This is a beautiful National gallery in the Somerset house. I was in the area for a few hours and…read morewas guided here by a friend. This is a small gallery but has some great art!

One of London's secret gems, that just enough people don't know about. Housed in the jaw-dropping…read moreSomerset House, the gallery is small but perfectly formed. It has a fantastic range of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, including Manet's infamous 'Bar at the Folies-Bergere' and a study for 'Dejeuner sur l'herbe' along with some beautiful works by Monet, Delaunay, Renoir and many others. They also have some fantastic Renaissane pieces, including a great Cranach, and also a very wide selection of Gothic carvings. Most of it was collected as bequest and it's a great opportunity of seeing visions of collecting. Good little gift shop and is free on Mondays from 10 - 2pm! A must see with a current exhibition of Turner's watercolours.

Attended their fun 20 minute show at the New Scientist Live event.read more

If you want a decent night's sleep, don't stay at the New Cavendish Club. The windows are…read moresingle-glazed and ill-fitting, the noise from the street outside is unbearable - amplified by the corner location and taxis constantly slowing down for the traffic lights. Then at about 4 am, the next day's noise starts up. To make matters worse, the WC cistern was faulty, triggering an extraction pump every ten minutes throughout the night until disabled. One star for location, one star for friendly staff, zero for the customer service manager who didn't even bother to reply to our email suggesting improvements.

A cool place to visit and learn the origin of Penicillin and Alexander Fleming. This museum is the…read moreactual laboratory where Fleming discovered the life saving mold. Eventhough the museum does not have the original equipments of the laboratory, they created a display to give you an impression of how it would have looked when Fleming used it. As for the exhibits, they dont have many but it is ample to fulfil your curiosity.They also have very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful staff who answered our questions thoroughly.

Cute museum right next to our hotel! I couldn't believe my luck when I saw the placard from the…read morestreet, saying that Fleming discovered penicillin right here. London is a great place for nerds like me. It's a small operation, with one room that used to be Fleming's lab. It's been recreated, of course, with older equipment, and surprisingly there wasn't a mannequin of Fleming there holding a petri dish. There is also a video about how Fleming discovered penicillin, as well as an exhibit in another room about the role of penicillin in the world wars. My tour guide was great and answered all of my nerdy questions, and for something so close to Tune Hotel at Paddington, it can't be beat! They don't break large bills, so show up with exact change!

Located in the slightly unpromising wilds of suburban West London, this is a small but fascinating…read moremuseum for anyone interested in the history of British Motorcycles. The museum is located in some rather anonymous former farm buildings just off The Broadway in Greenford, which give little hint of what's inside. The collection is the main event, and includes over 80 motorcycles housed in one of the long sheds, dating from 1902 to the 1990s. The core is the former collection of museum founder Bill Crosby's collection of Triumphs, with over 50 bikes loaned and donated from other sources. Although the Triumphs dominate the collection, there are other familiar names: Rudge-Whitworth, BSA, Brough, Ariel, Matchless, Norton and Royal Enfield, alongside a few foreign bikes. There are vintage, racing, road, police, sprint, custom and military bikes on display, as well as various items of motorcycling ephemera. One of the most fascinating is a small 50cc Moto Minarelli sprint bike built for the successful record attempt by Des Heckle in 1973. This doesn't even have a seat, and was built to his personal measurements. Other items of specific interest include a rare 1902 Ormonde, several Triumph prototypes, and my favourites, an amazingly modern-looking 1930s Coventry Eagle 1000cc Flying 8 and a Rudge TT from 1911. (My grandfather owned a Rudge Multi). The main building has a (very) small shop and eating area with seating and drinks machines, although there are plans to expand the museum by opening up one of the sheds behind, currently used as a store and workshop. The volunteer staff are friendly and helpful. As well as the museum, there are also special open days and the volunteers also put on displays at events elsewhere. This museum is clearly a labour of love by dedicated enthusiasts, and doesn't have the glitz of bigger museums, but its collection is fascinating and absorbing for those interested in British motorcycle heritage. Practicalities The site has free car parking, and is a short walk down Oldfield Lane from The Broadway in Greenford. It's a 15 minutes walk from Greenford underground station (turn right and just keep going, using the subway to cross under the A40), and there are buses both to Greenford and Ealing Broadway stations. The museum has a short ramp to enter and a long sloping access ramp through the main building, suitable for wheelchairs, and there is a disabled toilet on the site.

This museum has 80 racing and road going motor cycles dating back from 1903 through to the present…read moreday with many rare machines in their collection.

I really enjoyed my visit to The Banqueting House recently. On a scorching hot day in London, I was…read moredesperate to find an air conditioned place to hang out for a few hours so I decided to visit The Banqueting House and I am so glad that I did! It's a small place, but full of so much history. You will enter downstairs where you can pick up an audioguide to use throughout your visit. Once that's sorted, you move into an undercroft area where you can watch a film about the history of the house, which was quite interesting. The house was used as a performance space for royalty, so there is a small exhibition about these performances and the beautiful historic sets and costumes. I visited in the summer following Pride Month, so there was also a small exhibit about LGBT kings which was interesting as it's not something I've seen at a museum or palace before. The real magic happens when you finish in the undercroft and move upstairs where you encounter the breathtaking Rubens ceiling. It's stunning! Here you can use your audioguide which takes you through the history of the palace and the symbolism of the painting. Try and snag a spot on a beanbag so you can lay down and really get a good look. Overall, I had a great time here. The staff were so polite, the history was fascinating and well presented, and there are sparkling clean bathrooms and air conditioning, so it's the perfect place to spend an hour or two on your visit to London.

This museum is small and doesn't take long to visit. If you love history, architecture, and art…read more You will enjoy your visit. This is home to the only surviving in-situ ceiling painting by Flemish artist, Sir Peter Paul Rubens (and it is impressive!). If you only have a short time in London. I probably wouldn't put this on your top 10 list. But, if you have some extra time, I would definitely recommend a stop. When you first enter you can watch a short video on the history of the space. Then climb the stairs to the banqueting room. The ceiling painting is mind-blowing. They have bean bags you can lay in to take in the expansive beauty of the painting. The Banqueting House was built between 1619-1622 and designed by Inigo Jones. It was the first structure in England to be completed in a neo-classical style. Also, it is the only surviving banqueting house in England and the only remaining structure of the Palace of Whitehall. At the time banqueting houses were used to entertain (not just eat). Royalty would attend royal receptions, ceremonies, mosques in these grand buildings. The Banqueting House was also the last place Charles I walked through on his way to be executed just outside.

The museum is closing indefinitely - at the end of July - due to significant financial losses made…read moreworse by covid's affects (when the museum was closed for fifteen months). It's hoped that the building can be sold, and then the collections could be maintained & another site could be found. The museum was founded in 1932 and it moved to its current site in 1994.

Who are the Jews? What is Judaism? What do Jews believe in? What are the Jewish holidays and how…read moreare they celebrated? Great informative displays on the ground floor with detail and interactive video. Quite instructive. On the first floor, details on Jewish persecution through the ages, starting as early as the "Blood libel" in the 11th Century, leading through the centuries of properties and businesses being stripped, special taxes being raised and of course, World War II and the Holocaust. Images from the days of Kristallnacht (the 'Night of Broken Glass') when the Nazis broke shop windows belonging to Jews in 1938. I found the video with an interview of a concentration camp survivor to be quite vivid and rather distressing. I couldn't watch the whole thing. Fortunately, the second floor is much lighter with a history of Jews in entertainment. Amy Winehouse, Mark Knopfler and many others. The display on Jewish comedians was particularly light-hearted and exactly what I needed. "Walking down the road the other day, I saw three holes in the ground full of water. Well, well, well." A great trip for everyone who wants to know anything about the history of Jews in the UK and in Europe. It's all appropriate for children - I think it's good learning and the scary stuff would go over their heads. Note: Good security (there are people who don't like Jews - go figure!) and photographs are permitted. I nearly walked past the place - it's not exactly an ostentatious entrance!

A little museum in the house John Keats used to live in…read more Situated near Hampstead Heath it's a tranquil retreat from the hustle & bustle of London life. There's a video in the basement to introduce you to his life and then you are free to walk around the house and grounds. The house has original pieces of furniture and items from the 1800's. The house is pricey with it's £6.50 entrance fee but worth it if you are a Keats' fan like me.

Gorgeous.Romantic. And you can learn : today it was the Art…read moreOf Georgian Cookery but tomorrow it could be poetry Keats House is where the poet John Keats lived from 1818 to 1820, a setting that inspired some of Keats's most memorable poetry. Here, he wrote 'Ode to a Nightingale', and fell in love with Fanny Brawne, the girl next door. It was from here he travelled to Rome where he died of TB aged just 25.