Best Museums in High Beech

"The second most popular tourist attraction in the UK, Tate Modern, is a striking London structure. Originally a Power Station, Tate Modern opened in May 2000 as a home to international modern and contemporary art. Displays in Tate Modern cover themes such as Transformed Visions and Poetry and Dream, and give visitors the opportunity to see works of art such as Pablo Picasso's 'Weeping Woman,' 'Metamorphosis of Narcissus' by Salvador Dalí, and 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' by Dorothea Tanning."

"Housed in the former Bankside Power Station, the vast collection includes works by Picasso, Warhol, Dalí, and Matisse. For a decidedly British take on modern art (1500 AD to the present day, that is), Tate Britain will be your cup of tea. Located up the Thames from Tate Modern (there’s a boat that ferries passengers between the two galleries every 40 minutes), Tate Britain is where you’ll find pieces by Turner, Hirst, and Bacon."

"PRACTICAL INFORMATION: The National Gallery is open every day from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. It closes at 9:00 pm on Fridays. It’s closed on 1 January and from 24 to 26 December."

"Located on the former site of the Millbank prison, Tate Britain offers one of the most comprehensive collections of historical British art from 1500 to the present day. Founded by Sir Henry Tate, of global sugar brand Tate & Lyle, the striking Neoclassical gallery boasts the world’s largest collection of works by JMW Turner as well as impressive pieces by William Hogarth, William Blake, Angelica Kauffman, John Constable, Richard Dadd, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. The gallery is located on the River Thames, and you can take a scenic ride on the Tate Boat to its sister gallery, Tate Modern."

"Sister gallery to the Tate Modern is the Tate Britain, a bastion of British art. Sporting old-world marble floors, spiral staircases, and Grecian columns, the Tate Britain is a veritable temple of British art from 1500 to today. Get swept away by the world’s largest collection of stormy and atmospheric Turner oil paintings and a considerable assemblage of the most ethereal and romantic Pre-Raphaelite portraits of mythical and literary characters."

"Also known as the National Gallery of British Art, it holds the country’s most extensive collections of national historic art, as well as contemporary. The gallery is also known for holding the prestigious and career-defining Turner Prize exhibition, which features the work of its four winning British visual artists each year. Catch it if you can to be among the first to see the next national treasure of the art world."

"London’s West End is pretty good for celeb spotting, but the easiest place to do it is probably at the National Portrait Gallery. It’s home to kings, queens, cultural juggernauts and sporting heroes – all in portrait form, of course – with a collection spanning over five hundred years of painting history. You can find Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in the Tudor galleries, Mary Jane Seacole and the Bronte sisters in the Victorian galleries, right up to Amy Winehouse and the Queen in the contemporary galleries."

"A post shared by National Portrait Gallery (@nationalportraitgallery). In art, there’s nothing more intimate than a portrait, and at this landmark London art gallery, you can get intimate with some very famous faces. From Queen Elizabeth I to Queen Elizabeth II, The National Portrait Gallery displays portraits of the United Kingdom’s most important monarchs."

"Where else but the National Portrait Gallery can you find oils of the Brontë sisters and William Shakespeare alongside black and white photographs of the Spice Girls and a mixed media portrait of J.K."

":  A fun blast from the past, this museum will take you back to your childhood with it’s collection of children’s toys, clothes and games. Be warned though, don’t fall into the trap that many others have and assume it on the same site as the original V&A, otherwise you will have a very long trip across London!. The Museum of Childhood is one of the most popular on our list, receiving almost 500,000 visitors a year."

"While taking the kids to a museum housing toys they can’t touch may seem like a disaster, the V&A Museum of Childhood makes an extra effort to include interactive exhibits that will keep little hands busy. Adults can enjoy nostalgic displays of dolls’ houses and rag dolls dating back to the 1600s, while kids can try rocking horses and play with Lego. The museum also has free daily activities such as treasure hunts."

"Out in Bethnal Green, you’ll discover the free Museum of Childhood. Operated and curated by the V&A, it’s home to toys, dolls houses, and thousands of other interesting items, but a major refurbishment is aiming to turn it into a “world-leading museum of design and creativity for children and young people”."

"Everyone recognises the name of this groundbreaking London gallery, which is responsible for launching the careers of many young artists. The Saatchi Gallery is probably best known for its role in turning the YBAs (Young British Artists), from Hirst to Emin, into global superstars at the height of the Nineties - but it's still captivating London’s art lovers with challenging contemporary art exhibitions to this day. Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, Chelsea, SW3 4RY, saatchigallery.com"

"In the last five years, Saatchi Gallery has presented 15 of the 20 most visited museum exhibitions in London. Oh and they’re also hosting the last ever tour of Tutankhamun’s treasures."

"The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide is the oldest organization in the world devoted to the study of the Holocaust. The Wiener Library was founded in 1933 to keep Jewish communities up to date on Nazi persecution. Later, it became a research institute and public access library following the end of World War II. The library today has an estimated 70,000 books, 2,000 document, 45,000 photographs and 3,000 periodicals."

"Made up of two lakes surrounded by marshland and filled with all manner of toads, frogs, newts, birds and dragon flies, try one of the many organised activities such as pond dipping, bird watching, close-up observation and sketching of pond invertebrates. For those who want to help the environment, get involved in the Wednesday and Saturday conservation workshops. Thames Park, John Harrison Way, SE10 OQZ, greenwichecologypark.com"

"Ben Franklin’s House Ben Franklin, in London?. For sixteen years, from 1757 and 1775, Ben Franklin lived in London. This house is the only surviving house that he called home."

"The Ragged School Museum in London opened in 1990 at the former Dr Barnardo's Copperfield Road Ragged School. The school opened in 1877 to provide the children in the area with a basic education, making it the biggest school of its kind for the period. By 1908, the government had taken over public education and the school was closed."

"If you are not planning for this museum in London, you are missing something badly. Marylebone Cricket Club or MCC museum is within the eminent Lord’s Cricket Ground, featuring impressive collections of objects related to history and evolution of cricket as a sport. This is one of the oldest sporting museums in London and also worldwide."

"Located in the Temple area of Central London lie the peaceful Inner Temple Gardens, within the precincts of Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of the Court in London. A place of tranquillity in the hustle and bustle, you will find a 3-acre garden with wide lawns, rare trees and herbaceous borders."

"Between Waterloo and Hungerford bridges you can retreat to the landscaped Victoria Embankment Gardens, where you will find an unmatched tranquillity in this tourist area. In the summer recline on deckchairs and take in a bandstand performance."