It has a nice greek and roman collections. That's where I spent most of my time. It's definitely a great place to visit when you are in London.

This museum had it all, from mummies through to the much discussed Elgin Marbles (I played marbles as a kid and was expecting something a little different when I was confronted with the Elgin Marbles. I guess marbles have changed over the years!).

There is, though, something fascinating about death, be it in the form of mummies or the Lindow man. These exhibits seem to capture the fascination of all who visited the museum.

I also found the North American gallery interesting. Having grown up on a diet of Westerns where the Indians were always bad, it was interesting to see the cultural relics that had been collected over the years. It showed a different perspective of the North American Indians.

This is one world-class museum nobody can miss! And it's the best price in the world, FREE! Even the kids will like it! If you are without children on the visit, plan to spend at least half a day there, as it is so huge, it just takes that long to see the important stuff. I recommend taking an afternoon to see it. Tours and school groups tend to come in the mornings and that makes the museum crowded. Crowds make me feel overwhelmed and often the more important pieces are hard to see.

If you chose to go, you must see the Egyptian collection, the Greek and Roman collection (which includes the Elgin Marbles -- the Parthenon Friezes), and the Near Eastern sections. The bulk of these are on the first floor of the museum and are often jumbled up together. The Near Eastern collection includes a great deal of artwork from ancient Iraq and the section is almost always empty. The museum can be fickle about letting people in that section, especially if its crowded (the space is rather narrow), but be persistent. Slightly out of the way on the first floor is a collection from the Mausoleum of Hallicarnasus, an important Greek monument from Turkey. Don't miss it – it’s cool and you won't find as many tourists there as in the neighboring Elgin marbles. Also don't miss the Egyptian mummies on the second floor! The mummies are almost always crowded, but well worth the agony! If you have time, see the Roman Britain section on the second floor.

The new courtyard in the center of the museum is a great place to relax and have a cup of coffee and tea, too.

This is a must-see for anyone coming to London. There is not another museum like it in the world. It is kind of like the English version of the Smithsonian. If you are into ancient history at all, you could spend weeks here. Even if you are not, it is worth a look just to see all of the stuff that the British have "borrowed" from all of their former colonies.

The highlights can be hit quickly, but it takes a lot of self control not to read and look at everything. We ended up spending a total of about four hours here. The time can easily be broken up by having dinner in the neighborhood and then going back. The museum is open until 8:30pm on Thursday nights, so this is a great time to go. We loved this museum, but found the exhibit on early Britain cultures that they have at the Museum of Scotland to be better explained, easier to see in a reasonable time and more diverse. If you are also going to be in Edinburgh and are limited on time in London, skip the second floor of the British Museum and instead visit the Museum of Scotland.