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British Museum

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SpeedcatBeth
SpeedcatBeth
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4 out of 5
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Editor Pick

British Museum

  • May 9, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Glamazon22 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
British Museum

Remember all those Art History and Western Civilization classes you took in high school? No? Well I do, and it felt like I was learning it all over again! Everything from ancient times you ever learned about is here, from Cleopatra's Mummy and the Rosetta Stone; to Gladiator armor and a bust of Augustus; to clocks and weapons from the 17th and 18th centuries; and to medieval jewelry, tile flooring, and much more. The British Museum has everything that tells the story of man from all six inhabited continents.

Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. Plan your whole day around this museum or choose specifically what you want to see. It is absolutely impossible to see everything; I should know, as I tried! Don't forget to stop and donate money (any amount you desire) so that these amazing treasures and finds can continue to remain free for the public to enjoy!

Take the Piccadilly Line to Russell Square and follow the signs. Or ask a local!

Caveat: Never ever go to any museum in England between 11am and 2pm! All schools choose this time to let their cattle roam wild. So, if you want to ponder the meaning of it all without screaming kids or are trying to keep track of your own children, use this time to grab lunch!

From journal London Calling

Editor Pick

British Museum

  • April 10, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by dina4 from los angeles, California
There are so many wonderful museums in London, so you really need to narrow it down when travelling with kids in order to make it enjoyable for everyone. We chose the British Museum, or as one of our friend's son's pointed out, "The Museum of Stolen Artifacts."

The best way to see this museum with kids is to decide ahead of time what you want to see, go straight to see it, enjoy it, and leave. The museum has a great website, so you can check out what you're interested in and be prepared. (We had five kids with us, ages 14, 13, 12, 11, and 10--not all ours!) We all enjoyed the Egyptian wing with the mummies and the Rosetta Stone. We also enjoyed seeing the Elgin Marbles, as we knew were later travelling to Athens. It was all fascinating, andyet we were in and out within an hour or so. We knew we had many more museum visits ahead in our travels, so we wanted to make it meaningful and enjoyable for the kids.

Be sure to also check out the beautiful library in the center courtyard. We also enjoyed taking the Tube to Covent Garden and then walking to the British Museum from there. There were lots of places to eat, and it was great people-watching. We did get a bit lost, so it's good to have a city map with you.

From journal Short but Sweet in London

British Museum

  • March 23, 2005
  • Rated 1 of 5 by Milja from Waterloo, Ontario
I didn't like this one. Very disappointing - since all museums in London are free, we thought we'd check it out - but the one thing we wanted to see (mummies), you had to pay extra for. The museum was huge but not great for kids.

From journal Three Weeks in London

British Museum

  • March 8, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by bettdr from Campbell, California
British Museum

The museum was great from the first room, where the Rosetta Stone is right in front of you in a glass enclosure. The best part is that you can take pictures of anything in the museum - no one stops you.

From journal London England Getaway 2005

British Museum - night viewings

  • November 13, 2004
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Kookaburra from Sydney, undefined, Australia
With very limited time in London, and a number of people with a passion to see the British Museum, we investigated the web and found that on a number of nights of the week (particularly Thursday and Friday), certain galleries remain open to the public till 9pm. This was a magic time to go, and we were lucky enough for the Assyrian and Egyptian galleries to be open the night we went. The entry dome at night is magic and gives you a feeling of immense space; this was accentuated, as the normal crowds were non-existent. One gift gallery at the entrance is still open and the reading room and restaurant are also open. We arrived at 5pm and stayed until closing, then caught a taxi back to Mayfair and picked up quick tea from one of the Marks and Spencer takeaway shops. We took this back to our hotel room so we could collapse, having been on the go since early morning after a 21-hour flight the day before.

The museum’s collection would probably need at least a week to do it justice, but the night viewings allow one to see the selected galleries in a much shorter time, due to the lack of crowds. They change which galleries are open on a regular basis, so it’s best to check the museum website for the schedule openings for the month you are planning to travel.

Entry was free. I can’t remember whether it was with our Great Britain Heritage card – I seem to remember that a lot of the public museums are free for viewing standard collections in England, except for special exhibitions. The website will tell you

From journal London in September

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