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Welcome to the wonderful world of London's museums! Without a doubt some of the most interesting artefacts and works of art can be found in these Museums. This is not a definitive list, but it includes what we would consider to be the best and most popular, and they are mostly free of charge. Click here for a list of free museums. Because the list is so long, we have chosen our recommended top. Enjoy!

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Bank of England Museum
Threadneedle Street
London
EC2R 8AH
Mon - Fri, 10.00 - 17.00
Admission FREE
Closed weekends, Public and Bank Holidays Except for Open House Weekend and Lord Mayors Show day.
+44 (0)20 7601 5545
Email: museum@bankofengland.co.uk
- The Bank of England Museum tells the story of the Bank from its foundation in 1694 to its role in today's economy. Ineractive programmes with graphics and video help explain its many and varied roles. Popular exhibits include a unique collection of banknotes and a genuine gold bar which may be handled

Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum
The Clove Building, Maguire St
London, SE1 2NQ (Butlers Wharf, 5 mins walk over Tower Bridge from Tower Hill Tube)
Closed Christmas and Boxing Day
Mon - Sun 10:00 - 18:00 every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Tel : 020 7403 5650
Fax : 020 7403 5650
E-mail: e.bramah@virgin.net   
Admission Charges
Adults £4.00 Concessions £3.50 Family Tickets (2 adults & up to 4 children) £10.00 Groups (20 or more) please phone 020 7403 5650 for details
- Everything you ever wanted to know about the importation and consumption of tea and coffee in the UK. It tells the commercial and social 400-year old history of two of the world's most important commodities since their arrival in Europe from the Far East and Africa

British Museum
Great Russell St, London, WC1 (Russell Square Tube)
Mon - Sat 10:00 - 17:00, Sun 14:30 - 18:00
Tel : +44 (0)20 7323 8299/+44 (0)20 7323 8000
Fax : +44 (0)20 7323 8480
E-mail : information@britishmuseum.org
www.britishmuseum.org    
Museum opening hours: Saturday - Wednesday 10.00-17.30 Thursday - Friday 10.00-20.30 Great Court Opening Hours: Sunday - Wednesday 09.00-18.00 Thursday - Saturday 09.00-23.00 Reading Room Opening Hours: Saturday - Wednesday, Friday - 10.00-17.30 Thursday 10.00-20.30
Closed 1 January, Good Friday and 24-26 December every year.
Admission Charges
Admission Free (except for special exhibitions)
- The British Museum holds in trust for the nation and the world a collection of art and antiquities from ancient and living cultures. Housed in one of Britain's architectural landmarks, the collection is one of the finest in existence, spanning two million years of human history. Access to the collections is free.

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre
33-34 The Market, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8RE (Covent Garden Tube)
Mon - Sat 10:00 - 18:30, Sun 11:00 - 18:30
- A baffling collection of wooden automata, some of which are for sale.
Tel: 020 8516 3134
Fax: 020 8693 7664
Email: info@cabaret.co.uk
www.cabaret.co.uk  
- It's a kind of exhibition or museum. It's a collection of contemporary automata, which is a kind of mechanical sculpture. Nearly all of the work in the collection is humourous.

Clink Prison
1 Clink Street, London, SE1 9DG (London Bridge Tube and Railtrack)
Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat & Sun, 10am-9pm
Admission Adult £5
Children (under16) £3.50
Senior Citizens (over 60) £3.50
Student (need I.D.) £3.50
Family £12.00
(2 adults, 2 children)
Tel: 020 7403 0900
www.clink.co.uk
- A harrowing vision of prisons of the past from the gaol that gave us the term 'the clink'.

Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art
53 Gordon Square, London, WC1H OPD (Euston Square/Piccadilly Square Tubes)
Mon - Fri 10:30 - 17:00
Tel: 020 7387 3909    
Fax: 020 7383 5163    
Email: rf20@soas.ac.uk
www.pdfmuseum.org.uk
- The Percival David Foundation exists to promote the study and teaching of Chinese Art and culture. Its unique collection of Chinese ceramics and its library of East Asian and Western books related to Chinese art were both presented to the University of London in 1950 by the collector and scholar Sir Percival David. There are approximately seventeen hundred items of Chinese ceramics in the Foundation, reflecting Chinese court taste and dating mainly to the period 10th-18th century. Many of these pieces are not only of exceptional beauty, but bear important inscriptions. A number of them have previously been in the possession of Chinese emperors, and inscriptions applied on the orders of the Emperor Qianlong (1736-95) appear on several of the pieces. Others, which were inscribed with dates and names at the time they were made, are historical documents of immense value.

Design Museum
Shad Thames, London, SE1 2YD (Butlers Wharf, 5 mins walk over Tower Bridge from Tower Hill Tube)
Open Mon - Fri 11:30 - 18:00, Sat & Sun12:00 - 18:00
ClosedChristmas Day Boxing Day
Tel : 0870 909 9009/0870 833 9955
Fax : 0870 909 1909
E-mail : info@designmuseum.org
www.designmuseum.org
Admission Charges
Adults £7.00 Concessions £4.00 FREE - for under 12s Discounts available for groups of 12 booking in advance: Adults £5.00 Concessions £3.50
- The Design Museum is one of the world’s leading museums of modern and contemporary design. Since its foundation in 1989, the museum has become the cultural champion of UK design and won international acclaim for exhibitions of modern design history and contemporary design innovation.

Dickens House Museum
48 Doughty Street, London, WC1N 2LF (Russell Square Tube)
Tel: 020 7405 2127
Mondays - Saturdays 10.00-17.00
Sundays 11.00-17.00
Last admission is 30 minutes before closing time.
Admission Charges: Adults: £5.00
www.dickensmuseum.com/museum.htm
- The Charles Dickens Museum in London is the world's most important collection of material relating to the great Victorian novelist and social commentator. The only surviving London home of Dickens (from 1837 until 1839) was opened as a Museum in 1925 and is still welcoming visitors from all over the world in an authentic and inspiring surrounding. On four floors, visitors can see paintings, rare editions, manuscripts, original furniture and many items relating to the life of one of the most popular and beloved personalities of the Victorian age.

Freud Museum
20 Maresfield Gardens, London, NW3 5SX (Finchley Road Tube)
Weds - Sun 12:00 - 17:00
Tel : 020 74352002
Fax : 020 74315452
E-mail : info@freud.org.uk
www.freud.org.uk
£4.00 for adults, £2.00 students and seniors concession
- Listed house in Hampstead where Sigmund Freud and his family lived after fleeing the Nazis in 1938. The Museum was founded in 1986. It has featured in numerous films and TV broadcasts and hosts regular exhibitions and events. It is available for hire for filming and evening functions. Where Sigmund Freud once lived and practised psychoanalysis

Imperial War Museum
Lambeth Road, London (Lambeth North Tube)
Open 10:00 - 18:00
Closed 24-26 December
Admission Charges: FREE
Tel : 020 7416 5320
Fax : 020 7416 5457
E-mail: mail@iwm.org.uk   
www.iwm.org.uk
- The Imperial War Museum is not a museum of the distant past, but about people still alive today, their parents and grandparents. The wars of the twentieth century have affected each and every one of us in some way, and the Museum is here to tell all our stories. We cover all aspects of life in wartime at home and on the battlefield.

Dr Johnson's House
17 Gough Square, London, EC4 (Blackfriars Tube and Railtrack)
Open: Oct-April Mon-Sat 1100-1700 May-Sept Mon-Sat 1100-1730
Closed: Sundays and Bank Holidays Please check our website for Christmas opening times
Tel : 020 7353 3745
Fax : 020 7353 3745
E-mail : curator@drjohnsonshouse.org
www.drjohnsonshouse.org
Admission Charges
£4.50 adults £3.50 concessions and groups £1.50 children £10.00 family ticket
- Dr Johnson’s House is one of the few residential houses of its age still surviving in the City of London. Built in 1700, it was a home and workplace for Samuel Johnson from 1748-1759, and it was here that he compiled the first comprehensive English Dictionary. Now restored to its original condition, the house contains panelled rooms, a pine staircase, and a collection of period furniture, prints and portraits. Situated to the north of Fleet Street, the house is found among a maze of courtyards and passages that are a reminder of historic London.

London Transport Museum
Covent Garden, London (Covent Garden Tube)
Tel : 020 7565 7299
020 7379 6344
Fax : 020 7565 7254
E-mail : contact@ltmuseum.co.uk   
www.ltmuseum.co.uk
London's Transport Museum is currently closed for major refurbishment until autumn 2007. The £22million project will transform the museum on the Covent Garden site creating new galleries, exhibitions and displays illustrating the past, present and future of transport in London and provide even more access to collections. All this will be completed by November 2007. Visitors can keep in touch by joining the Museum's e-mailing list. Email subscribers receive advance notice of the Museum’s programme of events, special offers, shopping and an exclusive preview invitation when the Museum re-opens.
- London's Transport Museum is closed until Autumn 2007 for refurbishment. The £18.6million project will transform the museum on the Covent Garden site creating new galleries, exhibitions and displays illustrating the past, present and future of transport in London and provide even more access to collections. All this will be completed by November 2007. Visitors can keep in touch by joining the Museum's e-mailing list. Email subscribers receive advance notice of the Museum’s programme of events, special offers, shopping and an exclusive preview invitation when the Museum re-opens.

Museum of London
London Wall, London, EC2Y 5HN (Barbican or St Paul's Tubes)
Tel : 0870 444 3852/0870 444 3851
Fax : 0870 444 3853
E-mail : info@museumoflondon.org.uk  
www.museumoflondon.org.uk
Museum and Shop opening times: Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 5.50pm Sunday 12.00 noon to 5.50pm Last admission 5.30pm Café opening times: Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 5.00pm Sunday 11.30am to 5.00pm
Admission Charges
Entry is free to all.
- The Museum of London tells the story of London from pre-historic times through reconstructed interiors and street scenes, alongside displays of original artefacts found during the museum's archaeological digs. A redevelopment project is currently transforming the Stuart, Victorian and Twentieth Century galleries. Our early galleries remain open and a series of topical exhibitions will keep the story of London alive. The Museum is committed to making its collections accessible to all who wish to learn from them.

National Gallery
Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DN, England
Tel : 020 7747 2885
Fax : 020 7747 2423
E-mail : information@ng-london.org.uk
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
Open daily 10.00-18.00, Wed 10.00-21.00
Admission Charges
Admission free
- One of the greatest collections of European painting in the world. These pictures belong to the public and entrance to see them is free.

National Portrait Gallery
St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE, England
Tel : 020 7312 2463
020 7306 0055
Fax : 020 7306 0056
www.npg.org.uk
Open Monday - Wednesday & Saturday - Sunday 10am - 6pm Gallery closure commences at 5.50pm Evening Openings Thursday & Friday 10am - 9pm Gallery closure commences at 8.50pm
Closed
Good Friday, 24-26 December, 1 January
Admission to the Gallery is FREE. An admission fee is charged for some exhibitions
-The National Portrait Gallery is home to the largest collection of portraiture in the world featuring famous British men and women who have created history from the Middle Ages until the present day. Over 1,300 portraits are on display on three floors from Henry VIII and Florence Nightingale to The Beatles and HM The Queen.

Natural History Museum

Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London (South Kensington Tube)
Open 10.00-17.50 daily Last admission is 17.30
Closed on 24, 25 and 26 December ONLY
FREE to all.
Tel : 020 7942 5000
020 7942 5555
020 7942 5821
E-mail : information@nhm.ac.uk
www.nhm.ac.uk
 - Dinosaurs, volcanoes, precious gems, creepy crawlies - as a visitor to The Natural History Museum you will be amazed by the diversity of our natural world. The Natural History Museum is home to the nation's finest collections of natural history specimens and is one of the UK's top visitor attractions. The Museum's collection now runs to 70 million plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, fossils, rocks and minerals - many of which are displayed through its fascinating exhibitions and more than you could ever see in one day.

The Science Museum
Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London (South Kensington Tube)
Mon - Sat 10:00 - 18:00, Sun 11.00 - 18:00
-Tel : 0870 870 4868
E-mail : sciencemuseum@nmsi.ac.uk  
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Daily 10.00-18.00
Closed 24-26 December
Admission to the Museum is free but charges apply to the IMAX 3D Cinema, simulators and some special exhibitions and events.
- Where else can you find life-changing objects from Stephenson’s Rocket to the Apollo 10 command module, take in a science show, catch an immersive 3D movie, enjoy the thrills of a special effects simulator, introduce children to science with fun, hands-on interactives and encounter the past, present and future of technology in seven floors of galleries? At the Science Museum you can find all this and more!

Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J OBD, England
Tel : 020 7300 8000
www.royalacademy.org.uk
Open Sat-Thurs 10.00-18.00 Fri 10.00-22.00
Admission Charges Varies with each exhibition
- The Royal Academy of Arts was founded by George III in 1768. Governed by artists to 'promote the arts of design' and was the first institution in Great Britain devoted solely to the promotion of the visual arts. The Royal Academy raised the standing of art, artists and architecture. It has held an annual selling exhibition since its formation and held its first loan exhibition in 1870 of 'Ancient Masters'. It now enjoys an unrivalled reputation as a venue for exhibitions of international importance.

Sir John Soane's Museum
13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2 (Holborn Tube)
Tue - Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Tel : 020 7405 2107
Fax : 020 7831 3957
www.soane.org
Open Tues-Sat 1000-1700 1st Tues in month 1800-2100
ClosedMon Bank holidays & Christmas Period
- A real gem of a museum housed in collector Soane's home. Residence includes thousands of artefacts topped by an Egyptian sarcophagus in a sepulchral chamber.

Tate Britain
 Millbank, London, SW1P 4RG, England
Tel : 020 7887 8888
Fax : 020 7887 8008
www.tate.org.uk   
Open daily 1000-1750
Closed 24,25,26 December
- Tate Britain is the national gallery of British art from 1500 to the present day, from the Tudors to the Turner Prize.

Tate Modern
Tate Modern, Bankside, London, SE1 9TG, England
Tel : 020 7887 8888
Fax : 020 7887 8007
E-mail: ticketing@tate.org.uk
www.tate.org.uk  
Open Sunday-Thursday, 10.00-1800 and Fri & Sat 10.00-22.00
Closed 24-26 December
Admission Charges
Collection displays - free Exhibitions - various
- Tate Modern is Britain's national museum of modern art. Housed in the former Bankside Power Station, Tate Modern displays the Tate collection of international modern art from 1900 to the present day.

Theatre Museum, London
Russell Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 7PR, England
Tel : 020 7943 4700
020 7943 4806
020 7943 4750
Fax : 020 7943 4777
E-mail : tmgroups@vam.ac.uk
www.theatremuseum.org
Open Tues-Sun 1000-1800. Closes permanently on Sunday January 7 2007.
Admission is Free
- The Theatre Museum is Britain's only performing arts museum in a country renowned for its theatre. It serves as a museum, library, archive and education resource. Established in 1987 in its current building the old Covent Garden Flower Market, it is the National Museum of Performing Arts and is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The Covent Garden branch will be permanently closing to the public on 7th January 2007, although education work on the premises will continue until August. Follow the link below to read a statement from the museum about the future of its collections.

Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2RL, England
Tel : 020 7942 2000
Fax : 020 7942 2266
E-mail : vanda@vam.ac.uk
www.vam.ac.uk
Open daily 1000-1745 Wed and last Fri of month 1000-2200
Closed 24-26 December
Admission to Museum is free.
- The V&A is one of the world’s greatest museums of art and design. More than seven miles of galleries are filled with outstanding collections of objects dating from 3000BC to the present day, including glass, textiles, ceramics, photography, jewellery and fashion. Highlights include the breathtaking Cast Courts, paintings by Constable, and the largest collection of Italian renaissance sculpture outside Italy. In addition, there is an exciting programme of exhibitions, displays, activities and contemporary events.

V&A Museum of Childhood
Cambridge Heath Road
London E2 9PA
United Kingdom
Everyday 10:00-17:45. Last admission 17:30.
The Museum is closed on 25 and 26 December and 1 January every year
Admission to the Museum is free. There is a small charge for some activities.
Tel:+44 (0)20 8983 5200
Fax: +44 (0)20 8983 5225
Email: moc@vam.ac.uk  
www.vam.ac.uk/moc
- The V&A Museum of Childhood houses the UK's national collection of childhood-related objects, one of the finest in the world. Dating back to the 16th century, it represents the diversity of childhood experiences across the full economic, cultural and historical spectrum.

Wallace Collection
Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, W1M 6BN (Bond Street Tube)
Tel : 020 7563 9551
020 7563 9500
Fax : 020 7224 2155
E-mail : booking@wallacecollection.org
www.wallacecollection.org
Open Mon-Sun 10:00-17:00
Admission Charges
FREE ADMISSION
- A wide ranging small museum. Works by Titian, Poussin, Rembrandt and Rubens

Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum & Tour
Museum Building, The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Church Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 5AE, England
Tel : 020 8946 6131
Fax : 020 8947 8752
E-mail : museum@aeltc.com
www.wimbledon.org/museum
Open daily 10.30-17.00 (last entry 16.30). There are daily Tours. Departure times vary - please phone for details. 
Closed 1 July, 9 July, 24-26 December 2007 & 1 January 2008. Tours do not run from 18 June to 13 July 2007 inclusive.
Admission Charges
Museum: Adults - £7.50; Concessions - £6.25; Children - £4.75 Museum & Tour: Adults - £14.50; Concessions - £13.00; Children - £11.00
- A new world-class Museum opened April 2006. Audio-guides included in entrance fee (outside The Championships). Many special effects and interactives including our 'ghost' of John McEnroe, the 200 degree cinema, touch screens and many original films used to showcase the world's greatest tennis collection. Behind-the-scenes tours take place daily for most of the year and give access to areas out-of-bounds during The Championships. Highlights include Centre Court (when building work allows), No.1 Court, The Water Gardens, The Millennium Building, and the Press Interview Room. If Centre Court is unavailable the BBC Television studio will replace it. Tours do not take place around The Championships.

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