Things to do on New Year's Day in London

Museums open on New Year's Day

• 

  Churchill War Rooms

  King Charles St, London, SW1A 2AQ

  The Churchill War Rooms are dedicated to the life and achievements of former British prime minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965). There's much on his political career, and many of his trademark props – including a cigar and his red siren suit – are on display.
• 

  Horniman Museum

  100 London Rd, London, SE23 3PQ

  An anthropological museum set in 16 acres of landscaped gardens, the Horniman Museum has a traditional natural history gallery, a state-of-the-art aquarium and gardens that offer spectacular views over London.
• 

  Imperial War Museum

  Lambeth Rd, London, SE1 6HZ

  The Imperial War Museum holds an important collection of twentieth-century art as well as collections of the machinery of war, official communications and manuscripts of war literature.
• 

  London Transport Museum

  Covent Garden Piazza, London, WC2E 7BB

  The museum's design gallery is a tribute to Frank Pick, the man responsible for rolling out the London Underground brand and giving each line its own character. For children, the London Transport Museum has an under-fives play area.
• 

  Museum of London

  150 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5HN

  The history of London, from prehistoric times to the present, is told in the Museum of London through reconstructed interiors and street scenes, alongside displays of original artefacts found during the museum's archaeological digs.
• 

  National Maritime Museum

  Romney Rd, London, SE10 9NF

  As well as the National Maritime Museum, on this Greenwich Park site you'll find the Queen's House and the Royal Observatory, which houses the only public planetarium in the UK and features daily shows with astronomers.
• 

  Natural History Museum

  Cromwell Rd, London, SW7 5BD

  The handsome Alfred Waterhouse building houses a collection that contains some 70 million plant, animal, fossil, rock and mineral specimens and the famous plaster cast of a diplodocus that lords it over the Central Hall.
• 

  Science Museum

  Exhibition Rd, London, SW7 2DD

  The Science Museum features seven floors of educational and entertaining exhibits, including the Apollo 10 command module and a flight simulator. Launch Pad is a popular hands-on gallery where children can explore basic scientific principles.
• 

  Sherlock Holmes Museum

  221b Baker St, London, NW1 6XE

  When you visit you are likely to be greeted by an august person wearing a bowler hat and whiskers; this, you will deduce, is Doctor Watson. The museum bristles with murder weapons, Victoriana and waxworks depicting scenes from the stories.
• 

  Somerset House

  The Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

  Open noon to 6pm on Jan 1 2012. The venue houses a formidable art gallery (the wonderful Courtauld), a beautiful fountain court, a terraced café and a classy restaurant. The Embankment Galleries explore connections between art, architecture and design with a series of temporary exhibitions.
• 

  V&A

  Cromwell Rd, London, SW7 2RL

  The V&A houses one of the world's greatest collections of decorative arts, in such varied fields as ceramics, sculpture, portrait miniatures and photography.
• 

  Wallace Collection

  Manchester Square, London, W1U 3BN

  This handsome house, built in 1776, contains an exceptional collection of eighteenth-century French furniture, paintings and objets d'art, as well as an amazing array of medieval armour and weaponry.