[Closed] British Museum - worth a quick visit?

Nah, load of old tat.

(of course it's worth a visit!)

well worth it, just pick 1 gallery though- sutton hoo is good, or egyptian

cheap & cheerful ULU student bar, upstairs in the ulu building, about a 10 minute walk away

or if its thursday farmers market behind it and sit in the grass square over the road

NEVER worth a quick visit... You could spend a week in there and still wish you had more time.. but another vote here for Sutton Hoo & Egyptian sections.

Worth a very long visit.......

Awesome place, well worth a visit of any length.

As above....

You can spend a week easily.... Sutton Hoo is great... and next to Vikings...
I have a personal connection with the Ribchester collection...

Loads of nearby places.... you could try one of the claimed "oldest pubs in...." just a 5 min walk (White Hart @ end of Drury Lane) for a pub lunch... or Nando's is close as is a big posh Le Pain Quotidien .... or a family run Italian Da Mario but you might need to ring in advance for that (It's pretty cheap but as such popular) or Fish and Chips just another 20m...

Personally I'd avoid the Egyptian stuff, as it's always heaving in there. Sutton Hoo is a lot quieter. I'd also recommend the Mexican gallery. As you're there you have to see the Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles and the Rosetta Stone (if only for their historical significance), and Room 1.

For eating I usually head into one of the local pubs, or one of the restaurants on New Oxford Street.

Worth a very long visit.......

Take a sleeping bag and camp out there overnight. 😯

Worth a very long visit.......

Take a sleeping bag and camp out there overnight. 😯

It's a big place and, as others have said, well worth a longer visit. They do a "must see" list for folks with limited time though, and it's worth following that e.g. http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/planning_your_visit/object_trails/1_hour.aspx

I've given it a few massive long visits and now it's definitely worth a lot of short ones. Or some more long ones. Don't take a big bag, they won't let you in

I love the demented monumental scale of the elgin marbles hall- I'll always spend time there and in the central courtyard every time I'm in London, if I can. But there's so much to see. (the science museum is another great one to dip into)

Yes and 5mins walk to covent garden.

Absolutely, recommend the Museum of London as well or if you like something a bit different the Huntarian

The Sutton Hoo helmet was an iconic image in history textbooks when I was a kid, and actually seeing it for real, 40 years later, was one of the most exciting things I've ever done.

The Krishnas give out free food outside SOAS - next to The Ministry of Truth (Senate House) every day from 12 - well worth the short queue.

It's karma-free, you know.

It's got good air conditioning.

A thing I love there is the Egyptian carving of a turtle. There are dozens of them but this one is just a 4" circle with the tiniest hints of head, flippers, tail. It made me laugh out loud. Then I realised I was laughing at a joke somebody made 4000 years ago. I sort of felt a connection across the centuries. Very odd.

Sadly I only have a short time for a visit. Do you think I will get in with a laptop bag?

Should be OK, they will want to look in it, I had small rucsac for an overnight stay (lightweight) all fine. Enjoy.

Petrie museum of archaeology or Grant zoological at UCL as well

Huntarian is closed at the mo. We were going to go there as a team but found out it's being refurbed

It's round the corner from the office but shamefully I've not been... moving office in a few months so need to visit, shameful really

Good documentary on it called "Night at the Museum 3" -

Because it's sooo accessible and free (note the back door too if coming from Euston Road direction) it's always worth an hour of spare time. Artefacts aside, the whole place is very atmospheric.

jamesgarbett - Member

Sadly I only have a short time for a visit. Do you think I will get in with a laptop bag?

I'm sure you will, I had a reasonable sized rucksack and they weren't happy with that, but even then they knew a hotel just down the road that'd take it for a small fee so it worked out fine

Shame that the Hunterian is shut.

The Sutton Hoo helmet was an iconic image in history textbooks when I was a kid, and actually seeing it for real, 40 years later, was one of the most exciting things I've ever done.

Same experience for me.. I'd never been to london before much less the Museum.. wandering around in a state of pure amazement, I turned around to be confronted with the Sutton Hoo Helmet a few inches away from my face and was utterly stunned.

RE pubs.. there was one directly across the road from the main entrance.. nice beer and a very friendly barmaid 😉

The Elgin Marbles are worth 15 minutes of your time and they're quite near the entrance.

Have a quick look at them before we give them back.

I quite like the pettiness of some of the elgin marbles stuff. Like "the head of this statue is in Athens" "other parts of this panel are in Denmark". Can you not swap bits, at least? Send them some other head or something and match it all up? No, no surrender!

just pick 1 gallery though- sutton hoo is good,

another vote here for Sutton Hoo

Sutton Hoo is great..

The Sutton Hoo helmet was an iconic image in history textbooks when I was a kid, and actually seeing it for real, 40 years later, was one of the most exciting things I've ever done.

I turned around to be confronted with the Sutton Hoo Helmet a few inches away from my face and was utterly stunned.

It is deeply impressive, a must see but once you've seen it and the gallery just take a step backwards into the Roman Britain gallery and try to get your head around the fact that it predates Sutton Hoo. Try to comprehend just how we took what appears to be an almighty step backwards in thought and progress. And then wonder if this happens every time all the immigrants get up one day and go home. 🙂

I think one is supposed to call them the Parthenon marbles.

Thanks to this thread I figured I should pop in, it really is so close to work. So I popped to Sainsburys to grab some food and wondered into the museum

You can eat inside (in the hall rather than the galleries)

It's busy but it's good. Warning though, the upstairs was seriously warm!!