Museums in London

Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum

London's Natural History Museum is one of the world's most premier natural history museums. It is also one of three big museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, along with the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum. The Natural History Museum has more than 80 million items across its favor major collections in zoology, paleontology, entomology, mineralogy, and botany. General admission to the Natural History Museum of London is free, though some special exhibits and programming do come with a fee.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Natural History Museum.

• The Darwin Centre
• Blue whale skeleton
• The Wildlife Garden

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom

Victoria & Albert Museum

Archaeological Museum

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of applied and decorative arts and design. With a permanent collection of more than 2.2 million works, the V&A sits on more than 12 acres that contain 145 different galleries. The museum was founded in 1852, with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert serving as its namesakes. The V&A Museum displays the world's biggest collection of post-classical sculpture. The museum also contains the National Art Library, a public library with more than 750,000 pieces.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Victoria & Albert Museum.

• An 11-metre blown glass chandelier by Dale Chihuly
• Tipoo’s Tiger
• Raphael's cartoons

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Cromwell Rd, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL, United Kingdom

Science Museum

Science Museum

The Science Museum is one of London's must-see museums and is one of three that sits on South Kensington's Exhibition Road (the others are the Natural History Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum). Founded in 1857, the Science Museum has a collection of 300,000 objects that sees more than three million visitors this year. Some of the objects on display include Puffing Billy, Stephenson's Rocket, and the Apollo 10 command module.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Science Museum.

• Stephenson's Rocket
• Puffing Billy
• Apollo 10 command module

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD, United Kingdom

Churchill War Rooms

War Museum

The Churchill War Rooms is part of the Imperial War Museum in London. The War Rooms museum showcases the underground complex where Churchill led the British government during World War II. The museum also houses the Churchill Museum, which is a biographical museum dedicated to commemorating the life of Winston Churchill. The war rooms were fully functional during World War II and were not left until Japan's surrender in August 1945. Shortly thereafter, the government set to work preserving the rooms for history's sake and they opened to the public in the 1980s.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Churchill War Rooms.

• Undercover: Life in Churchill's bunker
• Clementine Churchill's bedroom
• Churchill War Rooms Private Tours

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £22 per person
• 📍 Clive Steps, King Charles St, London SW1A 2AQ, United Kingdom

National Portrait Gallery

Art Museum

London's National Portrait Gallery is a premiere art museum in the heart of the city. The National Portrait Gallery was the world's very first portrait gallery upon its 1856 opening. The gallery's collection focuses heavily on portraits of people who were important to Britain over the years; the gallery is less concerned with who produced the painting, but rather places its value on who the portrait is of. The gallery's best known work is Chandos' William Shakespeare.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at National Portrait Gallery.

• Queen Elizabeth I by Unknown
• Chandos' William Shakespeare.
• Anne Boleyn by Unknown

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 St. Martin's Pl, Charing Cross, London WC2H 0HE, United Kingdom

National Maritime Museum

Specialty Museum

The National Maritime Museum in London is dedicated to displaying a maritime collection from the United Kingdom. The museum is heavily focused on the history of its Greenwich location; Greenwich has often been a huge place of importance for navigation and the sea. The National Maritime Museum has more than two million objects in its collection, ranging from physical items like maps and models to maritime art. Admission to the National Maritime Museum is free, though special exhibits may have a ticket cost associated with them.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at National Maritime Museum.

• Jules Achille Noël's The Bretagne
• Destination Moon
• AHOY! gallery

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Park Row, Greenwich Peninsula, London SE10 9NF, United Kingdom

Queen's House

Archaeological Museum

Queen's House was the former royal residence for British royalty. Built in the early 1600s for King James I's bride Anne of Denmark, Queen's House is considered to be of the upmost importance in terms of British architecture as it was the first classical building ever built in England. Ironically, Anne died before the house was ever completed. In present day, Queen's House is part of the National Maritime Museum, where part of the museum's collection is on display. Queen's House played a role as a VIP centre when London hosted the 2012 Olympics.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Queen's House.

• The Queen's House Ghost
• The view of the Thames
• Van de Veldes' maritime art collection

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Romney Rd, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF, United Kingdom

Grant Museum of Zoology

Natural History Museum

The Grant Museum of Zoology is part of the University College London. First established in the early 1800s, the Grant Museum was meant to serve students as an educational tool when it came to observing specimens and dissection. The Grant Museum houses one of the country's oldest collections concerning natural history; it also is the only natural history museum associated with a university in London.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Grant Museum of Zoology.

• A rare quagga skeleton
• Blaschka glass models
• Dodo bones

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Rockefeller Building, 21 University St, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 6DE, United Kingdom

Royal Observatory Greenwich

Observatories & Planetariums

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich is an observatory in London that has played a major historical part in astronomy over the last several centuries. The prime meridian passes through the observatory, which established Greenwich Mean Time. The observatory got its start in 1675 as the Old Royal Observatory when King Charles II commissioned its construction; at the same time, he created the position of Astronomer Royal to serve as an advisor to the king. Though the AMAT telescope at the observatory is functioning today, the observatory largely serves as a museum.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Royal Observatory Greenwich .

• The Meridian Line
• Planetarium shows
• Shepherd Gate Clock

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £23.65 per person
• 📍 Blackheath Ave, Greenwich, London SE10 8XJ, United Kingdom

Tate Modern

Art Museum

The Tate Modern is a contemporary art museum in London. Part of the Tate group with three other museums, including Tate Britain, Tate Modern's collection showcases the national British art collection from 1900 through today. It also displays international art from the same time period. Tate Modern is among the biggest contemporary art museums in the world. Close to six million people are estimated to visit Tate Modern each year.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Tate Modern .

• The Tanks
• Dora Maurer Exhibit
• Artist and Society

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Bankside London, SE1 United Kingdom

Fashion and Textile Museum

Specialty Museum

The Fashion and Textile Museum highlights contemporary fashion in London. The museum was founded by designer Zandra Rhodes as part of the Newham College of Further Education. The Fashion and Textile Museum has not yet begun to gather a permanent collection; instead, the museum hosts a variety of rotating temporary exhibits.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Fashion and Textile Museum.

• Zandra Rhodes: 50 Years of Fabulous
• Norman Hartnell – A Tribute
• Out of the Blue: Fifty Years of Designers Guild

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £9.90 per person
• 📍 83 Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, London SE1 3XF, United Kingdom

Bank of England Museum

Specialty Museum

The Bank of England Museum in London is housed inside the Bank of England. The museum has a large collection dating back to the founding of the bank in the 1600s. Exhibits include the history of the bank, the bank's transformation pre, during, and post wars, and a focus on modern day banking. There museum also displays a large number of coins, notes, silver, and a gold bar.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Bank of England Museum.

• A genuine gold bar
• The Stock Office
• The Bank Today

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Bartholomew Ln, London EC2R 8AH, United Kingdom

Sir John Soane's Museum

Specialty Museum

The Sir John Soane's Museum of London is located in the former home of architect John Soane. The museum displays Soane's famed drawings and models of his various building projects. In addition to his own work, Soane had come to amass a personal private collection of art and artifacts that is also on display in the museum. The museum is free to the public to visit, but timed reservations are highly encouraged to be made in advance.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Sir John Soane's Museum.

• Hogarth: Place and Progress
• Sarcophagus of Seti I
• The Picture Room

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, Holborn, London WC2A 3BP, United Kingdom

Horniman Museum and Gardens

Archaeological Museum

The Horniman Museum and Gardens is a London museum dating back to the early 1900s. The museum's collection of more than 350,000 objects focuses on natural history, anthropology, and instruments. It has a well known and impressive collection of taxidermied animals. The grounds also house an aquarium, extensive gardens, a butterfly house, small animals, and plants. Admission to the museum and gardens is free, while the other attractions require tickets.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Horniman Museum and Gardens.

• A Butterfly House
• Robert Anning Bell's Humanity in the House of Circumstance
• The Totem Pole

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 100 London Rd, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ, United Kingdom

Museum of Brands

Specialty Museum

The Museum of Brands in London showcases consumer culture dating back all the way to the Victorian era. The museum got its start with the Robert Opie Collection from the Museum of Advertising and Packaging in Gloucester, which eventually closed its doors in 2001. The museum is organized chronologically to demonstrate the way branding and packaging has evolved over time, highlighting key events like transportation, advertising, the media, war, and female emancipation.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Museum of Brands.

• Innovative Packaging Award
• 1950s Battle of the Toys Brands
• Time Tunnel

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £9 per person
• 📍 111-117 Lancaster Rd, Notting Hill, London W11 1QT, United Kingdom

Charles Dickens Museum

Specialty Museum

The Charles Dickens Museum in London is a house museum where the famed author lived for two years in the city. It is the only house that Dickens lived in in London that still survives to this day and even it had a close call. It was saved from demolition in 1923 by the Dickens Fellowship. While living in the house, Dickens worked on The Pipwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, and Barnaby Rudge.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Charles Dickens Museum.

• Charles Dickens: Man of Science
• Beautiful Books: Dickens and the Business of Christmas
• Ghost of an Idea: Unwrapping 'A Christmas Carol'

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £9.50 per person
• 📍 48-49 Doughty St, Holborn, London WC1N 2LX, United Kingdom

Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology

Archaeological Museum

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London has more than 80,000 objects in its collection pertaining to Egyptian and Sudanese culture. Only three other museums in the world have a bigger collection of these items. The museum is part of the University College London Museums and Collections and was initially developed to be a teaching resource for the Department of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.

• From Gurob to the Getty
• A pyramid text
• Akhenaten and the rays of the sun god Aten

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Malet Pl, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom

Museum of the Order of St John

Specialty Museum

The Museum of the Order of St John in London is dedicated to the Venerable Order of Saint John. The museum highlights the story from the order founded in Jerusalem to the organization's current mission. The museum has a wide variety of objects in the collection dating back to the 1200s.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Museum of the Order of St John.

• The ambulance collection
• A Victorian nurse's miniature first aid kit
• First Aid Manuals

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 St John’s Gate, 26 St John's Ln, London EC1M 4DA, United Kingdom

Freud Museum London

Specialty Museum

The Freud Museum in London is set in the house where Sigmund Freud lived until his death. It was Freud's daughter's wish that the house be turned into a museum after she died. Freud had a number of accomplishments while living in the house and saw patients out of the home. London is one of three cities with museums dedicated to Freud; the other two museums are located in the Czech Republic and Vienna.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Freud Museum London.

• Berggasse 19 couch where Freud's patients would lay
• Salvador Dalí's portrait of Freud
• Freud's personal library

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £10 per person
• 📍 20 Maresfield Gardens, London NW3 5SX, United Kingdom

Saatchi Gallery

Art Museum

The Saatchi Gallery is a London museum for contemporary art. The museum's displays have gone through different eras and artists, to include Young British Artists and American-based contemporary artists. Saatchi Gallery has a tendency to showcase unknown artists, and has often been seen as a launching pad for many careers.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Saatchi Gallery.

• Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh
• I-Made
• Beyond the Road

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £24.50 per person
• 📍 Duke of York's HQ, King's Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY, United Kingdom

Cartoon Museum

Art Museum

London's Cartoon Museum is dedicated to capturing British cartoons, caricatures, comics, and animation. The on-site library holds more than 5,000 books and 4,000 comics. At any given time, 250 exhibits are on display from the library. The Duke of Edinburgh opened the museum in 2006 after realizing there had never been a museum in the city dedicated to the art of cartoons.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Cartoon Museum.

• Ronald Searle: Graphic Master
• The Beano
• The Dandy

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £9 per person
• 📍 63 Wells St, Fitzrovia, London W1A 3AE, United Kingdom

Westminster Abbey Museum

Religious Museum

The Westminster Abbey Museum, or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries, sits 52 feet above the abbey floor in the 13th century triforium. Guests will take in incredible views of the abbey as they climb the Weston Tower to the museum. The secret space that houses the galleries was hidden for more than 700 years.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Westminster Abbey Museum.

• The Henry VII effigy head
• Royal marriage licence
• The Liber Regalis

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £5 per person
• 📍 20 Deans Yd, Westminster, London SW1P 3PA, United Kingdom

Kensington Palace

Historic Site

Kensington Palace is a royal residence located in Kensington Gardens in London. The palace has housed members of the royal family since the 1600s. As of 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Eugiene and her spouse, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent call the palace their home. The palace's state rooms are available for public tours with many objects from the royal collection on view.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Kensington Palace.

• The Gardens
• The state rooms
• A fashion exhibit dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales in the 1980s

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £18 per person
• 📍 Kensington Gardens, Kensington, London W8 4PX, United Kingdom

London Motorcycle Museum

Specialty Museum

The London Motorcycle Museum has more than 150 classic and British motorcycles on displays, including the last Triumph Bonneville T140 that left the Meriden gates in the early 1980s. The museum was founded by Bill Crosby, who began collecting bikes in the 1960s. The museum's collection has been featured on numerous TV shows and in several films, including American Chopper.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at London Motorcycle Museum.

• 1902 0rmonde 2​1⁄4 h.p.
• 1959 Norton Dominator
• 1921 Rudge TT 3 hp

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £12 per person
• 📍 Ravenor Farm, 29 Oldfield Ln, Greenford UB6 9LB, United Kingdom

Benjamin Franklin House

Historic Site

The Benjamin Franklin House is a museum and historic house near London's Trafalgar Square. It is the only surviving house that was once occupied by Benjamin Franklin. This particulate site dates back to the early 1700s and was called home by Franklin for 16 years. Thanks to its Georgian terraced architecture and historic ties to Franklin, the house is listed as a Grade I on England's National Heritage List.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Benjamin Franklin House.

• Guided Tour
• The "Historical Experience"
• The "Student Science Centre"

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £6 per person
• 📍 36 Craven St, Charing Cross, London WC2N 5NF, United Kingdom

Hackney Museum

History Museum

The Hackney Museum is a local London history museum located in Hackney. Its collection of more than 8,000 different objects is dedicated to exploring the history of Hackney with a special emphasis on immigration, ranging from Anglo-Saxon settlers to early Victorian times and more recent refugees and migrants.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Hackney Museum.

• History and heritage of Hackney
• History of St John at Hackney church
• Hackney Roots from UK Jewish Film

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 1 Reading Ln, London E8 1GQ, United Kingdom

Pollock's Toy Museum

Specialty Museum

Pollock's Toy Museum is a London toy museum that began in the 1950s in a single attic room. The museum was founded above Pollock's Toy Shop and grew popular, so it began to expand. Eventually, the museum took over several rooms with the toy shop remaining on the ground floor. Today, the museum is operated by the grandson of the founder Marguerite Fawdry. The primary collection focuses on Victorian toys to include dolls, teddy bears, tin toys, folk toys, global toys, puppets, and dolls houses.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Pollock's Toy Museum.

• Victorian dolls
• Victorian toys from around the world
• The toy shop

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £7 per person
• 📍 1 Scala St, Bloomsbury, London W1T 2HL, United Kingdom

World Rugby Museum

Specialty Museum

The World Rugby Museum is located in Twickenham Stadium in London. The museum has rotating exhibits that include both items from the permanent collection as well as special exhibits. Past exhibits have included More Than A Tour: the 1905 All-Blacks; Core Values: The Life and Work of Gerald Laing; and England 2010: the Women's Rugby World Cup.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at World Rugby Museum.

• The 1871 Room
• Wartime Rugby
• Ghost Tours

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £25 per person
• 📍 Twickenham Stadium, 200 Whitton Rd, Twickenham TW2 7BA, United Kingdom

Arsenal Football Club Museum

Specialty Museum

Located in Emirates Stadium, the Arsenal Football Club Museum focuses on the history of the popular club. The exhibits and memorabilia are impressive to any football fan, including Michael Thomas' boots from the 89 title match against Liverpool, Alan Smith's shirt from the 1995 UEFA Cup final, and Charlie George's shirt from the 1971 FA Cup Final. More than 120,000 guests visit the museum annually.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Arsenal Football Club Museum.

• Charlie George's shirt from the 1971 FA Cup Final
• A custom trophy commemorating Arsenal's championship and undefeated 2003-04 Premier League season
• Alan Smith's shirt from the 1994 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £10 per person
• 📍 Emirates Stadium Highbury House, 75 Drayton Park, London N5 1BU, United Kingdom

Garden Museum

Specialty Museum

London's Garden Museum was established in an effort to save an abandoned church and knot garden where gardener John Tradescant was buried. Today, it is Britain's only museum focused on the art, history and design of gardens. It is housed in the Church of St Mary-at-Lambet. The collection includes garden artifacts and objects, including tools and art, in addition to an exhibit about how to design a garden.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Garden Museum.

• The Sackler Garden
• A recreation of Tradescant's 17th-century Ark
• The evolution of gardening

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £10 per person
• 📍 5 Lambeth Palace Rd, Lambeth, London SE1 7LB, United Kingdom

Museum of Immigration and Diversity

Cultural Center

The Museum of Immigration and Diversity, located at 19 Princelet Street, is a museum focused on British immigration and diversity. The museum is housed in a Grade II built that was built in 1719. Due to the building's delicate structural nature, the museum only opens for a few days every year. It was Europe's first museum dedicated to immigration and diversity.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Museum of Immigration and Diversity.

• Suitcases and Sanctuary

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £ per person
• 📍 19 Princelet St, Spitalfields, London E1 6QH, United Kingdom

Museum of Wimbledon

History Museum

The Museum of Wimbledon is not what you might be thinking: It is not a museum dedicated to the popular tennis tournament. Instead, the Museum of Wimbledon is a local history museum in Wimbledon that is run by The Wimbledon Society. The museum is a small operation that is only open on weekends. The museum often hosts special exhibits like Hidden treasures: Art & Artists in Wimbledon.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Museum of Wimbledon.

• Wimbledon Now and Then
• Hidden treasures: Art & Artists in Wimbledon
• Wimbledon in the Great War

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 22 Ridgway, Wimbledon, London SW19 4QN, United Kingdom

St Paul's Cathedral

Religious Museum

St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral on Ludgate hill at London's highest point. It is the seat of the Bishop of London and the mother church of the Diocese of London. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building on England's National Heritage List. The cathedral today was built in the 1600s, though it is dedicated to Paul the Apostle and the original church on the same site, which was founded in 604.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at St Paul's Cathedral.

• The cathedral's dome
• The monument to the Duke of Wellington
• The apse and high altar

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 St. Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD, United Kingdom

Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum

Specialty Museum

Now we've come to the expected sports version of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. This museum is the world's biggest tennis museum. The museum's collection includes objects dating back to the mid 1500s. It houses an incredible amount of memorabilia, including some from Victorian era tennis players. The museum recently incorporated a VR experience for visitors to engage with directly.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.

• Visit Centre Court
• Guided tours available in eight languages
• Go behind the scenes of the All England Lawn Tennis Club

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £13 per person
• 📍 Church Rd, Wimbledon, London SW19 5AE, United Kingdom

Museum of Life Sciences

Natural History Museum

The Museum of Life Sciences is a natural history museum that is part of King's College London. It was the first new museum in King's College in more than 100 years when it opened in 2009. The museum owns a historic biological and pharmaceutical collections ranging in age from the 1800s to the present. There are several main collections: zoological, botanical, pharmaceutical, microscope slide, and Craniofacial Skeletal collections. The museum is not open to the public as of late 2019.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Museum of Life Sciences.

• Darwin’s Dilemma
• Animal Materials and Making
• How large animals (including humans) overcome gravity

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 20 Newcomen St, London SE1 1UL, United Kingdom

Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare

Specialty Museum

Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare is a small garden temple built in 1756 on the River Thames. The temple was built by actor David Garrick to honor William Shakespeare; it has since turned into a museum meant to honor Garrick, as well. The temple displayed Garrick's extensive personal collection of Shakespearean artifacts. It is considered to be the world's only true shrine to William Shakespeare.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare.

• Views of the Thames
• A replica of Roubiliac's statue of Shakespeare (Garrick served as the model)
• The gardens

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Hampton Ct Rd, Hampton TW12 2EJ, United Kingdom

The Guards Museum

War Museum

The Guards Museum in London is a military museum located near Buckingham Palace, where regiments of Foot Guards (the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, and Welsh Guards) call home. The museum showcases the history of the regiments dating back to the 1600s with artifacts include uniforms, paintings, sculptures, and weapons.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at The Guards Museum.

• Mess Silver
• A Ferret armoured car

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £8 per person
• 📍 Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, London, SW1E 6HQ

London Museum of Water & Steam

Specialty Museum

The London Museum of Water & Steam is dedicated to the history of water and steam in the city. The museum has a large collection of water pumping steam engines from 1820 through 1910. Other items in the collection include working Cornish engines, which includes the world's largest such engine. The museum caters to families and children, crafting interesting and engaging programming for kids, to include a railway and Wren Class steam locomotive.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at London Museum of Water & Steam.

• Grand Junction 90 inch Cornish engine
• Harvey & Co. 100 inch
• Bull engine

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £13 per person
• 📍 Green Dragon Ln, Brentford TW8 0EN, United Kingdom

Battle of Britain Bunker

War Museum

The Battle of Britain Bunker is an underground operations room at that was once used by No. 11 Group Fighter Command during World War II. The military controlled fighter jet ops from the bunker. Today, the bunker and its attached museum can be toured to gain a deeper understanding of the bunker's role in British World War II history.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Battle of Britain Bunker.

• Replica Spitfire gate guardian
• Royal Observer Corps Uniform
• Plotted points on the table

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £7 per person
• 📍 Wren Ave, Uxbridge UB10 0BE, United Kingdom

Foundling Museum

History Museum

The Foundling Museum in London tells the story of the UK’s first children’s charity and its first public art gallery – the outcome of a centuries-old project designed to care for and educate London’s most vulnerable children. The museum's collection includes the Foundling Hospital collection and the Gerald Coke Handel collection. Today the Foundling Museum’s mission is to inspire change through the power of the arts.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Foundling Museum.

• William Hogarth's 'March of the Guards to Finchley'
• A copy of Handel’s Will
• Tokens left by mothers with their babies in the Hospital’s earliest years

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £14 per person
• 📍 40 Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AZ, United Kingdom

Bankside Gallery

Art Museum

The Bankside Gallery in London was opened in 1980 by Her Majesty, the Queen. The public gallery, located near the Thames, houses the Royal Watercolour Society and Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. The gallery displays rotating exhibits focused on modern watercolours and prints.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Bankside Gallery.

• The Art of Travel
• The Masters: Relief
• Mini Picture Show

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 48 Hopton St, London SE1 9JH, United Kingdom

Strawberry Hill House & Garden

Historic Site

The Strawberry Hill House & Garden is a Gothic Revival villa that was designed in the late 1700s. It started as a vision for a cottage set on five acres, but finished as a Gothic castle set on more than 40. While the original owner named it Chopped Straw Hill, the designer renamed it Strawberry Hill Shot instead. Today, the house and gardens are open to the public. The house is the site of lectures, events, and twilight tours.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Strawberry Hill House & Garden.

• Twilight Tour
• Gothic Stories for Grown ups
• Strawberry Hill House Christmas Festival

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £5 per person
• 📍 268 Waldegrave Rd, Twickenham TW1 4ST, United Kingdom

Valence House Museum

History Museum

Valence House Museum in London is the only surviving of the five manor houses of Dagenham. The house has a moat partially surrounded the building, which has been used in several ways over the course of history, from being a manor house to a family home to a town hall to a library headquarters and to its present day set up as a history museum dedicated to chronicling historic life in Barking and Dagenham

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Valence House Museum.

• Our Everyday Futures
• Battle of the Somme at 100
• Barking Abbey

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Becontree Ave, Dagenham RM8 3HT, United Kingdom

Whitechapel Gallery

Art Museum

Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery and museum in London that first opened in 1901. At the time, it was one of the first publicly funded galleries designed for temporary exhibits. Whitechapel Gallery is home to the art of contemporary artists, temporary exhibits, and events designed for the local community.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Whitechapel Gallery.

• Anna Maria Maiolino: Making Love Revolutionary
• Eileen Simpson and Ben White (Open Music Archive): Once Heard Before
• ”la Caixa” Collection of Contemporary Art

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 77-82 Whitechapel High St, Shadwell, London E1 7QX, United Kingdom

Royal Academy of Music Museum

Specialty Museum

The Royal Academy of Music Museum is a museum of musical instruments, artifacts, and objects attached to London's Royal Academy of Music. Since its origins in 1822, the Academy has built up a collection of instruments, manuscripts, letters, performance editions, teaching materials, and memorabilia.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Royal Academy of Music Museum.

• Yehudi Menuhin: Journeys with a violin
• The Strings gallery
• The Piano gallery

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 1–5 York Gate, Marylebone Rd, Marylebone, London NW1 5HT, United Kingdom

Bethlem Museum of the Mind

Specialty Museum

The Bethlem Museum of the Mind is a museum focused on the history of the Royal Bethlem Hospital. Inside the museum is an art gallery that was created in 1997 as a way to showcase the art of artists who are currently or were once patients of the hospital. Famed patients with work on display at the museum include William Kurelek, Richard Dadd and Louis Wain.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Bethlem Museum of the Mind.

• Impatient! Stories of service user advocacy
• Testimony: First Person Accounts of the British Asylum System, 1925-1985

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Bethlem Royal Hospital, Monks Orchard Rd, Beckenham BR3 3BX, United Kingdom

Burgh House & Hampstead Museum

Historic Site

The Burgh House & Hampstead Museum is a London historic house and museum. Burgh House was first built in 1704. Famous inhabitants include Dr. George Williamson, Captain Constantine Evelyn Benson, the daughter of author Rudyard Kipling, and, in the late 1800s, the Royal East Middlesex Militia, who used it as their headquarters. Burgh House and the Hampstead Museum display local history and culture exhibits and artifacts, the world's biggest Helen Allingham collection, and host events and exhibits with local community appeal.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Burgh House & Hampstead Museum.

• The Helen Allingham collection
• The Doctor and His Mother
• Art Aiding Politics

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Burgh House New End Square London NW3 1LT

Honourable Artillery Company Museum

War Museum

The Honourable Artillery Company Museum opened in 1987; it then closed and underwent a complete rebuild. The Duke of Edinburgh reopened the museum in 2011. The collection is dedicated to the Honourable Artillery Company and includes uniforms, silver, medals, weapons, equipment, art, and armour dating back to the 1530s with a special emphasis on the 1600s and 1700s militia. Appointments are required to visit, though admission is free.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Honourable Artillery Company Museum.

• 400 sets of medals
• Weapons collection
• Uniforms collection

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 City Rd, London EC1Y 2BQ, United Kingdom

Islington Museum

Archaeological Museum

Islington Museum is a public local history museum focused on the history of Islington in London. Housed in the basement of the Finsbury Library, the Islington Museum focuses on nine aspects of local and social Islington history, from childhood and food to fashion and leisure to radicals and wartime. Top things to see include a bust of Vladimir Lenin and book covers defaced by Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Islington Museum.

• Islington People’s Rights
• Mapping Islington: Historic maps and plans of Islington
• Echoes of Holloway Prison: Hidden voices from behind the wall

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 245 St John St, Clerkenwell, London EC1V 4NB, United Kingdom

Bentley Priory Museum

Historic Site

The Bentley Priory Museum was a home and park built in the 17-1800s in London. Initially it served as a medieval priory, wThose original remains don't exist any longer. In the late 1770s, a mansion was built near the original site. Eventually, it became a hotel and girls' school before being acquired by the Royal Air Force in 1926. During World War II, the priory served as the RAF Fighter Command headquarters and was part of the RAF until 2008. The museum is now a memorial to those who served in the Royal Air Force.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Bentley Priory Museum.

• The ACM Dowding
• Battle of Britain aircrew
• Battle of Britain heritage trail

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £9 per person
• 📍 Mansion House Drive, Stanmore HA7 3FB, United Kingdom

Faraday Museum

Archaeological Museum

The Faraday Museum is part of the Royal Institution. It was created in 1973 as a tribute to scientist Michael Faraday. The museum's main attraction is Faraday's 1850s lab, which is shown as it was during his time and is not a reconstruction. That lab is placed next to a modern nanotechnology lab to highlight the differences between the two.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Faraday Museum .

• Michael Faraday's 1850s lab
• State of the art nanotech lab
• Is obesity a choice?

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Albemarle St, Mayfair, London W1S 4BS, United Kingdom

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum

Specialty Museum

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum was established in 1842 and traces the history of pharmacy in Britain. The museum collections date back to the 1400s with objects like early books, medicines, drug jars, mortars, medical caricatures, and oil paintings.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at The Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum.

• The Early Printed Books Collection, including herbals and early pharmacopoeias from the 1400s
• The Early Printed Books Collection, including herbals and early pharmacopoeias from the 1400s

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 66-68 E Smithfield, Whitechapel, London E1W 1AW, United Kingdom

British Optical Association Museum

Specialty Museum

The British Optical Association Museum was founded in 1901 in London to chronicle the history of spectacles and optometry. Today, the collection also includes tools of the optometry trade and optometry art. The collection includes more than 27,000 different items and is considered to be one of the world's best subject matter collections. The British Optical Association Museum is the oldest museum in the world about optometry that is open to the public. Appointments are required.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at British Optical Association Museum.

• Pathos Ocularis - The Beautiful and the Curious
• Monocles!
• We Called to See You - Visual Aspects of Victorian and Edwardian Cartes-de-visite Portrait Photographs

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 42 Craven St, Charing Cross, London WC2N 5NG, United Kingdom

Alexander Fleming Museum

History Museum

The Alexander Fleming Museum is located inside London's St Mary's Hospital. The museum is dedicated to Fleming's discovery of the antibiotic penicillin at the hospital in 1928. The discovery won Fleming the Nobel Prize. The Fleming Museum has won numerous awards, including International Historic Chemical Landmark.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Alexander Fleming Museum.

• Fleming's laboratory
• Interactive video displays explaining penicillin

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £4 per person
• 📍 135a Praed St, Paddington, London W2 1QY, United Kingdom

Kennel Club Dog Art Gallery

Specialty Museum

The Kennel Club Dog Art Gallery is home to the largest collection of dog paintings in Europe. Famous dog artists such as Maud Earl, George Earl, Richard Ansdell, Arthur Wardle, and Cecil Aldin are on display at the gallery. Types of art featuring dogs on display include oil paintings, watercolours, prints and sculptures. Advanced appointments are required.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Kennel Club Dog Art Gallery.

• Dogs in War
• Royal Dogs
• The Fox Terrier in Art

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £5 per person
• 📍 10 Clarges St, Mayfair, London W1J 8AB, United Kingdom

Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Library

The Library and Museum of Freemasonry in London has a collection full of masonic objects, ranging from jewelry to ceramics to pottery to books to manuscripts to clocks to silverware. The collection also contains items from other societies and orders, like Sons of the Phoenix and the Oddfellows. The museum has memorabilia from famous names like King George IV, King Edward VII, Winston Churchill, Oscar Wilde, and Rudyard Kipling.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Library and Museum of Freemasonry.

• William Perfect
• Three Centuries of English Freemasonry
• A 230-year-old throne

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 60 Great Queen St, Holborn, London WC2B 5AZ, United Kingdom

Museum of Comedy

Specialty Museum

The Museum of Comedy in London is housed in the crypt of St George's Church. The space was initially converted to be an art gallery before the Museum of Comedy moved in. The museum's collection highlights British comedic history with posters, props, outfits, costumes, films, scripts, and photographs.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Museum of Comedy.

• Mistress to the Midnight
• Will Seaward’s Spooky Ghost Stories VI
• Alternative Comedy Legends

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 The Undercroft, St George’s Church, Bloomsbury Way, Holborn, London WC1A 2SR, United Kingdom

Ragged School Museum

Specialty Museum

The Ragged School Museum in London opened in 1990 at the former Dr Barnardo's Copperfield Road Ragged School. The school opened in 1877 to provide the children in the area with a basic education, making it the biggest school of its kind for the period. By 1908, the government had taken over public education and the school was closed. Later, the building was used as a factory before being turned into the museum it is today.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Ragged School Museum.

• Ragged Music Festival
• A Victorian Classroom
• History Talks

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 46-50 Copperfield Rd, London E3 4RR, United Kingdom

South London Gallery

Art Museum

The South London Gallery was founded in London in 1891, and is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art. The SLG hosts five exhibitions each year dedicated to the art of international creators. The gallery also hosts a live art and film program.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at South London Gallery.

• Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2019
• Danh Vo's Untitled
• Orozco garden

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 65 Peckham Rd, London SE5 8UH, United Kingdom

Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide

Library

The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide is the oldest organization in the world devoted to the study of the Holocaust. The Wiener Library was founded in 1933 to keep Jewish communities up to date on Nazi persecution. Later, it became a research institute and public access library following the end of World War II. The library today has an estimated 70,000 books, 2,000 document, 45,000 photographs and 3,000 periodicals.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide.

• Berlin/London: The Lost Photographs of Gerty Simon
• Bernard Simon’s Experiences of Internment During the Second World War
• Josiah Wedgwood and the Defence of Democracy

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 29 Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 5DP, United Kingdom

Forty Hall Museum

Historic Site

Forty Hall Museum is located in a manor house built in the 1600s in northern London. The Grade I listed building houses the museum that tells its historic tale. The museum is particularly focused on exploring and preserving stories about the experiences of occupant Sir Nicholas Rainton and London life in the 1600s.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Forty Hall Museum.

• Activities for children include building a castle, playing dress up, and using a historic kitchen
• The Stable Gateway
• The lake

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Forty Hall Farm, Enfield EN2 9HA, United Kingdom

Heath Robinson Museum

Archaeological Museum

The Heath Robinson Museum is a biographical museum dedicated to the life and art of its namesake. The museum displays memorabilia, artwork, and objects from the life of Heath Robinson, as well as hosts exhibitions and events that support Robinson's life mission and vision. Admission to the museum is free.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Heath Robinson Museum.

• Heath Robinson Watercolours
• Fairies in Illustration
• After Post-Impressionism—Fauvism and Expressionism

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 50 W End Ln, Pinner HA5 1AE, United Kingdom

Hampton Court Palace

Historic Site

Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in London on the River Thames. King Henry VIII initially ordered construction of the palace to begin in 1515 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey; within 15 years, Wolsey was no longer a favorite of the king and so he returned the palace to the monarch. Hampton Court Palace is one of just two surviving palaces from the reign of King Henry VIII. It is now owned by Queen Elizabeth II.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Hampton Court Palace.

• The Lost Dress of Elizabeth I
• The Haunted Gallery
• Hampton Court Gardens

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £22 per person
• 📍 Molesey, East Molesey KT8 9AU, United Kingdom

Headstone Manor and Museum

Historic Site

Headstone Manor and Museum, or Harrow Museum, is a local history museum for London's Borough of Harrow. The Harrow Museum has four historic buildings on site which together comprise Headstone Manor, which was built in 1310. To this date, Headstone Manor is still surrounded by a moat, which is the only surviving moat with water in it in all of Middlesex.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Headstone Manor and Museum.

• Music Harrow!
• Painting to Music
• The Moat!

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Headstone Recreation Ground, Pinner View, Harrow HA2 6PX, United Kingdom

Handel & Hendrix in London

Specialty Museum

Handel & Hendrix in London is a museum chronicling the lives of composer George Frideric Handel and guitarist Jimi Hendrix who lived in neighboring homes on Brook Street. The museum has been restored to look the way it did when Handel and Hendrix were residents.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Handel & Hendrix in London.

• Handel's correspondence
• Original manuscripts
• John Mainwaring's biography of Handel with handwritten notes

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £10 per person
• 📍 25 Brook St, Mayfair, London W1K 4HB, United Kingdom

Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture

Art Museum

The Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture is a London museum that is home to an impressive collection of 19th and 20th century home decorative arts. The Arts Council England recognized the collection as providing outstanding international value. The MoDA also has the Sir James Maude Richards Library of architectural books on a long-term loan. Appointments are required to visit.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture.

• The Silver Studio Collection
• The Charles Hasler Collection
• The Crown Wallpaper Archive

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 9 Boulevard Dr, London NW9 5HF, United Kingdom

Somerset House

Art Museum

Somerset House is a museum and historic house located in a Neoclassical building that overlooks the River Thames. The Somerset House, built in 1796, is an arts centre that is open to the public with free admission almost every day of the year. Free guided tours of the grounds are offered twice per week and the museum often offers special exhibits like Mary Sibande's I Came Apart At The Seams.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Somerset House.

• 24/7
• Historical Highlights Tour
• Mary Sibande's I Came Apart At The Seams

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 Strand, London WC2R 1LA, United Kingdom

The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History

Encyclopedic Museum

The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History is a small eclectic museum and bar in London. The museum was funded via Kickstarter campaign in 2015 and it is run by Viktor Wynd and apart of The Last Tuesday Society. The museum's strange collection includes a two-headed kitten, two-headed lambs, Fiji mermaids, and hariballs. The museums' objects date back several centuries. Fun hint: Ask for tea with your admission.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History.

• A two-headed kitten and a two-headed lamb
• The largest collection of work by Austin Osman Spare
• Fiji mermaids

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £6 per person
• 📍 11 Mare St, London E8 4RP, United Kingdom

Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum

Specialty Museum

The Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum sits in a Grade II listed former Victorian waste water pumping station. The museum is dedicated to chronicling the technology, transport and industrial history of the Walthamstow area. The collection houses an impressive list of transport and machinery from steam engines to workshops to original tube cars to firefighting equipment.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum.

• Marshall 'C' class steam engines
• A machine workshop
• An original 1968 Victoria Line tube car

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £0 per person
• 📍 10 S Access Rd, Walthamstow, London E17 8AX, United Kingdom

Old Royal Naval College

Historic Site

The Old Royal Naval College is an architectural landmark of Maritime Greenwich. The buildings on site were originally built to operate as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich. This today is known as Greenwich Hospital, which was built between 1696 and 1712 and closed in the late 1800s. Shortly after its closure, it became the Royal Naval College until 1998. Today, the grounds are open to visitors.

Highlights

Here are some of the "must see" items at Old Royal Naval College.

• The Painted Hall
• John Michael Rysbrack's George II
• The Painted Hall of Greenwich Hospital as drawn by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson

• 🌐 Website
• 🎟️ £11 per person
• 📍 King William Walk, Greenwich Peninsula, London SE10 9NN, United Kingdom