Free Museums in London: Hundreds of Years of History at Your Fingertips
Museum of London
Across the city at the Barbican is the often-overlooked Museum of London. It’s a great venue focusing on the city’s history, from nearly 2,000 years ago when it was the Roman outpost of Londinium to the Great Fire of 1666 and beyond.
The museum stands on the archaeological ruins of Roman London — you can even spy the Roman wall outside the windows.
Tate Britain
A London museum crawl wouldn’t be complete without visiting Tate. For those who haven’t been to Britain since the 90’s, the original Tate is now Tate Britain, with a focus on British art from the 1500’s to today.
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Tate Modern
Downstream on the Thames’ south bank stands the bold “Tate Modern” — a temple to modern art. (The best approach is over the new Millennium Bridge.)
Tate Modern has been converted from an old power station, providing a perfect gallery for those massive scrap-metal sculptures that divide those who see art from those who “just don’t get it.” Among today’s avant-garde artists who push the envelope of what is art lays modern classics by Andy Warhol and Dali.
There’s even Marcel Duchamp’s infamous porcelain urinal, The Fountain, unveiled by the French artist in 1917 to, as the Brits say, “mock the art world.”
