Great Russell Street London WC1
http://www.britishmuseum.co.uk/

What can one say about this magnificent Museum that has not been said already a million times.  It is the world's oldest Museum,  and it contains galleries and treasures from all over the globe.The original collection was donated to the British people by Sir Hans Soane in 1753, and included books, paintings, classical antiquities and manuscripts. Over the next hundred years it was added to with such items as the Elgin Marbles, the Rosetta Stone and the Egyptian Mummies. 

 It is - quite simply - one of only two collections in the World (the other being the Smithsonian in Washington) which can truly be described as all-encompassing, and which fulfil the Enlightenment concept of gathering together all branches of human knowledge under one roof.

Here you can see art works, sculptures and archaeological finds representing ancient cultures from the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Africans, Assyrians and Persians, just to name a few.

In 1847 the architect Robert Smirke designed the "new" home for the collection with the impressive collonnaded entrance in the Classical style, and the world-famous Reading Room.

The huge space of the Courtyard between the Reading Room and the rest of the museum buildings has been imaginatively enclosed with a giant glass dome and it provides areas for rest and refreshment.

The collection is vast  - the golden rule for any visitor ito the British Museum is not to try and see everything at once and to "cherry-pick" the outstanding items.  You should get hold of one of the leaflets available at the Visitor Centre and follow their trails, so that you at least visit ten of the most famous items in the collection - then you won't get museum-fatigue!

 British Museum - the main entrance. Photo courtesy Les Baker

There are great facilities for the visitor, including cafes and restaurants, cloakrooms and loos. You can often catch special exhibitions, information sheets and - best of all if you've got school-age children - you can obtain specially designed trails for kids which bring the collection brilliantly to life for them. 

 Entrance free.

Nearest Tube stations:  Tottenham Court Road and Holborn.  Parking virtually impossible.