Favorite museum in London! Very intimate and true to what it was like when the owner and architect…read moreof the home lived there. The home is truly extraordinary in design as well as content. Basically a 19th century dude had a lot of money working as an architect, collected a lot of stuff and put in the right effort to preserve his home and belongings by obtaining "an Act of Parliament in 1833, sponsored by Joseph Hume to bequeath the house and collection to the British Nation to be made into a museum of architecture, now the Sir John Soane's Museum."(according to Wikipedia). From drawings and sculptures to stained glass and catacombs, this place is truly unique and MUST-VISIT in my book. I won't say the ultra special part of the "tour", but definitely hang out in the painting room and listen to the museum attendant talk about all that in there. TIP: I'd sign up for the additional tour to view the upstairs part of the museum (apparently they just opened this year). It's the "apartments" where they slept and got ready for their day. THIS PLACE IS JUST SO COOL!!

lots of cool objects especially sculptures! the lighting in some places is not great and you can't…read morereally see everything from afar

Benjamin Franklin House at 36 Craven Street in the heart of London is a heritage 'gem.' The world's…read moreonly remaining home of Benjamin Franklin (and that is not in the USA), opened to the public on Franklin's 300th birthday, as a dynamic museum and educational facility. For nearly sixteen years between 1757 and 1775, Dr Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the United States and more - lived at 36 Craven Street. First, many people may not realize that one of the Founding Fathers lived in London for a more than decade-and-a-half. He also lived in a house where hundreds of human bones were found underneath the building. Yes, human bones, and you can see them for yourself. History: Benjamin Franklin arrived in London 1in 757 to "negotiate colonial interests," according to the home's brochure. He rented rooms from Mrs. Margaret Stevenson (a widow) at 36 Craven Street, which you will find near Trafalgar Square, the massive London landmark that, of course, did not exist when Franklin was there (Battle of Trafalgar was 1805, 15 years after Franklin's death).

One of the great things about London is its continuing capacity to surprise and delight, even to…read morelong-term residents like me! Wandering up a random side-street beside Charing Cross station, I stumbled across Benjamin Franklin House. The blue plaque on the wall coonfirmed that Ben Franklin did live and work here at 36 Craven Street for 16 years on the eve of the American Revolution and it served as the first de-facto American embassy However, to get into the museum, you have to sign up for one of the guided tours. With an American mother and British father, Ben Franklin was quite the renaissance man. Considered the father of electricity, he had quite a few other strings to his bow - he had a love of science (exploring bifocal glasses and inventing the energy-saving Franklin stove), health (innoculation, cure for the common cold), music (veleoping the glass armonica for which Mozart, Bach and Beethoven composed) as well as being a prolific writer. As a Founding Father of the United States, he is the only statesman to have signed all 4documents that created thew nation - The Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris establishing peace with Britain (1783) and The Constitution (1787). The museum is explored partly through films in the historic rooms of the house, which has most of the original features and some hands-on exhibitiions of his scientific work. Fortunately, this doesn't include exhibits from the anatomy school, which was run from this building his landlady's son-in-law! The building is also a scholarship centre with a full set of Franklin's published works for study. This is a most fascinating part of London's history

Full of really interesting artefacts from the Roman times. Who knew that Romans were invading our…read morevery own town of Orpington once upon a time! This is basically the wrecks and ruins and leftover remains of a Roman Villa from centuries ago! Really fascinating, although not exciting and thrilling like some museums in London and other Cities, this place is a cool find and often home to many school trips!

Crofton is a amazing Roman Villa with loads on interesting facts and pictures of back in the day?…read moreBeautiful place if you love history, you will love this place. Fantastic for kids and couples I had to stay here due to me being on business and booked to stay here really enjoyed my stay and I will be returning to see this place again when I can? I have another amazing Villa based in Dubai called the Sapphire Villa this is a beautiful Villa with loads to really modern and full of life and fantastic activities check them out if you are in the areas truly amazing!

The Brits plundered many fascinating archeological artifacts from around the world, and the…read moreBritish Museum displays some of the most famous, such as the Rosetta Stone. Admission: free Time budget: minimum 4 hours Free WiFi is available Plenty of clean bathrooms Caution: The museum has no air conditioning. I visited during a rare heat wave, and the museum was a sweat box. Also, if you don't like crowds, you won't like this museum. It gets packed early. Pre-opening tour: The museum offers for UK $35 various pre-opening tours. I took the Greece pre-opening tour. Pros: Small group of 20 before the unwashed masses crowd into the museum. Tour guides are knowledgable. Guides may offer extra time at no charge (e.g. 15-20 minutes extra). Cons: My tour guide did not enunciate or project his voice, so much of the tour was unintelligible.

How is this place free?!?! As they state themselves, it is the greatest collection of stolen items…read moreanywhere...lol. Meaning there are artifacts from countries all around the world. You do have to register for timed tickets ahead of time to get in. We got some just a few days before and they didn't check for times as we were almost an hour late. It was super crowded and getting through the queue took about 10 minutes. Once inside, we knew we had to move fast since they close at 5pm and you could spend all day here. The information booth was helpful as they gave us a map with the option of hitting the highlights, which was perfect for our amount of time. The items from the Easter Islands were my favorite and the library room right when you walk in was cool too. Of course the Rosetta Stone was amazing as well! There is food and a gift shop inside so get an early time and spend the day here.

This place is nothing short of brilliant. Yet again the Brits show their superb talent at putting…read moretogether a fine museum. Even though the building is old the exhibits don't look like they have been there too long. Congratulations to whoever designed the layout which is quite modern. It is an easy 1/4 mile walk from Canary Wharf tube and you should allow 2 - 3 hours.

It's free! (but…read moremake a donation, mmmkay?) Keep cool things in London free. Or at least buy a little something from the cafe or gift shop. My husband thought it would be hilarious to buy a little rubber toy rat for our son. It's consequently freaked out every person that has come to visit us. It's now mysteriously absent -- makes me think the babysitter threw it out. Regardless! Support given. We were meeting some friends nearby at *Tom's Kitchen for brunch (recommended!) and decided to use the Canary Wharf excursion to check out Museum of London Docklands, where a soft play area was rumored to be housed. And indeed -- a very nice little area for the little ones can be found here. There's a pretty large, enclosed area containing: water/sand play (probably best for 2+), HUGE building blocks section, fun little toys about shipping and transport (they manage to make them fun and durable), and of course, a soft play centre with requisite slide, nets, climbing and big soft squishy shapes. Bookings for these sessions can be made in advance -- though I couldn't figure out how, so we just turned up on a Sunday and lucked out that there was space. IF it is a busy time of year (half term, etc) I do suggest calling ahead to book. It runs in sessions so once the end of the session comes, everyone is out and a new batch is let in. This worked well for us as we spent about 40 minutes inside...but our timing was purely luck. Next time we'll book and know when it starts/ends. We took the opportunity to view the museum -- also very child and pram friendly. It's very nicely curated, interesting and most importantly with a child -- relatively fast. You can go through the entire Museum in about 20 minutes, should you need to. Situated right on the Docklands (obviously) this is a great kid-friendly stop if you are out seeing the sights or visiting the area.

I came here as part of the Midnight Apothecary so my review really tailors around that. What a…read morewaste of my money! The two tickets I paid for included marshmallows and music; for the ticket amount, a drink should have been included. Rather drinks are an additional £7-8. Greek food (only grilled cheese for vegetarians) is additional money and cash only. Would've been smart if the organizers had bothered to let us know via email beforehand. It turns out anyone could have walked up to the roof to roast marshmallows; no one was checking wristbands there. The music was held in the freezing ass cold tunnel so after just a few minutes there, and bundled in puffer jackets, we couldn't feel our toes. I was told no heaters could be brought in because of soot in the atmosphere; fair enough but then choose another venue for this! There was mass confusion about a token system, with people asking each other about it whilst standing in queues and even a ticket person saying he didn't understand why someone upstairs was talking about tokens. The museum itself is mildly interesting. Never again.

I am ashamed to admit that I never visited the Brunel Museum the whole time I lived in Rotherhithe…read more(2 years!)...although my mum told me it is brilliant, and I do love the idea of heading underground to see the Grand Entrance Hall to the abandoned tunnel!! The Midnight Apothecary: This summer as well as the museum, on Saturdays nights there is a cocktail bar set up in the beautiful herb garden on the roof of the Thames tunnel. The 'cocktail gardener,' Lottie Muir, uses herbs (and other ingredients) from the garden to make beautiful (and strong) cocktails each Saturday night during the summer. We tried the gin and lavender fizz, and the strawberry and mint martini...they were both lovely. I honestly can't think of a more pleasant spot to watch the sunset. * Cash only! Each cocktail is £5...so remember to stock up on paper money! * The garden is quite small, so you might need to get there early if you have a large group. * If cocktails aren't enough, there are also underground tours of the museum/tunnel starting at 7:30pm. I think this costs £5. The website says it will keep going through September, so there are a few more weeks left to try it. If you live in the area - get over there!!

Perhaps not as spectacular or as instantly recognizable as the National Portrait Gallery or the…read moreTate Modern, but the Geffrye is good at what it does. It's a museum recording and celebrating London interior design and decoration through the ages. With displays from the 1700's right through to the 2000's, it's a neat look at the evolution of the typical English home. You'll be hard pressed to spend more than an hour or two here and I recommend moving on if there are a school-load of students. It can get very loud. Do spend the £2 for the audio guide. It's well worth getting the additional background and detail that isn't mentioned on the display captions or the various postings. I'm glad I went, but I don't know that this is the sort of place you do a second time.

Lovely museum that gives you an idea of what houses in London looked like across the centuries…read more Especially beautiful to visit during Christmas time with each room done up in era appropriate Christmas decorations. This museum closes for 2 years for refurbishment on 7 Jan 2018, so do visit before that.

The Barbican is an area you can explore with a library, conservatory, rotating art installations,…read moreand miscellaneous events. You should check when the events are, because it could interfere with the areas being available for a visit. There was also a beautiful outdoor area that would have been amazing to sit at the café outdoors and admire the scenery, but unfortunately it was raining at the time of our visit and it would not have been as enjoyable to sit outdoors here. Would definitely come back to explore more, and hoping the weather will be better in the future.

Very disappointing experience. I'll start with the good. The front desk staff was incredible,…read morevery friendly and very helpful. Unfortunately, the concierge was probably the worst ever. I received a package via Amazon and showed him the details from the Amazon email. He condescendingly asked me where it was on his list, where it wasn't printed, and stressed that if it wasn't there they did not get a package. I cannot put into words how condescending he was. I left for dinner worried the package was lost or misdelivered. When I returned, he was no longer there so I asked the great front desk staff if they had received a package for me. They remembered getting something and checked a few places, long story short is they found the package. Again, kudos to the front desk who went the extra mile for me, but why was the concierge so negativistic and self assured. Another positive was the fitness Centre, which had some great equipment, including a nice rower and treadmill. Unfortunately, the smell in the hallway leading to the fitness centre almost made me sick every day. A couple other challenges from the property. The room is what I would have imagined a jail cell. A small mattress just thrown into a corner. Also, the door to the bathroom slammed every time I went in, I am sure not very pleasant for my neighbors. Also the fire alarm went off at 7 am my last night, the cherry on top.