These are 8 of London's best museums—here's why
Cultural collections in the British capital range from the mammoth to the highly specialised — and from the mainstream to the wonderfully bizarre.
No matter how niche your interests, it’s likely you’ll find something to satisfy your curiosity in the London’s 200 or so museums, exploring everything from science and culture to the country’s postal system and home life. We round up eight of the best.
1. Natural History Museum
The district of South Kensington is famously home to a trifecta of blockbuster museums: the Science Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and, of course, the Natural History Museum, housed in one of the country’s most striking examples of Romanesque revival architecture. The 25-metre skeleton of a blue whale suspended from the ceiling of its colossal central hall might be the most recognisable exhibit in London. The rest of the 80-million strong collection is a wonder of mind-boggling scale, spanning fossils, animatronic dinosaurs, taxonomy, coloured diamonds and much more. The museum is free but advance booking is recommended during weekends and busy times.
2. Design Museum
There could be no better home for this museum than the former site of the Commonwealth Institute in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Constructed in 1960, its geometric, glass-fronted facade stands in stark contrast to the traditional Georgian houses around it, setting the tone for temporary exhibitions celebrating modern design in all its forms. Recent examples have ranged from big-name American director Wes Anderson’s landmark retrospective, giving cinephiles unprecedented access to a personal archive spanning three decades, to a tribute to the legacy of Blitz, a nightclub that transformed London’s pop culture in the 1980s. Advance booking is advised.
3. Science Museum
This centre is located alongside the Natural History Museum, juxtaposing the natural and human-made. It does exactly what it says on the tin, though science here expands far beyond the periodic table. Galleries explore such topics as how mathematics has been applied to build everyday objects and concepts, from computers to the economy, and the evolution of astronomy and space exploration, with displays including an 11th-century Islamic astrolabe and a rock from the moon. It’s all interactive and unpacked without jargon — you can even see a lightning strike in front of you. Entry is free but pre-booking is required.
4. Wellcome Collection
The best way to describe this free-to-visit institution in Euston might be as a physical manifestation of an internet rabbit hole. Part museum, part library, it brings together art, science and medicine in rotating exhibitions providing a deep dive into the human experience, from ageing to fertility. The permanent gallery, Being Human, explores genetics, minds and bodies, infection and environmental breakdown in the 21st century. It’s designed to unsettle, and promises you’ll come away having experienced something new — like a bronze sculpture perfumed to smell like breast milk.
5. London Transport Museum
Red buses, black cabs, the Tube — London’s public transport is a city icon, and this museum documents how it’s evolved from its inception in the 1800s to the modern day. A variety of train carriages, buses and cars have found a home in the former flower market, conveniently located in central Covent Garden. These include a horse-drawn omnibus, an Edwardian double-decker tramcar and a steam locomotive used on the world’s first underground railway. Many of the displays are interactive, making it a good option or families, with free admission for under-18s. Meanwhile, the museum’s award-winning Hidden London walking tours let you crawl below ground along disused tracks.
6. British Museum
No trip to London is complete without a walk through the monumental Great Court of the free-to-visit British Museum — the world’s first national museum, opened in 1759 in Bloomsbury, the capital’s most learned district. It has one of the largest permanent collections anywhere, with over eight million pieces covering human history, art and culture: clocks and watches from 1300 CE to the present; sculptures from Amaravati, one of India’s most important Buddhist sites; even the Rosetta Stone, the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. Many of the artefacts were acquired during British colonial rule, and the museum often provides information on how the displays were obtained.
7. Postal Museum
Few things are more British than Royal Mail, and this museum pays homage to the 500-year history of the UK’s postal system. It’s located in Farringdon, a historic area now known for its offices and post-work haunts, but it’s below ground that the adventure really takes place. A 20-minute ride on the ‘Mail Rail’ train takes visitors on a journey through the narrow tunnels used to transport mail between London’s sorting offices between 1927 and 2003, past platforms and the train graveyard. The ride is not accessible, but wheelchair users can visit the rest of the museum, which displays stamps, posters and photos, and explores topics like wartime mail delivery and the role of animals in the service.
8. Museum of the Home
You may not think domesticity the most exciting topic to explore. This museum in an East London 18th-century former almshouse aims to change that. It recreates rooms from different British eras, exploring how home life changed through time. Examples date from a 17th-century wood-panelled hall, with an original Bible that would be read out by the father of the household, to an imagined 2049 flat, where a ‘farm-free machine’ serves up protein patties and ‘emission patrol drones’ fly outside the window. It’s one of London’s smaller museums, but there’s an incredible amount of detail put into the sets, including a complete re-dressing for each season.
