London Museums near 4 Star Quality London Hotels| Museums in London

London Museums

Amongst many other aspects, London is famous for its Museums, some of them individually famous for collections open to the public that are unparalleled elsewhere in the world. There are Museums and Galleries in London to suit every taste, some of which require an entire day set aside to visit, others of which may take an hour or two but are fascinating nonetheless. This page cannot begin to do justice to the number, scale and variety of London's Museums and we bring you an idea of some of the Museums in London most easily reached from our various London hotels.

Science Museum
British Museum
Toy Museum
RAF Museum
Victoria & Albert Museum
Natural History Museum
Imperial War Museum

Science Museum London

Quality Crown Hotel London Kensington

(10 minutes Walking Distance)
With origins in the Great Exhibition of 1851, in which Prince Albert a leading figure,the profits of the hugely successful exhibition were used to purchase land in South Kensington to establish institutions devoted to the promotion and improvement of industrial technology.

At the same time, the Government of the day set up a Science & Art Department which established the South Kensington Museum in 1857, from which the Science Museum in London and Victoria & Albert Museum in London have developed. These two London museums had grown so large and so diverse that they were separated formally in 1909 and a new building to house the London Science Museum was formally opened by King George V in 1928.

Visiting the Science Museum in London can readily consume half a day, at least, and it is always popular with children of all ages, with the wide range of exhibitions catering for all ages. The Science Museum in London is open 7 days a week from 10.00 to 18.00 and closed only on 24th and 26th December. Entrance to the Science Museum in London is free.

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Natural History Museum London

Quality Crown Hotel London Kensington

(8 minutes Walking Distance)
Undoubtedly it's one of the most impressive buildings in central London with its well known, façade along Cromwell Road, the London Natural History Museum's origins, as with other museums in the area, lie in the Great Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862 at the peak of the Industrial Revolution.

It is hard to believe that the present building of Natural History Museum in London was not the most impressive designed a change of government soon after the original design was completed led to the possibility of a new, stunning building that would have followed the waterline of the Thames south bank in a gentle curve. However, the original plan was revived and work began in 1873 and finished 7 years later. In the process, several practical changes were made to the design from the lighting in the galleries to the style of the building from its original Renaissance style to German Romanesque.

The Natural History Museum in London is well known for its growing Dinosaur Exhibits but includes a wide range of exhibitions which look both back and forward. Easily taking up a whole day if you want, the Natural History Museum in London is open Monday to Saturday 10.00 to 17.30 and Sunday 11.00-17.30. Entrance to the Natural History Museum in London is free, though there are charges of £ 4.50 for adults and £ 3.00 for children for special exhibitions.

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Victoria & Albert Museum London

Quality Crown Hotel London Kensington

(10 minutes Walking Distance)
The Victoria & Albert Museum in London opened in 1852 and moved to its South Kensington site in 1857.

Its buildings gradually grew from the rear of the site towards the road. The final stage was the new four-storey building along Cromwell Road and Exhibition Road. Designed by Aston Webb, Victoria & Albert Museum in London was built between 1899 and 1909. The facade is decorated with thirty-two sculptures of great English artists, architects and craftsmen. The Victoria & Albert Museum in London is the greatest museum of applied and decorative arts in the world. Explore the breathtaking permanent collections from the four corners of the globe including fashion and textiles, sculpture, ceramics and glass, metalwork, silver and jewellery, furniture, photography and paintings. Don't miss the British Galleries 1500-1900, telling the story of British design and art from the Tudor period to the Victorian Age.

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London is open from 10.00am to 5.45p.m. except on Wednesdays, when it stays open to 10.00p.m. Admission to the museum is free.

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British Museum London

Undoubtedly the best known of London major museums, the London British Museum's slogan is Illuminating World Cultures. The range of exhibits is vast, both in the period of history covered from Pre-Historic times to the modern day and in terms of the Geography and Cultures covered from the U.K. to Egypt and across every Continent of the world in fascinating depth.

The British Museum in London is best known for its exhibits of aspects of the ancient cultures of Egypt, Greece, the Roman Empire and the current special exhibition concentrating on Japan as well, of course, for its huge Reading Room. The British Museum in London is located in Great Russell Street, in Bloomsbury, and lies between the end of Oxford Street and Russell Square. Opening hours are normally 10.00am to 5.30p.m. but the Museum stays open later to 8.30pm on Thursday and Friday.

Only a part of the British Museum in London, the Great Court, is open on Sunday. The closest tube station is Tottenham Court Road. Admission to the British Museum in London is free.

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RAF Museum London

The Royal Air Force Museum in London, Britain's National Museum of Aviation celebrates the story of aviation from before the Wright Brothers to the RAF of the 21st Century with one of the world's finest collections of legendary aircraft and associated exhibits.

The RAF Museum in London was opened in November 1972 by Her Majesty The Queen. The RAF Museum in London stands on 15 acres of the historic former Hendon Aerodrome at RAF Hendon, one of the oldest aviation centres in the country. It was home to the famous Hendon Air Displays and RAF Pageants of the 1920's and 1930's and the airfield was used as a fighter station during the Battle of Britain and then transport station for the remainder of World War II. Hendon is in the north of London and the RAF Museum in London is easily reached from the M! Junction 4 a short drive from the A406 and has its own large free car park.

It is also easily reached from Colindale Station or by the 303 bus. The RAF Museum in London is open from 10.00am to 6.00pm daily. Admission to the RAF Museum in London is free.

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Toy Museum London

Located in a house at number 21-23 Craven Hill in the Bayswater area, this London Toy and Model Museum was re-opened in 1995 and tells the story of toys through the ages right to the present day.

There are antique toys that still work, models of those that don't, miniature cars, trains and aeroplanes and even a miniature funfair from the 1920s at Toy and Model Museum in London. And for the more sentimental, there are teddy bears galore. For the more curious, there is a large model of a coal mine, which had working parts with trucks going back and forth. In other rooms on 5 floors, on display are many toys of yesteryear right up to date, sections on Action Man and Aeroplanes etc, in one room there is a working fairground. With the aid of some money of course, there is even some one arm bandits of old too at Toy and Model Museum in London.

There is even, through a mock lift door and at set times, a show and a model of the Bayswater area. The Toy and Model Museum in London is open daily from 9.00am to 5.30pm. Entry costs around £ 5.50 for adults.

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Imperial War Museum London

Quality Crown Hotel London Hyde Park

(15 minutes drive)
The Imperial War Museum in London, despite its grandiose name, 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 Imperial War Museum in London is here to tell all our stories. Imperial War Museum in London cover all aspects of life in wartime - heroes, villains and the millions who are neither - and all human experience, at home and on the battlefield. The Imperial War Museum in London main building is located in Lambeth Road, close to Waterloo Station but the Museums exhibits include other fascinating parts, such as the Cabinet War Rooms, under Whitehall, near Downing Street and H.M.S. Belfast.

It is also easily reached from Colindale Station or by the 303 bus. The Imperial War Museum in London is open from 10.00am to 6.00pm daily.

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