A Guide To The Best Museums In London

London is full of museums. From art to science, there is a museum for everything. Here are 4 of the best museums in London to visit. 

Science Museum 

The Science Museum is one of my favourite museums in London. It contains over 15,000 objects and aims to show how the world works as well as show our technological and scientific advancements. The Science Museum has many galleries. The gallery Flight is dedicated to showing the history of air travel and the gallery Exploring Space shows the science behind rockets and space travel. They have the Soyuz TMA-19M descent module which brought Tim Peake safely back to Earth in 2016. 

Many of the galleries are interactive. The Engineer Your Future gallery challenges your imagination and problem-solving skills to see if you can design a space rover that can travel over an alien planet. 

The Science Museum is free to enter however some special events or temporary exhibitions may charge. Due to the Corona Virus, The Science Museum is limiting capacity and you need to book your tickets online. 

Natural History Museum

Another favourite museum in London is the Natural History Museum. It has over 80 million items ranging from dinosaur bones to Journals and artwork related to scientific research. One of the most popular galleries is the Dinosaur gallery where you can find bones from a range of dinosaurs included the T-rex and the triceratops. They also Have an animatronic T-rex. 

The Volcanos and Earthquakes gallery shows how volcanos and earthquakes happen and how they have affected the Earth. You can see casts from the victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption of 79AD and objects melted by lava. You can also stand in an earthquake simulator that shows what it was like during the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan. 

The Natural History Museum is free to enter but some special events and exhibitions may charge. Again the Natural History Museum requires you to book a ticket in advance to limit capacity. 

London Transport Museum

The London Transport Museum shows the history of London and the development of its transport system. The museum starts in the 1800s and you can see what early transport such as the first busses looked like. You then travel through time and can see the development of the first underground trains. You then see what the first motor busses looked like before seeing what they have developed into today. 

This museum doesn’t just focus on vehicles, you can also see the development of tickets, logos and posters through the years. You can also see the development of the underground map. Seeing it grow as more lines and stations are added.

The London Transport Museum has many interactive activities including an area you can test your knowledge and see if you can solve problems faced by transport engineers. You can also sit behind the wheel of an iconic London bus. 

The Museum costs £18.50 for a ticket that lasts a year with children going free. You also have to book a time slot as the museum is limiting capacity. 

Imperial War Museum 

The Imperial War Museum has many galleries that show the impact of war on Britain and British people starting from World War 1. It also shows advancements in technology that have affected Warfare. It has many examples of aircraft and tanks which played a vital role in the war. 

The Imperial War Museum has a gallery dedicated to the Holocaust. It tells the story of some of the individuals who lost their lives during the holocaust with their personal items such as letters, clothes and even toys. The Holocaust gallery is not recommended for children under the age of 14. 

The Imperial War Museum doesn’t just focus on World Wars but has a gallery dedicated to conflicts more recent. It has items from Afghanistan, Iraq and even a piece of steel pulled from one of the Twin Towers. 

The Imperial War Museum is free to enter. You book a ticket for a time entry online although tickets are available on the day but you may be required to wait. 

I hope this has inspired you to visit some of the museums in London. There are lots more museums in London with many of them being free to visit. It can make a cheap and interesting day out.