Museums
British Museum | British Transport Museum | Cabinet War Rooms | Imperial War Museum | Museum of London | Natural History Museum | National Maritime Museum | Science Museum | Sir John Sloane's Museum | Victoria and Albert Museum
There are over 240 museums in London. Among the more important are the British Museum (antiquities from all over the world), the Victoria and Albert Museum (applied and decorative arts), the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum, and the Museum of London.
MUSEUMS IN SOUTH KENSINGTON
The Natural History Museum contains imaginative displays of plants and animals, both living and extinct, from all round the globe. Its dinosaur galleries are always popular.The Earth Galleries explore the Earth's geollogy and include a simulated earrhquake.The Science Museum specialises in interactive displays designed to capture the imagination of children of all ages.
MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ART
The Victoria and Albert Museum, popularly known as the V & A, is one of the world's greatesr collections of rhe decorative arts,with extensive displays of furniture, jewellery, cosrume, sculpture and glassware. Among its treasures are Raphael's cartoons for tapestries in the Vatican and the enamelled Becket Casket, made to hold relics of St Thomas it Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury assassiinated during the reign of King Henry II.
MEMORIALS TO PRINCE ALBERT
The Albert Memorial was erected in 1872 in memory of Queen Victoria's husband, Albert. Built in the form of a Gothic reliquary, it is covered in mosaics and dazzling gold leaf. The Royal Albert Hall, which opened in 1871, is shaped like a Roman amphitheatre. It can hold nearly 6,000 people and is used for a variety of musical and sporting events, but it is best known for the annual summer Promenade Concerts.
THE NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM
If you’re interested in Britain’s seafaring history, this is the place to come. You can see the instruments sailors used to navigate their way and tell the time. There are also historical records of famous battles and expeditions made by explorers as well as a revealing area devoted to Britain’s most famous naval hero, Lord Nelson.
THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
This is an enormous museum which houses dinosaur skeletons, stuffed tigers and lions and a majestic reproduction of a blue whale. This is the perfect place to take kids or anyone interested in the natural world.
THE MUSEUM OF LONDON
One of the largest urban history museums in the world, the Museum of London's collections are as quirky, vast and varied as London itself. Visitors to the Museum can walk through the story of the city, from prehistoric times to the global city of today. In 2008 the GLA became the co-sponsor, along with the Corporation of London, of the Museum of London. Formerly part funded by the Department of Culture Media and Sport, it is now run entirely by London bodies, for Londoners and visitors to the city.