Museums & Attractions

41. Handel House
Seemingly removed from the modern world, Handel House offers much to soothe and inspire, not just for disciples of the eighteenth century composer, but for lovers of Georgian architecture, interiors and portrait painting. Handel lived here from 1723 to 1759, while composing the ‘Messiah’. You move from room to room, opening doors as if exploring a private residence and Handel’s music plays delicately during frequent recitals.
Best exhibit The museum’s treasured facsimile of the original ‘Messiah’ manuscript, complete with notations and smudges.
25 Brook St, W1 (entrance behind in Lancashire Court) (020 7495 1685/ www.handelhouse.org) Bond St or Oxford Circus tube. Adm £5.

42. National Army Museum
Predictably, weapons feature prominently in here: the 2,500 edged weapons, 200 pole arms and 1,850 firearms should keep bloodthirsty teenagers interested. But it’s the human side of the exhibits that make the National Army Museum work, including oral histories from World War I veterans, and the order that launched the Charge of the Light Brigade.
Best exhibits Florence Nightingale’s lamp, and Lord Raglan’s Crimean telescope.
Royal Hospital Rd, SW3 (020 7881 2455/www.national-army-museum.ac.uk) Sloane Square tube. Adm free.

Monkey business at Forest Hill's Horniman Museum

43. Horniman Museum
A 25-foot Alaskan totem pole outside the main entrance gives a clue as to what’s in here: a wealth of quirky anthropological and natural history treasures. You can while away hours perusing the place, but the Grade II-listed natural history gallery – refreshingly devoid of computer touchscreens – possibly contains the most memorable: a comically over-stuffed walrus (the work of an over-zealous 1880s taxidermist).

There’s much fun to be had in the music gallery, too, where the impressive collection of 7,000 instruments includes an Iranian zarb, 600 concertinas and a pair of Egyptian clappers dating to 1,500BC. Wandering through the rest of the museum, you’ll discover an Egyptian mummy, a Nigerian Ijele (a special ceremonial African mask), Inuit seal-skin clothing, Vodou altars and a functional beehive.

The aquarium, which first opened in 1903, has just been rebuilt and officially opens on July 14. It will be filled with 150 different species of animals and plants from such far-flung climes as Fijian coral reefs and mangrove swamps to British ponds. It won’t contain the museum’s merman; that transpired to be a hoax – a joker had attached a fish’s tail to a monkey’s body (it’s on display in the Centenary Gallery).
The Horniman Museum must be south London’s most cherished public attraction. The collection is built upon that of Victorian tea trader Frederick John Horniman, who began acquiring objects in the 1860s. The buildings are a mix of the original Victorian and recent additions – which won a prize for architectural excellence from RIBA in 2004. The gardens’ spectacular views make for pleasurable picnicking. And, if you’re still not convinced, it’s free.
Kathryn Miller
100 London Rd, SE23 (020 8699 1862/www.horniman.ac.uk) Forest Hill rail. Adm free.
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44. Kew Bridge Steam Museum
LONDON'S ONLY STEAM RAILWAY
For genuine steam enthusiasts this museum hosts Cornish engines (in their original engine housings) and rotative engines (collected from pumping stations around the country). On Sundays (March-November), there’s also a chance to ride on London’s only steam railway.
Best exhibit The Cornish engines. They use so much steam that they’re only run occasionally – check the website for details.
Green Dragon Lane, Brentford, TW8 (020 8568 4757/ www.kbsm.org). Kew Bridge rail. Adm £6.50, £5.50 concs, children under-15 free.

45. Sikorski Museum
Named after General Wladyslaw Sikorski, a war hero and leader of the Polish government-in-exile, this museum was set up to document the social and military history of Poland. Like the nearby Institut Français, there is the feeling that it’s been set up purely for Polish ex-pats, as all of the exhibits are labelled in Polish, but there are guided tours in English. Best on show here is one of the Enigma deciphering machines that were used by Polish mathematicians to crack codes.
Best exhibit Although the line, ‘Hey kids, we’re going to the Sikorski Museum!’ doesn’t have a particularly appealing ring to it, younger visitors may enjoy the full-size model of Wojtke the 'soldier bear' mascot of the Polish soldiers.
20 Princes Gate, SW7 (020 7589 9249/www.sikorskimuseum.co.uk) South Kensington/Knightsbridge tube. Adm free.

46. Museum of Methodism & Wesley’s Chapel
You don’t need to be a Methodist to receive divine inspiration here – the building alone is worth a visit. Wesley described his chapel as ‘perfectly neat but not fine’. Riddled with self-doubt, he was never one for boasting. Fine it is, with an elegant courtyard.
Best exhibit If you can, go for one of the Tuesday lunchtime recitals in the chapel to soak up the celestial atmosphere.
Wesley’s Chapel, 49 City Rd, EC1 (020 7253 2262/ www.wesleyschapel.org.uk/heritage)Old St tube/rail. Adm free, donations welcome.

Marvel at how the packaging of household products has evolved

47. Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
This 120-year history of consumerism, culture, design, domestic life, fashion, folly and fate, presented as a magnificently cluttered time tunnel of cartons and bottles, toys and advertising displays, is a small part of the collection amassed by Robert Opie – son of the celebrated collectors of children's lore and literature Ioana and Peter Opie – since the day in 1963 when the 16-year-old arrived home with a Munchies wrapper and declared his intention never to throw away anything ever again.
Colville Mews, Lonsdale Rd, W11 (020 7908 0880/www.museumofbrands.com) Notting Hill Gate tube. Tue-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-4pm. Adm £5.80 adults, £3.50 concessions, £2 children, free for under-7s.

48. Florence Nightingale Museum
An advocate of free healthcare, Florence Nightingale raised nursing to a professional level for women and started her own training school for nurses at St Thomas’. Appalled by the conditions the wounded experienced in the Crimean War, she helped to develop new hospitals in the Victorian era, for which she was the first woman to receive the Order of Merit in 1907. Her possessions, letters and portraits are on display here.
Best exhibit To bring Florence’s legacy up to date, there are talks from St Thomas’ current nurses (check website for details).
St Thomas’ Hospital, 2 Lambeth Palace Rd, SE1 (020 7620 0374/www.florence-nightingale.co.uk)Waterloo tube/rail. Adm £5.80, £4.80 concs.

49. London Sewing Machine Museum
Dedicated to Thomas Albert Rushton, founder of the Wimbledom Sewing Machine Company, this museum contains a collection of antique sewing machines, including 600 domestic and industrial sewing machines, dating from the 1850s-1950s. A replica of the first Wimbledon Sewing Machine Shop, originally built in Merton Road can also be visited within the museum.
Best exhibit A unique sewing machine, given as a wedding present to Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa.
292-312 Balham High Rd London SW17 (0208 767 4724/ www.sewantique.com) Tooting Bec tube. Adm free.

50. London Fire Brigade Museum
It was the Great Fire of 1666 that defined the Capital as we see it today. With assorted fire-fighting paraphernalia, the most interesting element of thos museum is seeing how the equipment has advanced over the centuries. If you are planning to visit, remember to call them up first as they only open up if you book in advance. Also, you might want to leave the kids at home for this one – the tour lasts roughly two hours.
Best exhibit You can occasionally watch new recruits training with modern kit (call for details).
Winchester House, 94a Southwark Bridge Rd, SE1 (020 7587 2894) Southwark tube. Tours by appointment only. Adm £3, £2 concs, £2 children.