British Museum

The British Museum stands on Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury, London, England, and holds a collection of roughly eight million objects tracing human history from the earliest stone tools to contemporary art. Admission to the permanent collection is free, which makes it one of the most visited cultural sites in the United Kingdom. The Greek Revival building, with its colonnade designed by Sir Robert Smirke, opens into the Great Court, a glass-roofed square designed by Foster and Partners that surrounds the circular Reading Room. Most visitors head first to the highlights: the Rosetta Stone in the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery, the Parthenon sculptures in the purpose-built Duveen Gallery, the Assyrian lion hunt reliefs, the Egyptian mummies on the upper floor, and the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo helmet. The galleries are arranged by region and period, so a route can be built around Egypt, Greece and Rome, the Middle East, Asia or the Americas. A first visit usually takes three to four hours, though the scale means that most people sample a few galleries rather than attempt everything. The Great Court is the best place for architectural photographs, particularly from the upper balcony that wraps around the Reading Room, where daylight through the lattice roof is strongest around midday. Crowds are heaviest from late morning to mid-afternoon, at weekends and during school holidays, and the Rosetta Stone and mummy galleries can be congested at those times. Opening at 10:00 on a weekday or visiting during the late Friday opening usually gives calmer rooms. Temporary exhibitions are ticketed separately, while the museum app helps structure a self-guided route. Cloakrooms are available, and bags are subject to security checks at the entrance, which can add a queue at busy times. Practical planning helps in a building this large. The museum is organised over several floors, with the ground floor holding Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Assyrian galleries, and the upper floors covering the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. Free floor plans are handed out at the entrances, and themed trails of one or two hours suit visitors with limited time. Cafes in the Great Court and the basement offer refreshment, and nearby Russell Square and Bloomsbury have more options.