and patterns to uncover how oil shapes our world.
Visually rich and conceptually sharp, Morale Patch captures the tension between beauty and destruction in a way that’s both thought-provoking and unforgettable.
The exhibition is on from 7 October 2025 - 11 January 2026 and you can get two adult tickets for the price of one when you travel by train. Make sure you book in advance to avoid disappointment.
The Mall, SW1Y 5AH
Nearest Thameslink station: London Blackfriars
Zofia Rydet and Boris Mikhailov at The Photographers’ Gallery
Image credit: Raynal Pellicer
Head to The Photographers’ Gallery for three unmissable new exhibitions celebrating the art of photography in all its forms. In Zofia Rydet: Sociological Record, explore an extraordinary visual archive of Polish domestic life, captured over decades and across generations. It’s an intimate portrait of a nation through its people and homes.
Boris Mikhailov: Ukrainian Diary offers the first major UK retrospective of one of Eastern Europe’s most influential contemporary artists, reflecting on identity, history and survival through his powerful images. And don’t miss Strike a Pose! 100 Years of the Photobooth, which is a joyful celebration of a century of spontaneous snapshots and self-expression.
You can get 2FOR1 on your visit when you travel by train.
16-18, Ramillies Street, W1F 7LW
Nearest Thameslink station: London Blackfriars
Wonders of Civilisation: A Crash Course in Archaeology at the British Museum
History truly comes to life at the British Museum with their new exhibition Wonders of Civilisation: A Crash Course in Archaeology, led by a qualified archaeologist.
Follow in the footsteps of legendary explorers and discover how the museum’s most extraordinary treasures were unearthed, from the sands of Egypt to the ruins of Rome. Trace the story of human civilisation from the Stone Age to the modern day, exploring the rise and fall of great empires across Africa, Mesopotamia, Greece and beyond.
You’ll visit the museum’s most iconic galleries, coming face to face with the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Marbles and the Lewis Chessmen. Along the way, you’ll even learn to play The Royal Game of Ur (one of the world’s oldest board games) and uncover the science that helps archaeologists decode the past.
It’s an inspiring deep dive into history, discovery and the thrill of uncovering humanity’s greatest stories, and you can get two adult tickets for the price of one when you travel by train.
Russell Square Station, Bernard Street, WC1N 1LJ
Nearest Thameslink station: London St Pancras International
