British Museum

A vast repository of the world's cultures, controversially including hundreds of items that were looted from their places of origin. Entire sections are devoted to Egyptian, Greek, and Middle Eastern artifacts, as well as the piece which united them all, the Rosetta Stone. Other items on everyone's list are the largest collection of mummies outside Egypt and the Elgin Marbles. The collection also includes some of the world's finest collections of Chinese and Sub-Saharan African art; perhaps the most famous of the latter are the Benin bronzes. A definite highlight of a trip to London. Temporary exhibitions are invariably excellent and meticulously researched, but can be expensive. It has a fine store, mainly selling replicas of items in the collection.

• free
• museum

Address

Great Russell St, WC1B 3DG

Getting there

tube:

Hours

Sat-Wed 10AM-5:30PM, Thu Fri 10AM-8:30PM; Central Great Court remains open Sat-Wed until 6PM, Thu Fri until 11PM

Price

Free for permanent exhibits

Website

britishmuseum.org (opens in a new tab)