In my first trips I made the classic mistakes: I went everywhere, I visited the most touristy places without noticing if I liked it or if it went hand in hand with my tastes. I spent more money in places that I did not like, did not amuse me or passed without pain or glory. But traveling you learn. What are you doing crowded with a hundred people looking at the Mona Lisa? Did you spend three hours looking at paintings and you don't know who painted them? That kind of things.
If you are not a museum bug and you don't have so much money to pay for tickets which are usually around six, seven and more than 10 euros, then what you should do is search which are the free or cheap attractions most recommended. And matter resolved. You spend only on what is worth it. So, if you are about to travel to London and exactly that happens to you, after all the pound is an expensive coin, write down these that are top three free museums in London:
The British Museum
It is a museum of art, culture and history with an impressive permanent collection that began in the mid-1759th century and has been a museum since XNUMX in Bloomsbury. There is a collection of Egyptian Antiquities, Greece, Rome, Middle East, Prehistory of Europe and the rest of the world. There is also a collection of coins and medals, paintings and drawings. Also, visit the website because there are usually some temporary exhibitions that are also free. Currently there is one dedicated to the shoes of the Islamic world, another on ancient Britain, one on Indian textiles, and another on Francis Townes' watercolors of Rome.
Our it is advisable to plan the visit not to wander without rhyme or reason. There are free guided tours and also talks. You may use an audio guide although it has a cost of 5 pounds. I think it is worth it because it is available in 10 languages, it proposes tours and allows you to collect objects on that tour, virtually, to create a kind of digital souvenir. Includes expert commentary, text, video, interactive map. Audio guides are available every day between 10 am and 4:30 pm and until 7:30 pm on Fridays.
The museum is free of charge from 10 am to 5:30 pm and on Fridays it closes at 8:30 pm. Note that on Fridays there are some galleries closed and that the audio of the audio guides of those galleries will not be available either.
Museum of Natural History
This museum is a good option because it is located on a street where there are two other important museums, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Science Museum. If you like natural history or are curious about critters, botany, zoology, paleontology and mineralogy it is an interesting place. And valuable, well houses much of the collection assembled by Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution. It's a great place to see dinosaur skeletons, huge, but there are also fossils and everything is in an elegant and historical building. It is worth just going to walk inside.
This museum open every day between 10 am and 5:50 pm but they let you come in until 5:15 pm. Closed from December 24 to 26. Admission is free but if you are interested in any of its temporary exhibitions you must pay. There is currently a great Michael Benson photo exhibit on the solar system that ends on May 15th. Admission is £ 5. There is another on the world of butterflies, which ends in September, whose price is similar.
If you want to make a purchase you can visit the museum shop Well, it has interesting things. There you can buy dinosaur toys, for example, and great calendars and photo reproductions displayed on site. This English museum is on Cromwell Road and can be reached by tube and bus. The closest tube station is South Kensington on the Circile and Piccadilly lines.
Victoria & Alberto Museum
This is the world's largest museum dedicated to decorative arts and design. It houses more than four million objects and was founded in the middle of the XNUMXth century by the then Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert.
You have 145 galleries and you can take a journey through five thousand years of art history passing through all the continents. There are ceramic, porcelain, iron, glass, textiles, silver and other metals, jewelry, furniture, sculptures, paintings, engravings, musical instruments, drawings, photos, fashion and many more things. For me it is one of the most interesting.
The museum it opens every day between 10 am and 5:45 pm and closes at 10 pm on Fridays. The exhibits close fifteen minutes before the general closing of the museum, keep that in mind. Admission is free but as always some temporary exhibitions charge extra. There is currently a free temporary exhibition called Children's Museum. It will be there until July 17. There is also another on Botticelli, Botticelli Reimagined, until July 3, and a precious one dedicated to the Al Thani Collection, a pure jewel.
Museum of the City of London
London is over a thousand years old as the Romans founded it far and long ago, but the area was already inhabited so it has its roots in history. And if you are visiting, you may be interested in learning more about it, from prehistoric London to the present. That is what it is all about.
The museum it is close to St. Paul's Cathedral, in the oldest part of London that today occupies the financial district. The permanent collection is made up of one million objects plus six million discovered in archaeological excavations. There are examples of textiles and fashion, 150 paintings, prints and photographs, 17 skeletons, 50 objects dating from Roman times, 15 from Saxon and medieval times, 55 from Tudor and Staurt times, 110 from century XVIII to date and 1800 life stories of Londoners.
Add up half a million historical documents and you have an impressive amount of information. Of course there is a gift shop, a cafe and some beautiful gardens to walk around. The museum's own website recommends Do not leave the place without seeing 10 things:
- the skull of the wild ox from between 245 and 186 thousand years BC
- the Roman Mosaic that was supposed to be part of a radiant slab system
- the altar paintings in the Westminster Abbey chapel
- the Fanshawe dress, made of silk spun by French Huguenots, crafted to be appreciated by candlelight and so that the silver threads shine on the white silk.
- Jardines del Placer: the gardens have been recreated and there is a film that allows you to feel as if you were there, listening to their conversations.
- Victorian Walk: it is a street walk through old Victorian streets where there is a glass workshop that allows you to discover the manufacture of colorful stained glass windows.
- Selfridges Elevator: It is one of the first elevators in London and one of many installed in the department store of that name in 1928. It has bronze doors with the symbols of the zodiac and internal panels with drawings of birds.
- Vespa Douglas: a classic scooter from 1957.
- Brixton Riots - This is an impressive drawing of the 1981 Brixton riots.
- The Mayor of London's State Carriage: It dates from 1757 and is very Rococo.
Of course These are not the only free museums in London. I would say that there is something for everyone so I leave you some others: the Imperial War Museum, Geffrey Museum, National Maritime Museum, Royal Air Force Museum, Sir John Soane Museum, Wellcome Collection, Wallace Collection, Petrie Archeology Museum, the famous Tate Britain, la TateModern, la National Gallery of Portraits, la National Gallery and British Library.