The Museum of London

I went here last weekend and enjoyed it greatly. The walk through the museum covers all eras of London life. There are remnants of Roman walls outside in one section of the museum, there's a Victorian street exhibit, and much more. Great attention is paid everywhere to detail. Very much worth a visit. :) stefsvoice4u

A must visit museum – up there with the Horniman – have visited at least a dozen times over the years. The location and access is a little odd but don’t let that put you off. Really good range of well resourced and staffed kids workshops throughout school holidays – we have attended loads of these and all have been great fun. Story tellings, get up close to the exhibits sessions – always lots going on. As its name gives a clue this is the history of London – a really amazing collection. The new basement is the highlight now – really well thought out interactive displays – it really is a joy. The absolute highlight and a real firm younger kids favourite is the recreated victorian shopping centre – with all manner of shops and hostelry to visit. Good cafe – though we always take a picnic and busy gift shop. If you are a Londoner or just visiting (and especially if you have kids) you really should visit.

Well worth a visit, something for kids and adults!

Perfect starting point for a trip to the City. A beautiful collection, recently upgraded and endlessly fascinating - especially modern collections. Also great cafes and shop and nearby places to eat . Suggest follow up with trip to nearby Barbican Centre with its galleries, cinemas and restaurants, or even the new shops on Cheapside! Well worth many return visits. Definitely a museum at the heart of one of the very best cultural destinations in all of Europe.

UPDATE: I recently visited the Museum of London following the reopening of the "modern" galleries. The place is fantastic! The new galleries (which cover the period 1666-present) are well done and fascinating. The designs of the installations/exhibits/whatever are interesting and modern. I really liked it, and have raised my rating from4 to 5 stars. IMHO, this is a "don't miss" for anyone interested in London.

I've been to the Museum of London twice: once years ago, and once this past week. Both visits have been very enjoyable. Between the visits they have completely remodeled and updated the museum: in fact, they are still in the process of remodeling, so about half of the galleries are closed until 2010. However, all of the galleries from prehistoric London through 1666 are open, so don't let the ongoing work put you off. (The galleries that are open are all on the upper floor, so you don't feel like you're in the middle of construction!) There is a particularly interesting exhibit on the Great Fire of London. There are lots of things for kids to enjoy, too.

Don't miss the shop: it's very nicely designed, bright and modern, and has everything from jewelry inspired by the Cheapside Hoard (the Museum has a number of pieces found in the Cheapside Hoard around 1912---lovely) to books to London gifts.

The museum is free, and is open every day until 6 p.m. Anyone at all interested in the history of London will enjoy this museum. Go!

Recently I went to the Museum of London for a back-of-house tour of the new event spaces that are still being built. Straddling the front corner of the Barbican complex, it opened in 1976 with various fixed exhibitions that have changed little - until now.
Ranging from the dawn of London as a city, through galleries of Roman, Medieval and Middle Ages London, the most recent permenant displays covered until 1914, when inexplicably, they stopped. As a major city of the World, I always found this odd - did not enough happen to justify a new room or two?
Over half the Museum has been closed for the £20 million refurbishment, with the grand unveiling scheduled for the end of May.
Well, what a transformation! More later after the opening - I don't want to ruin all , but suffice it to say, the Galleries of Modern London will offer a completely different experience.
Interactive and high-tech, new galleries will take us right up to 2012 with 60's fashion, A Victorian Pleasure Garden with hats designed by Philip Treacy, the biggest collection of suffragette memorabilia in the world and a focus on what it means to be a Londoner. Other additions will see the inner garden replanted and a brand new cafe / restaurant.
Look forward to seeing the formerly naff but imformative meuseum expand to an open and stimulating day out.

A nifty museum ON the city of London, its inhabitants and the events that have shaped it over the centuries.

Currently undergoing renovations, it is quite a manageable size for a quick pop-in. My favourite piece was a video installation on the Black Plague of the 14th Century, which was, well, terrifying.

The crumbling medieval walls of the old City surround the building and there is also a child-friendly section on the Fire of London.

Close to Barbican Station

Like most museums in London, this one is free (so there’s no excuse!). Visiting is a must for anyone who is in London for the first time which is why I take all of my American guests here. It’s also a good place to take the kids as many exhibits are specifically aimed at children. It may be smaller than the other museums, but everyone I know who’s been here has enjoyed themselves immensely and learned quite a bit.

Quite an interesting museum (and, happily, it’s free).

Having said that, in parts it is a little traditional (ie not very interactive). Consequently our two kids (aged 3 and 5) only managed an hour or so there (they’ve managed much longer in other places).

We enjoyed the exhibition on the Great Fire -- our 5 year old learnt a lot from it -- and there was much to appeal to adult visitors too. It is a fair walk from the nearest Tube station. although it is clearly sign-posted.

Overall, worth a visit, but not the most kid-friendly place in town.

This museum is in the city of London. I visited it on a Saturday, so the streets were nearly free of traffic. It was an easy walk from the Moorgate tube stop. It is free and has a nice gift shop but it is quite expensive.

The exhibits cover many periods in London’s history - Roman, medieval, the Great Fire and more, and they are all well done. We took a free guided tour of the medieval area, which was interesting.

We could have stayed two hours or more - it was so good, but we only had 45 minutes on our self-styled whirlwind visit to London. We covered only the highlights, but I would definitely go back again

My favourite London museum , it is in the city of London, in the Barbican.The Museum of London is free which a amazing , currently the downstairs of the museum is being refurbished and will be open next year.A great thing about the museum is there shop which sells books on London that you can not buy anywhere else , i would recommend there bookshop for anyone looking for a book on London there will have it.They sell toys and dvds on London which i have not seen anywhere else for sale.There bookshop is great , so when you make a vist do not forget the bookshop , its a real gem.

I’d probably say this is one of London’s forgotten museums. It lives between Barbican and Moorgate in that area dominated by horrific 50’s architecture.

The museum is a relatively charming one though and I came to visit it when there was a huge event going on. There was a massive comedy night going on, with 4 different stages in different parts of the museum showcasing three acts at different times. Like a mini festival.

It was a great way to introduce people to the museum as they wandered about drinking booze and seeing some quirky comedy.

This was the second year they’ve hosted this night at the Museum of London and it’s a really special night in the calendar of late night museum events.

The Museum of London showcases the history of London city from its very beginnings. The museum has an excellent section on the Great Fire from the perspective of those who survived it.
It’s very interactive and kid friendly.
Entry is free.

This well-hidden museum has a strange layout but is very enjoyable to visit as a resident in London. One of the oldest city walls still stand outside and there is information on London throughout the ages. With special exhibitions on the Great Fire and the plague, the horror and savagery of a not-so-long-ago London is made clear. To see what lies behind and below this great city, a visit to this museum is an excellent idea!

I wasn’t expecting too much of this museum. Not too well known, and the website front page advertises that Jonty from Big Brother used to work there (one wonders how come he’s not working there now!). And it’s true there are some faults. As part of the Barbican it’s not the easiest museum to get in to. All you see at street level is a round, flat, windowless wall in the middle of a roundabout. To get in you have to find the escalators and lifts at the edge of the roundabout and then walk over a ‘high walk’. Inside the décor is bright and bold. They do a big line in red, especially in the Fire of London exhibit. You may well find it seething with school groups. The kids seem to be enjoying themselves, but you practically have to fight your way to view something at times. And some of the labelling, again especially on the Fire of London exhibit, is definitely directed at them. “Can you see St Pauls on fire in this picture? Can you see people running out of their houses? Can you see the big, big flames?” OK maybe I exaggerated slightly there, but not by much. Some of the interactive parts are looking a little well-worn too.

On the other hand, you can see there’s a lot of imagination from a lot of different people gone into this place. There’s also a lot of genuinely extraordinary pieces on show. Sure we all know about the Romans, the Saxons, the Medieval Church etc etc. But here you get displays which go off on slightly unexpected tangents. Favourites of mine included displays of the different tools etc found in different types of Roman shops and homes, a Roman pony skeleton with harness and fittings, some amazing intricate medieval badges… In places the ‘collections’ are stunning: whole display cases of flint tools, metal arrowheads, axes, spearheads etc. Or the book listing things saved from the Fire, or the leather helmet replica you can try on, or the skeleton mammoth’s foot and auroch’s skull… Finally the killer exhibit: this museum holds a memorial book for people killed in the London bombings. Here you can see pictures of them and read about their lives.

The shop is worth five stars on its own. It includes lots of books, and a selection of standard ‘I’ve been to London’ t-shirts, cups etc. After that it gets a little eclectic… Where else can you get a Roman themed lavender soap, a Henry the Eight cloth doll, a black rat glove puppet, a piece of genuine brick blackened by the Fire of London mounted in perspex or a replica Roman helmet? All in one shop…

All in all, not a massive museum, but with a lot of interest in it. Just enough to keep the family happy without turning into a marathon. Recommended!

Their website is: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk

My brother and I visited this museum when he visited. This place tells the story of London from prehistoric times till present. It has many permanent exhibition galleries telling that story. Besides that They also have special exhibitions which are not permanent are are usually there for a pretty long time. If you want to know how Medieval or Roman London looks like visit the museum. Its amazing how many things you can learn from that one visit. Best of all it is free so you can visit as many times as you want.

I took family to this museum when they were over for a visit, it is quite interesting and set up well for kids. It is quite interactive and the fire of london section is quite informative. I would not go back or say it is a must see but a great extra to add to the london experience. The cafe out the front of the museum had great cakes and coffee for afterward too !

This is a great place to take the kids to learn about history through the ages. It takes you through the history of London from it's earliest inhabitants, right through to the present day. You can pick up various work sheets or family activity bags which make the visit more fun. My lot loved the Victorian street section which makes you feel like you really have taken a step back in time!