This museum is grand yet inviting. I would highly suggest taking the Highlight Tour (£8 per adult) for an in-depth tour of the museum. Otherwise, it can be very confusing. Overall, the best museum I have been to.

I kept telling myself that it would be overwhelming to try to squeeze a quick visit to one of the world’s greatest collections of human cultural history into our 1 week in London, but how could I not at least check it out? I mean, at least we could see the Rosetta Stone, if nothing else… So I dragged my companions to the Tottenham Court Road Tube stop and we forged on.

The first shock I received after walking in the main entrance was discovering that photography is allowed!! This was almost too much for me to take, especially since that was the day I had absentmindedly left the hotel without my camera! Luckily, though, my daughter had hers, and allowed me the use of it whenever I wished. We allowed ourselves only a few hours here, soaking up all that we possibly could.

The museum is divided roughly into the following areas: Britain & Europe, Ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece & Rome, Americas, Asia, and Africa. There are free gallery "eyeOpener" tours, guided tours, and audio tours available; we found the museum guides to be quite willing to help us locate a particular section or answer a question. In addition to hours of potential browsing, there are lectures, workshops, films, and children’s activities, such as drawing materials, games, and free hands-on sessions with genuine museum objects. There is a marvelous souvenir shop (though rather pricey), the Court Restaurant, a couple of self-service cafes, and even a family picnic area with vending machines.

For me, one of the most unforgettable sights was kind of hidden away back in the Greek & Roman Antiquities area. It was a Caryatid, which is a sculpture of a maiden that served as one of six columns of a building on the Acropolis of Athens. It was made in 415 BC and stood 2.31m tall. To me, the loveliness of this piece really stood out.

The British Museum is open daily from 10am until 5:30pm (8:30pm Thursday and Friday). Admission is free.

After trying not to trip over the tourists crowding around the rosetta stone or biding our time looking at the Assyrians hunting down the last of the native lion population in the Middle East, it was finally time to enter the Agatha Christie archaeology special exhibit according to our timed tickets. While the rest of the museum is free to the public (donations requested), the special exhibits, which last only a few months, have ticket prices for 7 or 8 pounds for students and more for adults.

Although the exhibit is "temporary," this is not obvious from the entrance (nor the entire exhibit) given the high quality of the presentation. The exhibit combines artifacts with a variety of other media including, photographs, text from journal entries or news clipping, and film/video where available.

The Agatha Christie archaelogy exhibit was organized chronologically beginning with her first trip to the Middle East and ending with the death of her and her archeologist (2nd) husband. The exhibit begins with actual film advertisement for the Orient Express and some of Christie's luggage that she took with her. I hadn't realized before how long it took people to travel just 50+ years ago. I flew to Venice in 1.5 hours from London, but it took her several weeks(!) on the train to get there. Then it's another long trip to get from Venice to Cairo to other interesting places in Mesopotamia.

After that eye-opener, the story progressed with artifacts from mesopotamia, pictures, journal entries, photos, home video of her at the archaeological sites. Because of her fame already as a detective novelist, Christie was invited by the wife of the head archaeologist, a big fan, to visit the site. This is where Christie met her 2nd husband and how her archaeological journies continued. For fans of her books, they even trace the history and origins of several of her books that were written while she was there.

Where this special exhibit excelled, and I assume others do as well, was bringing to life a whole other side of a what we thought to be a well known subject. Using their excellent research abilities, and huge collections of artifacts, the curators of this exhibit took us to a different time and place making the familiar unfamiliar and the unfamiliar familiar. The exhibit took about 2 hours to go through (at least) and our only complaint was sore feet. A wheel chair would be great as the whole exhibit is quite accessible. Reservations (can be done over the web--be sure to bring the print out receipt!!!! or they won't give you the tickets--huge glitch in the system) are highly recommended. Many people avoid the exhibit for the cost, but in this case if you have the time to go, book ahead and enjoy--the special exhibits are definitely worth it.

Special note: This particular exhibit is over now, but check out the website to see what the current special exhibit is.

Walk in through the main entrance at Great Russell Street to the glass covered Great Court and spend a moment marvelling at the wonderful view. It's even better at night, with the court empty of people and the night sky beyond the glass.

This majestic place can't be seen in just one day, so try taking a highlights audio tour, which will take you around the whole museum in a bit more than an hour. It costs $3.50 when I did it, and was enjoyable even if some of the artifacts were hard to find. After you're done, you can go back to revisit the spots that fascinated you most.

Their website is chock full of essential information. It's a great planning tool before you go. Peruse the site here.

In my opinion, British Museum is the greatest historic museum in the world. Parliament was inspired to found first public museum in 1753, after acquiring the extensive natural history and antiquities collection of Sir Hans Sloane. After adding Rosetta Stone and Parthenon sculptures Robert Smirke was commissioned to build this monumental building. The ground floor is the most impressive in the museum, featuring treasures from Greece, Rome, and western Asia. My favorites here are Two Winged Lions with Human Heads (Egypt, 870 BC).