From ancient to more modern history, a visit to the Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum is a great way to spend the day. With its own dedicated entrance from the London Underground, the giant museum celebrates design - all elements from fashion to furniture through the years.

We commenced with coffee in the V&A tea rooms - the scones and cream are expensive but old fashioned and fitting in with the whole V&A experience.

There's a room in this museum for (it seems) almost every ancient culture. Progress through the ages to see more modern classics: furniture and gadgets we take for granted are displayed as history in the museum - it feels crazy! My favourite part was the fashion floor - I loved looking at clothes through the years up to today's haute couture.

It took us half a day to get through the permanent exhibitions - we didn't make it to the temporary displays. So leave a full day for the museum in its entirety, making sure to include the V&A shop - a perfect place for art-inspired presents!

You have to pay in but it's well worth a visit. Cultured and elegant, the V&A is a perfect place to spend a rainy London day!

I’m very keen on museums, and the Victoria and Albert was one I’d never visited. So this time, the V&A was on the agenda.

The Victoria and Albert is just over 150 years old--it was established in 1852 as the South Kensington Museum (it was given its present name in 1899). Originally housing a collection of art and science exhibits, the museum shifted its focus to the arts in 1913, and since then has been one of the world’s most respected art collections.

Being short of time, we couldn’t see each of the 145 galleries in the 11-acre museum. But among the most awesome exhibits we saw were:

1. The Raphael Cartoons, preliminary `sketches’ of Biblical scenes, by Raphael. Each was between 40 and 50 square feet in area, and all served as the bases for Flemish tapestries.
2. The English Galleries, crowded with amazingly well-preserved and interesting items from medieval England. There are embroidered jackets; the wedding attire of James II; lace collars, gloves and bedspreads- and a section dedicated to the exquisite embroideries of a certain 17th century maiden called Martha Edlin, whose major work was executed when she was about 12 years old!
Also part of these galleries are musical instruments and pieces of intricately carved furniture, such as the Great Bed of Ware, first mentioned in the 15th century as being at an inn in Ware (Hertfordshire). Shakespeare refers to the bed in Twelfth Night.
3. The Chinese Gallery, bursting with paintings, imperial robes, jade ornaments and utensils, and splendid porcelain, including a curvy Ming vase that you can touch. Another highlight of the gallery is a stunning imperial throne made of finely carved, lacquered wood. Lovely!
4. The Japanese Gallery, which, although it’s dominated by samurai swords and costumes, has some beautiful porcelain and woodwork (there’s a foot-long tiger carved from wood, its stripes lightly polished while the rest of its body had a matte finish. Exquisite.) Best of all were the netsuke, tiny and perfect carvings of birds, animals, and so on, that were used as counterbalances for items slung on a cord and looped through the obi of a kimono.
5. The two Cast Courts, massive glass-covered pavilions that contain plaster casts of the best classical European sculpture. Among the casts are Michelangelo’s David; an Irish cross; the pulpit of Pisa Cathedral; Trajan’s Column; and various friezes and statues.
The Cast Courts are about 150 years old- David, in fact, was gifted to Queen Victoria in 1856. The gallery between the two Cast Courts contains religious works, enameled reliquaries, carved ivory crucifixes, diptychs, and triptychs. Among the latter, a 9th-century Carolingian triptych is particularly lovely.

My verdict: a museum that’s hard to beat. If you like arts and crafts, do visit.
The V&A’s open from 10 till 5.45 daily, and till 10 on Wednesday and the last Friday of the month except in December. Entry is free. There’s a café, a shop, and free daily tours and talks. Check at the entrance of the museum for details on tours.

Even though we had been to London several times, we had never been to the Victoria & Albert Museum. I really wanted to go there, because I had read what a great museum it was, with interesting displays. I was very disappointed. There was some refurbishing going on while we were there, so some displays were closed or moved to other locations. I didn't find the little map available inside very helpful at all. It didn't list specifics of the displays, just the title of the display, which often wasn't descriptive enough to decide if I wanted to see it or not. The museum is absolutely enormous, so it takes a lot of time if you want to see everything! I did manage to see some beautiful silver objects and one gallery of artwork, but it was so hot in the museum that I really couldn't wait to get back outside. Maybe if I had done a little more research on it before I went, I would have enjoyed it more.

Wow!!! You'd probably need 2 days to see it all.

What I would see again: The Cast Room, the items from King Henry VIII era, and everything else!!! There literally is so much to see. The Cast Room has plaster casts of everything, from Celtic crosses to Michelangelo's "David." Such a great way to see items from all over the world in one place. The old dresses, the art nouveau tiles, the grand chandlier, the portraits...on and on. I don't think there is anything that the V & A missed. We ended up spending about most of the day there because there was so much that we loved. Even the wrought iron is beautiful. I love anything about British history so seeing reproduction rooms and garments were a treat. Also, lots of kids stations. This way they're not left out either. Except for special exhibits, it's free. Great stuff!! Plus, it has the best museum gift shop in London. I bought most of my trinkets from the shop. Postcards, kitchen towels, coins, you name it they have it.

Also, there is a really good museum cafe. We popped in there for some scones, clotted cream and tea for me (Mom needed a Diet Coke). Scones were very yummy. The Cafe had an extensive menu. If we would have known we would have had lunch there instead.

Affectionately know as the V&A, Britain's premier museum of decorative arts is one of the best (and certainly most family friendly) in the world. Considering the very large family produced by the royal couple after whom this institution that had been named the "Museum of Manufactures" at its opening in 1851, was rechristened, this is singularly appropriate. Perhaps as a result of its role in exhibiting both patrician and plebeian taste through the centuries, the V & A offers the best example of the combination of tradition and innovation that characterizes so much of London and its culture.

A large museum more in the mold of a spacious art gallery than the British Museum (its closest intellectual counterpart), it's somewhere you can rush through in a couple of hours, or take a day to appreciate in depth. Alternatively, you can focus on particular exhibitions of interest to you, although whatever you do, don't miss the impressive collection of South Asian art, authoritative British Galleries, or the unique collection of casts of famous sculptures that deserves to be a museum unto itself. (Actually, since it has two viewing levels so that you can see them from the ground and above, it practically is!)

The ground floor South Asian galleries are an absolute delight, not only because of the beauty of their contents but also because of the careful manner in which they're displayed and explained. Most European museums don't make as much of an effort to distinguish between non-Western regional styles, but the V & A's doing so allowed me to come away with a far better understanding of this area's venerable and diverse artistic traditions. The British Galleries, which span Levels 2 (1500-1760) and 4 (1760-1900) are concerned more with presenting the evolution of a single cohesive design tradition and do so admirably, if you have the slightest interest in history or art they're an essential sight in London. On the subject of the latter, the V&A has a respectable collection of paintings, but the third floor Sculpture Galleries, which present detailed information on the artistic process as well as works themselves, are more memorable. These sculpture galleries are adjacent to an overlook for the incomparable ground-floor collection of casts – surely the best collection of its kind in existence!

Impressive as the permanent collections are (although an unusually high number suffer from temporary closures), you shouldn't neglect to look into what temporary exhibitions are on display, particularly since these are often free – and the variety is breathtaking. In addition there are quite frequently various site specific contemporary art installations in the building itself. Even if you enter through the tunnel linking the V&A with the South Kensington tube station, be sure to stroll outside to Exhibition Road in order to both appreciate its context (the Science Museum, Imperial College, and Natural History Museum are across the street) and to note the damage its exterior suffered during the Blitz.

http://www.vam.ac.uk