Favorite Museum?

Hey! OH and I were going to go to a museum or two (date day, so excited!) tomorrow and I was looking for some suggestions. I know I want to see the Tate Modern Art museum, but are there any other museums that floored you? I love photography and modern art - he enjoys history (as do I, but I'd love to see something off the beaten path).

Any pointers would be appreciated. =D

R

I prefer history to modern art, so for those I really loved the V&A and my newest favourite museum in London that I only found a month or two ago is the Museum of London.  I love the Museum of London and it covers most major time periods of history. 

I actually hate the Tate Modern, it's always rammed with tourists and laid out badly.

I like the Churchill cabinet war museum so much we're getting married there!
I also love the museum of brands and the design museum, if you want a weird evening out then I love the Grant museum of Zoology or the Magic Museum

http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/
http://www.museumofbrands.com/

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/zoology
http://www.themagiccircle.co.uk/

The V&A would probably be the museum to fit both your interests (www.vam.ac.uk).

My favorite museums are the Wallace Collection and Sir John Soane’s Museum.

The Wallace Collection (www.wallacecollection.org) is a historic house and gallery with a very varied collection: period rooms, paintings, objects, there’s something for everyone.

If you’re looking for quirky, try the Sir John Soane’s Museum (http://www.soane.org/). It’s another historic house filled to the rafters with odd, one-of-a-kind stuff collected from around the world. Plus there’s a exhibit of contemporary works in glass on at the moment

I like the Tate (Tate Britain and Tate Modern) in general but at the Tate Modern the building is the star and it’s worth a visit just for the setting but the collections are so-so. As Cheesebiscuit notes, the crowds can be annoying and it's best to go early as possible. I usually go only to see specific things. If you like Gauguin, there’s a very good exhibit on at the moment.

The Cabinet War Museum is supposed to be really interesting but haven't made a visit yet.

Have fun!

I'm with Persephone - my fave is The London Museum. Some of the others are so big that it's a bit overwhelming ; you feel you have to see everything in one day, and you can't possibly. But The London Museum is beautifully manageable!

I love Tate Modern. It's gorgeous and I know you'll enjoy it.

Another fave is the Imperial War Museum. DH can get his fix of planes and tanks, and I can enjoy the 'social history' aspect of it. The last time I was there, there was a special exhibit about evacuee children during WWII. And, looking at their website now, I see their new exhibit is about feeding Britain during wartime. It's a fascinating place!

I second the Soane's Museum. Try to get in for the evening tour. It's very atmospheric, so I hear! I've only been there during the day and it definitely fulfills the quirky niche. I like the art at the Tate Modern but I get very grumpy about the tourists.

I've never been to the London Museum but it sounds great. I'll have to check it out.

If you’re looking for quirky, try the Sir John Soane’s Museum (http://www.soane.org/). It’s another historic house filled to the rafters with odd, one-of-a-kind stuff collected from around the world. Plus there’s a exhibit of contemporary works in glass on at the moment

Drat! I was coming in here to post this! It's my favourite museum in London, hands down.

The National Galley....they have Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus..



The also have a room with Van Gogh on one side and Monet on the other, you can spin in the middle amongst Sunflowers and the Japanese Bridge....

I cried the last time I was there...

I just happened to see this thread on the 'Recent Posts' section of the front page.  I like the recommendation about the Wallace Collection.

I wanted to add my own personal favourite:  The Bank of England Museum.  It's an arcane niche of awesomeness.  Try to go when they have the Anglo-Saxon guy minting coins with a hammer and pedestal!  You might just get a memorable souvenir of an ancient coin.  And the museum layout and furnishings are tasteful and opulent to die for...   

I wanted to second the Imperial War Memorial.  In general, I am not into war stuff, but they did a such a great job on the evacuee area and I am still thinking about "The Trenches" which was a multisensory experience.    I could have spent all day there.
Loved the Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms too.

Cheesebiscuit - how wonderful to get married there!  What part of the museum do you use?

I actually hate the Tate Modern, it's always rammed with tourists and laid out badly.

I agree on that one!

I like smaller more intimate places -- homes of famous authors or whatever.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-carlyleshouse

www.walthamforest.gov.uk/william-morris

I have to agree with others about the Cabinet War Rooms-how cool to get married there CB!
 I also love the Imperial War Museum.  When I was in London a while back renewing the girls' UK passports I had a few hours to kill, so I went there.  I totally lost track of time and almost didn't make it back to the passport office to collect them.

Thanks!
We're getting married in this room - http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.81 (with all the submarine dials )

The museum closes about an hour into our reception so guests can go wild and run around the museum with no one there afte dinner

CB that's awesome!! What a great venue!

And take it from me, having your guests go off into the museum while you get your photos done is the best plan ever. Ooh, and you've got all of St James's Park there for photos, too...

The best thing about the Museum of London is that it just had a massive facelift.  I loved the place before, but now I bet its just amazing!

I would also add the National Portrait Gallery.  Also, would Westminster Abbey count as a museum?