London’s Top 10 : Museums

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  1. British Museum

    The
    oldest museum in the world, and one of London’s most fascinating,
    contains treasures and artifacts from all over the world .




  2. Natural History Museum

    Life on Earth and the Earth itself are vividly explained here using hundreds of traditional and interactive exhibits .




  3. Science Museum

    This
    exciting museum traces centuries of scientific and technological
    development, with impressive and educational displays.




  4. Victoria and Albert Museum

    This
    museum of decorative arts is one of London’s great pleasures, with 145
    astonishingly eclectic galleries. One of the highlights is the huge
    Fashion collection, with exhibits dating from 1600 to the present day.
    The museum also has collections of jewellery, textiles, metalwork,
    glass, paintings, prints, sculpture and rooms full of Indian and Far
    Eastern treasures .




    Victoria and Albert Museum

  5. Museum of London

    This comprehensive museum located near the Barbican Centre
    provides a detailed account of London life from prehistoric times to
    the present day. It is particularly strong on Roman Londinium, but also
    has a model recreating the Great Fire of 1666 and a reconstruction of a
    Victorian street including several original shopfronts .




    Smiling Nun, Museum of London

  6. National Maritime Museum

    The
    world’s largest maritime museum, perfectly located in part of Wren’s
    Royal Naval Hospital, has much to offer. Detailing inspirational stories
    from Britain’s seafaring past, it tells of the continuing effects the
    oceans still have on the world today. Admiral Nelson’s fatally pierced
    tunic is on display, the tragic polar expeditions of explorers are
    recalled and a state-of-the-art simulator gives an idea of what it is
    like to steer a ship into port .

  7. Imperial War Museum

    In
    this museum, which is housed in part of the former Bethlehem (“Bedlam”)
    Hospital for the Insane, a clock in the basement moves remorselessly
    on, recording the world’s war dead – a figure that has now reached 100
    million. Six million of them are commemorated in the Holocaust
    Exhibition. Other displays include evocative re-creations of World War I
    trench warfare and the life of Londoners during the World War II Blitz.
    Now it is “total war” that we have to contemplate, and this, too, is
    explored .




    Imperial War Museum

  8. Design Museum

    Based
    in a clean white 1930s building beside Tower Bridge, this museum is the
    only one in Britain devoted to 20th- and 21st-century design. Regularly
    changing exhibitions feature the very best of modern design from the
    museum’s collection, including both product and graphic design, fashion,
    furniture, architecture and engineering.

    • Butler’s Wharf SE1

    • Open 10am–5:45pm daily

    • Admission charge

  9. London’s Transport Museum

    In
    this former flower-market building, the history of London’s transport
    system is illustrated with posters, photographs and examples of early
    buses, tubes and horse-drawn vehicles. There are also interactive
    “KidZones” for children .




    London Transport Museum



    Austin Taxi, London’s Transport Museum

  10. V&A Museum of Childhood

    This
    branch of the V&A Museum in Bethnal Green has the largest
    collection of childhood-related objects in the UK. Its array of toys,
    games, lavish dolls houses, model trains, theatres and costumes dates
    from the 16th century to the present day.