British Museum
A vast free museum of human history and culture, housed in a Bloomsbury building with a glass-roofed Great Court at its centre.
- Museum
- Price: Free
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Did you know
The Rosetta Stone, the museum's most-visited object, was seized by British forces from the French in Egypt in 1801 and has been on near-continuous public display since 1802, making it one of the longest-running museum exhibits anywhere.
Local tip
Arrive right at 10am opening on a weekday to see the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian galleries before tour groups arrive, and download the free museum map app in advance since the building's layout is easy to get lost in.
Finding it
- Address
- Great Russell Street, St Giles, Bloomsbury, London Borough of Camden, Greater London, England, WC1B 3DG
- Nearest station
- Holborn (Tube), 414 m away
Details change, so check with the place before you set off.
More places nearby
- The Museum TavernA Bloomsbury pub directly opposite the British Museum, dating to 1723 and renamed from the Dog and Duck when the museum opened across the street in 1759.
- The Wiener Holocaust LibraryA free exhibition space and research library on Russell Square documenting Nazi persecution and the Holocaust, which describes itself as the world's oldest institution devoted to its study.
- The Princess LouiseA Grade II* listed Victorian pub on High Holborn, prized for its tiled walls, gilded mirrors, Corinthian columns and rare snob screens dividing the bar into booths.
- Phoenix GardenA volunteer-run wildlife garden squeezed between Covent Garden and Denmark Street, built on a former bomb site and car park.