No trip to London is complete without a stroll through one of its world-class museums. And as summer approaches, with so many places to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which legendary institution to visit.
From 5000-year-old Egyptian mummies to the documentation of ground-breaking scientific discoveries, and from giant squid to the works of the world’s most famous writers, the capital really has a rich history.
So whether you’re in town for the sights – or you’ve so far passed by without investigating – this is a museum that should be on your London bucket list.
One of the most famous museums in the world, the British Museum hosts eight million objects from around the planet, representing thousands of years of human history, from stunning Roman sculptures to stunning turquoise Aztec artefacts. The famous Ancient Egypt Gallery includes the somewhat controversial Rosetta Stone, the subject of a request for restitution from Egypt, while in Room 41, you will find treasures from the Sutton Hoo ship burial, one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time.
When it comes to fashion-focused museums, the V & A has set the trend since it opened in 1852. Designs of all kinds and all eras take center stage, with galleries that have covered everything from the throne of the Maharajah to the Sixties mini-skirt. It is also home to some of the world’s most valuable treasures including Leonardo’s manuscripts and the magnificent Ardabil carpet, which takes the crown as the world’s oldest.
Despite the retirement of Dippy the Diplodocus (for now, at least), the entrance hall of the Museum of Natural History is very impressive: it is now home to the 25-meter skeleton of Hope the Blue Whale, which hangs from the ceiling “as a reminder of humanity’s responsibility to protect the planet us”. In the gallery, discover amazing pieces of nature, from a 147-million-year-old Archeopteryx to one of Charles Darwin’s own pigeons.
Cromwell Road, Kensington, SW7 5BD; nhm.ac.uk
The stunning new home of the Design Museum will almost certainly have a design on your must-visit list. Originally located in an old banana warehouse in Shad Thames, which was opened by design legend Sir Terence Conran in 1989, it is now the jewel of Kensington High Street. The museum has an excellent collection of modern and contemporary design, with regular exhibitions focusing on anything from Ferraris to fashion designers via a chair or two.
The science is under the microscope at the corner of South Kensington’s extraordinary museum parade, with visitors of all ages. After you’ve nerded out over the Apollo 10 capsule and the Stephenson rocket, kids will love the Wonderlab where the friction slides and chemistry bars will have them learning by accident.
You may think you know the tubes well, but this museum aims to show you a new side of your journey. A stone’s throw from Covent Garden Market, the London Transport Museum exhibits everything that keeps London moving, including stylish original posters, early Underground maps, and more Routemasters than you can shake your Oyster card at.
Discover the leather at the Wellcome Collection, where the mission to continue to question the relationship between natural science, life and art produces an eclectic and exciting collection. Expect exhibitions focused on subjects as diverse as Ayurvedic medicine, teeth and complete in the art exhibition.
What is this! All aboard for this voyage of discovery, which begins in Greenwich and ends in almost every corner of the earth. British naval history comes to life in this seafaring museum, with artefacts including cannonballs from the Battle of Trafalgar and the coat Nelson was wearing when he suffered his fatal wounds. I’m shivering.
Opened in 1981 in Brixton’s Windrush Square, the Black Cultural Archives set out to tell the untold stories of people in Britain of African and Caribbean descent. Exhibitions range from historical photography to music, and a series of events from discussions to workshops give visitors the opportunity to become active participants in the museum’s purpose.
What is Dickens? Where is Dickens is the more important question here – and the answer is 48 Doughty Street, the site of the famous Victorian writer’s Holborn home, from where he penned many of his literary classics. The museum recreates life in the house as it would have been when the author lived there and displays many Dickensian artefacts.
Sir John Soane Museum
One of the weirder museums in London is also in a London house. Architect and avid collector Sir John Soane asked for his house to be left after his death more than 180 years ago. This means that the extraordinary appeal – from paintings by Turner to Greek antiquities – is still displayed at home among the stunning Georgian architecture.
A misnomer in many ways, the Imperial War Museum was established after World War I as a reminder of the importance of keeping the peace. Inside, the museum displays incredible remnants of the conflict, including a 14-metre-tall V-2 rocket bomb, as well as an award-winning permanent Holocaust exhibition.
This museum is another museum that comes from the collection of an incurable Englishman (this time, Frederick John Horniman), and has special specialties: anthropology, natural history and musical instruments. Inside you’ll find lots of taxidermied animals but the outside is just as much fun, with beautiful gardens and a stunning arts and crafts clock tower.
East End Women’s Museum
The museum may not have a permanent home yet, but you can now find pop-up exhibitions in East London. Conceived in response to the proposed Jack the Ripper Museum, which was seen as promoting violence against women, it aims to illuminate the stories and work of women living in East London and their positive impact on the community and wider society.
