Farnborough and Lasham
Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum → The Gliding Heritage Centre
Weekends at Farnborough, then the A31 to Lasham; book the glider tour ahead.
Distances are straight-line miles from Guildford city centre; roads add a quarter to a half. Prices are adult admission from the gazetteer survey.
Nearest first
Aviation museums within 30 miles of Guildford
| Museum | Miles | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farnborough Air Sciences Trust MuseumFarnborough, Hampshire | 8.5 | Free | 16 | FAST at Farnborough guards the birthplace of British aviation science — Cody, the RAE, wind tunnels — with sit-in Harrier, Puma and Lynx… |
| Brooklands MuseumWeybridge, Surrey | 9.4 | £24–£27 | 32 | Concorde G-BBDG, the British production-test aircraft, bookended by a Wellington bomber dredged out of Loch Ness in 1985 and the only… |
| Gatwick Aviation MuseumGatwick, Surrey | 16.4 | £12.50 | 16 | Avro Shackleton WR982 (the £5 guided tour is unanimously endorsed) and a live-engined English Electric Lightning. There's also… |
| The Gliding Heritage CentreAlton, Hampshire | 19.9 | Donation | 72 | Lasham's Gliding Heritage Centre: Europe's finest vintage-glider collection, most of them airworthy and actually flown, with free… |
| Maidenhead Heritage CentreMaidenhead, Berkshire | 20.7 | £4 | — | Maidenhead Heritage Centre doubles as the Air Transport Auxiliary museum — the civilian men and women who ferried everything from Tiger… |
| Wings Aviation MuseumHaywards Heath, West Sussex | 21.2 | £13 | 25 | The Wings Museum near Balcombe displays Eastern Front and D-Day aircraft archaeology in crash-site dioramas — raw, unpolished and… |
| Croydon Airport Visitor CentreCroydon, Greater London | 21.3 | £10 | 1 | Airport House at Croydon was the world's first purpose-built airport terminal with the world's first air traffic control tower; the… |
| Battle of Britain BunkerUxbridge, Greater London | 21.5 | £12.50 | 2 | The actual 11 Group operations bunker at Uxbridge, 77 steps down, restored to its Battle of Britain configuration — Churchill watched the… |
| Biggin Hill Heritage HangarWesterham, Greater London | 26.9 | £49 | 17 | A rotating dozen-ish airworthy and in-rebuild Spitfires plus a Hurricane and Buchón; the 'Sit in a Spitfire' add-on is the affordable… |
| Tangmere Military Aviation MuseumChichester, West Sussex | 27.6 | £15 | 23 | Hawker Hunter WB188 in one-off scarlet, in which Neville Duke took the world air speed record to 727.63 mph off this coast in 1953;… |
| Royal Air Force Museum LondonLondon, Greater London | 28.8 | Free | 88 | Avro Lancaster R5868 'S-Sugar' — 137 operations, the RAF's highest-scoring surviving heavy — under the same roof as a Vulcan, a… |
From the city
Days out from Guildford
Gatwick Aviation Museum is 16 miles east. The Gliding Heritage Centre is 20 miles west at Lasham. Croydon, the Uxbridge bunker, Biggin Hill, Tangmere and the RAF Museum London are all within range. That makes eleven, more than most cities on this site.
Brooklands day
Brooklands Museum
Up the A3; aircraft, the banked track and Concorde.
East to Charlwood
Gatwick Aviation Museum → Wings Aviation Museum
Gatwick Aviation Museum, then south to Wings; check both run days.
- Brooklands: change at Woking for Weybridge, then a 20–30 minute walk or the 436 bus.
- Gatwick Aviation Museum: trains from Guildford run to Gatwick Airport; then bus 21 or 22 to Charlwood.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is the nearest aviation museum to Guildford?
Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum. It is about 9 miles west, at Farnborough.
Is there a free aviation museum near Guildford?
Yes. Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum (about 9 miles) and Royal Air Force Museum London (about 29 miles) are free to enter in our July 2026 price snapshot. The Gliding Heritage Centre asks for a donation.
Can I reach Brooklands from Guildford without a car?
Yes. Change at Woking for Weybridge, then walk 20–30 minutes or take the 436 bus.