The British Museum is the Smithsonian of the U.K. When first walking into the museum, you know you are in for a treat by the decorative carvings on the roof of the entrance.

The museum is one of the very few freebies in London. Combine that with the unparalleled collection of antiquities and this is a must see. If you have limited time, then I would suggest seeing the Greek/Roman exhibit and the Egyptian exhibit first. Otherwise, if you plan on making this a multiday event, then please take your time and enjoy everything the museum has to offer.

I found the Roman/Greek exhibit to be flat out, awe-inspiring. There are hundreds of marble statues on display, many of which depict politicians and characters from mythology. Hercules, Pericles, Athena, and Pan are a few of the representations you will see. Look for the majority of the busts and statues in the basement of the museum.

Among the other sites in the Roman/Greek exhibit, are the Acropolis, the front entrance to a temple and numerous pieces of jewelry and pottery.

The Egyptian exhibit was what I really came to see. I had always heard the British had an astounding collection and I was not let down. Statues of ancient god-kings, sarcophagi, the Rosetta Stone, stone tablets, jewelry and mummies are many of the pieces that will catch your eye. I found it amazing that the Egyptians could construct many of these items with simple bronze tools, water, natural elements and simple mathematics.

Besides those exhibits, the museum has exhibits dedicated to the Assyrians/Babylonians, Africans, Orientals, Eastern Indians and Middle Easterns. The bulk of the Oriental/Indian exhibit was pottery and earthenware, all of which I skimmed through. The Assyrian/Babylonian exhibit had a nice display of ancient furniture, altars, weaponry and statues.

Anyone visiting London should make this a "must see" when in the city. It’s truly the experience of a lifetime.

Phone: (020) 7636-1555
Open: Sat-Wed 10 am – 5:30 pm, Th-Fri 10 am – 8:30 pm
Admission is free
Closest underground stations:
Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square, Goodge St

The museum looks very modern inside, and very 18-19th century from the outside. What a contrast. You enter through the black iron gates and see the neo-classical façade with heavy columns supporting the portico. And then you come inside the museum and something unexpected happens. Inside there is a very large modern court, well-lit through the glass roof with a staircase in the middle. This is the Great Court that was built for the new millennium in place of the inner courtyard. Courtyard was blocked fom public view by the British Library that was moved to another location about 5 years ago. The Round Reading Room is in the center of the court and the staircase curves around it on both sides leading to the giftshop, bookstore and restaurant at the top of the stairs.

The museum is very large and impressive from the outside and when I approached it I felt like the character in the "Mummy" except that I couldn’t drive in a car right to the doors of the museum. That’s too bad!

If you want to see the largest collection of the most famous mummies from ancient Egypt – this is the place. I haven’t seen so many well-preserved mummies with sarcophaguses painted in bright colors. Seems like several dynasties are right here in front of you so close that if not for the glass you could touch them. The walls of several halls are covered with ancient Egyptian paintings with those famous static figures that haven’t lost the brightness of color either.

You can also see here the famous Rosetta Stone that was discovered in 1799 by Napoleon troops. The stone has the same message written in 3 language, 2 of which are ancient Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphics. This is probably the most important discovery in modern archeology. Thanks to this stone, scholars were able to begin deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. British Museum also has a large collection of Roman and Greek statues that came from English expeditions to Italy, Greece and Turkey in the beginning of 19th century.

The British Museum is a Mecca for historical enthusiasts everywhere. It houses the finest collection of archaeological and historical artefacts in the World, covering cultures from every corner of the Globe.

Despite some of its best known exhibits having been collected from abroad, notably from the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa, the Museum also displays the finest and most historically important artefacts discovered across Britain, and especially England. One of the major exhibits of the Egyptian department is the basalt slab known as the Rosetta Stone. The Greek treasures include the Elgin Marbles and a caryatid from the Erechtheum.

"Come on, Mom!" My eleven year old tugged impatiently at my arm as we ambled at parental pace through the awe-inspiring open space of the Great Court of the British Museum. His impatience was pardonable, given how much time he’d already spent studying and preparing reports on ancient Egypt for school. Now here he was primed to see the Rosetta stone, mummies, hieroglyphs, and all things Egyptian. The British Museum, which houses one of the best collections of Egyptian artifacts outside Cairo, was the perfect place to take him.

The scope of the Egyptian collection at the British Museum is impressive – spanning over five thousand years, from the pre-dynastic period through the millennia of dynasties, then through the Roman and Coptic periods, and onward through the Ottoman conquest of Egypt. It includes monumental statues, sarcophagi, hieroglyphic tablets, jewelry, household objects, scarabs, shabti, and, of course, mummies. It’s hard to imagine, touring the Egyptian collection today (it contains more than 100,000 objects), that it all began with about 150 small and poorly-understood pieces collected by Sir Hans Sloane, one of the 18th century’s great English "gentlemen collectors." Sloane’s private library and diverse collection later became the foundation of the Museum’s collection when it was established in 1753.

None of these facts, however, impressed my son. The Rosetta stone was first on his "to see" list, and we soon found ourselves standing before it. What would have happened, I wondered, if Bonaparte hadn’t invaded Egypt in 1798, setting up an institute in Cairo to collect and study antiquities? It was the later seizure of this French horde in 1801 by the victorious British that ushered in the golden age of Egyptology.

Today, visitors can choose from free "Eyeopener" tours of the museum (check the daily tour schedule), audio tours, or simply take advantage of the information posted in the museum. Since the Museum is vast, I’d recommend focussing on a particular area of interest – as we did with the Egyptian collection.

The Museum caters to children, not only in providing special tours and events at the Museum, but also in a broader educational sense. We did a great deal of "cyber visiting" at the Museum’s wonderful Ancient Egypt interactive learning site. Exploring this site will give any child of elementary or middle school age a lively introduction to Egypt and enhance his or her trip to the Museum.

In fact, as we entered a room with funerary objects, I began to appreciate just how well prepared my son was. "Look, shabtis!" he exclaimed, pointing to the small statues that are buried in a tomb to serve as servants in the afterlife. Later, we stood before an elaborate sarcophagus, deciphering drawings and hieroglyphs: here was the symbol for Ma’at, goddess of justice; there was Anubis, weighing the heart of the deceased against Ma’at’s feather.

This, I reflected, was the best part of visiting a museum: kindling ancient enthusiasms in modern hearts.

The British Museum is a behemoth of a museum, but a glorious one. Visiting the museum can be a bit overwhelming, though, unless you determine what parts of the museum you're most interested in visiting. For example, I decided to take a look at the Mildenhall Treasure and Anglo Saxon section on this visit, as in former visits I'd seen the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern sections. Still, there are vast sections of the museum I've never had stamina to visit.

Some of the highlights of the museum include the Elgin Marbles, the Rosetta Stone, and an amazing collection of mummies and other Egyptian artefacts (the best outside of Egypt, in fact). There are guides to and quick tours of the museum's highlights, such as the "Highlights" tour offered three times a day (8 pounds; tickets can be purchased in the Great Court). However, you may find such a whirlwind approach almost overwhelming. My advice, therefore, is to concentrate on one section of the museum and take your time. You can even sign up for a free Eye Opener tour and concentrate on a specific collection in the museum.

The newly built Great Court, built around the former British Library Reading Room, provides a wonderful place for the weary museum goer to sit in an open, airy space and have tea or browse through the museum shops. The Reading Room itself is my favorite part of the museum, a wonderfully historic place, filled floor-to-ceiling with rare first editions.