Housed in a grand and impressive building, the NHM is well curated, with impeccable displays, and…read moreit's free. However, a donation of £10 is HIGHLY suggested as you enter. As with all London museums, there is security checking all backpacks, but this museum was checking for alcohol! When you see all the school teens sitting on the stairways (perhaps waiting for parents to pick them up?), then the alcohol check is understandable. Out of all the displays, my favorite was the dimly lit Treasures room. Each piece exhibited tells an important story beyond what you actually see like an Iguanodon tooth from the Mesozoic strata and found by Gideon Mantell (or his wife) and the rivalry that ensued between Mantell and Owen, who later usurped Mantell's contribution in discovering the first known dinosaur species and shaping the early understanding of dinosaurs. While I find the digital text for each display as being the true treasures, only 1-2 people can read at a time so you feel a bit rushed if you're a person (like me) who reads everything, yet people are behind you waiting their turn. In addition to the wonderful displays, there is a photo booth whereby you can have 3 photos taken against a green screen depicting a dinosaur encounter. What they don't tell you upfront is that the photos are NOT free and can be downloaded (depending on the package you choose) from £12 to £22 pounds. When I asked the staff for information on particular exhibits, I found them to be more than helpful and friendly, too. Allow time for this expansive gem.

Lots of bones! Plenty of old stuff! Great turn-of-the-century over-the-top ornate architecture!…read morePlan on an hour unless you're hardcore. Ride the escalator into the middle of the earth to find out what music is playing inside. See extraordinary taxidermy handiwork. Even see a fake dodo bird thought to be an adjacent species that didn't exist. And if you like dinosaurs this is your Mecca. Just don't dare sit anywhere like on some stairs in the corner or some overzealous guard will kick you right out. But otherwise you'll have a great time. Also enjoy the outside grounds for a stroll, and hit up the West entrance for zero lines while the hoards line up on the other side.

I was killing time but I'm glad I went to this free museum that was geared towards the younger…read moreaudience. I saw a lot of toys and games I used to play with when I was a kid and it was quite nostalgic. I did have to put on my patience hat because there are kids running around, yelling everywhere but I came here expecting that. My favorite was the horse that was used in War Horse, the live performance.

One of the best museums I've seen in the world. It's tremendous we can spend probably a week here…read moreand get lost with all the beautiful pieces. Wonderful assortment of China and sculptures and artwork rugs and fashion and furniture from all over the world. Really a tremendous museum and it's free entrance! Open until 530 or six.

I went along here when my nieces and nephews were visiting once and we had a nice enough time but…read morethe Children's Museum at Bethnal Green is much more impressive.

The best part about visiting Pollack's Toy Museum is the "I had that one!" feeling. This is how I…read morelearned that I was raised on a lot of Victorian-era toys, all of which appear to present a major choking hazard. Wishful thinking on my parents' part, I suppose. This small museum packs a lot of vintage toy punch for the £5 admission fee. Be prepared for a lot of creepy old dolls, wistful memories and racially charged debates on golliwogs. The gift shop is great--I came home with a metal springy toy and a fortune-telling fish today. (It says I'm fickle.) Worth a visit to the shop even if you don't go to the museum.

My favorite toy museum yet!…read more Pollock's Toy Museum is a toy display arranged in an old set of homes. Once admission is purchased one is given a printed walk through guide of the museum - which is probably what made me love this one so much. The guide gives little blurbs as to what the room is about, the main toys to look out for, and some neat facts. Essentially it says things like to "step through the doorway into ..." or "head up the stairs keeping an eye out for ...", it was a simple and fun little adventure guide that made this toy museum experience unique! The maze of little rooms, each displaying a themed group of toys, felt like a portal back in time. Many toy collections I have visited display plastic toys from the childhoods we remember recently, this one felt like a visit back into the toys from childhood's way past. This museum is not as much a blast of nostalgic feelings, rather a more serene look past that - into Victorian dollhouses that reflect what home life was like during different time periods, the history of board games and especially the oldest of old teddy bears. Keep in mind, from what I understand, that toy museums are often collections that are largely influenced by the toys that circulated through an area - as is to the way they are displayed. A toy museum in Central London thus reflects much of the dollhouses and doll-like toys, and there are museums in other parts of the world that have large amounts of plastic American toys that were circulated around during wartime. Many bigger museums - science museums, history museums, national museums - display information in a way that almost becomes universal no matter where you travel. Toy museums prove to be unique in each city, town - in both the collection and the presentation, which is why I adore visiting them so much. So if you want a step back into the history of dolls, teddies, and board games on a unique little walk through - give this place a visit! (Visited August 2017).

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.

The British Museum is a must on your visit to London especially if it your first time in London…read more Check their website before you arrive to see if a reservation is required. On busy days they require pre-booked reservations which can be made at no cost. I suggest planning 1.5 hours to see the highlights or recommendations found on the free map at each entrance. There are places to sit and relax with a coffee or tea at a counter service cafe or a place with table service. There is a coat and bag check available to the left once you enter through the main entrance. I'm not sure if there is a cost for it.

Huge crowds and it wasn't even a weekend. Reason: free…read more This is equivalent to Natural History ones in US. However, there are historical contexts with british roman empires and other inclusions that makes this place distinct in a variety of ways. There are also kid packet activities- ask front desk. Some areas have uneven heating and cooling so you may be prone to fainting / esp if the ennui alone is not enough to get you there- ha! Place is great for history buffs, though, as it is free- do not expect high end bathrooms and overall exceptional service. Otherwise, 5 stars for being free and for a very elaborate set up.

Wow! What a museum. And FREE! There was not too much for my 3 year old. He did enjoy the play area…read moreat the bottom. But as someone in the medical field- the medical floors were so fascinating. It was very neat. My son also did love the planes on the top floor.

Outstanding world class science museum. Mostly technology oriented or applied science. It consist…read moreof five floors, with different themes: flight, energy, information age, mathematics, medicine, engineering, technicians, space, etc. Great place to bring the family and lots of hands-on exhibits for the kids as well as the adults. plan to spend a full day there.

I had a hard time rating this place but ultimately it captures the magic of Roald Dahls writing,…read moreits a lovely way to encourage creative writing in a world that seems to think all children's activities should be STEM based, and its highly interactive. Worth a visit. The downside : We were the only visitors other than a school group (maybe two school groups?) but both the educators and the staff made it clear that we weren't a priority. In one of the rooms a teacher left a child's epipen on a shelf at child-level and seemed to forget about it. They seemed displeased that my kids were interacting with the exhibits even though we were trying to keep out of the way. We had our 8, 5, and 2 year old with us. They all interacted with the museum and enjoyed it but it was a bit lost on my little ones. Definitely recommend reading several books before going. And the reason I'm leaving 3 stars not 4 is that the bathrooms were atrocious. Toilet paper everywhere. Stalls out of order. The baby change room smelled terrible.... Clearly the garbage hadn't been changed in days.... Really too bad for a place with so much potential.

On one of my last days living in London, my best friend and I took a day off work to make a trip…read moreout to this museum to relive our childhood days. Although this museum is supposed to be more for families and young children, my best friend and I went all out silly because we pretty much had this place to ourselves. Plenty of outfits and props from characters from the books we all love - we had so much fun putting them on and taking pictures. They have this thing called the Automatic Grammatizator where you can "see your story in lights". Basically, using random words from a pile, you create a story and it gets projected on the floor nearby. One of the best memories I have from my four years in the U.K!

The Postal Museum definitely exceeded my expectations. I had seen the mail rail on a previous…read moreseason of the Amazing Race, but that was the extent of my understanding. Learning the history and being able to ride in the mail rail was worthwhile. When waiting there are a lot of families and children, but this is also doable for adults. No food or bags are permitted on the train, but they do have a giant locker for everyone to use while on the journey. There are a few hands on activities you get to do before leaving and I would recommend although the mail sorting task may need some work as some letters weren't registering properly. I definitely think this is something you should incorporate in your trip if you have the time and are at all interested in processes. There's also a Jolly Postman exhibit happening right now- note for the museum would be to add themed merch as we probably would've walked away with some.

Seriously, how cool. Taking mail rail and learning how the mail was delivered from the underground…read moreuntil VERY recently. Plus the museum was cool and currently they have a special exhibit for The Jolly Postman. As an adult with no kids I also really enjoyed it so don't think it's just a kids place. They sell stamps too and if you mail the postcard from the museum postbox it will get a special postmark! The mail rail is a tight fit but totally doable so don't turn away out of fear!

This was such a unique and fantastic "still-life drama" visit. If you are looking for an obscure,…read moreyet artsy experience, this is the place to see. Each room is pretty narrow and you'll be walking up about 6 flights of stairs so wear comfortable shoes. You'll use all of your senses when you walk through this house and, imagined how people lived during the early 18th century based on economic means. Costs 10 GBP per person for a general visit and they take cash only. I used an Uber to get here and decided to Google Maps my way through the town of Shoreditch afterward which, was also a fun adventure.

I really wanted to love this experience. I loved the idea of it all - a home frozen in time,…read morestripped of anything modern, oozing history and story and questions. I even loved the way I discovered it: I just zoomed into our hotel's location and moved the map on my screen to see what was nearby and intriguing. On the whole, it was an interesting experience. There were a few other people making their way through the floors of the residence, and some of them (one group in particular) clearly wanted to be anywhere but inside those walls. Still, we took our time with each room, trying to put ourselves in the time, forget the world outside, become immersed in the experience. There are four floors, and you're not supposed to talk, which made finding the right "next room" a bit of a challenge. I think I tried to enter rooms out of order on three of the four floors (and only got the fourth floor right because there was only room available). They have people working the space, but none of them pointed in the right direction or gave even the slightest hint that you were headed the wrong way until you'd already committed to walking into a room. Each room had a different "story" attached to it. You walk in, take a moment to gather your senses and get a feel of the place (no modern technology, so everything's candle and fireplace lit), then you're meant to understand everything that was going on right before you walked in. There are small cards scattered throughout the dioramas, which encourage you to ponder a certain piece, question the placement of a chair, or absorb a scent. They go out of their way to ensure accuracy and make the rooms feel authentic. Yes, that really IS a bedpan with something that looks suspiciously like wee floating in it (I couldn't bring myself to check on that one). Maybe I was just too tired to really appreciate what they did there. I am glad that we went - it was different and maybe a bit odd - but I don't know that I'd recommend it to anybody who doesn't have an appreciation for history or strange. They don't allow photos (follow their Instagram page if you're interested in getting a sneak peek of the space), so you're going to have to rely on your ever-fading memories and snapshots in your mind. Or maybe that's just me.