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What to do and see in London, England: The Best Art Museums
The crown jewels, Buckingham Palace, Camden Market…in London, history collides with art, fashion, food, and good British ale. A perfect day is different for everyone: culture aficionados shouldn't miss the Tate Modern and the Royal Opera House. If you love fashion, Oxford Street has shopping galore. For foodies, cream tea at Harrod’s or crispy fish from a proper chippy offers classic London flavor. Music and book buffs will love seeing Abbey Road and the Sherlock Holmes Museum (at 221B Baker Street, of course).
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1. The British Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 72,631 reviews
A museum of the world, for the world. Discover over two million years of human history and culture. Some of the world-famous objects include the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures and Egyptian mummies.
Reviewed By kb147 - Lafayette, United States
Nearly everyone has heard of the British Museum and with good reason. The collections are absolutely amazing. This is the home of the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, and one of the best collections of Egyptian artifacts outside Egypt. (Controvery over whether Britain should be the custodian of these things aside.) But that is only the beginning. There are artifacts from all over the world: an amazing collection of Greek and Etruscan terracotta objects, Roman glass, the Sutton Hoo treasure, some of the most famous Maya stellae, beautiful torquoise mosaic objects of the Aztec culture; sections devoted to China, Japan, and the South Pacific. A serindipity of German "notgeld". And much more! One of the most wonderful areas is King George Library, the "Enlightenment Room": one could spend an entire day just there! That being said, one has to be prepared for crowds, particularly at popular exhibits like the Egyptian artifacts and King George Library. During the week there are numerous school groups clogging these areas and multiple tours in a variety of languages. One has to be patient: go see something 'unpopular' at peak times and try the popular things later. We actually saw the Rosetta Stone at one point with not another soul around. It helps to have several hours to devote here.
2. V&A - Victoria and Albert Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 31,918 reviews
The world's greatest museum of art and design.The V&A's collections are unrivalled in their diversity. Explore historical and contemporary art and design, including works of art from many of the world's richest cultures. Admission free.
Reviewed By TalDarkLeanMean - Staines, United Kingdom
The holy trinity of all museums. The V&A, Natural History and the Science Museum. Not in particular order but in one place. Named after the Royal love birds and power couple of arts & culture, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In fact the whole area is littered with their legacy. There's Royal Albert Hall, Albert Memorial, Imperial College and God knows what else. It's really a bad idea to to give yourself overdose and kill three birds with one stone (see all three in one visit) unless you're in London for a day or so otherwise you'll neither be doing justice to these wonderful places nor to yourself. Just to give you an idea in a nutshell that what this beautiful building holds inside, There are sculptures, textiles, photography, paintings, jewelry, fashion, music instruments, poetry, metalwork, woodwork, furniture, books, architecture and my personal favorite, ceramic and glass section. One lifetime is not enough to see all that.
3. Wallace Collection
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6,471 reviews
A free to visit, national museum in the heart of central London. Originally a private collection, the artwork was bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace in 1897. This attraction features one of the world's best collections of French 18th-century pictures, porcelain and furniture, plus a fantastic array of 17th-century paintings.
Reviewed By RoySensei - Mount Claremont, Australia
This is a MUST SEE - conveniently located off Oxford Street, in the Wallace Collection you'll have the most delightful collection of art works, suits of armour, elegant writing desks, exquisite porcelain, and other magnificent heritage items. Arrive mid morning and you can spend a whole day there - time very well spent and you won;t be disappointed. It's a one-stop-shop of culture and heritage.
4. Sir John Soane's Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,821 reviews
The unusual and unique home of Sir John Soane, eccentric architect of the Bank of England, presents a chimera of colors, unusual perspectives and decorative ornaments drawn from many centuries. Entry is free but timed tickets must be booked online.
Reviewed By MartinDee - London, United Kingdom
This is an individual museum as distinct as the individual who lived there. As you wander the house you go from the kitchen to a crypt as one might go to a bathroom. There you will find the most intricately carved Egyptian sarcophagus amidst ancient friezes and more marble statues than a Roman auction. It is a heady and cramped collection as you might have come across in the basement of the British Museum a hundred years ago. It is certainly more a place of storage than of show. There are no labels excepting those that came with some of the items originally. So you feel like you are finding the treasures yourself at an antiques fair. Should you wish to ask, there are knowledgable staff on hand to tell you the history of the house and details of the items. There is no photography allowed and watchful eyes keep the house a place of peace and enjoyable reverence. Entrance is free but a five pound donation is suggested for those that can afford it.
5. Queen's House
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 371 reviews
Serving as the Royal Residence, this historic house was commissioned by Queen Anne of Denmark, the wife of James I (reigned 1603-25), and now displays the National Maritime Museum's early art collection and sponsors special events.
Reviewed By UtahSavytraveler
This is actually our third visit -- it's next to the Maritime Museum -- and Greenwich is so charming, it's worth a visit just to walk around. This year there are portraits from Woburn Abbey (closed for renovations) which paired beautifully with what already exists in the Museum. A special highlight is the three portraits of Queen Elizabeth I (one from the Queens House, one from the Portrait Gallery, and one from Woburn Abbey). The three portraits are not quite identical so it's fun to figure out in which ways they differ. It's a beautiful building with an interesting history and a wonderful collection of portraits.
6. Somerset House
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 989 reviews
Somerset House is a spectacular neo-classical building in the heart of London, sitting between the Strand and the River Thames. During summer months 55 fountains dance in the courtyard, and in winter you can skate on London's favourite ice rink. Somerset House also hosts open-air concerts and films, contemporary art, design and fashion exhibitions, family workshops and free guided tours of spaces usually hidden to visitors. The Trust's mission is to conserve and maintain Somerset House to the highest standards and to develop the site as a public space which is universally recognised as a world class visitor attraction and centre of excellence for culture and the arts.
Reviewed By EmmanuelRayLive
London Fashion Week, Emmanuel Ray with Boris Johnson. British Fashion Council. Flashback photo 25th anniversary.
7. Jewish Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 295 reviews
The Jewish Museum London is for people of all backgrounds and faiths to explore British Jewish heritage, identity and culture. Set against a spacious and modern architectural backdrop with displays across four permanent galleries, the museum brings the Jewish story to life, placing it in a wider context of British history. Our education programmes, exhibitions and events encourage a sense of discovery and creativity and tell the story of Jewish history, culture and religion in an innovative and compelling way.
Reviewed By Q2400ECsandras - Maringa, Brazil
A rich place that makes us think about religion, tradition, migration, life and death. It makes us remember that the history of mankind is made of people and their actions... Definitely worth the visit!
8. National Portrait Gallery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5,724 reviews
**This place is temporarily closed** This world-famous museum houses portraits of noted Britons from the Tudors to the present day.
Reviewed By KatC389 - Seattle, United States
We STUMBLED to this museum, needed to kill about 45 minutes before our dinner reservation, oh my goodness! So happy we did. First of all, museum is free (those of us from the US are like WHOA--AWESOME!), donations welcome. We happily donated! As a amateur study of the Tudor & Stewart dynasties, this was FABULOUS. These portraits you only saw in textbooks, to be in the same room was awe-inspiring. The Elizabeth I portraits, the Shakespeare nook and the modern portraits were wonderful. Highly worth it, worthy of coming back, wish it wasn't my last night in town!
9. National Gallery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 39,791 reviews
The National Gallery houses the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries. It is on show 361 days a year, free of charge.
Reviewed By Noraatc - Sudbury, United States
It always happens to me: National Gallery takes much more time than I originally plan. I started with the Renaissance painters, spent plenty of time enjoying my all time favorites, Leonardo’s “Virgin of the Rocks”, Botticelli’s “Venus and Mars” and his portraits. Moved on to amazing El Greco, phenomenal “Rokeby Venus” by Diego Velázquez, Van Eyck and Vermeer, several Rembrandt’s portraits, which I had seen on display recently in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh... the list is very, very long, so I do not want to bore you with it... Around 2 pm the swarms of noisy school children have become unbearable, so I decided to take a break for lunch in the lovely National Gallery Cafe. After much needed lunch, I went to the Impressionists, the reason why I got stuck in the National Gallery for so long. What a stunning collection! The best Cezanne, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, whom I adore... phenomenal Renoir’s portraits, beautiful Claude Monet’s landscapes, famous Manet’s paintings “The Music in the Tuileries” and “Execution of Maximilian”... I stopped paying attention to noisy school kids and completely drowned in the beauty of the paintings forgetting about everything around me. Forgot about time as well... it was already 6pm, the Gallery was closing. Will be back and hopefully soon.
10. Royal Academy of Arts
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,134 reviews
Founded in 1768, this thriving center of artistic excellence is the oldest fine arts institution in Britain, whose exhibitions attract over a million people each year.
Reviewed By 962AndrewY
Klimt / Schiele Drawings a wonderful exhibition, masterfully displayed with informative narrative about the relationship between the two painters and the cross pollenisation of ideas between them. Some of the drawings contain adult themes, so not suitable for the younger audience. There is a requirement to book a time slot for entry but once in the gallery there is no requirement to rush the appreciation of the drawings. All in all a very enjoyable display of artworks which shows the thinking and development of the ideas towards some of the best know art works of the 20th century.
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