London is the largest city and the capital of England as well as the United Kingdom, so it has a wide variety of tourist attractions. If you want to hit the beach, check out the local cuisine, or do some shopping, you can find plenty of places to go all over the city.
But if you want to learn more about the culture of London, you should visit some of their 51 museums. Why not do some museum hopping and try to see as many as you can? Spend the day or the week hopping from one museum to the next, filling your brain with all sorts of cool info.
They have such a wide variety of choices that you will find something you love no matter what you are into. But you will have to drop off your bags at a London luggage storage facility first. You are not allowed to bring any large bags, backpacks and such into any museums in London.
The Natural History Museum
If you are wondering about anything that has to do with nature in London, this museum has it all. It is separated into four sections, with over 80 million items.
- The Red Zone has a bit of everything from a stegosaurus skeleton to rare gems and minerals.
- The Green Zone is a gathering of zoology and mineralogy with fossils, creepy crawlies, and birds.
- The Blue Zone shows you more dinosaurs as well as interesting tidbits about human biology and other mammals.
- The Orange Zone has a wildlife garden and the Darwin Center to explore botany, entomology, and paleontology.
Emirates Stadium Tour and Museum
For sports lovers, the Emirates Stadium Tour and Museum is not to be missed. The tour includes free headphones with commentary from Nigel Mitchell, Charlie George, or Lee Dixon. Your experience takes you to visit:
- The media lounge
- Pressroom
- Interview rooms
- Home dugout
- The players’ tunnel
- The dressing rooms
- The diamond club
- The director’s box
You will not want to miss the Arsenal Museum featuring video theaters, Charlie George’s 1971 Final Cup shirt, and the goalkeeper gloves worn by Jens Lehmann throughout the unbeaten season of 2003 – 2004.
The Science Museum
With seven floors of exhibits and interactive displays, you will learn more than you ever wanted in this science museum. You can learn about the past 300 years of technology and science or explore where the future of space travel may take us.
The museum has over 15,000 artifacts from Stephenson’s Rocket to the Apollo 10 Command Capsule. See what it’s like deep underwater or high up in space. Don’t miss the IMAX theater or the gift shop where you can get some really exclusive souvenirs.
Madame Tussauds of London
If you want to get some unique selfies, make time to visit Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Take a trip through Kong’s Skull Island or hit the runways in the Fashion Week exhibit. You can walk the runway with one of the models or see Kendall Jenner backstage.
All of the exhibits look totally realistic. Walk on the red carpet and rub shoulders with the stars before getting some photos with the British Royal Family. Take some selfies with the Terminator, E.T., or Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games.
Grant Museum of Zoology
For those who are into wildlife and zoology, the Grant Museum of Zoology has a collection like you will never see anywhere else. Nobody has all these under one roof:
- A Quagga Skeleton
- The Negus Collection of Bisected Heads
- Thylacines
- A Collection of Brains
- An African Rock Python Skeleton
- A Jar of Moles
You can take a guided tour or just explore on your own. Whichever you choose, you will come out of here knowing way more than you did about all sorts of things.
The British Museum
Go back two million years in the British Museum. Dedicated to culture, art, and history of the world, this place has been teaching and entertaining people since 1759. Two of the most popular items in the museum are the Rosetta Stone of Egypt and the Elgin Marbles of Greece.
With more than 13 million items to see, you may need to spend quite a while here. Some of the things you can see here include:
- Lewis Chessmen
- The Goddess Tara
- A shield from West Papua
- A Greek wine jar from 540 – 530 BC
- The inner coffin of Hornedjitef, an ancient Egyptian priest from 246 – 222 BC
- The brass head of an Ooni King of Ife
Make sure you stop in at the Great Court Shop to check out the interesting items you can buy. They make awesome souvenirs for the folks back home.
Churchill War Rooms and Museum
This museum is fascinating if you are interested in the history of Winston Churchill or the art of war. Visit the cabinet war rooms in the underground complex where the British government commanded the Second World War. Seeing the places hidden under the streets of Westminster is fascinating.
The Churchill Museum is a biographical museum based on the life of Winston Churchill and shows his personal quarters as well. The maps in the map room are exactly as they were in 1945 when the cabinet members left the facility. Get a private tour or just explore on your own.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum
Try to solve some mysteries at this fun museum located at 221B Baker Street, where the fictional detective lived from 1881 to 1904. You will be welcomed by a London Bobby in uniform and led by knowledgeable guides dressed in period costumes.
The whole place is filled with authentic Victorian items. In fact, you will find the largest selection of Sherlock Holmes memorabilia in the world at the gift shop. From books to deerstalker hats, you can find a plethora of mysterious fun in this four-story townhome.
After visiting all of these museums, you will know so much about London that you will be annoying your family and friends with trivia for months. Enjoy!
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/
https://arsenaldirect.arsenal.com/tour/home
https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
https://www.madametussauds.com/london/en/
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/grant-museum-zoology
https://www.britishmuseum.org/
https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms
https://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/