Location: Bloomsbury
Top Things to do in Bloomsbury
5 History Museums in Bloomsbury That You Shouldn't Miss
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).
Restaurants in London
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. Queen Elizabeth II Great Court
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 83 reviews
Part of the British Museum, this glass-covered atrium over the museum’s central courtyard contains priceless sculptures in the forecourt along with a restaurant, café, education center and center for young adults.
Reviewed By Koshkha - Northampton, United Kingdom
I love the work of the architect Norman Foster and the Great Court at the British Museum is one of his most accessible and instantly admirable works. Whilst the BM - like many of London's great museums - is a work of art in its entirety, the Great Court really does gild the lily. There's an amazing sense of space, light, and a feeling of being outdoors whilst indoors (always handy with London's weather) and the criss-cross patterns chop the courtyard into little diamond shapes whenever the sun comes out. The museum is free to enter and most people will want to stay for at least half a day, but if you're really in a rush or you love buildings more than their contents, just run in and have a quick look, grab a coffee and look UP.
3. The Foundling Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 502 reviews
The Foundling Museum explores the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity and first public art gallery. Established in 1739 by philanthropist Thomas Coram, and continuing today as the children’s charity Coram, the Hospital was set up as an institution ‘for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children’. Instrumental in helping Coram realise his vision were the artist William Hogarth, who encouraged leading artists of the day to donate work, and the composer George Frideric Handel, who gave annual benefit concerts of his Messiah. Discover thought-provoking exhibitions, contemporary art commissions, collection displays and historic archives, plus a lively programme of concerts, workshops, talks and special events, all enjoyed within beautiful 18th-century interiors. Explore the intriguing story behind this important London institution and the ways in which artists and children have inspired each other for over 275 years.
Reviewed By AmyA488 - Stroud, United Kingdom
Such a richness of things to see - where to begin? We opted to take the lift to the top and walk down - good plan, as the main staircase affords great richness of paintings on its walls. Perhaps less good - but would still recommend - we almost immediately were lured into the delights of the top-floor room dedicated to composer Handel - an early benefactor of the Foundling Hospital who bequeathed the rights to his great oratorio 'Messiah' to the cause. Four smart - and very comfortable - red-leather armchairs 'captured' us for almost an hour - each had four button options: different high quality recordings of pieces by the composer; in a folder at the side of the chair excellent texts gave information of his life, aspects of his work, alongside engaging contemporary drawings and illustrations. A full copy of his will, in his own hand firm and clear yet penned only two days before his death, listing more than 30 individual bequests, was similarly riveting. On the floor below, two grand rooms had been faithfully recreated to exact proportions from the original 18th-century hospital, the smaller one richly decorated with the original plasterwork ceiling, large biblical paintings by well known artists, detailed roundels of this and other charitable hospitals by the likes of Gainsborough. The largest room of all again ricjly endowed with portraits of early governors and benefactors of the hospital (striking that it was aristocratic women, not men who contributed generously at the outset). Most outstanding, Hogarth's totally engaging seated-portrait of the hospitals' founder, Thomas Coram, ruddy-faced, warmly smiling - the retired sea captain who tenaciously clung to and promoted his idea of creating this foundation for abandoned children for twenty years before he achieved supporters and funders, among them many well-known musicians and artists of his day. The hospital's connections with creative artists is still being maintained through fellowships and modern commissions. The ground floor gives an account of the work of the foundation, the life-style of the children committed to its care, with individual stories, objects, texts, illustrations. All is SO well assembled and presented, with great attention to detail. Even the toilets are well designed and have quality fittings. And I haven't yet mentioned the sensitively curated special exhibition presenting an in-depth exploration of depictions of pregnancy in art works from the 15th to 21st centuries: mainly in the basement gallery, but some parts on the ground floor. Allow plenty of time for this wonderfully rich experience (we were there for 3½ hours; it could have been longer, but we didn't arrive early enough in the day!) - we will definitely go again before long. The museum is also delightfully child-friendly - thoughtful activities, replica school uniforms to be tried on, etc – it is after all ABOUT young people . . . This is one of London's real treasures, the perfect example of the best things coming in smaller packages.
4. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 261 reviews
Reviewed By bodie1952
This is only a small museum but there are 8,000 exhibits in cases to view and that is only a selection of 10% of what they have. Entry is free and disabled access can be gained by speaking to the staff on the intercom and they will meet you at the lift in the adjacent UCL building. Staff are very pleasant and helpful. Allow a good couple of hours to look round the cases. Even so, there is a lot to take in during one visit. There is also a very good book about the museum, on sale at the entrance, for £15. We did, however, notice several incorrectly numbered exhibits in the new display cases at the entrance but it was fun working out where they really should be and it showed we were reading the labels ! Well worth at least one visit.
5. The Wiener Library
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 22 reviews
The Wiener Library is one of the world's leading and most extensive archives on the Holocaust and Nazi era. Formed in 1933, the Library's unique collection of over one million items includes published and unpublished works, press cuttings, photographs and eyewitness testimony. The Library traces its roots back to Germany in the 1920s. Dr Alfred Wiener, a German Jew, having fought in WWI, returned to Germany in 1919 and was horrified at the surge of right-wing antisemitism, which blamed Jews for the defeat. Dr Wiener worked with the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith to combat antisemitism, writing, lobbying and speaking publicly. From 1925 (the year Hitler published Mein Kampf) he perceived a greater threat from the Nazi Party than any other antisemitic group or party. Under his influence an archive was started just to collect information about the Nazis, which formed the basis of campaigns to undermine their activities. Dr Wiener and his family fled Germany in 1933 and settled in Amsterdam. Dr Wiener's first archive is believed to have been destroyed. Later that year he set up the Jewish Central Information Office at the request of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Anglo-Jewish Association. The JCIO essentially continued the work of the earlier archive. Following the November Pogrom of 1938, Wiener prepared to bring his collection to the UK. It arrived the following summer and is believed to have opened on the day the Nazis invaded Poland. Throughout the War the JCIO served the British Government as it fought the Nazi regime. Increasingly the collection was referred to as ‘Dr Wiener's Library' and eventually this led to its renaming. Post-war, the Library assisted the prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trial, amassed early survivor testimony and helped to shape the emerging academic study of the Holocaust. Today, the collection is among the largest and most respected in the world and continues to grow. In 2011 it moved to new premises in Russell Square and began a programme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to improve access and open its collections to the widest possible audience.
Reviewed By richardw519 - Worcester, United Kingdom
Friendly staff and an amazingly warm welcome. A peaceful reading room, well resourced with archive materials available by request. Whether for an insight into how resources about the Holocaust and genocides are curated, or personal research, this library is well worth visiting.
