Attractions
The 314-year-old Bank of England has its own free museum of artifacts collected over the past three centuries, from old typewriters and calculators to caricatures and portraits of governors, and a life-size statue of William III. Kids will enjoy the interactive foreign-exchange desk.
Since first opening on January 15, 1759, with 71,000 objects collected by Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), the British Museum has only closed its doors twice (during the two World Wars) in almost 250 years. Today the museum houses thousands of artifacts, from ancient Mesopotamian jewelry to Chinese jade from
Don't miss the Ceremony of the Keys, a 700-year-old tradition in the Tower of London. Every evening, the Chief Yeoman Warner locks the main gate to the tower and brings the keys to the Resident Governor. Plan ahead: Tickets are free but should be booked at least two months in advance. Apply for tickets by writing to the Tower of London (see website for specific instructions).
The crowd-pleasing Changing the Guard has been a British tradition since Henry VII (1485-1509). The handover is accompanied by music as the red-tunic-and-bearskin-hat-clad guards change shifts around Buckingham Palace. Best of all, visitors and passersby can watch at no charge. See the Guard Mounting at 11:30 a.m. daily May-July, and on alternating days August-April. To avoid the crowds at Buckingham Palace, see the Changing the Guard at Horse Guards Arch on Horse Guards Parade (11 a.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. on Sundays) or at Windsor Castle (11 a.m. Monday-Saturday April-July, and on alternate days, except Sunday, the rest of the year).
Pick up some decorating tips from the free Geffrye Museum, which exhibits English interior decor from 1600 to the present. Discover how rooms were decorated with different textiles, furniture, and paintings. Don't miss rare items like the oldest piece of English furniture to bear a trade label, the Christmas archive, and outside period gardens.
Go to the Gunnersbury Park Museum for a unique collection of archaeological artifacts from the boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow. The collection includes Roman pottery and medieval Penn tiles, as well as pharmaceutical glass and Chinese armorial porcelain donated to the gallery. The museum is open weekday afternoons, and is free to the public.
Learn about Britain's involvement in war at the Imperial War Museum on Lambeth Road. Highlights include permanent exhibits on the Holocaust, World War I, and World War II. Check out the Secret War exhibition, which details the Special Operations Executive and secret government agencies MI5 and MI6 from pre-World War I to the present (think invisible ink used by German spies, codebooks, and secret radios). Admission to the permanent exhibitions is free.
The free Museum of London has artifacts from prehistory (Bronze and Iron Age metalwork), to Roman and Medieval London, to today. Check out the museum's extensive fashion collection dating from 1700, which includes occupational and royal garments—civil and ceremonial uniforms of the church and court to the royal clothing of Charles I.
The University College London's Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology has 80,000 artifacts detailing Egyptian history from prehistory to the time of the pharaohs through the Islamic period. Notable pieces include one of the earliest linens (5000 B.C.), a fragment of the first calendar (2900 B.C.), and a dancer's bead-net dress from the Pyramid Age (2400 B.C.). The museum is free and moves to a new home (the Panopticon) in 2008.
The Pump House Gallery in Battersea Park is a contemporary art space with rotating exhibitions featuring artists like Dallas Seitz, Ben Cook, and Dutch photographer Hellen van Meene. The gallery is free and is open Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, and bank holidays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
One of the biggest (and free!) collections of aircraft in the world is at the Royal Air Force Museum. Check out bombers from World War I in Bomber Hall, test the interactive Air Traffic Control exhibit and Aeronauts Interactive Centre, and discover what it feels like to fly in the Eurofighter motion simulator.
The home of London architect Sir John Soane has more than just a history of his work. Sir John collected hundreds of artifacts from ancient Egypt to the Renaissance to imperial China. His vast collection includes a sarcophagus of Seti I, a set of Pompeii bronzes, a 13th-century wooden patera from the Painted Chamber at the Palace of Westminster, and a Chinese painted scroll from 1721. This free museum is very popular (with waits up to an hour to get in), so try to visit early on a weekday.
