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.

Wow, I said over and over. So much to see- a visitor can tend to gloss over many items. Best bet is to plan to visit here more than once and buy books to supplement what you've already learned you're interested in finding out more about. That's the main reason I keep a travel journal. This popular site also has a ample gift shop and cafe.

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).

The British Museum is one of the world's greatest historical collections. Vast and confounding, the many rooms include the Rosetta Stone and a great collection of Egyptian antiquities, as well as the Elgin Marbles.

Plan your visit well, and take advantage of the many comprehensive guidebooks available. Audio tours can also be helpful.

The museum recently reopened all its rooms after a vast renovation that will hopefully improve navigation.

Although you could spend weeks perusing the collections, don't miss the famed Rosetta stone or the Egyptian galleries.

Opening hours are 10-17:30, til 20:30 on Thursday and Friday. Use the Russell Square or Tottingham Court Road Tube stations for easiest access.

"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.