1/11 The British Museum
Big Bus Tour: Stop 49, 50 & 52
Perhaps the most well known treasure trove in London, The British Museum is home to more than eight million items, from all over the world and all historical eras. The sheer scale, not to mention the number of visitors (6.7 million last year), can seem overwhelming unless you do some homework and decide on a focus. The rotating special exhibitions and the collection of mummies are always favorites with kids. Older children and parents also won’t want to miss the famous Rosetta Stone.
There are also special events for children, mostly on weekends and holidays.
Price: Entrance is free.
Open: Daily from 10 am to 5:30 pm (8:30 pm Fridays).
Tube: Tottenham Court Road or Holborn
2/11 Natural History Museum
Big Bus Tour: Stop 36
It’s tough competition for the biggest wows between the massive skeleton of Diplodocus in the main hall, the T Rex in the herd of robotic dinosaurs or the Blue Whale. The latest exhibit is a 42,000-year-old baby mammoth called Lyuba, found by a Siberian reindeer herder and the star of a mammoth exhibition. The entire museum will delight children of all ages, especially with activities such as “build a bee hotel” and “make a volcano erupt.”
Kids will also love becoming a scientist for the day with hands-on activities at the Science Center. The whole family will be fascinated to learn how whales evolved from four-legged land animals in the “Whales: Beneath the surface” exhibit. The museum also often puts on fun events like movie nights or the chance to play detective for the night and solve a murder mystery at its Crime Scene Live event.
Price: General admission to the museum is free.
Open: Daily from 10 am to 6 pm.
Tube: South Kensington
3/11 Victoria and Albert Museum
Big Bus Tour: Stop 36
It might, on paper at least, be hard to fire up enthusiasm in younger kids for visiting a museum devoted to applied arts, but in practice the V&A has plenty to offer the whole family. Skip the Italian Renaissance sculptures if that seems too boring and go instead to the fashion galleries. Many of the special exhibitions will also delight kids of all ages and past and current exhibits have included an audio-visual journey through Pink Floyd’s world and a staging of wedding dresses from 1775. There’s also a theater and performance spaces and an excellent shop.
Price: Entrance is free.
Open: Daily from 10am to 5:45 pm (10 pm Fridays).
Tube: South Kensington
4/11 Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood
Kids can see the toys of another era pre PlayStations, iPads and other modern technology. Exhibits, which offer plenty of hands-on engagement, date back to the 1600s but with particular emphasis on the 19th century. The doll’s house collection is especially popular.
Price: Entrance is free.
Open: Daily from 10am to 5:45 pm.
Tube: Bethnal Green
5/11 Science Museum
Big Bus Tour: Stop 36
Rocket science, steam engines, classic cars, IMAX 3D films. The Science Museum has it all and then some. This is a great place for children to get a handle, often literally, on technology. It’s education meets fun, with permanent galleries (don’t miss ‘Who Am I?’, which examines everyone’s favorite subject, i.e. themselves), enhanced by special exhibitions.
Price: Entrance is free.
Open: Daily from 10am to 7pm.
Tube: South Kensington
6/11 Imperial War museum
Big Bus Tour: Stop 22
This historical and educational museum will enthrall visitors. It recently opened new galleries devoted to World War I in commemoration of the centenary year. Another newcomer is the family exhibition called “Horrible Histories: Spies,” which will join other permanent galleries themed around such topics as “Secret War” and “A Family in Wartime’”and (for older kids) “The Holocaust.”
Price: Entrance is free.
Open: Daily from 10 am to 6 pm.
Tube: Lambeth North
7/11 Horniman Museum
Once the art nouveau home of a wealthy tea trader, the Horniman now houses one of London’s most eclectic collections. Among the displays are a vast number of musical instruments, African masks, and an array of stuffed specimens, including a massive walrus. Family friendly, with lots of hands-on activities and engaging events, plus a delightful garden kids can also explore. It also houses an an extensive aquarium featuring spotted jellyfish and a living rainforest display complete with South American fish and poison dart frogs.
Price: General admission is free; tickets for the aquarium cost $5 for adults; $2.50 for children and $12 for family tickets that include two children and two adults.
Open: Daily from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm
Train: Forest Hill
8/11 Florence Nightingale Museum
Big Bus Tour: Stop 13 & 22
History buffs won’t want to miss this museum. Tracing the story of the world’s most famous nurse, including her service during the Crimean War (particularly pertinent given the current unresolved crisis in the Ukraine), the museum forms part of St Thomas’ Hospital.
Price: Tickets cost $10 for adults; $6 for children.
Open: Daily from 10 am to 5 pm.
Tube: Westminster or Waterloo
9/11 The Geffrye Museum
A row of 18th century almshouses has been reincarnated as a history of private homes. The individual houses are now a series of 11 rooms decorated and furnished in styles from different periods ranging from a parlor from 1695 all the way up to a loft-style apartment from 1998. The period garden is also interesting. Fabulous free weekends and holiday activities for families, usually based around crafts, are well worth attending.
Price: Entrance is free.
Open: Daily (except Mondays) from 10am to 5 pm.
Train: Hoxton
10/11 Museum of London Docklands
A reminder of the huge commercial redevelopment of the capital’s Docklands, the museum spells out the significance of the area since Roman times, with especially poignant reminders of the role of the docks during the slave trade and the hammering it took during World War II.
The museum is housed in a 19th century warehouse there’s a great play area for the kids, too, and it regularly offers special events for families, from storytelling to craft sessions.
Price: Entrance is free.
Open: Daily from 10 am to 6 pm.
Train: DLR West India Quay
11/11 Museum of London
Big Bus Tour: Stop 17
Centuries upon centuries of history are found within London’s borders. From the time long before London was London, when all that existed was wilderness and a population that would fit on a double decker bus, the museum tells the story of the arrival of the Romans in AD 50, the Middle Ages, both World Wars and right up until Swinging London of the 1960s.
It also looks beyond, to what the capital might look like in the future.
Price: Entrance is free.
Open: Daily, from 10 am to 6 pm.
Tube: St Paul’s or Barbican