London is home to hundreds of museums, from tiny backyard enterprises to large government funded establishments.

Many of these museums are housed in London's historical landmarks, with many more housed in purpose built buildings, many of which are museum pieces in their own right.

London's museum collections can cover any genre, from museums about London it'self right through to collections of ancient animal bones, clocks, music, film, medicine, history, culture, science, art, transport, finance and even comic books, London truely does have them all.

Due to this fact, I will cover only London's BIG FIVE in this article.These five museums are either London's largest, oldest, most popular or most famous, and due to either their reputation, research work or particular collections, are known throughout the world.

I will first introduce you to each museum, then give you location details, underground access and opening times. 

For exhibition news, floor plans and general information, please visit the relevant museum's website, listed at the end of each review.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

 Is situated on Great Russell Street in the City of Westminster and is home to over 7 million human history and cultural objects.

The museum's founder was Sir Hans Sloane, who made up the museum's first collections in 1753, when the museum was originally housed at Montagu House in Bloomsbury.

The museum was moved to it's present location in 1997.

This building has 9 departments housed in 94 rooms which are situated on 5 levels on 3 floors.

As well as being a museum of antiquities it is also home to The National Library and houses the controversial artefacts The Rosetta Stone and The Elgin Marbles.

Admission into the British Museum is free.

Opening times are daily from 10.00 - 17.30hrs.

The museum's nearest underground station is Russell Street.

ADDRESS - Great Russell Street, City of Westminster.

POST CODE - WC1B 3DG.

TELEPHONE - 020 7323 8000.

WEBSITE - .britishmuseum.org

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM. 

Is situated in 5 locations around England ( Manchester and Cambridge ) with 3 of them in London.

The museum was founded in 1917 by Alfred Mond to illustrate Britain's war effort.

The museum has moved location many times over the years, but is now situated on Lambeth Road in Southwark.

Another London location of the Imperial War Museum is aboard HMS Belfast, situated at the Pool of London on the River Thames, near Tower Bridge.

The W.W.II Town Class Cruiser which saw action at the Battle of North Cape, The Allied Invasion of Normandy and Korea, was bought by the museum in 1971 and is jointly owned by the The Ministry of Defence and The National Maritime Museum.

The Imperial's third location is Churchill's War Rooms, situated beneath the Treasury Building on Whitehall in the City of Westminster.

Opened in April 1984 by British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, the war rooms are a biographical museum of Churchill's life and war archives.

Between them these museums house over 10 million war artefacts and official papers from both the first and second world wars.

Admission into all sites of the Imperial War Museum are free and are open daily from 10.00 - 18.00hrs..

The museum's nearest underground stations are; for Lambeth Road Museum - Elephant and Castle. For HMS Belfast - London Bridge and for Churchill's War Rooms - Westminster.

ADDRESS - Lambeth Road, Southwark.

POST CODE - SE1 6HZ.

TELEPHONE - 020 7416 5000.

WEBSITE - london.iwm.org.uk

 Image courtesy of Stephantom, wikimedia commons.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM.

Is situated on Exhibition Road in South Kensington. The present building which was opened in 1881 as the Alfred Waterhouse Building, was founded by way of collections sold to the British government by Sir Hans Sloane.

Today the museum is home to over 70 million items of life and earth sciences which cover botany, entomology, minerology, paleantology and zoology.

The museum is made up of 5 zones, a former geological museum, the Darwin Centre and the Attenborough Studio. The museum is most famous for it's large dinosaur collection and research centre.

Admission into the Natural History Museum is free and the main entrance is situated on Cromwell Road. The museum is open daily from 10.00 - 18.00hrs.

The museum's nearest underground station is South Kensington.

ADDRESS - Exhibition Road, South Kensington.

POST CODE - SW7 5BD.

TELEPHONE - 020 7942 5000.

WEBSITE - .nhm.ac.uk

 Image courtesy of William. M. Connolley, wikimedia commons.

SCIENCE MUSEUM. 

Is situated along Exhibition Road in South Kensington in a building originally known as The South Kensington Museum.

The museum was founded in 1857 by Bennet Woodcroft by way of collections from the Royal Society of Arts  and surplus from the Great Exhibition of 1851.

The museum was originally annexed to the Victoria and Albert museum , but became a seperate entity in 1909.

Today the museum has 300,000 items from science, industry and medicine which are housed in 5 galleries over 7 floors, ehich also includes a library and both permanent and temporary exhibitions.

The museum, which is situated next door to the Natural History Museum, is most famous for exhibiting Stephenson's Rocket.

Admission into The Science Museum is free, although there may be a charge to view some of the temporary, visiting exhibits.

The museum is open daily from 10.00 - 18.00 hrs.

The museum's nearest underground station is South Kensington.

ADDRESS - Exhibition Road, South Kensington.

POST CODE - SW7 2DD.

TELEPHONE - 020 7942 4000.

WEBSITE. sciencemuseum.org.uk 

THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM - AKA THE V+A.

Also situated on Exhibition Road, South Kensington although the main entrance is at Cromwell Road, the V & A as it is known,is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design.

The museum was founded by Henry Cole in 1852 with collections from the Great Exhibition of 1851.

The museum was then housed at Marlborough House before moving on to Somerset House, before finally moving to it's present location in 1857.

The museum houses over 4 million objects and covers an area of 12.5 acres.

The museum consists of 145 galleries and 4 collection departments which each house 16 display areas as well as a reading room, theatre and gardens, which between them cover over 5,000 years of decorative art, from ancient times to present day.

As well as it's collections, the building it'self is also considered a work of art in it's own right, due to it's fine architecture and opulent, interior decor.

For admission times please refer to the museum's website below.

Admission into The Victoria and Albert Museum is free.

The museum's nearest underground station is South Kensington.

ADDRESS - Exhibition Road, South Kensington.

POST CODE - SW7 2RL.

TELEPHONE - 020 7942 2000.

WEBSITE -.vam.ac.uk 

FOR A COMPREHENSIVE  A-Z  LIST OF ALL LONDON'S  MUSEUMS, VISIT THIS SUPERB WEBSITE -  

                                                 britainexpress.com/Museums_in_London 

                                      madame-tussauds-waxworks-museums-around-the-world 

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