London
We’ve compiled the best of the best in London - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. British Museum
BloomsburyThe sheer scale and importance of the British Museum's many treasures are impossible to overstate or exaggerate; it truly is one of the world's great repositories of human civilization. Established in 1753 and initially based on the library and "cabinet of curiosities" of the royal physician Sir Hans Sloane, the collection grew exponentially over the following decades, partly due to bequests and acquisitions, but also as a result of plundering by the burgeoning British Empire. The neoclassical grandeur of the museum's Great Russell Street entrance befits what lies in wait inside. Here you'll find the Rosetta Stone, whose inscriptions were key to deciphering hieroglyphics (Room 4); the controversial but exquisite Elgin Marbles (aka the Parthenon Sculptures) that once stood on the Acropolis in Athens (Room 18); the remarkable 7th century BC masterpieces of Assyrian sculpted reliefs, the lion hunts (Room 10a); and stunning fragments and friezes from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (aka one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; Room 21). Other perennial favorites include the Egyptian mummies (Rooms 62--63); the colossal Statue of Ramesses II, dating to circa 1270 BC and weighing in at just over 7 tons (Room 4); and the splendid 8th-century Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo treasures, with magnificent helmets and jewelry aplenty (Room 41). Leave time for exploring the glass-covered Great Court, the largest covered public square in Europe, designed by celebrated architect Norman Foster at the turn of the present millennium. Likewise, don't miss the revered circular Reading Room where Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital under the beautiful blue-and-gold papier-mâché dome. And keep an eye out for the museum's excellent temporary exhibitions, which have featured exhibits on Stonehenge and influential Japanese artist Hokusai. If it all seems a little overwhelming or if you're pushed for time, try one of the excellent museum tours. Eye-opener Tours (free; 40 minutes) offer a choice of 14 individual galleries daily, while the 90-minute Highlights Tour covers all the major exhibits plus a few lesser-known ones, beginning at 11:30 am and 2 pm on Friday and weekends (£14; book online or at the ticket desk in the Great Court). Alternatively, if you have your own headphones, download the museum's app which offers gallery introductions and expert commentaries (from £5).
View Tours and ActivitiesGreat Russell St., London, Greater London, WC1B 3DG, England020-7323–8000Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free (except for temporary exhibitions); donations encouraged -
2. Churchill War Rooms
WestminsterIt was from this small warren of underground rooms—beneath the vast government buildings of the Treasury—that Winston Churchill and his team directed troops in World War II. Designed to be bombproof, the whole complex has been preserved almost exactly as it was when the last light was turned off at the end of the war. Every clock shows almost 5 pm, and the furniture, fittings, and paraphernalia of a busy, round-the-clock war office are still in situ, down to the colored map pins. During air raids, the leading government ministers met here, and the Cabinet Room is arranged as if a meeting were about to convene. In the Map Room, the Allied campaign is charted on wall-to-wall maps with a rash of pinholes showing the movements of convoys. In the hub of the room, a bank of differently colored phones known as the "Beauty Chorus" linked the War Rooms to control rooms around the nation. Spot the desk from which the PM made his morale-boosting broadcasts; the Transatlantic Telephone Room (a converted broom cupboard) has his hotline to FDR. You can also see the restored rooms that the PM used for dining and sleeping. Telephonists (switchboard operators) and clerks who worked 16-hour shifts slept in lesser quarters in unenviable conditions. An excellent addition to the War Rooms is the Churchill Museum, a tribute to the great wartime leader himself.
View Tours and ActivitiesClive Steps, King Charles St., London, Greater London, SW1A 2AQ, England020-7416–5000Sight Details
Rate Includes: £27.25 -
3. IWM London
South BankDespite its name, the cultural venue formerly known as the Imperial War Museum (one of five IWM branches now around the country) does not glorify either Empire or bloodshed but emphasizes understanding through conveying the impact of 20th- and 21st-century warfare on citizens and soldiers alike. A dramatic six-story atrium at the main entrance encloses an impressive amount of hardware—including a Battle of Britain Spitfire, a German V2 rocket, the remains of a car blown up in post-invasion Iraq, tanks, guns, and submarines—along with accompanying interactive material and a café. The First World War galleries explore the wartime experience on both the home and fighting fronts, with the most comprehensive collection on the subject in the world—some 1,300 objects ranging from uniforms, equipment, and weapons to letters and diaries. The Second World War galleries shed light on that conflict through objects, film documentation, and eyewitness testimonies, as do the extensive and haunting Holocaust galleries (private tours are available for all three areas). Peace and Security 1945–2015 looks at more contemporary hostilities, including the Cold War, Iraq, and Afghanistan, right up to the current conflict in Ukraine. Other galleries are devoted to works relating to conflicts from World War I to the present day by painters, poets, documentary filmmakers, and photographers.
Lambeth Rd., London, Greater London, SE1 6HZ, England020-7416–5000Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free (charge for special exhibitions) -
4. Museum of the Home
HoxtonIn contrast to the West End's grand aristocratic town houses, this charming museum is devoted to the life of the city's middle class over the years. Originally a row of almshouses built in 1714, it now contains a series of 11 rooms that re-create everyday domestic interiors from the Elizabethan period through the 1950s to the present day. The Home Galleries, located in the basement of the museum, puts it all in context with a wider history of the concept of home that includes plenty of interactive exhibits. Outside, a series of gardens charts the evolution of the town garden over the past 400 years; next to them is a walled herb garden. In the museum's front garden, you'll find a statue of Sir Robert Geffreye, the English merchant who founded the almshouses; the museum used to bear his name, but in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and the acknowledgment of Geffreye's connections with the transatlantic slave trade, the museum has been renamed. After consultation, the museum decided against removing the statue and instead commissioned displays and artwork to recontextualize it. Molly's Café, the excellent on-site eatery, provides appropriately homely lunches and snacks.
136 Kingsland Rd., London, Greater London, E2 8EA, EnglandNo phoneSight Details
Rate Includes: Free (charge for special exhibitions), Closed Mon. -
5. National Maritime Museum
GreenwichFrom the time of Henry VIII until the 1940s, Britain was the world's preeminent naval power, and the collections here trace half a millennia of that seafaring history. The story is as much about trade as it is warfare: in the Atlantic gallery, Slavery, Trade, Empire explores how trade in goods (and people) irrevocably changed the world, while in the Traders gallery, The East India Company and Asia focuses on how the epoch-defining company shaped trade with Asia for 250 years. One gallery, Polar Worlds, includes a sledge from one of Shackleton’s expeditions, while another is devoted to Admiral Lord Nelson, Britain's most famous naval commander; among the exhibits there is the uniform he was wearing, complete with bloodstains, when he died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Temporary exhibitions here are usually fascinating—those in recent years have included personal accounts of the First World War at sea. Borrow a tablet computer from the front desk and take it to the giant map of the world in the courtyard at the center of the museum; here, a high-tech, interactive app opens up hidden stories and games as you walk between continents. The Ahoy! and All Hands galleries are filled with interactive fun for kids, where they can learn about polar exploration, pirates, and more.
View Tours and ActivitiesRomney Rd., London, Greater London, SE10 9NF, England020-8312–6608Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free; fee for special exhibitions -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. Natural History Museum
South KensingtonOriginally built to house the British Museum’s natural history collection and bolstered by samples provided by Britain’s great 19th-century explorers and scientists—notably Charles Darwin—this enormous Victorian cathedral of science is one of the world’s preeminent museums of natural history and earth sciences. As might be expected given its Darwin connection, the emphasis is on evolution and conservation. The terra-cotta facade is embellished with relief panels depicting living creatures to the left of the entrance and extinct ones to the right (although some species have subsequently changed categories). Most are represented inside the museum, which contains more than 70 million different specimens. Only a small percentage is on public display, but you could still spend a day here and not come close to seeing everything. The skeleton of a giant blue whale dominates the vaulted, cathedral-like entrance hall. Even bigger than the blue whale is the skeleton of titanosaur Patagotitan mayorum, one of the largest creatures to have ever walked the Earth, now housed in the Waterhouse Gallery (£16). Meanwhile, similarly huge dino bones (technically rocks due to fossilization) can be found in the Dinosaur Gallery (Blue Zone) along with the only known fossil of Spicomellus, a type of armored dinosaur with spikes protruding from its ribs. You'll also come face-to-face with a virtual Jurassic sea dragon and a giant animatronic T. rex (¾ of its actual size) that's programmed to sense when human prey is near and "respond" in character. When he does, you can hear the shrieks of fear and delight all the way across the room. An escalator takes you into a giant globe in the Earth Galleries, where there's a choice of levels to explore. Don't leave without checking out the earthquake simulation in the Volcanoes and Earthquakes Gallery. The Darwin Centre houses some 80 million items the museum itself doesn't have room to display, including "Archie," a 28-foot giant squid. If you want to see Archie and some of the other millions of animal specimens preserved (including some acquired on Darwin's Beagle voyage), you'll need to book one of the behind-the-scenes Spirit Collection tours (£25). These 45-minute tours take place at various dates and times and can be booked on the same day (space is limited, so come early). Night owls might prefer one of the evening talks or spending an entire night in the museum at one of the "Dino Snores" events (extra charge applies). The museum also has an outdoor ice-skating rink from October through January and a popular Christmas fair.
View Tours and ActivitiesCromwell Rd., London, Greater London, SW7 5BD, England0207-942–5000Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free (some fees for special exhibitions) -
7. London Museum Docklands
Canary WharfThis wonderful old warehouse building, on a quaint cobbled quayside near the tower of Canary Wharf, is worth a visit in its own right. With uneven wood floors, beams, and pillars, the museum used to be a storehouse for coffee, tea, sugar, and rum from the West Indies, hence the name: West India Quay. The fascinating story of the old port and the river is told using films, together with interactive displays and reconstructions. Excellent permanent exhibitions include City and River, which chronicles the explosion of trade and industry that, by the mid-19th century, had transformed this district into the world's most important port. Sailortown is an effective reconstruction of the Wapping district in Victorian times, complete with period shops, a pub, spooky alleys, and costumed guides. Young kids can hunt for treasure and let off some steam in the soft play area in the Mudlarks Gallery (best to book ahead). Special events and exhibitions happen year-round; check the museum's website for details.
View Tours and ActivitiesWest India Quay, London, Greater London, E14 4AL, England020-7001–9844Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free; special exhibitions sometimes extra -
8. Petrie Museum
BloomsburyIf you don't get your fill of Egyptian artifacts at the British Museum, you can see more in the neighboring Petrie Museum, located on the first floor of the D. M. S. Watson Building, home to the UCL (University College London) Science Library. The museum houses an outstanding collection of Egyptian, Sudanese, and Greco-Roman archaeological objects, including jewelry, art, toys, and some of the world's oldest garments.
Malet Pl., London, Greater London, WC1E 6BT, England020-3108–9000Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, donations appreciated, Closed Sun. and Mon.
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