British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG

The British Museum in London is one of the world's greatest museums of human history and culture. Its collections, which number more than 13 million objects from all continents, illustrate and document the story of human culture from its beginning to the present.

The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759 in Montagu House in Bloomsbury, on the site of the current museum building. Its expansion over the following two and a half centuries has resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, the first being the British Museum (Natural History) in South Kensington in 1887. Until 1997, when the current British Library building opened to the public, the British Museum was unique in that it housed both a national museum of antiquities and a national library in the same building.

The nearest underground station to the British Museum is Goodge Street which is on the Northern line. Goodge Street Tube Station is in Zone 1.

Private London Walking Tour - British Museum and Sir John Soane's Museum

Visit the British Museum on this Private Walking Tour of London, one of the largest museums in the world, where you can visit the priceless collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman treasures. A short walk takes you to Sir John Soane's Museum, an intimate and eccentric London house with an interesting and diverse collection of works of art.

The British Museum, built in 1845-1857 on the site of the delightful but small Montague House is one of the largest museums in the world to compare only to the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The museum, only lately enhanced by the magnificent Great Court which is the largest covered square of Europe, is a must for the London visitor. It's steel and glass roof soaring to the sky, created by Sir Norman Foster, is a fitting symbol of the Museum's main aim which is "The advancement in learning by the provision of materials and facilities for research by the encouragement of the study of literature, history, archaeology and art". Among the treasures we will see the Rosetta Stone, the Great Egyptian Statues and Mummies, the Parthenon Sculptors, Greek, Roman and Oriental artefacts.

Close to the British Museum is the Sir John Soane's Museum, perhaps the most intimate and eccentric London house. This was the house and studio of one of the most individual British architects, Sir John Soane (1753-1837) who built the vaults and halls of the Bank of England and the Law Courts around Westminster Hall and other houses and villas. The House at 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields was his home and, in the garden of his and two other houses he purchased, is displayed his extensive collection of paintings, sculptures, antiquities, architectural fragments etc. Hogarth's Rake's Progress and many Canalettos' and Turners' together with Piranesi and Clerissau drawings are in two picture galleries, right and left of the courtyard.

This in-depth private tour is hosted by an English-speaking guide specializing in art history. Please list any special interests you have (art, architecture, history, culture) at time of booking to alert our guide, so that he or she can better prepare for your private tour

British Museum Website